La Tulipe

Mine is a shameless result of too much time spent in the tax-free part of the airport. Mind you, in the middle of winter, just before Christmas. But who cares if you find your favourite flower, with its meaty leaves, velvety petals, golden heart and slightly sour smell of first spring days, asking to be taken home? I did as ordered. And waited for a few months, until it was perfect time to wear La Tulipe. A beauty. Excellent creation by Byredo considering that tulips are the epitomes of spring, yet there are only a few varieties that have fragrant blossoms. Usually its everything else that smells fresh and peppery- bulbs, leaves, stems... La Tulipe captures all of it, plus lasts and projects well. Intoxicating dewy, fresh and feminine. Incredibly authentic-smelling, but not exactly a soliflore- you can also smell hyacinth, freesia and lilac in the background. But it has linear development, which for this particular scent is a huge plus in my book. A must for all the tulip-and spring-flower lovers and one of my favourite Byredos. EDIT June 2021: Got the La Tulipe small perfumed oil to go with the scent, and if used decent amount of oil under the perfume, it easily doubles the performance, projects really well like this too. My guess is that Byredo oils are there to extend the longevity and projection, works well, but a bit cheeky considering the total price.

As far as I know, tulips don’t have a scent, so I can’t say: “yes, this is undeniably a tulip.” But what I can say is: “this fragrance is, in every way, a magnificent floral scent (mostly freesia).” It’s both natural and inherently clean (and this cleanliness has nothing to do with aldehydes). At the same time, it’s green. And the greenness here is also quite clean. Perfect for spring and summer, especially when there’s a breeze. If you have this scent in your hair as the wind blows, the feeling it gives is just beautiful. It’s suitable for being elegant and chic, for daily wear, for any moment. Since the day I got the small bottle, I’ve used it up at an incredible pace and have come to the conclusion that it’s full bottle worthy. If the day comes when I grow tired of all perfumes and say, “I just want to smell simple, clean, and pleasant” this would be one of the essentials in my little collection.

I've been very dissapointed with Byredo fragrances before as they are expensive and always lack something to be worth the price tag, but La Tulipe has earned her way in my wishlist. When I first applied it, I feared that it was to airy, too gentle, but it was marvelously beautiful. It opened crispy green with gentle and feminine freesia, it felt a bit like cold spring morning with wet grass, flowers all around and it smells just lovely. The heart part and the drydown is very similiar - sweet flowers with just tiny bits of vetyver. The sillage is not great, it stays close to skin, but is very noticable when you let someone close enough, the scent is made to be this way as it is very inviting, sweet and comforting. The longevity is okay for me, it lasts for 5-6 hours and even if the price tag would ask for a longer lasting time, I find it to be okay. A must try for those who love feminine florals.

This one was a pleasant surprise! I actually wanted to test Rose of No Man's Land but the bottle was empty, so I sniffed around what else the store had (not a Byredo boutique unfortunately so selection was limited), liked this and gave it a spritz. Didn't know anything about it other than, obviously, tulip, and going in blind I interpreted this as citrusy, floral and clean, almost aldehyde-like but not quite. More "clean linens" than "soap". This smells how I wanted/expected Bal d'Afrique to smell! This is a LOVE, but I won't be running out to buy it as I already have Sundazed and while they're very different perfumes they sort of fill the same role as a citrussy uplifting spring/summer scent. I like Sundazed a lot more, but I wouldn't be surprised if I grow tired of it by the time I finish the bottle, so I anticipate myself hopping over to this one for a change of pace. :)

This is so lovely. I'm imagining a beautiful spring meadow on a bright sunny day. This is an addictive fresh floral. I had just sampled Jo Malone's English Pear & Freesia which had notes of freesia and rhubarb, but I did not like that at all. It had a musty smell that funnily I had actually attributed to both the freesia and rhubarb. La Tulipe has the freesia and rhubarb as the top notes, and now I've changed my mind on those notes. If blended well at the right amount, as was done here, you can have a beautiful and refreshing fragrance! The tulip accord really is the star of the show at the end of the day though. It shines through so gracefully without being overbearing as there's a real dewiness here. I would love to add this to my collection as a spring/entering summer fragrance. I personally have no problem wearing this to a daytime formal event too.