Summer floral bouquet in a bottle

Few notes capture spring as brightly and beautifully as lilacs. I have three lilac bushes around the front of my house that I’ve been nurturing for years, and they are surrounded by those monstrously big old-fashioned iris.

Lilacs have that sweet scent that borders on candy, but never quite goes there.  But it is one of the most beautiful, completely floral girly scents that I can think of.  Roses are more mature, more laid back, reserved.  Lilacs just don’t care how big and sweet they smell, they are unflappable in insisting on smelling great and looking cheerful.  And there’s no hint of smut laying behind their little blooms.

Liz Zorn tackled Lilac in two perfumes, not sure how new they are, Lilacs & Heliotrope and  Lilacs & Rose. I like them both, but between the two, the Lilacs & Heliotrope has my heart. Where the natural lilac doesn’t quite turn to candy, the heliotrope pushes it over into gourmandy territory without it feeling like candy.  From Liz’s website:

“A formidable pairing of lush iconic florals, opening with the green tinged freshness of lilacs in full bloom, settling to a rich heart of white and purple lilac, a touch of orchid, and the slightest hint of rose melding into the heliotrope, with a base of mosses, soft musk and benzoin.”

Fully lush, with an unbelievable softness, this is one of the most purely beautiful florals I can remember smelling.  If you’re not a big floral person, don’t bother, but if you enjoy a really beautifully crafted floral perfume, you do need to try this.  It’s absolutely perfect for spring, summer, and the heliotrope will take through the rest of the year.

I did get this large sample in an order I placed with Soivohle, and I’m going to happily give away some of it.  Just drop a comment to be entered. I’ll pick three winner for a sample.  If you want, you can tell me what perfume that is a straight-up floral that you like the most.  If you hate florals, well, you can tell me which one you hate the most.

  • belleotero says:

    Darn, is it too late to enter? My favourite floral is SMN’s Rosa, a totally straight-up rose that is fresh and dewy (not dried rose-petals which I can’t abide). For floral bouquet I love AG Passion — heady lush white floral, really beautiful.

  • Jennifer G says:

    I love white florals, currently wearing Serge Lutens Un Lys. Beautiful lily with vanilla and musk, yum

  • nicolibba says:

    I love florals and adore lilacs – my favorite lilac perfume is En Passant. One of my favorite roses is Une Rose Chypree by Andy Tauer. I recently was lucky enough to find Cabaret and Ferre for great prices at a local TJ Maxx.

  • Sue says:

    The most beautiful pure flower perfumes for me are Kenzo Eau de Fleur de Magnolia. The golden feel of is simply hypnotic, like a nap under a magnolia tree on a bayou.

    I’d love to try this one, as I adore lilacs but have yet to find a perfume that captures their scent without doing that cleaning product/air freshner thing.

  • Ursula D'Aria says:

    My favorites are Chanel No. 5 and the recently released Flora by Gucci. Fracas contains tuberose and is widely lauded but is not quite my thing. The old-fashioned Yardley’s Violets are making an innocent statement of their own. Diorissimo smells very much of lily of the valley.

    I don’t know of any particular lilac scent.

  • Kate says:

    Vintage Diorissimo, YSL Paris Jardins Romantiques are pretty much it, I don’t have a large collection of straight-up florals.

  • LindaB says:

    What comes to mind is my fave rose in which I only have a few, precious drops left…Lancome 2000 et une Roses.

    Also, some recent floral purchases…Bois de Violettes (love!) and POTL AMAZE (BEYOND LOVE, as in hmmm, how can I afford a FB?).

    Would love to be entered in the draw, thanks!

  • sherobin says:

    Florals are my thing. I mostly favor white florals – Chanel Beige, Carnal Flower,and nearly anything gardenia/tiare or neroli (in those categories, I’m especially loving Penhaligon’s Anthology Gardenia, VCA Gardenia Petale, Manoumalia and Guerlain AA Flora Nerolia right now). But I have a choice few rose fragrances (L’Ombre Dans L’Eau, L’Arte di Gucci, Rose de Nuit, and Stella), and a bunch of assorted florals (Mythique, En Passant, L’Artisan Fleur de Narcisse, etc.) This list could go on and on. One straight up mixed floral that I think is just perfect is Creed Spring Flowers. Trying desperately to get my hands on some Le Labo Jasmin 17 – it sounds so lovely for early summer.

