April Violets Contemporary Edition

Imagine waking up on a sunny Sunday morning, yawning sleepily, walking into the garden with a cup of tea in hand to view a chorus of Violets, dew still on their faces turned to greet the Sun. I have always loved the Original version but I must admit I do love AV 2015 update. AV 2015 is definitely more modern, lighter and instead of being centre stage it is more a garden bed full of Violets framed by an English garden full of all your favourites. Roses, Sweet Pea, Lily of the valley, Heliotrope... Definitely a more realistic scent made with 95% natural ingredients makes this less cloying and powdery than the original. It does wear closer to the skin and you do have to spritz more often than the original but I don't mind because I just love that opening Verse... "All things Bright and Beautiful" By the way this is lovely layered over the original April Violets if you want to give those shy Violets a push to the front of the stage.

I’m one of the few who actually prefer this new version to the older one. Having owned both, I can say that each version offers a different portrait of violets. The original had a sweetness and a bizarre (unlisted) melon/carpet shampoo funk note that I didn’t personally feel too crazy about, though the overall fragrance wasn’t bad. This new version smells fresher, less sweet and much more powdery in a cosmetic powder kind of way. As someone who loves powdery scents, this is perfect for me, but if you like your violet deeper purple and more syrupy/candied/vibrant, I can see how this would be disappointing. The new One smells like expensive violet talc to me with subtle mixed florals and green notes in the background and I don’t get any fruits or major sweetness. Between the two, I prefer the new. I get good staying power. It provides a very soothing and calming sensation. The ingredients are supposedly more natural too.

@raw umber I Am with you) I definitely prefer this version to the old one and among current series of Yardley that I have tested (literally all of them) April Violets is the only one that deserves kind words. It is fresh and velvety, definitely April-spring-alike purple gentle flowers, full of water from running streams in the forest, smell of ozon and have this cute powder at the end, very young non-sweet type of powder by the way. By the refreshing crispy mood it reminds me of Prada's Infusion d'Iris L'Eau d'Iris, which is also crystal-clean, but very refreshing fragrance. I Am able to smell this fragrance on me for a very long time, so it might be question of personal perception of the notes, as some ppl complain on longevity.

I’m really sorry to anyone who had and loved the original April Violets and is upset with the new version. I’ve never smelled the original, but I get the frustration of losing a beloved fragrance. I would love to get my hands on the original so I can compare the two. I actually love this. It opens green—a GOOD green, like fresh cut flowers, not a bag of grass clippings. It is powdery in the dry down, but is still a really fresh, floral fragrance. While the actual violet flower is not a note in this, it still has the “essence” of violets to my nose. I have the hand cream and powder as well, and layer them after showering for better performance.

I love this. April Violets and Anna Sui are the two fragrances I wear when I want to smell like beautiful baby powder. Whereas Anna gives a more classic warm baby powder vibe with the rose, there's something green in April Violets thay gives it a cooling and oldey-other-worldy twist. Its not the smell of rain drenched violet leaves and earth so much as the memory of the smell, recalled when you open a diary and a forgotten pressed violet - long dried - slips from between scented pages. Theres something so nostalgic and dreamy about this fragrance. Its LOVELY and perfect for bedtimes.

I haven't tried the older version of this scent. So all I can say is that I like this current Yardley's April Violets very much. It's soft and very feminin. It smells like violets on a spring day; exactly what I wanted when I bought it. It's powdery when settled, which is nice if you like that kind of scent. I do. To me this fragrance is more sweet than fresh:much more white peach than citrus together with the flowers. My favourite of the current Yardley's flower scents.

This is a lovely soft scent, barely there so I understand all the comments on not smelling a thing. I wore the hand cream on a very hot day, wow, there is your scent. Hand cream is way more powerful than the spray scent. So if you like this buy the body care cos at this price it is worth it. Everyone I came into contact with asked what I was wearing as they loved it. It smells expensive. The only Yardley I like.

Sweet -but not candy like- frag reminding early spring violets. I have its deo spray and has no staying power but the feeling after spritz is reviving...

A nice scent, but longevity is terrible, so much so that I use it just as a body spray.

