Florblanca
Reviews
Filter & sort
Florblanca
Indiscreet tuberose
I basically have Fhfhfh to thank for the fact that this wonderful fragrance, which like many fragrances today is unfortunately almost forgotten, now graces my collection. He sent me a sample and I immediately fell for Indiscret.
On the one hand I love tuberose as a flower and on the other hand I love gourmands. Indiscret combines both.
The start is a full, intense and completely unsweet fruity-floral note. However, the tuberose joins in very early and brings sweetness. Anyone who knows the flower knows that it not only smells great, but also smells very sweet.
However, the top note of Indiscret does not initially contain the sweetness of tuberose, which may come as a surprise to some people. The advantage of this lack of sweetness is that the tuberose, whose real flowers can cause headaches due to the immensely strong scent, only shows the beautiful side here.
After about an hour, Indiscret slowly - very slowly - becomes darker, warmer and noticeably sweeter. At the same time, the tuberose decreases in size and leaves room for other flowers. Ylang-ylang in particular contributes to the enormous softness and creaminess, although it is not one of the fragrance building blocks.
Lucien Lelong speaks of the following scent building blocks on the website:
Mandarin, orange blossom, Algerian jasmine, French tuberose,
scarlet oak moss, Egyptian amber and exotic essential oils
A good sillage ensures a very nice scent distribution, but caution is advised, a little too much of the scent and the environment might not be very pleased. The projection is quite expansive and is stronger or weaker depending on the dosage.
The enormous durability ensures that the scent can be enjoyed for a long time, but can also lead to headaches. Therefore, caution is advised when using it, because as already mentioned, too much could result in a very unpleasant overdose.
For the base, most of the sweetness is removed again and the tuberose also leaves room for other fragrance building blocks. In my opinion, this includes spices - I would assume nutmeg and clove oil, and some vanilla is also noticeable, because the base is soft, round and gourmand, possibly supplemented with woody scent components. While the projection still has these spicy components, Indiscret is greenish and unsweet directly on the skin, which I particularly like and I wished this note was a little more prominent. Because the spicy-sweet note is difficult in the long term, so I would only use this scent in homeopathic dosage.
In direct comparison with "Tuberose" from Profvmum Roma, which simply offers extremely concentrated tuberose, Indiscret shows significantly more facets and also leaves room for other flowers without drifting into the kitschy floral. Finally, I would like to emphasize that Indiscret is not for the shy; this scent is definitely too loud and too strong.
Nevertheless: Another fragrance that should definitely continue to exist and is therefore - recreated - still available for purchase on the Lucien Lelong website today.
On the one hand I love tuberose as a flower and on the other hand I love gourmands. Indiscret combines both.
The start is a full, intense and completely unsweet fruity-floral note. However, the tuberose joins in very early and brings sweetness. Anyone who knows the flower knows that it not only smells great, but also smells very sweet.
However, the top note of Indiscret does not initially contain the sweetness of tuberose, which may come as a surprise to some people. The advantage of this lack of sweetness is that the tuberose, whose real flowers can cause headaches due to the immensely strong scent, only shows the beautiful side here.
After about an hour, Indiscret slowly - very slowly - becomes darker, warmer and noticeably sweeter. At the same time, the tuberose decreases in size and leaves room for other flowers. Ylang-ylang in particular contributes to the enormous softness and creaminess, although it is not one of the fragrance building blocks.
Lucien Lelong speaks of the following scent building blocks on the website:
Mandarin, orange blossom, Algerian jasmine, French tuberose,
scarlet oak moss, Egyptian amber and exotic essential oils
A good sillage ensures a very nice scent distribution, but caution is advised, a little too much of the scent and the environment might not be very pleased. The projection is quite expansive and is stronger or weaker depending on the dosage.
The enormous durability ensures that the scent can be enjoyed for a long time, but can also lead to headaches. Therefore, caution is advised when using it, because as already mentioned, too much could result in a very unpleasant overdose.