    I love greens and woods and incense, but mostly as the background or embellishment for the florals. Florals represent to me the epitome of the exuberance of nature, and are the crowning jewel and centerpiece of most fragrances I truly love. Please enter me in the draw, if it’s not too late.

  • Blessed me says:

    My favorite floral is Ferre and Boucheron. Please enter me in the drawing.

  • zeram1 says:

    My favorite floral would have to be La Chasse Aux Papillons (albeit a blend). One of the nicest that I’ve smelt from L’Artisan in a long long time. Please enter me in the drawing as well.

  • Elizabeth says:

    Straight up floral, huh? Not sure if my choices would really qualify. I love Grand Amour at the moment, and En Passant also take my breath away…but I find myself attracted to more dark, mysterious florals, especially if they contain rose. Please do enter me in the drawing. I love Liz’s work! 😡

  • Olivia says:

    Oh geez! My absolute favorite straight-up floral has got to be vintage Diorissimo parfum. Thank heavens my mother did a good job of storing what she had left and shared it with me!! It is precious stuff!

  • Haunani says:

    I love lots of florals; too many to list. No one has mentioned broom yet. I recently discovered Santa Maria Novella Ginestra, and had to buy a bottle on the spot. It’s different – kind of a light, grassy-green floral. Just lovely!

  • faith24 says:

    hmm. i dont normally go for florals but my first scent was Pleasures by EL, so i must go with it 🙂

  • Alyssa says:

    Forals are my favorite perfumes. Any perfume with rose or jasmine is a must try.

  • Adrianna says:

    I like lilac, hyacinth, violets and night scented stock. I haven’t really tried any perfume with these flowers, appart from violets.

  • Cheryl says:

    I am thrilled with real lilacs, but have never encountered one in a perfume. Please enter me also. I LOVE TdC’s Osmanthus. I LOVE L’Artisan’s Fleur de Narcisse. To me both are mysterious, indelible…
    Mimosa Pour Moi was a rush of bad bad feelings for me. Could not stomach that one.

    • Robin R. says:

      Duh. Narcisse! How could I forget that one? That might be numero uno, in fact . . . Vintage Caron Narcisse Noir parfum. Spectacular. That’s not too strong a word. Deeply, profoundly spectacular.

      Least, I think so. :”>

      • Haunani says:

        I’ve only tried the modern NN parfum, but I adore it. The L’Artisan is gorgeous, too, and perhaps more my style. I also love the green narcissus & hyacinth of Le Temps d’Une Fete.

        • Robin R. says:

          Yes, Haunani, I’m crazy about the l’Artisan Fleur de Narcisse. That’s just narcisse to the tenth power, isn’t it? In my Top Ten Fragrances of all time, I think. I also love Le Temps d’Une Fete but I’ve only ever had decants and the quality has been really variable. Not necessarily the fault of PdN, but I’m just not sure if I’ve ever really smelled a good, 100% healthy example of it.

    • Flora says:

      Cheryl – If you have never smelled Jean Patou Vacances, you must do so, it’s the best lilac note EVER in a perfume. Plus you get green grass, mimosa and hyacinth too, so it’s a win-win. 😡

      On second thought, you might fall in love, and it’s gone now….:((

  • Claudia says:

    I thought I hated rose scents, but then I met Ta’if. I’ll never say never again. Please enter me into the draw.

  • helenviolette says:

    Some fave florals: Fracas! me too me too! OJ Tiare, Carnal Flower, Une Rose, Vintage Joy. Please enter me as well 😉

  • Flora says:

    Oh, please enter me for a chance at this one, I adore lilac!

    As a matter of fact, my favorite lilac perfume is also my favorite floral perfume ever, Jean Patou Vacances, unequalled in its beauty since 1936.

    If I had to pick something else for a purely floral favorite I would say Chant d’Aromes, or Ecusson, or Rance’ Josephine, or Carnal Flower, or A La Nuit, or…..too many to choose from, I just love floral scents! 😡

  • Nancy says:

    Mmmmm, mimosa is a fav frag BUT so are lilacs and I have yet to try the perfume from the bottle variety 🙂
    Please enter me in the draw.

  • dremybluz says:

    tuberose is one of my favorites, fracas and carnal flower and serge lutens tuberose criminal. enter me in the draw.

