Fleur du Mâle

Fleur du Mâle is a weird fragrance. In a vacuum, you probably won’t think it was made by the same company that released the much more popular, Le Male. They’re on entirely different leagues and absolutely serve entirely different purposes. Even the demographics of each scent I would assume are very different. The oversimplified way to describe it would be to call Fleur du Mâle as a more floral take on Le Male, which I’m guessing was probably the elevator pitch for this one. And I’ve heard it described so by my friends in the frag-comm that introduced me to this. However my experience with it has been entirely different from that so maybe take whatever I say with a grain of salt. This is going to be a very, VERY biased review of since Fleur du Mâle is probably my favourite fragrance of all time. There are people who have said this smells like a "fart". So YMMV to say the least. Obviously, I completely disagree with that take and think it is kind of a hyperbole. My description of it would be far from it. However I think I can tell you why someone might find aspects of this to be unpleasant, when we get to the scent profile. I’m a huge fan of Francis Kurkdjian’s work. I’ve not smelled that many from his own line (MFK) but as far as the fragrances he has created for other brands go, I think the dude is one of the best noses out there. And I consider Fleur Du Male, a masterpiece of his. If you’re a fan of the way he manipulates floral notes such as Orange Blossom, Neroli, Lavender and Chamomile, you’re definitely in for a ride with this one! *Scent profile* This is one of those fragrances whose scent profile you probably won’t see coming and it was most definitely not one I was prepared for. Especially since all the note breakdown info I had about it was from Fragrantica (which is quite inaccurate in this case). Here is how it goes... As soon as you spray it on, your nose is bombarded with an effervescent and herbaceous Petitgrain along with an intensely indolic orange blossom. If you haven’t had a chance to smell anything indolic before, you’re most likely gonna be instantly put off by the opening. Put simply, it reminds me of smelling something extremely green (almost like you crushed some fresh leaves) along with some day old, possibly dead and definitely oxidised jasmine flowers (it comes across like that to my nose). A challenging opening to say the least and possibly unpleasant to most. Jasmine flowers are quite culturally significant where I come from so I’d say I’m pretty well-acquainted with the scent of jasmine flowers, at their liveliest as well as their dead form. This is most likely the part that people compare to anything unpleasant. However this is only if you’re smelling it super up close. In the air though, it’s a completely different story. It smells like a floral version of freshly peeled oranges, which is probably the orange blossom (this is much more noticeable when sprayed on clothes) along with a couple of other florals that aren’t completely clear-cut yet. Saying that there is a lot going on in the opening would be an understatement. When you let it sit for a couple of minutes, the indolic aspect of the scent goes more and more to the background to the point where it is less of an overwhelming presence and more of a nuance that just adds some depth to the fragrance. What starts to shine as we segue into the mid is an unmistakable floral mix of Lavender, a Neroli that feels like Jasmine, with a touch of chamomile. Nope, the Neroli does not come across in this, the way it comes across in Italian style colognes like the Acqua Di Parmas you might have come across. It’s more of a creamy, floral take on the note than a soapy clean one. While the florals have a huge presence in the fragrance, what keeps it from being a very traditionally ‘feminine’ type of scent is the fact that it’s not mixed in with anything syrupy or fruity like most feminine targeted fragrances tend to be. While there is a slightly sweet vanillic backing to the lavender, Neroli and a bit of chamomile, it is also beautifully balanced with a very smooth sandalwood that keeps it from becoming a cloying, powdery sweet scent. The lavender used here is far from the ones you might smell in traditional fougeres/ barbershop scents or even the essential oils. It’s a very creamy experience here rather than a fresh or clean lavender that we generally come across in fragrances. This is mostly due to the way it is combined with the vanilla and the almost imperceptible but definitely present sandalwood. I’d categorize it as *almost* milky. Imagine the scent texture of a lavender flavoured whipped cream with a bit of vanilla adding sweetness. Definitely not a gourmand but the ‘whipped cream’ metaphor is more to describe the smoothness of the scent. In the super late dry-down of the fragrance, the super smooth creaminess fades away, leaving behind a scent that I can only categorize as a grown up version of baby powder. The floral aspects of the fragrance are pretty much gone at this point except a little bit of lavender that still remains, keeping it from smelling like a freshly powdered baby’s butt. This might be the point where it is at its most appealing to most people in its entire scent development. On a side note, a lot of fragrances kind of fall apart or are barely recognizable in their super late dry-down (10-12 hours in) when compared to how they smelled in their early dry-down (1-2 hours in) but Fleur du Male continues to feel like a very well composed, complete and an intentionally designed scent. This is one of my favourite aspects of the scent. This is what you’d get if you smell it directly from the atomizer. The lavender, vanilla sandalwood combo might make it sound very much like Le Male but the way they are done are thoroughly different. Le Male has a more youthful oriental (but not traditional) fougere thing going on with the mint and spices while Fleur is a little more grown up and not at all a fougere to my nose. This doesn’t feel like something that you can see most people you know wearing like you might with Le Male. You would probably need to have a personality that would match you in order to wear it. This will feel out of place and weird on a very manly man. I know Le Male is not particularly manly but it seems to have built an association with a certain kind of man that Fleur du Male doesn’t really align with. I think Fleur is great for someone who is looking for a scent that is not extremely sweet but has some sweetness to it which serves a purpose greater than just making the fragrance long-lasting like JPG’s other creations such as Ultra Male. Fleur is not overtly masculine at any point and probably on the ‘metrosexual’ side of things. Women can definitely pull this off, probably even easier than a man if it sits well with their nose, which is kind of the ‘catch’ about this fragrance. *Performance* Not what you might expect from a scent like this but it’s most definitely what I’d consider a beast. With about 4-5 sprays (it has a great atomizer) it lasts easily for 12 hours on me. Projects a healthy amount for the first 4-6 hours and sits a little closer to the skin after that. It’s a beautifully pleasant skin scent after the 12 hour mark. Works great all year round, might be a tad too cloying on scaldingly hot summer days where the powderiness might come out more to play. But definitely wearable if you control your sprays. Might not last as long tho. It’s super weird and I’ve not smelled anything like it from even the niche houses I’ve smelled so far. I hear comparisons to Reflection Man which I don’t get at all. Reflection man goes on the more mentholated, woody, masculine floral side which is totally different from Fleur. Montale’s Wood and Spices kinda does smell like Fleur except a sweeter, waxy, almost crayon-like version of it with fewer of the nuances. Doesn’t really fit into the same genre at that point. I do wear it in situations where I don’t wanna use up my Fleur. Wood and spices is a beast in its own right too, just not as pleasant or intentional of an experience as Fleur du Male to me. If you’re still reading (hey thank you!), you know you’re at least interested in sampling it which I do encourage you to do. You know, if the whole idea of the scent actually intrigues you. It got discontinued sometime in 2015 but can still be found online for good prices ($60-$75) depending on your market. It was a blind buy that worked out for me (probably wouldn’t recommend you to do that). Yeah I’m definitely picking up a backup bottle if I can find it. This might be the only scent I’d want to have a backup bottle of.

