I find Lutens Un Lys to be a beautiful lily of the valley put through a sunset haze.
Also Dusita Cavatina is a great creation! Greener than Un Lys.
Aaand, please don't forget Anatole Lebreton and his l'eau Guillerette! Paired with lilac it reminded me a walk at Coughton Court, when I was determined to discreetly sneak a little flower from their huge wildly unorganised patch of lotv, I was going to take home and put it in a tiny vase.. I had to slow down to let 2 ladies in their late 80s walk past preventing them becoming witnesses of my crime. And to my greatest surprise, one of them bent over to the flowers, picked one up, put it under her nose, and did something which to this day shocks me!! She said: "Smells like an old lady" and... threw it away!!ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
These reviews and your writing are such a treat. Technical, poetic…
I’m watching for Lily of the valley in the woods near us like I do every year. There’s always an abundance. I march home as the runners and dog walkers go past me, my fists full of mini flowers, knowing a secret they don’t slow down to share.
Lately I’ve been enjoying the Lily of the valley in the new Odalisque a lot, after forgiving and moving on from the former version.
Some artists try to use specific self restrictions (e.g. I have 6-string guitar but I’m gonna use 4 strings only, I want to shoot a movie but let’s do it in one shot, etc.) and althought the effect usually feels like they’re trying to hard to force their impact on the world, I’ve always thought that they’re intuitively mimicking the conditions where the true intellectual power arises. IFRA - J’accuse! But at the same time - Vive Mathilde Laurent! I’m curious what’s she going to do next.
Flowering plants appeared in the Lower Cretaceous, some 230 million years after the first terrestrial plants appeared on Earth, so any Deva would have had plenty of time to design them (and, frankly, a poor performance for omnipotent entities to take 4.2 billion years from the earth formation to come up with flowers… what have they being doing? Like average students doing all the work at the last minute?). Strong scents evolve to overcome competition from other pollinating plants, like a garage band guitarist has to put the amplifier on full blast to be heard over the enthusiastic drummer. As now flowers have also to overcome smells coming from human activity (mostly pollutants), evolution dictates that their scents have to increase volume for their survival. There could be a future of lower diversity but stronger scents!
Ha! I love the idea of the Devas pulling an all-nighter to meet deadline. I can see how competition would favor strong scents, but then why did we end up with Diorissimo rather than Angel?
Plants that rely on beatles to pollinate have a strong, spicy and musty smell, while bees and butterflies prefer the classical florals. So Angel is more of a beetle scent ! And of course plants relying on carrion beetles and flesh flies smell of rotten flesh… let’s not give perfumers any such idea!!
Brilliant - "pollinating insects are actually fragheads" - what a pleasant article, it made my day:) Lily-of-the-valley is present here in Boston, but noone sells little bouquets like in Europe, and unfortunately, no mimosa too...
Forgot to mention that I strangely enjoyed the muguet in the heart of Synthetic Jungle, even though it is not a soliflor. And I love the muguet note in the Odalisque Nicolaï.
Thank you for the article. In the Nordic country I come from, lilies of the valley bloom later, in late May or in June. We go and pick them, trying to fight off the mosquitoes. I've never found a decent interpretation of their scent in perfume. I did try Diorissimo edt once, but unfortunately the mini bottle had turned. Now, I have a decant of the parfum de toilette on its way to me, very curious about it...
Patricia de Nicolai just recently released her own Lily of the Valley soliflore; it’s already sold out (thankfully a bottle is headed my way in the mail) but I have no doubt she’d be willing to send you a sample to review upon request. Curious about your thoughts of it against Mathilde Laurent’s work for best not-Diorissimo in the dark ages of IFRA!
I recall you liked Muguet Porcelaine by Ellena and Cavatina by Dusita in your latest guide. That one is indeed a lovely rendering of muguet, as close to vintage Diorissimo as I’ve found yet. Pre 70s Vintage Muguet du Bois by Coty (is there any other kind now?) is a great one as well. Trouble with all the vintages are those lovely aldehyde and lemony top notes fade.
I find Lutens Un Lys to be a beautiful lily of the valley put through a sunset haze.
Also Dusita Cavatina is a great creation! Greener than Un Lys.
Aaand, please don't forget Anatole Lebreton and his l'eau Guillerette! Paired with lilac it reminded me a walk at Coughton Court, when I was determined to discreetly sneak a little flower from their huge wildly unorganised patch of lotv, I was going to take home and put it in a tiny vase.. I had to slow down to let 2 ladies in their late 80s walk past preventing them becoming witnesses of my crime. And to my greatest surprise, one of them bent over to the flowers, picked one up, put it under her nose, and did something which to this day shocks me!! She said: "Smells like an old lady" and... threw it away!!ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
Ha! Extraordinary.