  • Robin R. says:

    Trying my luck here! Thanks for including me in the draw (assuming you are!). :)>-

    My friend and I, another fragrance nut, actually wandered around one of our favourite neighbourhoods on a lilac-sniffing expedition last month. So many lilac types, so little time: I love them partly because their nostalgic scent is with us only a few short weeks.

    Right now we’re getting the last of them, from the dwarf Korean lilac trees. So cute, so special. If you can get a chance to smell them, their scent is the closest thing to lilac “perfume.” Gorgeous. The closest fragrance to lilac I’ve found is San Fran’s Elizabeth W Lilac. I wonder if it’s still around? Spittin’ image of the real thing.

    I love any soliflore, really. Couldn’t pick just one, or two, or even three. I’m kind of a seasonal girl: when roses are just coming into bloom, I’m all about roses, etcetera. I do love a killer gardenia. I love a raunchy jasmine. I love a great tuberose, or even just a good one. Don’t know much about cassie, but Une Fleur de Cassie is maybe The Bomb of All Bombs. ^:)^

    • Robin R. says:

      Man, how could I forget ylang ylang?????????? #-o

      For that, I’m strangely partial to PG Ilang Ivohibe. I think there is no fresher and more garden-like take on the scent, even though there are ylangs out there with more pure horsepower.

      • Joe says:

        Robin: I’m curious about that PG Ivohibe (I always think of “Ivanhoe” in my head 😕 ).

        I was smelling some Aura Cacia Ylang essential oil a couple weeks back deciding if it was a scent I love or not. It’s a hard one to pin down as it’s very deep — not a typical floral that I can identify in a composition. If you haven’t seen the Youtube video of the Aura Cacia ylang harvest in Madagascar, you should check it out.

        I may seek out a sample of “Ivanhoe”… I was actually going to buy a bottle of highest-grade Ylang EO just to sniff from time to time.

        • Cheryl says:

          Go for it! Ylang essential oil is great. A few drops in bath water or on the skin or in an oil burner. It sings with the angels, but also has lust in its heart.

        • Robin R. says:

          That clip was featured on NST a couple of weeks ago and I really enjoyed it, Joe, thanks. They were filming in Ivohibe, in case that wasn’t clear on the vid.

          I’d love some great EO, too. Good idea. And Cheryl’s comment about lust and angels speaks to me. 😡

    • Joe says:

      Oh, and by the way, the Elizabeth W lilac is a nice one. How do you feel about their Magnolia? I think both are still around. I had a huge sample pack that someone sent me and I think it was just overload, but I did make an effort to try those two.

      • Robin R. says:

        Wish I’d sniffed it, Joe. I don’t remember the name coming up in an online discussion about favourite magnolia scents as being anyone’s HG, but I’d love to try it myself. I love the scent of the flower and haven’t found a great magnolia scent myself, although the new Donna Karan Iris has a quite a bit of very good magnolia, in case anyone’s been hunting for one.

    • Nina Z. says:

      Cassie is acacia flower, from the acacia tree. My first sniff of Une Fleur de Cassie took me right back to my childhood in Southern California, and the acacia tree up on the hill behind our house where I used to sit and daydream, write poetry, make out with my first boyfriend…. surrounded by the scent of acacia and the herbal-sage fragrance of the chaparral.

      • Robin R. says:

        You must have had your credit card whipped out by the middle of that first glorious inhalation. Great story, Nina.

  • maggiecat says:

    I, too, grew up with lilacs in my backyard, and I haven’t yet found a scent that replicates their special smell, so I’d love to be entered in the drawing. I do like florals for summer – I love neroli, lillies for special occasions, roses always (Chloe’s Eau de Fleur Neroli, Diorissimo, and Body Shop’s Moroccan Rose respectively right now).

  • tally says:

    Lilacs bring back great childhood memories. I love En Passant! I just bought a bottle for my mom for Mother’s Day too! I would love to try Liz Zorns!

  • k-scott says:

    This is a sample I would love to win- I haven’t experimented at all with lilac (that I know of), and have yet to try any of Liz Zorn’s frags (though I’ve heard rave reviews). Please enter me in the draw!

  • Musette says:

    Are you talkin’ to me?

    Are You TALKIN’ to ME?