First of all, this perfume isn’t a floral scent. If you’re looking for parma violets, this won’t work for you. There is something green (violet leaf), but the scent is dominated by powder and some sort of wood (doesn’t smell like sandalwood to me), giving a very dry impression. It’s well blended to the point the notes feel compressed together into an impenetrable block, there’s no airiness or room for any one note to be easily defined or picked out, which also makes it feel dark, like a forest floor that has recently dried out after a rainstorm. It’s pleasant enough and feels calming (i do enjoy hiking in forests), but I can’t help but feel it’s half a perfume where the top and middle notes are missing. I think it may be better suited for layering with a wet forest type of scent, or perhaps something with violet flowers. Low to moderate sillage and longevity.

I'm really curious what the original smells like because I love violet perfumes. I do enjoy the contemporary edition but it is definitely not a crowd pleaser. The opening spray is earthy that literally smells like dirt. This is the complete opposite of a clean fragrance. Then the violet shows up with a green element and what I would describe as a softer green not a sharp screechy green. When I spray this I envision a lush garden full of purple flowers and moonlight. I wouldn't recommend a blind buy but I purchased a full bottle for next to nothing.

I agree with Pilikins, this is actually really nice. Very similar to Balenciaga L'essence, although not quite as amazing. But for the price this would make a good substitute, especially as L'essence is discontinued and very hard to find. This version is quite different from the original in that this isn't sweet parma violets, but more woody and green, but that doesn't make it bad.

I never tried the non-contemporary version, so I cant compare. But I like this one. Recently, I really am enjoying the calming effect of powdery scents. They dont scream for attention, but are quietly there. This one is very powdery, a bit sweet, a bit green with a hint of flowers. On my skin the scent leans to being soapy. The overall impression is soft, romantic.

Granted, I'm not familiar with the original, but I don't get the hate. This is a pleasant aquatic violet that grows more powdery in the dry down. Siliage and longevity are more like a body mist, but it's cheap enough to spray like a body mist. It also blends really well. I love violets and while this isn't my ideal one, it's versatile and extremely affordable.

Nice perfume, but so sad that it doesn't smell anything like april violets anymore, wish they didn't discontinue the old version wich actually smelled like the flower! Oh well other than that i like this perfume too, its soft and sensual with fruity undertones so will rebuy, have gucci violet for when i want to smell like violets

I don't know the old scent, and it certainly has violets. "April flower scent including violets". It's not just an "overwhelming violet scent". Beautiful and pretty. Light and easy to wear.

Love the original version so i really want to try this too! Unfortunally it's only available in the UK at the moment so unless i go there i won't get my hands on it :(

Lovely perfume if you are into powdery violet. Great for layering as a base if violets are your favorite flower scent and wont that added Spring note

This smells just like the old face powder from years ago. The bottom of an old make-up bag.I like this fragrance, very powdery and sharp.Rating 7/10.

Cool and crisp, yet smooth. Purple violets on a chilly forest morning.

I own three Yardley fragrances, all of which I blind bought. I don't recommend purchasing Yardley's April Violets or the English Lavender without testing them first. I consider the English Rose a safe blind buy. My experience with the violet/violet leaf note is from perfumes like Le Labo Santal 33, CK Euphoria, and Daisy. The violet in Yardley's AV is not what I expected. I blind-bought Yardley's April Violets, English Lavender, and Clean's "Laundry and Lavender" at the same time. Had I tested them first, I wouldn't have bought them. They're not my cup of tea. AV opens loud with strong green notes. I don't smell the vanilla or sandalwood but can definitely smell the powdery notes. Longevity and sillage are poor on the skin but it lasts longer on clothing. The one good thing about the Lavender and Violets perfumes is that all the notes are blended well. By the time these perfumes dry down, they're soft and powdery which many people like/love. If you use a heavy hand with AV, you'll end up with a headache. Use a light hand and it works, especially on clothing. This will definitely not be a repurchase for me. I'll hold on to it since my tastes change over time, but I can see myself gifting it.

Smells kinda herbal, bitter and a bit spicy when you spray too much on. I bought this hoping for a nice and simple floral frag, but got a frag that smells like a bush. I would not reccomend this to really anyone, but i dont hate it nor do i like it. It is like asking if you like the smell of dirt, well dirt doesnt smell bad, but it also doesnt smell good. You could maybe wear it for a hike, but even then i would much rather go for a floral or clean smelling frag.

Fail. Starting with the bottle itself. I ordered from Amazon, and this should never have passed quality control. The cap is warped on the outside, the cap and sprayer top are warped inside, so I get a weak spray where I aim and a trickle in my hand. But the real gripe is the juice itself. Orris with vaguely watery and or leathery notes. Not even a good representation of violet leaf, let alone the flower. It lasts, so that's a positive, I guess - IF you like it. If you want a good violet and violet leaf, spring for Balenciaga Paris, or anything else not this.

