Fleurs d'Oranger

So we all know how difficult it is to create a realistic floral. Extraction is not enough to 100% resemble the real flower in a perfume. And as an orange blossom perfume, this is far from how real orange blossom smells like on the branches of orange trees. Now, this is obviously not a soliflore. So its not really a negative. Its just for those people who are looking for something realistic. This sadly wont be it. A perfume that comes extremely close to the real flower is eau des sens diptyque. FDO however, is a wonderful piece of art. This is a bittersweet, heady, powerful white floral. This is sensual and attractive. Surprisingly citrusy as well. Smells Summery but it could work well in winter too since its so heady and powerful. The natural soapiness of the orange blossom appears here and there, but its mostly suppressed by the rubbery spicy tuberose and animalic realistic jasmine. Neither of those two overpower the orange blossom, but clearly support what the orange blossom naturally has. Many users have mentioned the cumin, and since i blind bought this, it did worry me a little bit. And yes, the cumin is noticeable in the first 20 minutes. But its so BEAUTIFUL! I was afraid it would smell like food. I love cumin in food but it does smell like body odor once ur clothes absorb the scent. This doesnt smell like body odor at all. On paper, the cumin isnt noticeable at all. Its way sweeter & honey like and soapier on paper too. So definitely try it on ur skin first. I mixed some orange blossom water with cumin to see if i should cancel my order But even that combination smelled good. Idk what it is. I wouldnt say it makes the fragrance heavier or stinkier. It blends well with the effervescence and freshness of the orange blossom. It makes it less soapy and laundry like and more perfumey. This dries down into a musky scent but it projects for quite some time. The citruses arent fruity or juicy, its probably just the peel. I dont pick up on the rose and i dont know what hibiscus smells like irl so i cant say much on that. Long lasting, unique for its genre, signature scent worthy but definitely needs some testing. Im lucky for enjoying this but some people may be more sensitive to cumin than me. Definitely enjoying serge lutens perfumes

It’s nearing citrus season here in Northern California, and as our weather stays quite pleasant in the winter months this is when I get to revel in my citrus and citrus floral perfumes. They just fit the moment so well. Ushering in the change of focal genres for this season I’ve chosen Fleurs d’Oranger. If there’s a flower I love just as much as jasmine it is orange blossom. The opening of the perfume is quite striking, piling straight into your nose a very aldehydic floral amalgam of orange blossom, jasmine, and tuberose. In addition to the massive aldehydes, the white florals, citruses, indoles, and greens abound. It’s quite brief, and the perfume shifts into a very peculiar lower gear of oily, rindy, citrus zest, rich yet quiet tuberose, and the sort of grinding-of-the-clutch in this gear shift: cumin. It’s striking, and a bit grating, but it’s leveled-out so well in volume and timbre that it provides a beautiful contrast rather than sitting like an elephant in the room. It’s roundly and smoothly spicy, woody, sufficiently salty and sweaty, a bit sour a bit bitter and a bit oily at the same time. This spicy and woody and funky floral heart is distinctly Arabian, and reminds me of a couple Amouage perfumes I know and love. The perfume holds this gear for the remainder of it’s long life, settling a bit more into the tuberose-like notes and woods at the final skin scent, but little trails of the white florals and spiciness make quiet appearances here and there. Orange blossom is nearly always given to us with a bright, shining, citrusy, white floral energy that glows orange like the fruit, and feels joyous, aloof and carefree. Lutens and Sheldrake present us with its lesser known deeper, funky, and rakish side that never once feels too much (cumin is one of those notes that’s very easy to overdo). Fleurs d’Oranger is masterful, one of the best from the brand. Lutens has paid tribute to jasmine numerous times with masterpieces like Sarrasins, A La Nuit, and Fils de Joie. Here is his and Sheldrake’s tribute to orange blossom. Stunning.

