Fleur de Louis

Soft, elegant, ladylike...beautiful for any age. A beautiful sweet first impression. For women who appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. Who don't need trendy notes to make something sexy and beautiful. Virginal. No dirtiness, smoke or animalic tendencies. A perfume on its best behavior. The first shot on my skin...a hint of pine...blink and you miss it. Then my beautiful lovely iris!!! You gorgeous flower you!!! I don't really detect orange flower but the rose is gorgeous and shows up about an hour later. So soft and sweet. It makes you want to swirl your nose on your skin to appreciate its beauty. There is a slight powder but ever so slight. This is not a strong or heady perfume. This is not a powerhouse and sits fairly close to the skin. Here is to beautiful beginnings!!! edit...Some days I get the orange flower. It depends on the day. Really lovely!!!

Arquiste Fleur de Louis opens with a surprisingly sharp orange blossom. The orange blossom itself doesn't have much innocent, fluffy sweetness, and skews towards green, clean neroli. But at the same time, there's quite a bit of mentholated indole as well. These two characteristics combined, Fleur de Louis feels kind of austere and bracing to me at first sniff. Gradually with time, a gentle jasmine sweetens the fragrance, warming it up and turning it more approachable. The iris also arrives with its soft powdery texture. Layering on the clean orange blossom, this mild powdery texture lends the fragrance a soapy feeling. Not the sharpness of old soap bars, but tonic and refreshing, in a poised and classic manner. The mentholated indole lasts well into the dry down, which make me suspect that pine also plays a quiet role in it. The orange blossom quietly exhibits its natural oily sweetness, while tiny bitter greenness plays hide and seek among floral sweetness. The overall effect actually reminds me of blooming hyacinths in early spring, unexpected, but I quite enjoy it. The sillage is relatively soft, and the longevity can reach 10 hours on my skin. The note pyramid of Fleur de Louis did not initially raise my interest, but I was positively surprised after testing it on my skin. I especially appreciate its use of mentholated indole, which manages to render the floral sweetness a natural feeling without compromising the overall fresh tonic ambiance of the fragrance. Moreover, it succeeds in walking the fine line of having various nuances and paying tribute to classic themes, but with a modern radiance. I would definitely recommend it to those who are seeking a more floral "eau de cologne" style fragrance, with a certain balance between classic elegance and modern aesthetics, but I'd also suggest testing beforehand if you happen to be more sensitive to mentholated greenness.

Opening was sharp - I can clearly feel neroli and iris, but there is NOTHING sweet about this as one might expect from neroli - the scent is soapy and sharp, almost bitter from iris, it is with no doubt very feminine and at the opening reminds me very much some old powerhouse fragrances as the iris here shares the same quality. Though - silage is very moderate and far from the "good old ones". The heart adds warmth of jasmine making this even more elegant and enjoyable for me. The scent itself is still kinda sharp and soapy, but the balance what jasmine gives is really lovely, it plays around being "cold" and then "warm". Drydown is warm jasmine and cedar combo with bitterness of orris root, basically - very similar to the heart part, just a tiny bit of cedar added for depth. Even though I must admit that this is a really lovely scent - it smells like elegant and expensive soap - I cannot understand the price tag (149 EUR for 55 ml) as it is nothing new or unique, also the longevity is not superb and silage is rather moderate. I do not feel anything extremely high-class quality wise also. Worth a try of course, but I think that not many will be willing to give $$$ for a full bottle.

Aside from what's already said, I also detect a lily of the valley "accord" similar to the perfumer's Walk On Air *Rodrigo Flores-Roux is also responsible for Neroli Portofino and Velvet Sublime! Right there tells you he's an expert on orange blossom!

Really great aldehydic floral fragrance. Too much orange blossom for my personal taste. Lasting power is quite weak.

Pine iris white floral. It’s a bit too generic for my liking. 6/10

Pleasant and very feminine. A floral for mature women.

On me, it’s an indolic, animalic and carnal jasmine. It’s a soapy, spicy, musky, white floral with a base that reminds me of warm horse skin. Loving the indole is key to appreciating this classic scent. It’s an elegant floral for a sophisticated woman who has her life together and appreciates luxury scents with an old-style charm. The circular bottle seems so small, I was surprised that it was indeed 55ml as it felt much smaller. For lovers of Salome by Papillion or Beloved by Amouage.