Original notes: violet, pelargonium, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, musk, vanilla. The contemporary version seemingly doesn’t have a violet flower note. Nevertheless, it does resemble the violet flower, albeit a peppery version. I recollect the original as resembling more of the sweet sublime Violette by Molinard. Nevertheless, the contemporary version is a nice, pleasant scent. I’ve read the perfumer is William Poucher, if anyone can confirm this?

I'm not sure if I got a bad one but this is not what I expected.. smells nothing like violet, just smells like powder primarily and yes, something masculine. I really go for floral, citrus, clean, smokey, or even sweet fragrances but there's something very off-putting about this. Unfortunately it's probably not worth the cost of shipping to return it.

Awful. As a violet lover, I’ve never encountered a violet scent this bad. It’s bland, watery, astringent, and harsh, with an off-putting, ammoniac-like violet note that feels completely wrong.

April Violets seems to have an unlisted note that makes this perfume much scratchier than it should be. It reminds me most of coriander, but it might be better be described as something else... The unviolet-like harshness of this note seems such an unnecessary mistake. Yardley shouldn't try to gild the lily (...or violet), let alone reinvent the wheel. They seem to be trying to balance the watery (violet leaf) and powdery (orris) aspects of violet here, though it is odd that an ionone-centered violet floral note isn't even listed. Do understand, I accept that all violet scents in perfumery are manufactured accords, and none will ever fully replicate the true scent of violet. Indeed, we wouldn't want a fully authentic violet scent as it is too fragile and intermittwntly anosmic to satisfy most fragrance needs. A pleasantly scent, evocatively close enough to be suggestive should suffice. Yardley should reformulate. ...or they might even try keeping both versions, if they think this has any sufficient number of devoted fans, ...but I suspect, that many purchases might only be disappointed blind buys.

A few people have commented that this version of April Violets is harsh. If this stuff is harsh, then Fahrenheit is obscenely brutal and Grey Flannel is 60 grit sandpaper for the nasal passages. I doubt I have a softer and more timid fragrance in my collection than Yardley's 2015 reissue of April Violets. It opens with a crisp green apple, peach, mimosa flower, and violet leaf accord that rapidly focuses every aromatic facet on the watery-green and floral violet leaf (which is actual violet leaf extract, according to the box). Eventually a delicate violet blooms and remains as demure as a Victorian maiden. You don't get smacked in the face with violet here; April Violets smells like peachy-fresh violet with a transparency that recollects the barely-there Japanese style of feminine perfumery, to the point where I'm positive this version is a hotter sell in Tokyo than London. Not bad, although I concede that true violet lovers would likely get more satisfaction wearing the vintage version, or something like Molinard's Violette EDT from 1994.

Oh my goodness! This has violets in it? You lie Yardley, you lie! 'Based on floral characteristics' of the original? That could mean anything or, as in this case, nothing. My mother wore the original for decades and I have her last bottle plus a bottle of my own I bought about a decade ago. I know what AV used to smell like and this ain't it. THAT SAID - the 2015 edition is a pleasant watery green floral with, okay, maybe a touch of violet leaf in there somewhere. I like green florals so I'll do okay with it. Longevity is sub-par, as other reviewers have noted, but '95% natural' sends that message anyway. There is some development though - a pretty little powdery note emerges in the middle. Ironically, I'll probably wear this version more than my older bottles of AV because AV so much belonged to my mother, I can never really make it my own. The soap version is good, by the way. While the scent is even more timid that than in the perfume, the soap creates a very fine creamy lather, not drying on my skin.

The old formulation had a lot of violet in it, it was rather "in your face" and so I had a love/hate relationship with it. We are used to reading how perfume houses relaunch an old perfume and it doesn't smell as good. Well, in my opinion, this is an exception to the rule. It still has violet in it but It's now a very different and more complex scent and I think it's beautiful. I reckon Yardley is telling the truth about 95% of natural ingredients too. So it's very well worth £14.99 for the large size and can be liberally sprayed on body and clothing as a day scent or at night before going to sleep. Any lack of longevity remarked upon by others is more than compensated for by value for money. But in any case, the more I use it, the more I like it, and I do find I can still just smell it after a few hours. People when they hug you will probably hug you for a fraction longer than usual!

