l'Effleur

If you love Quelques Fleurs by Houbigant you'll love Coty's L'Effleur. This is a romantic, soft floral fragrance by my favorite perfumer Francois Coty and was first released in France in 1907. Coty had already made his fortune through the sales of his first perfume La Rose Jacqueminot. He went on to create hit after hit: Chypre, L'aimant L'oregan and Emeraude (whose formula gave us Shalimar). This is a beautiful floral fragrance. The notes are not listed here on Fragrantica and most likely weren't even known to the public in 1907. In 1907 these accords were available from Grasse and as you can see it's mostly a floral woodsy fragrance also called a chypre. Top: Lemon Neroli Bergamot Orange Blossom Lavender Rose Middle: Rose, Jasmine, Lilac, Carnation, Lily of the Valley Lily Hyacinth Lavender Base Notes: Sandalwood Oak Vetiver Oak Moss As you can see it was mostly floral but not a chypre in the truest sense. Coty's Chypre from 1917 would change all that. L'Effleur opens with citrus: bergamot and orange blossom. There are no aldehydes as this was made before aldehydes were used in perfume. The dominant note in its heart is the rose but it's not an in your face green wet garden rosebush. It's soft, sweet, heady but not too powerful. Because of the synthesis of other flowers the rose appears to disappear quickly. To my nose the white flowers are the strongest accords: jasmine, lily and lily of the valley. The lack of tuberose makes this much softer and less creamy. It's more of a green-floral. The lavender is obviously there and it sweetens the fragrance as if it were vanilla. An old fashioned and lovely hyacinth is here too. I was enchanted by the flowers in this garden. It's not as heavy as Quelques Fleurs and its scent is like a little cloud of scent that waft out of the bottle. And what a beautiful little bottle. It's straight out of the Edwardian period. It adorned the dressers of English and French ladies who would splash this stuff on after their bath. It's a fresh after shower fragrance that you can wear regularly, casually in the day time in the spring and summer months. I find this fragrance to be in the same family as Quelques Fleurs. The woodsy notes appear at the end as the fragrance dries down, but they're also very soft woods. This whole thing is soft, never powdery but soft. It wears like something a child or teenage girl would have worn as well so I'm thinking perhaps mothers AND their daughters both wore this fragrance in 1907 through 1912, but it really comes off as more of a fragrance for a very young girl who is just starting to wear perfume. This could have been worn by a young lady of about 14 through 16 and it could have been the scent of young girls aboard the RMS Titanic. This perfume used to be a drugstore cheapie and sold by Coty through the 1980's as a reissue that honored the original 1907 formula. As such a lot of girls and teens wore this in the 80's in much the same way that Tea Rose by Perfumer Workshop was worn by teens in the 70's. This is highly recommended for lovers of floral fragrances of all ages. Also for lovers of vintage old timey perfumes. I adore this fragrance. Thank you Lucia my flower power girl friend in London for this lovely gift.

l'Effleur by Coty is absolutely glorious. I love it so much. I have a bottle that was bequeathed to me by my grandmother! It's so gorgeous. I sniff the bottle, and put some on every now and then, and it's the most divine, sweet floral there ever was. Beautiful, fresh, youthful, elegant elegant elegant! It's a fresh spring day, in the meadow, with the most glorious sweet and natural green smells wafting all around, with a soft gentle sun giving that beautiful powdery feel that the perfume has; and it makes me feel like dancing for joy. It's sophisticated, elegant and young. Young in spirit. It's just wonderful. Fresh delicate flowers, clean, clear, crisp white flowers, with a smooth creamy heliotrope, and gloriously powdery, with a lovely sweet woodsy dry down. Sweet and innocent and very alluring. I adore it. And the best thing is, it reminds me of my beloved Granny.

I wore this in high school, especially around Christmastime for some reason. This morning, our teenage kitten knocked down my large L'Effleur bath oil which was gifted to me the year I got married. Of course, the bottle broke. :( (My bathroom smells amazing.) I never knew what the notes were, but I mostly smell jasmine and rose, some orange blossom. Something is slightly soapy, with a very gentle complimentary "spice" that isn't spicy, like carnation. Pink carnation. It stops just short of having a minty (or eucalyptus? Pine?) aspect which sounds awful even to me, but it is really a beautiful, totally flowery fragrance. A very clean and floral-sweet profile. There is no dirty musk or anything heavy..It's a bouquet like no other. The closest thing I can compare the dry down to is Narciso's Poudree, though the textures are different and L'Effleur is more complex.

After searching high and low for a place to buy this scent without paying an arm and a leg for it, I was able to get a .75 ml brand new bottle off of ebay for $17.50. It has turned a bit because of it's age and initially I noted a licorice note that was not present when this was purchased fresh while in production (1990s). After it dried down, that aspect went away and it is exactly as I remembered it. A very sharp, very green floral that isn't sweet like a lot of today's floral scents. It smells just like the bottle looks. It's very feminine and reminds me of what I think a Victorian era housewife would smell like. I wouldn't classify this as soft. It packs a straight up flower punch! You can smell it on you for hours. Coty needs to bring this one back.

I had to revisit this—one I remember from my childhood. I remember the pretty little flowery bottles that rode on the coattails of the early nineties romantic revival. Puffy shirt couture. I dug it back in the day. First spray smelled off. I panicked a bit. But then—Heliotrope!—in its full “cherry pie plant” glory. Also, lily of the valley, lilac, rose and lavender. Prim, pretty youthful florals. Is there cinnamon? Or is that the heliotrope or a product of this bottle’s age? It has more strength and persistence than I expected, as well. I’m going to agree with my fellow reviewers and say that Coty should bring this back. I would adore a fresh bottle of L’effleur, scented lotion, and pretty flower shaped soaps.