Lily of the Valley

I just recieved a sample of this from Lucky Scent and I almost cried when I applied it because it is so beautiful! This is Lily of the Valley perfection! I really do not pick up other notes on myself personally. It is fascinating to read how different it can be from person to person- one smelling roses, the other many notes, while me I really just smell LOTV. When I smell this, I am transported to a happy place- rolling in a green meadow of flowers as a child, on a gorgeous spring day, the sun shining through my light, champagne blonde curls, with my grandmother in her soft white blouse reading a book on the wooden swing bench. This is Lily of the Valley in all of its delicate, feminine, sweet, slightly green, very sligjtly powdery, beautiful splendor. I have officially found my new signature scent- which I have been searching for ever since Creme Bouquet was discontinued for the 2nd time. This feels so clean, crisp but soft, sweet- but in a subdued, slightly earthy way. This feels oh-so feminine and demure! It is not loud or overly complex, but not so simple or faint that you have to dig your nose into your wrist to smell it. On me this gives a good 2-3 feet of a hand laced white veil, adorned with a crown weaved of these beautiful flowers, stems included. It's official- i am addicted! I am surprised at the sillage and longevity of this actually! For such a delicate smell, they usually fade ridiculoualy quickly on me. But then again, even the strongest, most punch packed fragrances that last for hours upon hours on everyone else, fade quickly on me. This doesn't! It has been 5 hours and I feel as if it only has grown stronger as time has passed! I am blown away by this in the best way possible. Blown away to a fairytale dreamland, my own pixie hollow. I absolutely must have a full bottle! It is rare for me to love a fragrance so much so that it is worthy of a full bottle. Most of my collection is samples and decants for this very reason! The only full bottles I have ever been compelled to buy were Stila Creme Bouquet, Guerlain Champs Elysees edp, Serge Lutens Un Lys, and I just semi- blind bought Guerlain Meteorites. This is another to add to this highly picky list! This somewhat reminds me of Serge Lutens Un Lys, but in a different way. Un Lys would be my dream meadow at dawn, with the moon still visible in the sky and the sun starting to rise in the horizon, while Penhaligon's Lily of the Valley would be my dream meadow in the late morning, on a 65F sunny day with white fluffy marshmallow clouds in the sky. If you love soft, sweet, simple, realistic florals that are happy, white, lean delicate, but crisp and green at the same timw- you will love this.

This is extremely beautiful, an eerily accurate floral scent with the added bonus of stem and slightly dirty root included. When i smell this, i imagine the early days of spring when it's a little wet out and the flowers are blooming and you can smell them as you walk past. But with this, it's like you smell that but you're up closer with your nose in the flower bulb itself and the rainy soil scent is in the background. Honestly speaking, this perfume can give me spring fever even when it's still summer or winter. It doesn't smell old at all, i honestly don't know how people can think of it that way (no offense if you do). It just smells like a beautifully ripe flower. I'm really sad i ended up losing this one at my sorority house, but honestly it mightve been stolen, not that I can blame them! I'm not sure how to describe the performance since it was quite awhile ago since i had this and i didn't understand how to really wear a perfume. I just used to spritz one spray on my neck and maybe one on each wrist for my own pleasure and i don't think anyone could smell it unless i asked them to. And when i did ask them... Well let's just say it was a crowd pleaser for both young and old. I really wish they would make an edp of this scent because it really is so wonderful. If you get this, my advice is to keep a close eye on it so you don't lose it or get it stolen! I would also like to warn you that once you try this, it might spark a Penhaligons addiction... So please do be careful if you're on a budget LOL. But seriously, this is one you can't go wrong with and it's SO much better than most other perfumes that are being produced nowadays. Definitely one of the best soliflores in production!

This has been the closest I have to a reliable 'signature' scent for a while now, and to me reads as a true soliflore. I'm a gardener and have smelled real lily of the valley many times, and this smells of that and that alone. Therefore, it is: clean, 'cold', fresh, slightly green, delicate, and sorrowful/wistful in the emotion it provokes. It is purely floral and cannot be grouped with any other fragrance family. I think true soliflore scents are timeless and ageless, and this is no exception. It is a perfect scent for winter and spring, and is very unlikely to be unpleasant to anyone around you. People around me, when they notice it, say 'something smells of flowers' rather than complimenting me on my perfume! It lasts exceptionally well on clothing, and moderately well on the skin, for me. Beware of topping it up too much throughout the day, as it can quickly cross from smelling exquisite and natural to having a strange artificial reek if you pile it on!

