Flor y Canto

Covered in blood sacrifice the god of the dawn drew back his bow and with eternal ease shot his arrow over the great city of Tenochtitlan. Thus by his grace first rays of the sun once again touched the top of the temple Mayor. Snaking through the city were the aromas of the chocolate brew and maze tortillas that was the morning breakfast. Mothers up before light roused there husbands and children with laughter and songs. It was a new day in the heart of the Aztec empire. Near the great causeway famers rowed their long boats along the canals to tend their floating flower gardens; they spoke of rumblings from the East. Daily there is news of the approach of strange fair skinned men with four legs who came out of the Eastern Sea. Could they be gods? Or are they demons come to eat alive the inhabitants of the city in the center of the lake? What sacrifice would they demand, flowers or blood? Such thoughts were forgotten when the farmers were met with the brilliant golden shimmer of the god of the dawn’s blessing upon the canal. There hearts leapt to their throats as they always did at the first sight of the gardens overflowing with the blossoms of the gods. These were sacred flowers grown only for the Emperor and the temple of Xochipilli, the god of love, dance and flowers. As the famers worked and sang well into the mid-day they were ignorant to idea that these were to be the last days of the flowers of Mexico, the last days of peace, the last days of their world. They only knew this morning the embrace of the thick intoxicating dream educing aromas of the flowers of Xochipilli. How could anything ever change when the gods had blessed them for eternity? Flor y Canto was created for Carlos Huber, the founder of Arquiste by the brilliant nose Rodrigo Flores-Roux. It was envisioned and created to capture a day in 1400 pre-Colombian Tenochtitlan of the most fragrant Aztec festival of the year. It is a resounding success for this floral is so very reminiscent of the gardens of Mexico I have visited in Guadalajara. It is very linear and stays true to its opening all the way through. The eau de Parfume opens with a brightly romantic and lovely Mexican Tuberose. This is a soft and enveloping tuberose and not at all overwhelming. There is Frangipani of the Plumeria family to add a generous touch of the exotic. A fleshy rich Magnolia lends strength and presence to the mix and all is bordered by a very green note of golden marigold. The splendors of this ancient garden are not epic but rather soft and close to the skin. This perfume draws one in close and like a furtive kiss brushes your cheek with the promise of more. It lasts about four to five hours on my skin and then whispers of memories of that romantic tryst in garden last summer for about another two hours. This is a scent perfect for meetings set outdoors on a warm evening with someone special. Made for a woman it can work on the right man. After all there was no goddess of flowers for the Aztecs, No he was a big sexy tuberose wearing God!

This is a gorgeous tuberose scent with a wonderful, honeyed acacia note. Fresh and creamy and a little buttery, somewhat sunny too thanks to the fruity frangipani note. Rodrigo Flores-Roux has made the tuberose fresh and light with a beautiful accompaniment of magnolia and tagetes, and a generous helping of plumeria and copal. But it is the Acacia that makes me swoon and this is a standout from similar type fragrances. Acacia blooms are described as having a delicious honey sweetness, and that is what I smell here. Blended with the other notes creates a composition that is softly floral, subtly sweet, and feather-light, and wears like the most delicate veil despite some heavy base notes that could, under a less experienced perfumer, have made the scent dense. I love these gossamer type fragrances that surround you in a fragrant veil. It's what Francis Kurkdijan did it for Ellie Saab's Essence No. 2 Gardenia, and Honorine Blanc did for Eric Buterbaugh's Regal Tuberose, and what Rodrigo Flores-Roux has done here. They all took what are normally very heavy floral notes and made them fresh and light without sacrificing the opulence and elegance of those notes. Though all seem to be simple compositions, they are actually quite complex, and absolutely stunning! I really love this, and a fb has already been added to my wardrobe. PS - Must be sprayed with abandon if you want to be embraced in a veil of fragrance all day. 😉

A burning paradise in a bottle. One of the best perfumes I myself have smelled in years. Addictive. And oh! The copal and tuberose combination . . . I can detect every note and then some in this perfume, and the copal and tuberose are the strongest, but it's still perfectly blended. And it lasts. A long, long time. I must confess I over-sprayed it yesterday, and developed a brief anosmia to it. Which is hard to imagine, but noses are funny organs. Note: I wouldn't call this a safe blind buy, unless you, like me, are into bigga time powerful florals. This isn't technically a white floral, but it is one nevertheless. Probably reminds me more of Fracas than anything else, maybe Hope. (Both favorites of mine.) But I'd advise trying a sample first. Unconnected note, except I got these two at the same time: Why the heck isn't Deck of Scarlet's Your Majesty in the database yet?! Please someone, remedy this.

I received a small vial of this from Scentbird. Luckily they give a large enough sample to try several times. This is such a beautiful and unique floral scent. No musks or sharp anythings at all. Just flowers. The marigold was a great choice for them to give this a little more personality. Very high quality and lasts sooooo long. I put it on one evening and in the morning when I woke up, it was still noticeably there. None of that "I just slept for 8 hrs" perfume leftover funk or anything. It smelled great! This has quickly become a favorite and a must have in my collection. This perfume is not for everyone but for someone looking for a very pretty floral, this is well worth trying.

My daughter bought this, but decided it was a bit much for her so she gave it to me, as I had been sneaking sprays frequently. I ended up buying L'Etrog from Arquiste for her to compensate. I love tuberose, it is one of my favorite notes, and this is one of the best examples. Beautiful perfume, very interesting. Keeps you sniffing to discover what it will do next. I experimented and layered it with Island Gardenia because I just love that floral combination and was very pleased. It is clear this is a high end fragrance, there are no sharp edges, no out of place notes, nothing more or less than what is needed for perfect composition. A very good experience.