Years ago, I made a trip to a local garden center with the intention of picking out a few hot peppers for my garden. Upon entering the nursery, however, I was arrested by an aroma so intoxicating that I bailed on my mission and followed my nose until I found the source -- a row of lemon and orange trees in little pots, all in full bloom. (Guess who forgot all about planting peppers and came home with an expensive, temperamental, high-maintenance citrus tree that day? :) ) This perfume duplicates that scent to an astounding degree. For a few moments, I do get hints of rose, but they dissipate quickly and allow the orange blossom to shine in all of its heady, smooth, syrupy-sweet glory. I swear I can smell the heavy yellow pollen dripping from the flowers. It's absolutely glorious. Unlike some other Lutens scents, the cumin doesn't make a noticeable appearance on my skin -- if anything, it works behind the scenes to amplify the indolic aspects of the blossoms. Much like the life cycle of many flowering trees, this perfume does not last long on my skin; it projects like a beast for the first half hour, then gradually calms down to a skin scent after 2-3 hours. It does, however, last for days if accidentally sprayed on clothing. Seriously. Three days after I wore this, I could still smell it on the clothes I wore that day as I put them into the washing machine -- without putting my nose to the fabric. For all I know, it may have lingered longer, had I not decided to do laundry. Therefore, I'm going to conclude that it's my skin chemistry that is burning through this at an accelerated rate (meaning it's not the perfume's fault and you may get far better performance on skin than I did), and I'm going to make my peace with that and accept the fact that I'm just going to have to reapply this throughout the day and/or "accidentally" spritz my shirt with it... because I adore this so much that any rules I may have made for myself about a perfume having a certain amount of longevity just went out the window in this case. I can't be without it.

My first wear of this fragrance had me thinking that this smells like all the flowers in the garden were fighting each other. Hectic, chaotic, somehow playful. Fighting under an orange tree in full bloom. I did not get any of the indolic notes. Nor any of the thick almost dark experience one expects from the SL noir line. My second wearing is a bit more broody. The flowers are not fighting each other directly. They are fighting and trying to subvert eachother for the attraction and love of the swarm of bees that lives in the orange tree near by. This is a miraculous garden where all the sweet smelling flowers are somehow blooming simultaneously. One moment you will smell jasmine indolic and thick. The next, a tuberose or jammy rose gently moves in the breeze and their scent will dominate for a moment. The sun is casting deep mid afternoon shadows on the landscape. Though you cannot see the bees doing their work the sound of their droning can be heard from the depths of the bunches of flowers. Do you dare to get closer and take a whiff directly? The non abstract tldr. Perfect spring and summer wear as long as it is not above 85 degrees. Very floral; as a man i would not recommend this to my dude bros. It is also not totally feminine either. 70/30 on the gender scale. feminine leaning. If you are a guy who likes flowers and is not afraid to show the world your love, please join the club. Projection is strong. Sillage is strong (6 foot room at least). I can smell it 4-6 hours but others say they can smell it on me longer, 6-8 hours. The cumin note is present at the 3 hour mark. It doesn't really smell of bo or of gourmand nature. More herbal and cooling. As some have referenced. Maybe i am just not very sensitive to it.

I am so so so sad. SO SAD. This used to be my signature scent. I haven’t been paying attention and didn’t realize reformulation was happening. So I only have 25% of the original packaging left. I tried to order from a discount perfumer that had the photo of the old packaging as a backup. What arrived was the new packaging. I said what the heck and opened it up and sprayed. Wow. Just so disappointed. It. Does. Not. Resemble. The. Original. Fragrance. AT ALL. I’m going to have to find another signature and thinking of giving Houbigant Oranger Fleur the successor place for signature. I removed SL FdO as my sig on my profile. There’s no orange blossom. There’s not even cumin. There’s a strange medicinal gasoline like tuberose that opens it which actually smells a lot like hyacinth. I would perhaps be satisfied in calling a hyacinth perfume and enjoying it for that except it is gone in minutes, I’ve experienced more tenacity in BBW body sprays! It’s unbelievable and so disappointing. It fades away right away and there’s nothing left. If I bury my nose in my wrist it smells like I used soap and water to wash off whatever scent was there and the soap smells weird. My God. This is just ruined. Foul like my mood right now discovering this happened and I did not prepare. Devastating. I’m so upset at the money I just wasted and that my favorite perfume is gone. Don’t bother with this. I also refuse to buy any more from Lutens. This is called bait and switch with niche pricing. Not my hard earned money!