For the base, most of the sweetness is removed again and the tuberose also leaves room for other fragrance building blocks. In my opinion, this includes spices - I would assume nutmeg and clove oil, and some vanilla is also noticeable, because the base is soft, round and gourmand, possibly supplemented with woody scent components. While the projection still has these spicy components, Indiscret is greenish and unsweet directly on the skin, which I particularly like and I wished this note was a little more prominent. Because the spicy-sweet note is difficult in the long term, so I would only use this scent in homeopathic dosage.
In direct comparison with "Tuberose" from Profvmum Roma, which simply offers extremely concentrated tuberose, Indiscret shows significantly more facets and also leaves room for other flowers without drifting into the kitschy floral. Finally, I would like to emphasize that Indiscret is not for the shy; this scent is definitely too loud and too strong.
Nevertheless: Another fragrance that should definitely continue to exist and is therefore - recreated - still available for purchase on the Lucien Lelong website today.
1 Comment
Harvest time
The mirabelle plums, these small, yellow, sugary beasts from the plum family, are ripe, overripe, and fall from the trees in their hundreds. They now cover almost the entire meadow and are a refreshment for the musk ox, which is allowed to live freely here and eats a fat belly of fruit during this time.
After all, we like mirabelle plums too, so I can understand why the ox enjoys them.
Its musky "scent" mixes with that of the sweet mirabelle plums; there may also be one or two flowers, but they hardly play a role, just like the other scent components that are found in the pyramid.
With a full stomach, he slowly retreats into the vanilla orchid thicket between the sandalwood trees to rest. Full, the snout still smells of mirabelle plums, and - as far as one can say of an ox - completely satisfied.
The sandalwood-vanilla clouds blow around his nose and he dreams of many, many mirabelle plums that he can still eat, with a facial expression that almost looks like a grin...
This Iles d'Or version 2007 has nothing to do with the original Iles d'Or. The scent is a fruity musk-vanilla composition, which ends in a gentle sandalwood-vanilla note, but otherwise shows no “Gold Island” properties. It's nice, but if you're like me and know the "old" version of Iles d'Or, you'll be disappointed with this fragrance. Maybe that's why I waited so long to try it because it was exactly what I was afraid of...
Please, dear Molinards, bring me back the original Iles D'Or, one of the most beautiful scents in my collection.
After all, we like mirabelle plums too, so I can understand why the ox enjoys them.
Its musky "scent" mixes with that of the sweet mirabelle plums; there may also be one or two flowers, but they hardly play a role, just like the other scent components that are found in the pyramid.
With a full stomach, he slowly retreats into the vanilla orchid thicket between the sandalwood trees to rest. Full, the snout still smells of mirabelle plums, and - as far as one can say of an ox - completely satisfied.
The sandalwood-vanilla clouds blow around his nose and he dreams of many, many mirabelle plums that he can still eat, with a facial expression that almost looks like a grin...
This Iles d'Or version 2007 has nothing to do with the original Iles d'Or. The scent is a fruity musk-vanilla composition, which ends in a gentle sandalwood-vanilla note, but otherwise shows no “Gold Island” properties. It's nice, but if you're like me and know the "old" version of Iles d'Or, you'll be disappointed with this fragrance. Maybe that's why I waited so long to try it because it was exactly what I was afraid of...
Please, dear Molinards, bring me back the original Iles D'Or, one of the most beautiful scents in my collection.
Applesauce
When we still lived in the Czech Republic (until I was 14), we pickled and cooked a lot ourselves for the winter. This ranged from homemade sauerkraut to pickled cucumbers and rum plums. Pears, home-made raspberry syrup and substitute honey made from sugar beets up to - of course - applesauce.
That's exactly what I have to think about when doing the monodie tests. There is still something artificial in this applesauce, which - if it were stronger - would come through very penetratingly. Luckily it's not very strong and so bearable. This sweet fruit puree smell remains and absolutely nothing changes during the drydown.
I don't know how much these scents cost, but in this case I would prefer a jar of applesauce for 99 cents.
That's exactly what I have to think about when doing the monodie tests. There is still something artificial in this applesauce, which - if it were stronger - would come through very penetratingly. Luckily it's not very strong and so bearable. This sweet fruit puree smell remains and absolutely nothing changes during the drydown.
I don't know how much these scents cost, but in this case I would prefer a jar of applesauce for 99 cents.
