Florissa

This smells exactly like Grossmith's Floral Veil but is a lot cheaper.

A friend just sent me a bottle of Florissa, along with the body lotion and shampoo--I was very excited to try it and I have to agree with the person above who compared it to Paco Rabanne's Calandre--that is EXACTLY what it made me think of--one of the more beautiful floral aldehydes of the mid 1970's! I know that this scent is not fruity or gourmand-y enough to appeal to most young people today, but it takes me back to my own youth in NYC, when scents like this were the height of fashion. I don't find it at all over powering and plan to wear it frequently this spring. I have a number of other Floris scents--their magnificent Jasmine, fresh Lily of the Valley, soft Violette and nostalgic Edwardian Bouquet --but this scent is much more modern than the single note florals and floral bouquets! This was a great gift from my friend Cheryl!

Wearing Floris Florissa is like taking an early morning walk in a powdered, powdery Edwardian garden where the morning fog has set a fresh layer of moist, dewy drops over the grass, lily of the valley, jasmine, rose and oakmoss. This perfume is inviting, tranquil and comforting. And there's lots of powder so if you don't like the aldehydes in Arpege, Calandre or Clea then you won't like this.

I have worn this on and off for years - probably my all-time favourite perfume. However, it's very complex, and since partially losing my sense of smell with otherwise asymptomatic Covid last year, I can't get all the notes now. Hopefully I will regain it fully and be able to enjoy it again. Even though it's now discontinued, there's usually the odd small bottle on eBay.

No, no. no! I never get beyond the blinding headache & synthetic twist, but I will struggle onwards & try to describe this scent. It is indeed a floral bouquet – that, I can cope with, the soft rose & heady jasmine are easy to detect & very pleasant. But then I am hit with aldehyde top notes that are painful – not fresh air, not cut grass, just chemically unpleasant ‘dust’. You know when you catch a whiff of someone’s nasty fabric detergent on their newly washed clothes on a lovely cut-grass day & you wish your nose had not been assaulted by such man-made cleanliness & had, instead, been left to nature’s bouquet? It is that impression I get here. Somewhere in there I detect a whiff of bad breath – coffee breath? - & car interior. It is very strange. The elements do not meld well to my nose – which is very unlike Floris. However, I may be alone in my repulsion – my mother wore it & loved it’s ‘warm bouquet’....I used to walk behind her & crack open the paracetamol.