Esse perfume para mim representa a inocência, a alegria, um parque com muita luz, crianças, um jardim, cheio de flores, uma lago, uma magia que mistura alegria , boas vibrações, esperança, paz , conforto, delicadeza. Gosto de usar de sexta-feria para o trabalho, ou no sábado para passeios. Sinto muito o cheiro do lírio do vale que eu amo, sinto uma umidade, e também um doçura. Ele está no meu top 5 de perfumes, em uma coleção de 100, então realmente deve ser algo bom !;-) This perfume to me represents innocence, joy, a park with lots of light, children, a garden, full of flowers, a lake, a magic that mixes joy, good vibrations, hope, peace, comfort, delicacy. I like to use Friday-fair for work, or on Saturday for outings. I can smell very strong the lily of the valley that I love, I feel a dampness, and also a sweetness. It's in my top 5 perfumes, in a collection of 100, so it really should be something good! ;-)

To me this is what a picture a pixie to smell like. Specifically Tinker bell in the pixie hollow movies. The green of her dress and the fact that all the fairy's have little jobs has always been something I adore about those movies. Disney really did raise me on some good stories lol. Anyways, this smells green, flowery, and lively. And to any of those annoying little "But it isn't gourmand! I don't want it!" People (Which I'm specifically making fun of my sister) this is not just your average floral oh no no no. This is much MORE than just a floral. This is a poem in a bottle. Like I said earlier, this is the smell of Tinker bell paired with the whimsy of a child's dream. It is such a wonderful scent and I'm DYING to get a full bottle.

Someone else said below and I couldn’t agree more, it’s not a fresh fragrance. I feel like probably because it was created in 1976, back then this was consider a green scent, which is a lot different from our definition nowadays. Now that’s cleared that up, it is a beautiful white floral. There is definitely a blind note of musk in this. I fell like it’s Pure Poison’s mom. It’s classy, sunny, like a warm spring. I love love it!

I adore lily of the valley when it blooms in late May, early June. This screams spring to me, with its lovely soliflore scent laying close to my skin. I enjoyed the other comments that said this was old fashioned and something an older woman would wear. Being middle aged, hip, and youthful, I wear this with pride and own the old fashioned floral in my wardrobe. Your aunts and grandmothers would approve.

This is my favorite bedtime perfume. It seems counterintuitive but for me it's calming and feels like falling asleep in a field of grass and flowers. It's gone by the time I wake and doesn't permeate my sheets. I also love to layer it with Diptyque Philosykos when I want to add some floral depth, take the edge off the fig, and make it a bit more feminine and soft. Lovely fragrance.

Agree with some of the other reviews on here - a fresh, green opening and a soft dry down. More cashmeran than creamy, subtle and appropriate but still with a reasonable performance: still going around 6+ hours later. On me, the lasting base note is a green, slightly spicy and almost effervescent scent - very pleasant. All in all, quite impressed.

I chose this perfume for my wedding day, it's a chilly early April morning with everyone slightly tense. It reminds me of wet grass and lilies of the valley, like those sold by elderly women on March 8th during my childhood—pure, no citrus, ylang-ylang, rose, or jasmine, just a hint of moss or grass. Elegant, feminine, and timeless.

On me this is transcendant. One of the most beautiful florals I've ever smelled. It is both fresh and deep, complex and uplifting. I can see this as a young girl's first perfume, as a bride's choice of scent, a life loving middle aged woman's fragrance, and a radiant older woman's love. Sublime......... ps: poor longevity...

A lovely, slightly indolic and creamy white floral, backed by a greenness of freshly cut stems. It's not quite a fresh fragrance, as it feels rather warm with sunlight, but it has a dewy quality to it. Graceful, but not fragile (it is a chypre, after all). There's a mingling of joyful and wistful.

white soapy lillies, creamy and clean. very fresh and nostalgic. it has a drop of ylang oiliness to it, that makes this feels even more nostalgic. i can understand why some will consider this old fashioned. my scent of choice when i am tired, wanting some calm and security blanket.

Loved it from the first spray. Fresh, sparkling, lemony lily-of-the-valley and rose; lovely creamy wisps of oakmoss and sandalwood in the dry-down - never fails to make me feel happy. One of my favourite spring perfumes.

I like the fragrance because it's very elegant, but fresh like I've just taken a shower. there is a soapy scent that creates a fresh, grassy sensation, with a touch of white florals.

I only smell one note in this perfume, Lily-of-the-Valley, pure and simple. Beautiful Lily-of-the-Valley, my second favorite flower. It lasts a long time on my skin. Pure perfection.

Simply LOTV perfume. phenomenal. It is a beauty that comes to you after traveling with time machine, its vintage, its classy and its so beautiful and unique.