The red letter
Whether Manuela Pfannes-Völkel was thinking about Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel - The Scarlet Letter - when creating this wonderful perfume is beyond my knowledge, but the perfume is just as dramatic as the book.
The opening is already extremely powerful, but here it is still more fresh-green, less citrusy, and the lush rose-saffron-wood-vanilla mixture is already emerging here. First, dark red roses bloom, which almost take on the accord of gold lacquer and levkojen thanks to the other fragrance components. These flowers are sweet and powerful, accompanied by green notes of citrus leaves in the background.
Spices - and I couldn't claim that it's just saffron - gradually bolster the flowers more and more. The scent becomes warmer, more expansive and incredibly sensual. Only later is a fine, almost creamy wood tone added and the vanilla and the saffron provide the spicy base.
Based on the scent building blocks mentioned, one might think that the scent progression is linear. But it is by no means that and Manuela Pfannes-Völkel also calls it a pyramid:
Head = Hesperides chord
Heart = red roses, saffron, rose liqueur
Base = Iris, woods, oriental vanilla accord
This pyramid almost corresponds to my perception of the scent, but I find that the alcoholic note in the rose liqueur only appears after the woods and vanilla. It's also less of a liqueur and more like a wonderfully smooth, sweet Scotch, such as a Singleton, which soaks up the dark red roses and spices and breathes new life into them.
A very dear fragrance friend sent me a sample of this fragrance, and she could hardly have given me a nicer scent. I fell in love with this scent the first time I tried spraying it and even though it's definitely not a summer scent, I'll definitely spray it on every now and then in the spring, just for myself.
Letter in Red is one of Manuela Pfannes-Völkel's extraits. The Extraits with 35% to 40% fragrance content in an innovative oil-alcohol base come in a puristic bottle with a gold cap. With this fragrance, the perfumer has created an absolute work of art that deserves widespread attention.
The labels are designed by Manuela Pfannes-Völkel's sister and are very appealing and imaginative. It's nice that a perfumer dares to bring color back into the labels.
At the very beginning of commercial perfumery before the turn of the last century, beautifully designed labels were often the only feature that helped distinguish perfumes on a shelf. At that time, almost all of them came onto the market in apothecary bottles, and the customer then poured them into her own bottle at home until the perfumers teamed up with crystalries and individual bottle design came onto the scene.
Letter in Red is my first Arts&Scents fragrance that I got to know and it immediately landed on my wish list. For me it embodies what Ramón Monegal called "author's perfume" at the time.
ADDENDUM September 2nd, 2022: I treated myself to the fragrance some time ago, but it has since been reformulated and differs from the original version. Immediately after spraying, you can notice a clear smoke note, which I'm not a fan of at all. And it takes some time for this smoky note to subside and give way to the lovely soft, round, gourmand notes. Honestly, I would gladly trade this scent for the previous version...
The opening is already extremely powerful, but here it is still more fresh-green, less citrusy, and the lush rose-saffron-wood-vanilla mixture is already emerging here. First, dark red roses bloom, which almost take on the accord of gold lacquer and levkojen thanks to the other fragrance components. These flowers are sweet and powerful, accompanied by green notes of citrus leaves in the background.
Spices - and I couldn't claim that it's just saffron - gradually bolster the flowers more and more. The scent becomes warmer, more expansive and incredibly sensual. Only later is a fine, almost creamy wood tone added and the vanilla and the saffron provide the spicy base.
Based on the scent building blocks mentioned, one might think that the scent progression is linear. But it is by no means that and Manuela Pfannes-Völkel also calls it a pyramid:
Head = Hesperides chord
Heart = red roses, saffron, rose liqueur
Base = Iris, woods, oriental vanilla accord
This pyramid almost corresponds to my perception of the scent, but I find that the alcoholic note in the rose liqueur only appears after the woods and vanilla. It's also less of a liqueur and more like a wonderfully smooth, sweet Scotch, such as a Singleton, which soaks up the dark red roses and spices and breathes new life into them.
A very dear fragrance friend sent me a sample of this fragrance, and she could hardly have given me a nicer scent. I fell in love with this scent the first time I tried spraying it and even though it's definitely not a summer scent, I'll definitely spray it on every now and then in the spring, just for myself.