Back in the summer of 07, coming back from Prague, this and the then new Mandarine Basilic were my Duty Free purchases at Athens airport. Love at first sniff after growing tired of the heavy sweetness of Gaultier2. Two bottles, one bottle of La Cologne and about 18 years later, I once again found a sealed bottle from the first years. And my love for it ignites again! Fleur du Male was the natural evolution of Le Male. Le Male became a love after its heyday and the heavy and everywhere use subsided; i liked it but why buy something I can smell every time I leave the house right? It found its way to me in a vintage bottle a few years ago. FdM took the theme of a powdery fougere, brought it in line with the height of metrosexuality and added indecent amounts of orange blossom and cumin that make it both scandalously erotic and immaculately clean. The bottle, milky white, and the color of the juice, a rich orange/red are a perfect indication of what to expect. Andrés Velencoso was the perfect choice for the ads! Fleur du Male opens right from the start with orange blossom. Concentrated and intense, you sense the richness, which is opaque. It’s that big. Neroli and petit grain along some wonderful chamomile add expansiveness and a breath of air and freshness for the fragrance to breathe end expand on skin. They lift it up showing us all the facets of the flower, particularly the indolic side. Some jasmine in there too along some slight green notes. Mid stage in the development, Le Male’s powdery fougere accord starts to show more and more, still bathed in the orange blossom. It’s less powdery and more heady. The touch of Castoreum of the original Le Male is replaced by cumin and clean fluffy musks that while powdery, are also carnal and slightly skanky. I always liked to think that the milky bathtub water in the ads was more than just milk... FdM dries down after many hours to a skin musk, dirtier than Narciso’s For Her with a slight floral residue and a slight touch of amber. It still fills a room even at the end of the day. Back then it was considered avant garde. Those were the last years when designers still took a risk; we had this, Dior Homme, Prada Man, Narciso for Him...metrosexuality was peaking and while today these perfumes are sorely missed and loved, back then they weren’t best sellers; most guys weren’t ready for them. I had all, but I was just ahead of the game. Just like the perfumes. Inevitably they got discontinued or reformulated only to be loved after they were gone. But boy were they gorgeous!!