    I am the straight-up floral Queen! My list reads like either the Titanic or the iceberg that sank it:

    Diorissimo
    Muguet des Bois (vint and current – they didn’t ruin that one too bad)
    Fracas – double dog dare ya to beat that one
    Carnal
    Rose d’Ete
    Vacances (powerhouse lilac that smells like sunshine)
    I wear a good jasmine essential oil when it’s really hot outside and I want to terrify people I dab on a little ylang as well.
    Ines (Alberto’s version, which is so straight-up it’s not funny)

    You know how I love a Zorn so please enter me in the draw. If, like Joe, I win but I have caved before the drawing I will let you know.

    xoxoxo >-)

  • Ari says:

    I’ve never smelled a lilac! And I don’t own a single floral. It’s sad and pathetic and prejudiced of me. So please enter me, I’d like to widen my horizons!

  • Dionne says:

    I just got Ineke’s After My Own Heart for Mother’s Day (free shipping to Canada! You can’t beat that), and I’m looking forward to see how it compares to the giant lilac bush that blooms right outside my kitchen window – we’ve had a cold spring here, so the blooms that would typically bloom the May long weekend are a few days behind.

    I’d love to try the Soivohle’s as well, so please enter me in the draw.

  • T-Rex says:

    My favorite floral so far is Fracas. Please enter me in the drawing! 🙂

  • annie says:

    I,too love neroli,but,not embellished,and, anything floral from CBIHP works on me.I remember Lilacs from my childhood,and my girlfriend and I would trek all over our small town,sniffing,and clipping to our hearts content…everybody knew us,and we knew them….It was a wonderful time(no pervs,etc),and I’m truely grateful for it every day…please do enter me in the draw.:”>

  • Tamara says:

    Hi all!
    Yes babe, please enter me in the draw.
    I’m on a rose-saffron kick myself even though the stuff I have are heavy hitters and suited for a chilly winter with cold air.
    (Montale’s Aoud Queen Roses & White Aoud)I just keep applying the last of my samples even though I broke down and got the FB’s cause I had to have them but I must have my seasons mixed up in my nose. I’m trying in vain to find something suitable for summer, I’m enjoying Voile de Violette by S.S.S. but it doesn’t quite cut it yet, I’m still searching!

    I enjoy lilacs too but have yet to find a lilac fragrance I can really accept on my own skin. My best friend is looking for one for hersef and asked me if I knew of something good. All I could come up with was F.M. En Passant , Ineke’s After my Own Heart and then I read about this one. So if I get picked I’ll probably give it to her. I don’t think I love any flowers as much as lavender.
    In my culdesac we have a lil’ courtyard and a circle of lavender surrounding it. It’s scent wafts in my home on summer nights and I pick lil’ bouquets of it. I also dig orchids, such a wonderful flower too.
    Whoa this is long, sorry for my rambling /:)

  • kjanicki says:

    For a summer sweet floral fragrance I sometimes wear Bvlgari Femme. I also have a sample of FM’s En Passant witha lovely lilac beginning that doesn’t last long enough for me.

  • maidenbliss says:

    Only wish my lilacs had a longer life span-when they’re in full bloom it’s such a heady gorgeous scent.
    I’ve tried lilac scents and haven’t found anything I would love enough to wear. The L&H sounds like it’s worth trying from its description by LZ.
    CB IHP Cradle of Light might be interesting to try as I remember you writing
    about it as a gorgeous floral.
    Violet Empire is to me the closest to perfection in capturing a floral in its true essence.

  • Jen says:

    I adore lilacs – we have one whole side of our backyard lined with the bushes. However I have yet to find a lilac scent that gets it. Like Kelly above I guess. I also love jasmine and I don’t know if this is a pure floral – but I really like bvlgaris jasmine noir. I’ve smelled balenciagas Paris and I thought it was nice. The big problem I have with more florals is that they go way over the top with the sweet. Venturing into candy territory – gourmand I think you call it ? I used to love when I was younger the Bath and Body Works lilac scent. I seem to remember it being really sweet though – and my tastes have definately moved in another direction. I’m very new to fragrance as a passion and I’m learning so much from this blog. I’d love to be entered for the sample.

  • gautami says:

    I would like straight up florals but I have found only 2 so far that I like: La Chasse and Chant d’Aromes.

    Then there are green florals that I like: Chanel #19 and Diptyque L’ombre dans L’eau

    I also want to try Rochas Tocadilly for my Lilacs fix. I would love to try this lilac too, so please enter me in the draw.

