Hi there Perfume Posse Peeps. Gucci used to be a fashion house whose frags you’d look out for. They did great things in the 80s and when Tom Ford came along it was as if they could do no wrong. That fragrant hey day is well behind them and they seem to revel in bringing out boring, safe, equal to celebuscent dross. Recently I bought a couple of the Flora by Gucci range off a mate for very reasonable prices. We can take a look at them together today as ways to beat the summer heat all you Northern Hemisphere Posse are sweltering in. I am surprised, Flora by Gucci are not hideously awful…… though these babies are probably not made with hardcore perfumistas in mind.
Flora by Gucci
Flora by Gucci Glamorous Magnolia Gucci
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Freesia, citruses, green notes
Heart: Magnolia, peony
Base: Mexican chocolate, sandalwood, musk
Wet, sharp, squeaky opening notes that are as much an attack as they are a fragrance. The first couple of minutes of Glamorous Magnolia is like being near a chemical accident in a freezing cold florists shop. I’m wondering if the opening might smell less ferocious and more refreshing if you are in the heat? From my winter room in Sydney it’s ghastly.
Once the scary opening has burned off it does settle into a very pretty, generic, slightly citrus floral. You can smell the satin feel of the magnolia blossoms and the softest pink ruffled blush of peonies. The heart is quite nice. Totally wearable and a perfect foil against the summer heat. It doesn’t smell expensive or luxurious to me, but I could imagine it becoming an easy go-to, especially for work or lunch dates. It would be excellent as a fabric softener and I can imagine people who like their clothes to smell of the rinse cycle loving that Glamorous Magnolia won’t clash with that.
Flora by Gucci Gracious Tuberose Gucci
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Peach, violet leaf
Heart: African orange flower, tuberose, rose
Base: Virginia cedar, labdanum
Yet again Gracious Tuberose has a horrible screechy opening but mild compared to Magnolia but the cold bite is quite wonderful. Also it lasts only momentarily before the white flowers come and smooth the fragrance out. Quite fatty white flowers that are comfortable and a little sexy. The fragrance is like a young girl on the edge of womanhood, fresh, crisply clean and ripening.
Remember when you were a kid and you got caught out on your bike in the rain and you’d peddle home with it pouring down in freezing torrents, then imagine you are that cold wet kid and the warmth of arriving home to all the lights on and the smell of some delicious food being prepared and knowing you can have a warm shower and dry clothes. That is the feeling I get from Gracious Tuberose, though how something so ordinary can stir such a grandiose visual I’ll never know.
Gracious Tuberose is pretty, wearable and nothing special. Here’s the thing though: I really like it and the journey it takes me on. My heart is telling me I will wear it. I would also happily gift this to a non-perfumista friend being reasonably assured that it is inoffensive enough to be liked by many.
FragranceNet have AUD$65/50ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has some of Gucci’s best loved fragrances to sample: L’Arte di Gucci, Gucci No. 3, Gucci Rush, Gucci EDP 2002 and many more.
If you have enjoyed this then please pop over to Australian Perfume Junkies and continue the scented conversation. We love visitors, say HI while you’re there
What is your favourite Gucci? Do you like the Flora by Gucci set? Have I missed the point?
Portia xx
I bought the original Flora because of the osmanthus note and because it came in the 1oz – three cheers for being able to purchase smaller sizes! And yes, my high school niece loves it, which confirms your point about Flora connecting with that age group.
Aha! Thanks CbSutcliffe. Sometimes when I write stuff it niggles in my brain that I may have missed the point. PHEW!
100% YAY for 30ml sizes. It’s a perfect purse or bureau amount and let’s face it, what perfumista is going to go through 100ml of almost anything in their collection?
Portia xxx
Howdy, Portia! I remember trying these and thinking they were OK, but not that I’d ever spend the bucks for them (but of course, how often do I spend any money on a FB? Like, never, ha!). I do recall liking very much the Guccifrom a few years back that came in a bit of a squat, smoky brown bottle with the gold bit hardware that Gucci is known for. It was kind of woody-musky sexy and very nice in the fall. Ever since then, not all that impressed.
Hey Ann,
That brown bottles Gucci EdP is a lovely sheer but hefty, creamy, soft white floral with a tiny hint of humanity. If you’re going to love a Gucci it’s a pretty good pick. There’s still a bottle of that rattling around here.
How sensible are you not buying bottles, I can’t help myself.
Portia xxx
I used to love the Gucci II edp; used up a whole bottle of that one. It was a little bit blackberry, black currant, but with cedar woodsy notes. I’ve got a tiny parfum mini of Gucci 3. That one is a classic green chypre iirc. Smells great and old school with aldehydes, bergamot, green notes and woods. I sniffed those Floras when they first showed up, but that screechy opening turned me off. Loved your descriptions — you have such a way with word pictures, Portia!
Hi DinaC,
Gucci No 3 is a fabulous. I have a 30ml bottle here that is a bit off but still wearable for reminiscing. It was the fragrance my first partner & I wore for a couple of years.
That is a beautiful compliment to a frag writer. Thank you.
Portia xxx
I don’t know much about the Gucci line – the early one that March likes, I like but obviously not enough to remember the blasted name.
I LOVE your description of riding your bike home in the pouring rain – after torrential heat we are now in the grip of a cooling thunderstorm and the lights are on and it’s just so comfy. xoxooxA
Musette,
We see so many perfumes why would something you only mildly like ever stay in your head? Nope, it wouldn’t.
So glad you’re getting a cooling storm. Cuddle up, spritz something you love and enjoy every minute.
Wish we were there to share it all with you.
Portia xxx
I was just sniffing these yesterday at a Sephora! I only smelled them on paper, but I had the same reaction — recoil on the open, then thinking they were nice, but nothing special. And then a sales associate came over and wanted to spray me with the new YSL they were pushing, so I retreated to the NARS section.
I don’t really know the Gucci line well — I have a sample of Gucci EDP from 2002 that I got in a grab bag. It was OK — very fizzy and powdery that turned into powdery amber on me. Kinda nice but kinda weird.
Not sure these new ones are anything I’d try again, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE your memory association with the tuberose one!
Hey there HeidiC,
PHEW! I’m glad that others get the same reaction.
Amazing what our memories throw up through fragrance. It often surprises me.
Interestingly Gucci Guilty is one of my best compliment getters, every time I wear it.
Portia xx