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.

I had no idea that this was from 1907 but it does have a very antiquey feel to it. It has a very bittersweet memory to it for me- I was 19 and in the throes of a very intense but ill fated romance and one of his gifts to me was a bottle of l'effleur in an oval box printed with roses. He was an older graduate student who had a wife in another city as I was to find out later and the romance didn't survive the summer apart. When my grandparents passed away I found the box, now faded from age with his picture still inside, tucked at the back of my old closet. I bought two bottles recently and they take me back to that time.

Guess I am going against the grain here but I love L'Effleur - or should I say loved. I wore this as a teenager then a few yrs back, found a bottle online but I suspect it had gone off as it was not how I remembered it to be - sweet, powdery, pretty and kind of innocently sexy. I miss this fragrance and would snap up a bottle again if I could find it! Edit - I found and bought a bottle of Lilabelle by Kate Moss today - it is the closest fragrance to L'Effleur that I have come across in all these years! Tho my nose may deceive me...

I remember a friend had this perfume back in High School , I loved it ! It was so pretty ! Its definitely a green floral and such a spring summer fragrance, I have since found a replacement though not as stark as l'Effleur. Si Fleuri by Lomani has a similar scent profile and is also very pretty... so as l'Effleur has been discontinued and you want to walk down memory lane to experience l'Effleur once again with Si Fleuri should give you a fix🤭

To me this perfume opens with a 4711 Classic olde cologne style, fresh, spicy, familiar. Then 4711 goes to her wardrobe and selects a dusty fusia raw silk gown. Deepest pink rubies and diamonds later, the ivory silk long gloves go on. This was the pefume Karin Blixen wore in Out of Africa as she accepted the drink at the men ́s only club.

I owned a bottle as a teenager(late 80s-early 90s) smelled amazing.im not great on description of notes but it was classic.girly.young.my sister scored a bottle on eBay.i use it for special summer/spring occasions or when I want to remember those times.still very classic,flowery,fem.smell.

This is my favorite!!!! I have a couple bottles that I use for special occasions or more in the winter time. It's very very hard to find. Such a soft and almost powdery smell. I had no idea it was launched in 1907

This was one of my favorites and I so wish that they still made this! I received so many compliments when I wore this fragrance, its clean, soft, soapy, and powdery - just lovely.

My first love! I was 10 or so, early 90s. So fancy...

The word that immediately came to mind when I first smelled l'Effleur (After the initial bad notes, that must have gone sour due to this being a vintage) was the word "kind". As others have mentioned, this scent evokes the Victorian era. I must agree with this; it is soft, sweet, rosy. It makes me think of my mom in a warm kitchen baking a chiffon cake, with the gramophone playing Chopin. It is lovely, and contains so much more class within its soft floral notes than any modern perfume ever could. Perfume makers seem to have forgotten how to make a floral smell something other than sickeningly sweet, apart from a few good ones. It is very innocent, and has a hint of fresh laundry smell that allows l'Effleur to be both sweet and clean. Something about it makes me sad, as all vintage perfumes tend to do to me. l'Effleur lets you grasp those bittersweet memories of childhood innocence, first love, flowers in your hair. And for those that do not have those memories... l'Effleur will allow you to truly feel the joy of them.

Beautiful light floral with an adorable, super-femme bottle. Very dainty scent that reminds me of the talking flowers in Alice and Wonderland. This is a very friendly floral, not a headache-inducing one. The fragrance smells like how the bottle looks. L'effleur brings back memories of when I used to go up into my aunt's bedroom and sneak sprays of this from off of her dresser when I was a little girl. She had Heaven Sent, Coco, No. 5, and many others, but this was always the one I "borrowed". I used to drown myself in this and she would just laugh and play some Beatles records. Thankfully it wasn't expensive. Noticing that I was a budding perfumista at age 5, she ended up buying me a sparkly little bottle of Petite Nate to get me to stop taking her stuff, ha ha. It's been discontinued but you can find bottles of L'effleur on ebay. I have a bottle that is expired and it is a bit wretched in the beginning, but after about an hour it smells just like it used to.

I remember this very young barley remember.... A woman who I used to look up to wore this&I remember she got this as a birthday gift from her mother&she was so happy it was a boxed gift set,angels&florals&she had the bath salts and the box displayed in our bathroom....back then it smelled like bubbles from a bubble bath&florals&watered green soft flower stems almost a light bubbled champagne feel also. So I bought a bottle for her&later me online....It almost smells the same,not as magical as when I was young girl though,I got for nostalgic reasons...I wish coty could make this again&make it last,I guess what made it so special was the memory & packaging! Let's all vote lol come back L'effleur!!!!!

Many years ago,I bought a gift set (with body lotion and spray parfum) for my Mom for Mother's Day. She loved the sweet but light floral scent, and I even borrowed it a few times because it did not make me sneeze, which is an issue I have with floral scents. It smelled almost exactly like a bubble bath which was popular at the time, called "Victorian Blossoms"--old-fashioned but in a pleasant way. Longevity was on the high end of moderate, with good sillage too. It did not have that aldehyde note which I usually dislike in the traditional floral perfumes. I am not surprised that it was a Coty original from 1907, as there was something "classic" about it.

I haven't smelled this in years, but it was my goto scent during my goth days spent hanging out in cemeteries making rubbing of old gravestones, contemplating Victorian life. Green and floral, it was timeless and transcendent, innocent and clean. I wore this on occasion through high school, but lost it in a move. Shame to see it discontinued, though, every little girl should be able to wear a perfume her grandmother's mother wore as a girl, I think.

My great aunt gave this to me when I was twenty and I jelously hold on to it because of this. I had no idea this is an original Francois Coty creation of 1907! I like this fragrance because it's so pure, clean, soapy and flowery that it fits perfectly a spring day and because it's not so "aunty" as I supposed it to be when I received it. Nonetheless this is too clean and soapy for me, I undoubtely prefer more provocative scents.

my bottle was left to me by my grandmother. It wasnt her signature scent or anything but i'm definitely still biased. It has a lovely floral scent without being rosy like modern floral perfumes. It also has a hint of musk, and is exactly how youd imagine a floral perfume in an old disney movie would smell. Beautiful, fresh, classic.