Letter in Red is one of Manuela Pfannes-Völkel's extraits. The Extraits with 35% to 40% fragrance content in an innovative oil-alcohol base come in a puristic bottle with a gold cap. With this fragrance, the perfumer has created an absolute work of art that deserves widespread attention.
The labels are designed by Manuela Pfannes-Völkel's sister and are very appealing and imaginative. It's nice that a perfumer dares to bring color back into the labels.
At the very beginning of commercial perfumery before the turn of the last century, beautifully designed labels were often the only feature that helped distinguish perfumes on a shelf. At that time, almost all of them came onto the market in apothecary bottles, and the customer then poured them into her own bottle at home until the perfumers teamed up with crystalries and individual bottle design came onto the scene.
Letter in Red is my first Arts&Scents fragrance that I got to know and it immediately landed on my wish list. For me it embodies what Ramón Monegal called "author's perfume" at the time.
ADDENDUM September 2nd, 2022: I treated myself to the fragrance some time ago, but it has since been reformulated and differs from the original version. Immediately after spraying, you can notice a clear smoke note, which I'm not a fan of at all. And it takes some time for this smoky note to subside and give way to the lovely soft, round, gourmand notes. Honestly, I would gladly trade this scent for the previous version...
Miss Fischer's mysterious case
Yes Fischer is my maiden name, Fischer with sch not just with sh. And what is mysterious about this case? Quite simply, someone like me, who is demonstrably not into chypres, counts a chypre - and a pure chypre, as real as it gets - as one of her favorite scents.
For a long time, many, many years, I owned a tiny sample bottle of Calandre and guarded it like the apple of my eye. The scent completely amazed me 40 years ago! And to put it bluntly, how can someone like Paco Rabanne take such a dream fragrance off the market in favor of One Million plus flanker???
Yes, yes, it may be that oak moss is no longer allowed to be used and ambergris is no longer allowed to be used either. Chemistry has certainly now found adequate substitutes for it and the scent could be recreated (almost) like the original.
Its beauty is truly unique, although today's young fragrance lovers may shy away from the top note. Because in order to discover the scent for yourself, you need one thing: patience!
The start is extremely bitter-green and only after a few minutes do citrus accents soften the extremely green note. Not to smell citrusy now, but to take the scent to the next level.
The heart! Here jasmine with lily of the valley accompaniment and iris background becomes one of the most beautiful unsweet flowers I can imagine. The slightly oily substance of the perfume lasts a very long time and with every hand movement Calandre's blooming heart surrounds me, which is simply beautiful to kneel down on.
The base becomes dark and greener again, which I would like to attribute to musk and something woody. I cannot perceive ambergris. The scent remains in this elegantly beautiful green until it fades away after a few hours.
No, I'm not a chypre fan, but YES, I love Calandre.
For a long time, many, many years, I owned a tiny sample bottle of Calandre and guarded it like the apple of my eye. The scent completely amazed me 40 years ago! And to put it bluntly, how can someone like Paco Rabanne take such a dream fragrance off the market in favor of One Million plus flanker???
Yes, yes, it may be that oak moss is no longer allowed to be used and ambergris is no longer allowed to be used either. Chemistry has certainly now found adequate substitutes for it and the scent could be recreated (almost) like the original.
Its beauty is truly unique, although today's young fragrance lovers may shy away from the top note. Because in order to discover the scent for yourself, you need one thing: patience!
The start is extremely bitter-green and only after a few minutes do citrus accents soften the extremely green note. Not to smell citrusy now, but to take the scent to the next level.
The heart! Here jasmine with lily of the valley accompaniment and iris background becomes one of the most beautiful unsweet flowers I can imagine. The slightly oily substance of the perfume lasts a very long time and with every hand movement Calandre's blooming heart surrounds me, which is simply beautiful to kneel down on.
The base becomes dark and greener again, which I would like to attribute to musk and something woody. I cannot perceive ambergris. The scent remains in this elegantly beautiful green until it fades away after a few hours.
No, I'm not a chypre fan, but YES, I love Calandre.