  • Roslyn Thomas says:

    My all-time favorite is Spring Flowers by Creed…elegant, flirty and just plain pretty…:d

  • ScentRed says:

    My lilacs have just finished for the year 🙁 I’d love to be in the draw.

    For a photo-realistic floral I think Annick Goutal Le Muguet is pretty amazing. It isn’t one I can wear much of, or for a very long time, but on spring days a dab on my wrist can transport me back to the childhood joy of finding these little treasures and collecting them for my mom.

    Other favorite straight-up florals are OJ Frangipani, La Chasse Aux Papillions and Divine by Parfums Divine.

  • Susan says:

    I’m with Carter re: Carnal Flower as a “straight up” floral – but
    since I’m usually perfume shopping in the discount bin, does Marc Jacobs “Blush” count? For sure not a soliflore, but the scent of a florist shop instead.

    I am embarrassed to admit that I’ve never smelled a real lilac since they don’t grow this far south.

  • DinaC says:

    I enjoy florals, especially green florals like Chamade and No. 19 edp. Iris, like in 28 La Pausa, is probably my favorite flower, but that’s really a rhizome, isn’t it? Am I splitting hairs? I also really like the heliotrope in Apres l’Ondee. Today I’m wearing Amouage Dia, which is supposedly a floral-incense. I really like it for its complexity. It’s not insipid.

    My mom and stepdad are big lilac lovers. I bought her some lilac Caswell-Masey soaps for X-mas and a little Pacifica solid perfume for Mother’s Day in lilac. Please enter me in the drawing for the sample. Thanks, Patty.

  • Beth says:

    Would be curious to try this as I’ve been searching for the definitive lilac fragrance. It would take me back to springtime in Cape Cod. I actually have a sample of En Passant by my side, but something about it reminds me of mothballs. I didn’t consider myself to be a floral person until recently but now routinely rotate between Diorissimo and AG Le Chevrefeuille. Am also considering Beige which is pretty darned floral. More importantly — where can I find these niche fragrances? I live in the DC metro area. Thanks.

  • Debbie R. says:

    I can’t think of a floral soliflore that I love, but if I did, it would have to be jasmine or tuberose in that those are the ones I love most in blends (namely Amoureuse and Narcotic Venus).

    I’d love to be entered for a sample. I could bury my face in lilacs.

  • Kristin Sargent says:

    It sounds beautiful Patty, please enter me in the drawing.

    A grand floral never fails to encompass me in light and happiness 🙂

  • mals86 says:

    No need to enter me in the draw, as I have a small bottle of L&H. It is lovely, all heady blooms; it’s sweet but not candy sweet, as you say. Although I still wish it had a bit of green up top to lighten it, I imagine I’ll start craving it around February.

    I tend to love most rose scents, but didn’t care much for the Lilacs & Roses – it seemed rather musty. It reminded me somewhat of Coty Paris, which also has notes of lilac and rose along with… can’t remember… carnation, I think? lily? I found the Coty Paris far more wearable, actually, even though it’s vintage.

    Florals make up a hefty percentage of my perfume wardrobe. Floral-bouquet favorites include PdR Rose d’Ete, YSL Paris Pont des Amours, Carnal Flower, DK Gold, Climat, HM Haute Couture, Ines de la Fressange (99) and Crown Bouquet.

    I adore lilacs and have sampled a bunchastuff in an attempt to find a lilac scent. En Passant is gorgeous but so fleeting. Vacances is ethereal (and pretty much unobtainable). After My Own Heart was all air-freshener and laundry on me, truly horrid. Loved DSH White Lilac even better than the L&H – I think I’m getting a bottle soon. It combined the fresh leafy top of En Passant with the L&H floral sweetness, and I just think it’s gorgeous.

  • Kelly says:

    I love me some big florals – Osmanth Yunan, Après l’Ondée, and my new love, Balenciaga Paris. Notice there’s no lilac in there? I LOVE the smell of fresh lilacs but I have yet to find a lilac perfume that “gets it”. Even Demeter’s “Lilac” isn’t lilac. So if you’re telling me this is IT, please count me in!

  • Fernando says:

    We have a row of lilacs in our back yard. They’re still fairly young but they smell wonderful. It’s a pity it’s such a short time!