I love how fresh and green this is. Id prefer slightly more green to floral to even out the sweetness but this is really nice. Wow that’s strong though.

Beautiful! Fresh, airy, green and uplifting. It is almost identical to Maison Crivelli Fleur Diamantine for me to justify a purchase though.

-호- 은방울꽃이 은은하게 부드럽고 크리미함도 조금 느껴짐 하얀색

Lily of the valley was one of the three finalists when I was looking for a muguet fragrance to buy, so I was left with this one, Diorissimo and Muguet Fleuri from Oriza. Compared to the two others, Lily of the Valley is not a dewy lily of the valley; to me, it's one of those real white floral perfumes that sometimes, not always, smell a little bit like piss to my nose. So we get a really indolic white flower, not a dewy lily of the valley you just cut from a nice spot in a garden, more like a good old bouquet, whatever it would look like with lily of the valley that is already in full glory. Weirdly, it makes lily of the valley smell both contemporary and a bit old at the same time, because a lot of the new muguet fragrance takes a different approach, the dewy route. It makes it stand out while being super classic in a way. To put it simply, it's a not-so-green lily of the valley, and the dry down is really cozy, but at one point, it's not far from smelling soapy. They describe it as fresh on the website, and yes, maybe in the opening, but after that, it's not fresh at all to me, nor is it green, or it is somewhere in the background, but that's not the main vibe. So Muguet Fleuri would be the photorealistic green muguet, Diorissimo the complex posh one, and Lily of the Valley the true white floral. I used to not really like Penhaligon's, but as I smell more of their fragrances, I've changed my mind, but it's a brand that you can't discover blindly; you have to know what you're looking for.

1976 to 2026. This fragrance has now reached its fiftieth year. At this point, it probably sits outside mainstream taste. It is neither a modern white floral nor part of the dense vintage inspired niche style that became fashionable later on. Instead, it belongs to that distinctly English green floral structure typical of older Penhaligon’s compositions. From the first spray, lily of the valley appears immediately and very clearly. Geranium adds a leafy, slightly astringent edge, making the lily of the valley feel more like a dew covered green plant than a soft abstract flower. After a while, jasmine, rose, and ylang ylang give the florals more body, but the fragrance never turns into a rich white floral. What fits the theme especially well is that the lily of the valley remains strongly present throughout. Later, oakmoss becomes more noticeable. This is also what separates it from many modern lily of the valley fragrances. Floral scents built on mossy green woody bases have become increasingly rare. The overall impression remains cool, clean, and distinctly English in character.

I hated this at first. The opening was so hard to explain. Synthetic? Shoe polish? Burnt plastic? I just know I didn’t like it. But after spraying, it’s grown on me. This is fresh and clean, with a vintage edge. Funny when I walk around I get wafts of it, and I think I smell vanilla/birch beer/rootbeer. Then I smell my wrist and only smell lily of the valley. What a bizarre experience. I find this to be a more traditional, fresher, greener take whereas Lucky from Chanel has a more modern and sugary lean. As time has been passing though... I think I kinda love it. As time passes and I move around more, the weird anomaly I described is less significant and I do get a fresh, very dewy spring garden. Update: so I'm wearing this a second time around, and the opening from my sample isn't nearly as astringent and unpleasant as it was the first time (still not great though). I don't get any soda accords this time, just lily of the valley. This is more green and robust still compared to Lucky and I stand by my other notes! Still really lovely, just a bit one-note (as it was intended).

This scent is true to lily of the valley, but I wouldn't call it fresh. It leans more towards the scent of a lily of the valley bouquet that has already been picked and is currently in a vase. Not necessarily old, but a little muskier than you would expect for a bouquet of flowers. Maybe it's my skin chemistry, but the muskiness really kicks in once the perfume settles. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing! The way this fragrance is blended feels very refined and avoids the risk of being too screechy in an attempt to nail the freshly-picked vibe. It's also one of those fragrances that you forget you're wearing until someone compliments you. A nice plus if you're prone to headaches like I am! That being said, Penhaligon's is lucky that I love their fragrances because I found myself overspraying to get decent performance. That wasn't a dealbreaker for me, but definitely something worth keeping in mind. Overall, I really enjoy this fragrance as it is inoffensive and a beautiful homage to my favorite flower!