It’s the Hermes one and it’s in The Guide :D
You’ve made a happy man feel very old
You’re excused for not remembering all those hundreds of fragrances that you have reviewed!
These reviews and your writing are such a treat. Technical, poetic…
I’m watching for Lily of the valley in the woods near us like I do every year. There’s always an abundance. I march home as the runners and dog walkers go past me, my fists full of mini flowers, knowing a secret they don’t slow down to share.
Lately I’ve been enjoying the Lily of the valley in the new Odalisque a lot, after forgiving and moving on from the former version.
Thank you for reminding me about Odalisque. I also have a modern version and never smelt lotv in it. I will try again right now!
Some artists try to use specific self restrictions (e.g. I have 6-string guitar but I’m gonna use 4 strings only, I want to shoot a movie but let’s do it in one shot, etc.) and althought the effect usually feels like they’re trying to hard to force their impact on the world, I’ve always thought that they’re intuitively mimicking the conditions where the true intellectual power arises. IFRA - J’accuse! But at the same time - Vive Mathilde Laurent! I’m curious what’s she going to do next.
Muguet is my favorite smell in nature 💖
Flowering plants appeared in the Lower Cretaceous, some 230 million years after the first terrestrial plants appeared on Earth, so any Deva would have had plenty of time to design them (and, frankly, a poor performance for omnipotent entities to take 4.2 billion years from the earth formation to come up with flowers… what have they being doing? Like average students doing all the work at the last minute?). Strong scents evolve to overcome competition from other pollinating plants, like a garage band guitarist has to put the amplifier on full blast to be heard over the enthusiastic drummer. As now flowers have also to overcome smells coming from human activity (mostly pollutants), evolution dictates that their scents have to increase volume for their survival. There could be a future of lower diversity but stronger scents!
Ha! I love the idea of the Devas pulling an all-nighter to meet deadline. I can see how competition would favor strong scents, but then why did we end up with Diorissimo rather than Angel?
Plants that rely on beatles to pollinate have a strong, spicy and musty smell, while bees and butterflies prefer the classical florals. So Angel is more of a beetle scent ! And of course plants relying on carrion beetles and flesh flies smell of rotten flesh… let’s not give perfumers any such idea!!
I wonder how flies feel about oud.
Depends if we believe that only humans or highly evolved species enjoy olfactory experiences with no apparent evolutionary benefit.
Will I be blindfolded and offered a cigarette if I mention Coty Muguet Des Bois from the 70s?
That one had lots of hydroxy!
Brilliant - "pollinating insects are actually fragheads" - what a pleasant article, it made my day:) Lily-of-the-valley is present here in Boston, but noone sells little bouquets like in Europe, and unfortunately, no mimosa too...
Forgot to mention that I strangely enjoyed the muguet in the heart of Synthetic Jungle, even though it is not a soliflor. And I love the muguet note in the Odalisque Nicolaï.
Also, incredible muguet is in Lostinflowers by strangelove. It is muguet in oud, so unique!
Thank you for the article. In the Nordic country I come from, lilies of the valley bloom later, in late May or in June. We go and pick them, trying to fight off the mosquitoes. I've never found a decent interpretation of their scent in perfume. I did try Diorissimo edt once, but unfortunately the mini bottle had turned. Now, I have a decant of the parfum de toilette on its way to me, very curious about it...
Wonderful read and wonderful image too!
Patricia de Nicolai just recently released her own Lily of the Valley soliflore; it’s already sold out (thankfully a bottle is headed my way in the mail) but I have no doubt she’d be willing to send you a sample to review upon request. Curious about your thoughts of it against Mathilde Laurent’s work for best not-Diorissimo in the dark ages of IFRA!
Let us know if you managed to try the limited edition Nicolai, Une Fleur En Mai. I was going to order it this week but it’s already sold out.
Thoughts on how this one compares to Muguet Porcelaine?
Haven't smelled it, but will do.
I did review it, but do not have it at hand for comparison. Sounds like I liked it better than Pur Muguet, though.
I recall you liked Muguet Porcelaine by Ellena and Cavatina by Dusita in your latest guide. That one is indeed a lovely rendering of muguet, as close to vintage Diorissimo as I’ve found yet. Pre 70s Vintage Muguet du Bois by Coty (is there any other kind now?) is a great one as well. Trouble with all the vintages are those lovely aldehyde and lemony top notes fade.
Such an exquisite scent. To my nose no ‘lily of the valley’ perfume seems to match the real thing. Doesn’t Guerlain do a very expensive version?
Money won't buy you hydroxy.
That’s good as funds are limited. I will attend to my little patch of plants and treasure their harvest.
There must be a decent modern muguet perfume, surely?
:-) Define decent.