I don’t understand all the bad reviews here. I tested this today, expecting it to be hopeless but was really pleasantly surprised. It is a woody, powdery violet plain and simple. It is not a sweet sticky mess which is what I thought it might be. It is in fact quite dry and powdery, and because of the violet leaves, it is quite dark green. I think it is definitely unisex. I think it can hold its own against some much more expensive violet perfumes. I got this practically for free and I feel pretty happy! Of course one can’t expect fantastic longevity (3+ hours) and sillage moderate. I’m going to use my new bottle for layering.

This would be nice, if I could actually smell it. Such poor longevity I wouldn't even use it as a room spray. Was excited to see all the 3 new EDTs in violet, lavender and rose, too bad the lasting power was so poor... and $15 for a small bottle was a rip off. I'd have to empty the entire thing to smell actual violets. Edit: Tested this again recently and it was a bit better. Perhaps a different bottle. If it was on sale I'd probably pick it up just because I'm a violet lover. Good for layering with other light, springtime floral perfumes for an extra violet kick. Curious about the accompanying toiletries.

I had all the old versions. The contemporary line is terrible. I cannot help but feel such extreme headache with all them (including the new April Violets). There is a huge blast of alcohol which was not in the original one. No violet at all; I feel a mix of green leaves and too much sandalwood. It is in fact a sweet sandalwood fragrance. I feel so sad because I love violets and it was perfect. Now it is ruined - there is no single note like the old one. Do not blind buy otherwise you may regret if you are looking for any similarity with the original. Very frustrating.

A while ago I sent a complaint to Yardley company and they sent a reply saying that they just did the changes as popular demand from customers. this companies must think we are idiots and should just accept the rubbish they are given us for the purpose of higher company profits. I email then and told it was not true and they should checkup fragrantica reviews about their products. I never heard anything from them again. Thank God I still have a bottle of April Violet before reformulation.

I brought this based on comparisons to the long discontinued Trussardi Skin. When it arrived I very eagerly opened the packaged and sprayed it on. YES it is very similar but with April Violets being a tad more violety and less "citrusy" and i am very pleased. However the longevity and sillage is terrible. It is so bad that it starts off as a skin scent (no pun intended) and vanishes completely in 2 hours! What a shame as it smells so lovely but at least the price point isn't too high!!!

I asked my self “ Did i just spray 8 times ! THEN WHERE IS THE FRAGRANCE ? Nothing - zilcho !! Is it just purple water ?? Where is the violets ?? Where is anything ?? I smelled my wrist .., was just my wrist ! What a shoddy , watered down , profit making gimmick !! Iam violated ! That is where the violets are !! Yardley you should be ashamed to even sell this People “ PLEASE PURCHASE THE OLD FORMULATION” 0/10 smell 0/10 longevity Infact never even registered Jeeeeeeee

I realized I didn't really know what violets smelled like, I was curious, and this was affordable. Unfortunately I hadn't done my research since apparently this is only an impression of violet, with some violet leaf. Oh well. The first time I tried it, it smelled "dank" to me, like something rotting. I've mostly gotten past that, though occasionally that note still surfaces. April Violets can be nice in a quiet way, but the longevity is certainly disappointing.

Not the violet fragrance that I expected or remembered. Lots of citrus in the top then powdered combos of some of the other ingredients and something synthetic that is not quite violet. I like it but don't love it. It's very soft and powdery. The violet isn't forward as you expect. It doesn't dominate. The other notes combined do. I love violet fragrances. I do not love this one. I don't hate it either. I'm sort of indifferent.

Smells nothing like it used to. The original version was sweet and smelled like parma violets but this one is very green and harsh. Has a masculine vibe to it and induces headaches too. An attempt at a modern violet similar to Balenciaga Paris but a darker harsher and less refined version of it with added shaving foam. Had to bin it couldn't tolerate it. Such a shame they changed it

I went to purchase this today and I am so glad that I didn't do it. Yardley have destroyed their classic scent and turned it into some green monstrosity devoid of any discernible violet fragrance at all. Hunt down the original on ebay and you wont be disappointed. The new one is only useful as bathroom spray.

All I can smell are vine roots. Green and mucky. Earthy. But not sandalwood, powder, or vanilla; certainly not violets. I guess the April *is the cruellest month* joke is one those of us who paid for the privilege.

After the initial blast of alcohol, I got a quick glimpse of violets, and then it turned into smokey sandalwood.