I bought this years ago purely for sentimental reasons. When my siblings and I were young we would pick Lily of the Valley for my mother and gift her (probably low-quality) Lily of the Valley fragrance. Like any mother, she lavished us with thanks whether she liked the LOTV product or not. Fast forward, and I picked this scent up probably about 15 years ago because it wasn't a blah, soliflore Lily of the Valley. I like that it has a tad more chypre complexity. The LOTV carries throughout, and it is a well-blended fragrance. My skin always brings out the spices, greens, and woods, so the oakmoss, sandalwood, and ylang-ylang are present, but beautifully subtle, making this a more interesting fragrance. And no, it is NOT Jessica McClintock. It is a different fragrance entirely, in addition to being far better made and more subtle. My mom is gone now, and my bottle has gone off a bit so I will replace it at some point. I'll do so mostly for sentimental reasons, but also because it is a stunning LOTV fragrance.

This immediately gave me a green floral chypre impression. Of course, the lily-of-the-valley is very prominent; true to its name; but there’s much more happening in the base. I pick up a mossy nuance, geranium, and supporting white indolic florals that add depth. Looking at Penhaligon’s description, it’s presented as a modern lily-of-the-valley, yet to me it feels closer to those clean chypres living inside a nostalgic bubble. Many muguet fragrances unfortunately veer into cleaning-product territory for me; and this one does flirt with that association; but the composition itself isn’t simple. Thanks to the mossy undertone I perceive, it ultimately registers as a polished, elegant, and clean chypre, rather than a purely soapy floral. Tag(s): chypre, lily-of-the-valley, mossy, clean floral, nostalgic, elegant

Perhaps the name is supposed to be a metaphor, but, if not, Penhaligon LILY OF THE VALLEY strikes me as misnamed, for a few other notes--including jasmine and geranium--seem just as important as the eponymous lily of the valley. (Hmmm... have I used the word 'eponymous' correctly?--I'll have to check!) Anyway, this is a very green floral green--more green than floral, in fact, to my nose. I definitely register the presence of oakmoss in the drydown, which also surprises me, again, given the name. I think that specifically for lily of the valley there may be better choices, DIORISSIMO, to name one, but this edp seems to me to be a well-crafted fragrance evocative of a nocturnal green pasture in which a variety of petals have been strewn.

A very pleasant, initially fresh and bright lily of the valley bouquet mixed with twigs of jasmine bush and ferns. In the drydown becomes slightly powdery but not too powdery ala Violetta by Penhaligon's. As others have already noted, very strong sillage and surprisingly good longevity (I've never had luck with Penhaligon's lasting on me althogh I very much like the range). It feels like I have a vase of the lovely flowers described sitting on my desk and conjures up peaceful images of sweet meadows dappled in sunshine. Full bottle worthy but only if you like lily of the valley of course. Don't expect anything else.

I have the vintage. It is a deep, rich, almost musky lily at the opening then the citrus rises. This is much more than the typical linear lily fragrance. It is strong and lasting. It also projects. I am wearing it in winter for a fresh, zesty pick me up! In the end, it was about the oakmoss. This is a chypre through and through. An interesting lily scent. Different. Maybe for someone who is not a chypre fan if you can handle the base note.I got a second vintage bottle, and this one was similar but all about the musk from the outset. The most musky animalic LOTV. Heaven.

Lovely, fleeting and nostalgic. Those are the words I would use to describe Lily of the Valley. In nature, lily of the valley is one of my favorite scents. Tender, dewy and a sure sign of spring and early summer. Penhaligon's take on this flower is clean and slightly green with some soapy aspects. It's more akin to a lily of the valley scented soap than the lily of the valley I smell in the garden. It is not my favorite take on liliy of the valley, but still lovely and worth a try if you like light, summery white florals. Lasts 4 -6 hours. Thumbs up!

I tried this in the Taipei Penhaligon's store, so unfortunately I don't have an opinion on what it would smell like on my skin-- only paper. That said, the scent is accurate enough to be named Lily of the Valley. The house I grew up in had a few patches of them growing in the yard and this perfume is a bit more sweet, a bit more rounded than the actual flowers. I think it's the jasmine that dulls the sharpness a bit. It's still very pretty though! Brings me back to my childhood.

This is the epitome of a quiet classy clean fem scent. It is such a photorealistic lily of the valley. I wasn't getting much of the rose, just a green fresh blooming lily of the valley. The geranium makes perfect sense in the scent profile. It isn't the most complex or groundbreaking scent, but it is a clean fresh floral. This is the type of scent you'd wear with a white silk dress.

It starts off quite citrusy and the jasmine note is quite strong which made me turn against this scent initially. However this dissipates and leaves behind a beautiful classic white floral which would be perfect for daytime, especially on warmer days.

There is no quiet and elegant delicacy of Diorissimo, but it's a very honest, fresh interpretation of the flower. Very green, very straightforward, quite likable and pretty. Reminds you of a simple,but very reliable and trustworthy person. Nice.