    My wife loves florals. The one she most recently fell in love with is Bond no. 9’s Chelsea Flowers, which I think successfully recreates the smell of a flower market. It’s quite nice.

  • gator grad says:

    Oh! Enter me! Enter me!

    This morning, as I was picking my frag, I was thinking how perfumes that I think of as breathtakingly stunning are always florals. At the moment, my top 3 are Week-end a Deauville, Coeur en Mai and OJ Tiare, but I also really love Ta’if and many others in the floral camp. I don’t think that I have any lilac frags yet and would love to try this!!

  • janh says:

    I love jasmine but havent found a scent I like yet.

  • Connie says:

    Apres L’Ondee for me, too. I don’t think I’ve really smelled lilac in a perfume. I’ll have to try the Ineke Thanna mentioned. And I know it is my pedestrian nose but Fleur D’oranger smells foul on me as well. Would love to be entered in the draw. Thanks!

  • melanie says:

    I love frangipani, also known as plumeria, a flower that grows in Hawaii. The flower is yellow and white and has a wonderful tropical scent. They are frequently combined with carnations and made into leis. When I was growing up in Los Angeles, a neighbor with a green thumb, found the warmest spot in his garden and was able to grow plumerias, and would make corsages for his wife to wear at parties.
    I am off to Peru today and wondering how Lima and Cusco will smell. Lima is on the coast — salt air. Cusco: dry? ancient?
    Please enter me in the drawing for the lilac scent.
    thanks.

    • Gretchen says:

      Please report back to us on the scents of Peru. What an interesting destination.

      I envy your neighbor.

  • Thanna says:

    No need to enter me in the drawing – I already have a sample of this. Pretty but my skin can really amplify the musk in some of the Soivohle fumes so not for me.

    When it comes to lilac scents, nothing comes close to Ineke’s After My Own Heart. It’s also soft and a bit sweet but still very true to the smell of fresh lilacs. Easily the fragrance that I receive the most compliments on! Looking forward to wearing this often throughout the summer.

    • HemlockSillage says:

      Yes! My thought exactly. Ineke’s After My Own Heart strikes me as true, fresh lilac. Green and floral, with a bit of heliotrope as well. Lovely, soft, unabashedly feminine. I’d love to try the Soivohle version to see how it compares.

  • karin says:

    Was never a big floral fan – mostly detested “romantic florals” – you know, the powdery, buttoned-up, zero carnal note types. I’ve definitely expanded my tastes, though, and can now appreciate a good straight-on romantic floral, even if I don’t wear them much. Might grab one when I’m looking for “office-friendly.”

    I do like the heady, rich scents of tuberose and jasmine. Also love ylang, and can take rose in small doses if it’s vamped up with something interesting. Aldehydes help, too. Current favorites in my collection:

    Parfum d’Empire’s 3 Fleur
    TF’s Black Orchid Voile de Fleur
    No 5 Eau Premiere
    Rive Gauche (a longtime fav)
    Chamade (yes, powdery, but I’ve grown to love it)

    I also have Parisienne and Par Amour Toujours, which both read office scent to me. Recently tried Dia, which is beautiful.

  • Francesca says:

    I’m with Carter on the Carnal Flower and Après l’Ondée. I’m not much for soliflores, but on the right kind of day, with the right kind of weather, I like AG Le Muguet or La Violette. And I frequently splash a handful of Caldey Island Lavender on myself before bed.

    I like LA Fleur d’oranger on other people, but try as I might, if I put it on my own self, it makes me gag.

    • Fiordiligi says:

      Oh yes! I wear my Caldey Island after my evening bath too. It only lasts for three seconds but I’m usually asleep by then anyway.

  • Fiordiligi says:

    I am very fond of heliotrope, used of course to perfection by Jacques Guerlain, especially. I also love iris. I think it is tied in to my love of purples and lilacs in clothes and make-up!

    I wouldn’t say that florals are my first choice in fragrance but I do have some masterful concoctions amongst the gathering masses, and being me, the best are my Guerlains: Chamade (see yesterday’s Perfume Posse), Chant d’Aromes and – loud though it is – Jardins de Bagatelle.

    • Rappleyea says:

      What she said!

      :d

      P. S. I’ve wanted to thank you for praising Jardins de Bagatelle, which finally made me buy a vintage-ish bottle. I love it!