I did a blind-buy of Fleur du Male (FdM) back in 2013 because it was inexpensive and a fragrance created by perfume extraordinaire, Maison Francis Kurkjian. Initially, I liked it but didn't love it. However, I've grown to love and appreciate FdM and feel that it's a brilliant quality scent even though it's not my style. I would love to wear it more often but I find it difficult finding an appropriate time to wear it on my uber-manly, testosterone-laden skin. Whereas I find Le Male to be a dangerous fragrance (e.g., dangerous in that I sense every female wanting to molest me whenever they get a whiff of the vintage version blended with my manly testosterone and pheromones - the ladies love this sexy elixir), I sense this same danger while wearing Fleur du Male. Unfortunately, the danger is from getting my ass-kicked, lunch money taken, and man-card revoked for smelling like a cuck with flowers in his hair. (LOL) I just don't feel this is a very manly scent...but still love it. Regardless, I really did like this fragrance and it has continued to impress me over the years (a Fleurry type of La Male). Moreover, it is certainly a unique men's fragrance, very well-blended (excellent quality) and reasonably priced. However, it's just too powdery and fleurry for me(n) to wear often...especially in public. A definite try, try and try again before you buy. Finally, just like with my vintage bottle (pre 2012) of Le Male, FdM projects like a beast and lasts a very long time. Overall, Fleur du Male is a brilliant and highly underrated and highly overlooked fragrance. Sadly, it misses with the Hoi Polloi because it doesn't smell like Department Store cologne, it misses with the Hoity Toity because it doesn't come with a $300 price-tag so it must be crap, and it misses with the dudes because it smells just a bit too chickly. Still, it is an awesome fragrance that you should put your nose on.

The flowers of evil Shocking and vulgar but at the same time romantic, the Flowers of Evil unfortunately shared the same fate as the astonishing lyrics of Charles Baudelaire. The latter were once banned, modified ... while the masterpiece signed by Francis Kurkdjian was withdrawn from the shelves. Who has a bottle is a happy one. I'm one of the few. The white of the bottle is symbolic, as is the composition. Chamomile, neroli and petit grain. White flowers that inspire purity and tranquility, but a sinister tranquility that hides an unfair and addictive depth. It draws you into a spider web from which you don't seem to want to escape. Friendly ingredients, harmless because we are talking about neroli and chamomile, but when mixed they turn into the most seductive and perfidious composition. A scent of contrasts, a symbolic and very attractive composition. You may think it's a nonsense, but JPG Fleur du Mâle, that's what I'm telling you it is. Even the name is contradictory. Who can think at malicious flowers, especially white as chamomile? Well, that's because of the unscrupulous attraction they're guilty of. An artistic composition without a doubt which, unfortunately, is no longer among the living but which will remain forever in the memory of the enthusiasts. The performances are truly amazing and the scent intoxicates you from the top. It can be worn from my point of view only in spring in cool weather, matched by the white flowers in the trees. A masculine floral bouquet that puts you to the test quite seriously if you are not used to indolic sensations. Polarizing to God, no wonder. Moreover, it is also linear, for hours prolonging the agony of feeling a dizzying balsamic scent next to you, a duplicitous state of ecstasy and anxiety. A piece of art

Sex under a tree of orange blossoms-- that is Fleur du Male. How they managed to make a fragrance this floral dominated, and was able to make this fit a man is completely beyond me. Women have Anais Anais, and men have Fleur du Male. It's a similar concept. A white floral, with playful innocent sexual marketing. Fleur du Male is an absolute masterpiece. I was fortunate enough to score two bottles at 35 bucks a piece at a Ross back in '14; I'm still on the first bottle, and the second bottle is packed away in the closet. It doesn't start off sexual. In fact, it starts off very green and clean. Not unlike how clean a crisp bar of original Irish Spring soap is. Combine that, with the smell of orange blossom petals squished on your fingers. Heavenly indeed. As it wears, it begins to get warm and somewhat spicy. This is where it turns erotic. Imagine herbal honeyed orange blossoms sprinkled on horchata, with the smell of post-coital sheets and bodies. A masterpiece. A masterpiece I tell you! Although this fragrance is floral dominated, I cannot imagine a woman smelling this, because. It isn't overtly dainty. Having said that, this isn't a macho man's fragrance. This is a clean-cut, shampooed, conditioned, and shaved type fragrance. I could see someone like Mario Lopez or Colton Haynes pulling a scent like this off easily. I only wear this on dinners out when the weather is mild, and sometimes to bed. I can't wear this all the time, because truth be told, it does somewhat arouse me. I can't be aroused all day every day. That's why I wear its more popular cousin Le Male. Another masterpiece.