Flora Bella

I bought a nearly full (unboxed and with a missing lid) 100ml bottle of this blind from a seller on eBay for £25 sterling a couple of months ago. It's Lalique (haven't tried a Lalique I haven't liked yet) and by Bertrand Duchaufour, who I can rely on to be entertaining if nothing else. The only Duchaufour perfume I've tried so far which was a complete scrubber is L'Artisan's Skin on Skin. Flora Bella arrived when it was cold (snowing). I sprayed it on the back of my hand, sniffed and recoiled. There was a horrible - metallic? - chemical note which repulsed me. I thought the perfume in the tube may have oxidised, so tried spraying 30 times or so to clear it and then tried again. Nope. Still smelled awful. I thought the perfume may have turned (it had been stored without its box, after all) as it's purplish-brown - not the pretty, clear-blue of the liquid pictured above; I checked pictures online and those showing the bottle all depict a brown liquid. I put it to one side for a while, until tonight, when curiosity got the better of me. It's been unseasonably warm here for the last few days; whilst it's a little cooler tonight, I am still warm - certainly far more than I was when I first tested FB. I sprayed a little on the back of my hand again, cautiously sniffed... And tonight I am smelling a totally different perfume. It smells just like a florists - that fresh, green smell you get on first walking into a florists; this is flowers, stems and leaves, the whole plant! It reminds me of Roja Dove's Lilac (which I loved but found the sillage and longevity desperately lacking, particularly given its price). On me, the loudest flowers are lilac, mimosa, carnation and freesia. Tuberose is behaving herself for a change and the exotic flowers, orchid, frangipani and tiare are waiting politely in the background with the spices and amber. I can't smell them at all yet, to be honest. I sprayed about two hours ago now and there has been little, if any, progression, other than a reduction in sillage - which is absolutely fine by me, as I am thoroughly enjoying my bouquet, flowers, leaves, stems and all. Highly recommended for warm summer days - it's quite delightfully fresh. If you've bought this and dislike it, give it another chance in different climatic conditions; you may be pleasantly surprised. I've just upgraded this to "love" - a remarkable turnaround from "bin it". ETA: Longevity is outstanding, particularly on my dry skin - still can be smelled over 12 hours later (although very much a skin scent). I'm not sure about clothing, as I haven't tried it - but perfumes always last longer on cloth. Edited again to add: I've spritzed this again, to compare it to Penhaligon's Ostara (also by Duchaufour) and today I am detecting a much stronger tuberose note. Interesting. Hmmm. 16.08.2018

Flora Bella was a blind Purchase for me. Knowing how strong Lalique parfümes can be I was hesitant. But, After reading the notes and the review from Miss J. I decided to purchase a bottle. The bottle is GORGEOUS of course. The first spritz I did panic a bit. It was strong and sort of harsh. But, it faded quickly. It blended into the most intoxicating scent. Dense, Rich, Wet, Luxurious florals. I wouldn't say so much tropical but exotic. Not over sweet at all. Immediately I can smell a rich vanilla. The best way I can describe it is.... A vanilla tapioca pudding warm in the slow cooker with beautiful fragrant exotic flowers garnishing the sides. The heat releases the vanilla, sweet almond, mild spices and the aroma of exotic florals. The flowers in this are cool smelling. The vanilla is warm but NOT sweet. It's rich and creamy and floral... But not hot and, harsh. However due to it's floral density and vanilla-almond richness. It actually makes a great winter floral fragrances. It has good silage and the longevity is average (on my skin). On clothes and hair it lingers longer. I get about 5-6 hrs. That others can detect. I however can't detect it after about 4 hrs. All in all. A great buy. I really like this one. It's interesting, mature and sophisticated. Definately not old lady. I couldn't see a Tween to Twenty something going for this either. Its certainly a sophisticated scent. Addition; FYI This perfume liquid has always been Amber in colour. The box is periwinkle. The liquid periwinkle colour is in photos only. It was edited/altered. I assume it was done for advertising, perhaps to match the box.

I noticed they left out the almond note that's very obvious in this perfume. This is one of my favorite all time fragrances. Such a shame this nice thick winter floral and almond perfume is no longer on production. It's a personal perfume. Something you wear just for yourself. The vanilla and almond on this is not Gourmand.. It is more of a raw vanilla and almond. That blends well with the other flowers. Which are also so well blended it's difficult to pick out any one flower.

Icekat, your review nails it! This perfume is really special. Lalique was one of the houses I was never really fond of, but I am loving them more and more!! For example my favorites so far: - Nilang - Lalique Le Parfum - Flora Bella And I also learned to love the original Lalique, and I am CRAZY about the vintage formulation pure perfume! So all in all, well worth your time and money!

Oh and I forgot to mentoin, it belongs to the fragrance family of Kenzo Summer, as already mentoined by Maki, the yellow bottle. Only is this perfume stronger. Quite great, because I always used to think that I loved Summer but I always found it a bit to weak. So this is the upgrade on that concept! WONDERFUL!