Sunday 17 March 2013

Fleur d'oranger by Fragonard

I was introduced to the Fragonard line with Fleur de Vanille - see my review here. Quite impressed with Fragonards quality, I realised that it was part of an EDT collection called Les Naturelles.

I eyed the other perfumes in this collection with interest & decided to go for a blind buy! They all sounded so alluring, but I really love the scent of orange blossom & mandarin so finally decided on Fleur d'Oranger.


This is what Fragonard have to say about their fragrance; 

"Hidden amongst its leaves polished with green light lies the orange blossom that has given us a suave eau de toilette as sensual as it is fresh. Tender neroli blossom joins with bergamot, jasmine and musk to enchant our senses with an inexpressible voluptuousness."

Fleur d'oranger's notes are;

Top notes: Orange Blossom, Bergamot, Mandarin
Middle notes: Jasmine, Honey.
Base notes: Musk

How does it smell?

True to its name the top notes - orange blossom, accompanied by mandarin are first notes I detect. I'm happy that they also last to the dry down for me!

Then comes the bergamot. I'm generally a fan of bergamot anyway, and in this case it's enough to let you know it's present but it knows it's not the star of this scent.

The honey note is next to appear & gives the fragrance an additional background sweetness. Then comes the jasmine & finally the musk.


The supporting notes in Fleur d'Oranger are so well behaved. Many orange scents that I've tried start out well, but the orange is usually overtaken & muffled by a stronger note - especially musk or jasmine, however they never do in this composition.

Fleur d'oranger is sweet, but not overly so. I would describe it as being "bright & cheerful" with aromatherapy qualities. It is a perfect Monday morning pick-me-up after you've dragged yourself out of bed. It sure improves my mood on those foggy mornings.

This is not a complex fragrance, and I like that. Sometimes you just need something simple. I haven't experienced any crazy weird notes coming out of nowhere.

Fleur d'oranger is definitely one of my go-to fragrances for hot Summer days & I look forward to using it to brighten a few Winter days when I don't feel like a cozy vanilla scent. It's also a perfect & safe work fragrance. No offending anyone here!

I really do like this one.

Longevity

I expected Fleur d'oranger to be like similar florals & disappear within a couple of hours but I must say I've been pleasantly surprised as it does last quite a few hours - almost a whole working day (8 hours) on bare skin. I haven't tried layering with moisturiser so I'm sure I'd be able to get a couple more hours that way. Fragonard does have a matching shower gel & body lotion that I may look at getting down the track however I have an orange blossom lotion by MOR Cosmetics that I may try layering it with.

Who can wear Fleur d'oranger?

This fragrance is not in the Men's section on the Fragonard website but I don't feel that it's specifically marketed to women either - very clever Fragonard! Fragrantica lists it "for women" but I disagree. It's definitely unisex, & could be worn by a man. So I would say go for it guys! You eat oranges too right?


The Bottle:

Fleur d'oranger's bottle is a simple yet elegant design which sprays a perfect amount of scent. It's a good quality atomiser which lets you control the amount of fragrance that comes out. I always like that.

Cost:

Fleur d'oranger retails at about $80AU if you buy it in Australia. I bought my bottle from evilBay for about $40AU which makes it a very affordable fragrance.

I wanted to purchase directly from Fragonard as their prices are even cheaper (you can also buy refills) alas Australia is a country they do not ship to. Sad face.

Would I buy it again?

I think my 100ml bottle will last a while, but I will definitely repurchase when it runs out.

Last thoughts

If you love the scent of orange blossom & mandarin, you will definitely love Fleur d'oranger. It is a simple, elegant & well blended quality fragrance. It could also be used to "brighten up" other fragrances. I'll definitely be trying this.

The Fragonard Les Naturalles collection looks extensive with other fragrances "starring"  notes such as Fig (Figuier fleur), Cedar (Cedre), Lavender (Lavande), Patchouli, Verbena (Verveine) & Vetiver. My thought is that they would work really well together & I'd be very interested to experiment with layering them with each other to make different scents.

There seems to be a collection/trial pack that I've seen pictures of, but I've never seen it for sale anywhere.

Fleur d'oranger reminds me of:

Orange Blossom by LUSH Cosmetics (I prefer Fleur d'oranger)

Blind buy rating; Success!
My overall rating: 8/10

3 comments:

  1. hi, I'm looking 4 a fresh smell fragrance, could u suggest me several names (such as Kenzo L'eau par?

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