Nice. Very Clean. Very Spring, Very LOTV. Smells like Jessica Mc Clintock. BTW, & IMHO; Jessica Mc Clintock smells nicer. JM also has better Silage, Projection, Longevity & is inexpensive.

A gorgeous springtime scent - green and refreshing. On my skin it's a bouquet of lilly of the valley, jasmine and a bit of rose. It gives me a wedding day kind of vibe!

The rose comes through really strong on this one for me. It's pretty, but for a true lily of the valley scent, I'd stick with Diorissimo

Spring like, fresh and wonderful. However a friend said I smelled like her granny and that was it for me....

Pretty good. I prefer Bluebell, but this is probably the second best of the scents.

Really linear lily of the valley. Unfortunately cant smell anything else in it.

A lively, captivating, feminine, fresh, high-lily of the valley scent.

I can almost copy my review of Diorissimo here because they smell so similar, but this one is slightly better. I tried a tester a few times on my skin and shirt. It opens very green as if the cut stems and leaves have been included in the scent. In general, this not a bad idea, I tend to like such green stuff. But the lily of the valley scent is not realistic, it's rather like a low quality and cheap air freshener having the name of lily of the valley on it. It was better on my shirt and the lotv was somehow better illuminated there on the cotton textile. But overall, the lotv part is not right there either. Yves Rocher's Muguet En Fleurs smells much better, even if it's not lasting and even if that too isn't the real lily of the valley smell. The Penhaligon's and Diorissimo make me feel like "why should I use this again, I wouldn't enjoy it" while the Yves Rocher version makes me think "oh how nice and beautiful this is, if only it would last longer!" If I ever see this in a shop some time later with a possibility to test it, I'll give it a try for sure because maybe my nose has a problem at the moment (some spring flowers and bushes out there have had a weaker smell than usual this time). On the other hand, I see similar experiences like mine in the below reviews, like by andrewatic and others. And because Diorissimo was eventually a similar diappointment, it makes me think: what if it this specific smell is very difficult to synthesise? Or even if the main components of this smell are known, they would be too expensive to produce? I guess there are articles here in Fragrantica that may give an answer to this.

I have to admit that I tried this one purely due to its color scheme, ha. There was never a bottle that played to my tastes more. Ah. Anyway. Sadly, the fragrance itself smells pretty intense(ly synthetic) on me. I expected something on the fresher, more botanical side, but instead, this felt quite screechy and artificial. Two Penhaligon's scents already have a chokehold on me, though, so I'm relieved to not feel the urge to add another.

Not as poignant as Diorissimo but same idea. It is more of a green than white scent. I can smell the moss. Nothing like J'adore. The Yardley is a bit more floral than Penhaligon. I actually like Yardley, a lot. A good simple Lily of the Valley scent. It is more of a sad scent as Diorissimo, not as happy as J'adore. Still waiting for my Guerlain Muguet to compare.

i have no idea how to feel about this one, actually. it's a very photorealistic, white yet green lily of the valley perfume. not indolic on my skin surprisingly, but it's not a common fragrance. it's a tad powdery (which i love), i'm just unsure on a full bottle. i think i'll have to keep sampling, but i just can't stop sniffing it...?

A very realistic, old fashioned lily of the valley soliflore. It starts beautifully with greenness and some zest but goes a little flat over the first hour. Very spring like scent and if you are fond of lily of the valley note this will certainly fill that brief. Ultimately a bit boring. But could be a great one for layering.

Xanh, mát, dễ chịu, nature, nhưng không xứng với giá tiền, tôi đã mong chờ nhiều hơn :( và nó có mùi guống với 1 chai nước hoa đến từ Nhật Bản : suzuran ra đời năm 1970 (trước penhaligons 6 năm) thậm chí chai nước hoa đó còn có mùi hay hơn một chút, cùng với một cành hoa lily of the valey tươi được ngâm bên trong juice

A bit disappointed since I expected more lily of the valley scent

The initial spray left me wondering how this could be a lily of the valley perfume as the initial blast is all about citrus and greens. But this phase passes fairly quickly, allowing the lily of the valley to emerge. The LOTV is fairly realistic, but there's something else in there (the oakmoss?) that grounds and gives it a vintage, slightly musty vibe. This is a green, crisp LOTV perfume with little to no sweetness. After the initial citrus top notes disperse, it's a fairly linear composition, however one with surprisingly good projection and longevity for a lily of the valley perfume.

Not good, old english pharmacy type of perfume, it is going back to marshls too. Edit: I like the comparison with old English granny with perfume on, it fits exact description!