      • Rappleyea says:

        Editing to say, that I would also add Nahema and Philtre d’Amour to the list of Guerlain florals that I love.

  • sgs says:

    I’d love to try this scent!

  • Kym says:

    I am actually looking for a floral to love, but don’t care for tuberose, and while there are many lovely roses out there, nothing is really me. I’ve been checking out iris, but it’s not quite right on my skin – my favorite finds are CDG’s Lily and Diorissimo. Yet, I’m still on the hunt and have been thinking that lilac might be the right direction for me.

  • Bunny says:

    My next door neighbour has beautiful dark purple lilacs that smell wonderful(and I’m very happy to be down wind of them!)the flowers on them are gone already. :(( ok, I’m being a little dramatic with that smiley lol Enter me please so maybe I can sniff some more lilacs! 😉

  • Daniele says:

    Lilacs are my mom’s favourite flower. We have a bush in the yard that refuses to die, no matter how badly we treat the poor thing, and every year it blooms for her birthday and wafts its smell around the backyard. I remember reading something Chandler Burr wrote about lilac perfume smelling like dirty underwear and wondering how that could possibly be; lilacs smell beautiful to me.

  • Joe says:

    OK, Patty, this review has me very close to heading over to Liz’s site and placing a sample order myself right now. Both her lilac scents are very new: they just became widely available at the end of April, and I’ve had my eye on that Lilac & Heliotrope for awhile now. I also need to get some of her Green Oakmoss & Bottleneck Blues, because people keep talking about them. I’d love to be in the draw (and I’ll let you know if I cave and order samples!).

    Pick one straight-up floral that I like best? Impossible. But for now I’ll pick The Different Company Osmanthus because I was smelling it last night and realizing how amazing it is.

  • Alica says:

    So far, I haven’t had a good experience with jasmine, it’s mostly too indolic on me. Maybe I didn’t have opportubity to try a good fragrance (non-indolic) as well as a real jasmine flower. On the other hand, I love lilly of the valley, tuberose and gardenia, i.e. big white lush flowers. Thank you for entering me in the drawing.

  • mary says:

    I am still very fond of my Caron Nocturnes– I have had a bottle with me at all times since 1983. I felt self-conscious about it for a few months, I have to confess, after reading LT’s emphatic rejection of its virtues. But here it is– graceful, charming, lovely. Orange blossom, jasmine, tuberose, ylang ylang–dunno what else. It cuts its way through ambient bad smells like no other fragrance– even though I no longer hang out with a chain-smoking crowd, I remain grateful for its virtues. I remember it actually seemed to smell stronger and more lovely when it was offset by my ahem ex-husband’s constant smoking. Now, when I wear it oputside, it seems to make the smells of flowers pop–I wonder if it is the aldehydes, if it is possible that the perfume amplifies the fragrances around you. I think I will spray some on for bedtime. Please enter me in the draw, and thanks for the review–:)ps, I hope you got the little bottles of the “Gardenia de Chanel”– that is actually my other floral love at the moment.

  • carter says:

    Hmmm…straight up florals…

    Carnal Flower immediately comes to mind, and yes, AG Tubereuse. Manoumalia, I lurve. Un Lys. Rose de Nuit. Ta’if. Divine. Quartz. Sarrasins. Violette Precieuse. Does Bois de Violette count as “straight up?” Does Criminy? If so, Bois de Violette and Criminy, by all means.

    But right now the floral that is rocking my world is Nuit de Tubereuse. As soon as I run out of this split I have (I already gave few mls to the DH, who thinks it’s so great he wanted it for himself) I am going to run right out and buy a gallon of it. This is most definitely going to be my Summer of NdT.

  • chris g says:

    I really love neroli in and shape or form…also jasmine sambac. I think Goutal’s Neroli is wonderful! Please enter me in the draw – thanks!

  • violetnoir says:

    I do love floral fragrances. Recently, I have been head over heels for tubereuse fragrances, especially AG’s Tubereuse. My sister introduced me to it, and I must say that it’s uber womanly, feminine, and powerful. Just gorgeous!

    Other than Jean Patou’s Vacances, I have not found a lilac fragrance that I like. I remember how beautiful the lilac bushes right outside my grandparent’s home smelled. Plus, I love purple! So, please enter me in the drawing.

    Thanks, Patty! Hugs!