This is the smell that I can't stand aroud me, I immediately feel if someone has similar....need to go out of the room!!!

Fleur de Louis by Arquiste is inspired by the moment when King Louis XIV first laid eyes upon his young Spanish bride Marie Theresa of Spain. They met at the Iles of Pheasant near the city of Irun on the border of France and Spain in 1660. The meeting was not only to present the young princess to the King but to ensure peace between France and Spain. As it is today it was not considered good luck in the 17th Century to see the bride before the wedding but Louis being bold and of an entitled nature presented himself to King Philip IV and his daughter. To avert the awkward moment the Spanish King pretended not to see Louis and his daughter being a good catholic princess blushed and lowered her eyes. But not before she got an spectacular eyeful of her future. This perfume created by Rodrigo Flores-Roux for Carlos Huber's Arquiste line captures the splendor and elegance of the age of the Sun King. . It opens with a gorgeous African Orange blossom that Louis who was known as the sweetest smelling monarch in Europe loved. This orange note also brings in a touch of Spain and the Infanta Marie Theresa. Rose, jasmine signify the favorite perfume of the King, L’Eau d’Ange. Under this is a warm iris note supported by an earthy deep royally rich Orris which gives a nod to the ladies of the French court who wore Pomade de Florence which the king adored. In the base is a sturdy cedar note that blends with a fresh bright pine note. These wood notes add a strong masculine support the waning notes in the dry down. I find that even though it is marketed to women Fleur de Louis is very much a uni-sex fragrance fit for a King and his consort (and however many mistresses he may have.) . It is delicate, refined and quite beautiful and falls in feeling somewhere between a classic eau de cologne and a fine perfume. One might expect that description to mean it smells old fashioned. Not at all in fact, I find this perfume to be youthful, bright and full of colorful nuances. Both the sillage and longevity are of a moderate nature. It projects at about arms length which I find perfect and lasts on my skin around six hours. This sophisticated and beautiful perfume is indeed a royal treasure to be enjoyed by all who wish to share the moment of promise that once enfolded a king and queen at the dawn of the Sun King’s reign. FIVE GOLD STARS ***** (FOR THE DRAMATIC STORY BEHIND MY REVIEW CHECK OUT MY BLOG SCENTS MEMORY)

An enveloping strongly floral scent, Fleur de Louis by Arquiste captures the beauty of King Louis XIV love of orange flower. The indolic scent is further amplified but balanced wonderfully by another white flower, jasmine. Their pairing creates a sweet yet intoxicating fresh accord. Both flowers when used without caution can become cloying and heady. Here, both are utilized with the utmost expertise and never delve into headache inducing territory (a testament to the perfumer's talent). Powdery Florentine iris (both flower and orris root) help to soften the edges of what may have been piercing indolic white florals, providing a diffusing effect much like sunlight filtering through opaque clouds. A very subtle rose is noticeable, giving a velvety texture to the composition. Perhaps this is a "Spanish rose", in honor of King Louis XIV's Spanish bride. Cedar and pine notes are barely perceptible, but do become more prominent in the dry down and lend an elegant base. They seem to create the framework for this enchanting and regal floral scent.(158)

This scent has a similar soapy aspect as infanta. There is a bit more depth here however. The opening is sharp and definitely not sweet with neroli and iris predominant. Then a little jasmine and cedar add a slight sweetness and warmth. The orris adds interest and makes you think, " ooh where's this going" but then stops. This like infanta is clean and soapy almost old fashioned in it refusal to get interesting or dirty. Like something my great nana wore, like pears soap. It's almost considerate in its cleanness, like Louis didn't want to offend anyone by wearing something daring. Very concervative. Not sure if its worth the price tag however.

The FLEUR DE LOUIS is a straight opposition to INFANTA EN FLOR: rather egoistic with a bit sharp combination of orris and white cedar wood. May be it the first impression a young Louis made on Maria Teresa... A fragrance with a strong conservative and not a traditional but a traditionalist’s character. Very distinct sillage with a distinct longevity. Universal, I think: for any season and any time... if in business reality – for any exhibition presentation with a stand-up party.

Such a lovely bridal scent. So pretty, innocent and elegant. Timeless indeed. The jasmine is very prominent on my skin and honestly this is first time when Jasmin and my skin chemistry get on well together. Yep, the story above is very well presented.

Reminds me of Guerlain's Cologne du 68.