Hey there ULG, I know a lot of you are caught in the depths of winter so I thought we could look forward to spring through fragrance today. Muguet Fleuri is Lily of the Valley. That glorious harbinger of spring. On May 1 the whole of Paris smells of it and little bouquets and flowering pots can be bought on street corners. It’s heavenly.
In 2014 I first visited Hugo and Franck of Oriza L Legrand at their 18 Rue Saint-Augustin, Paris store. The brand is a modern resurrection of a long lost perfume house. They took us through their collection and I purchased some soaps and a bottle of Jardin d’Armide. This was the defining moment of my love affair with the brand. The space is gorgeous and chock full of soaps, candles and fine fragrance. Since then I’ve been back to the store a few times. Their affordable product and FREE postage over €100 to Australia means I often buy their soaps and fragrances for gifts.
Did you know that the original Oriza L Legrand patented the idea of solid perfume?
Muguet Fleuri by Oriza L. Legrand 2014
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green leaves, grass, lily-of-the-valley
Heart : Galbanum, angelica, violet leaf, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Lily-of-the-valley, oakmoss, lily
I love the calm feeling of a Lily of the Valley fragrance, dewy and air conditioned. The Muguet Fleuri opening is cool and slightly mentholated. I get nothing grassy particularly but much more like the juice of Aloe Vera (yes, got a bit sunburned helping my BFF Kath high pressure hose her dad’s driveway). Flore by Carolina Herrera has a very similar plastic Lily of the Valley note but in Muguet Fleuri I find it subtle and refreshing, helped by galbanum and angelica to keep everything super green. None of the modern cucumber/aquatic note like in Muguet Porcelain by Hermès.
It’s excellent to me how they keep the focus so firmly on Lily of the Valley in Muguet Fleuri. The scent feels luxurious and refined while creating a very nice silage for the first hour or so. Fairly linear througfhout its life, there are slight increments of difference and a gradual earthing of the scent towards the end.
If you often, or even sometimes, wish for a fragrance as true to cut Lily of the Valley stems from the florist as possible but still interesting and beautiful then I would send you immediately to try Muguet Fleuri. Only the first two hours are fragrant, then it hums along quietly as a soft, background wash.
Oriza L Legrand has a €30/choose your 6 x 2ml Sample Set (delivered worldwide). My review today is from an old sample I refound in my collection, looking for something cool and summery.
Are you a Lily of the Valley fan? Do you have a favourite?
Portia xx
Undina's Looking Glass 
Hey Portia
I don’t own any lotv scents but think if I ever tried vintage Diorissimo I’d be a goner.
Now i want to be in Paris on 1st May.
Please start wearing sunblock!
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Tara, that’s the annoying part about this sunburn. I had Factor 50 from the Cancer Council of Australia on. It has always worked brilliantly, even last week while walking around Sydney all day. We can’t work out why I burned, and so severely. It’s been awful.
That vintage Diorissimo is nice, I have some here, surprised we didn’t spritz it while you were in Sydney. Bummer. You’ll have to come back.
This is a totally different beast, much more photo realistic but still a slightly stylised dream of the real thing.
Portia xx
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Ooh, you know I love muguet/lily of the valley scents! And this one is excellent. I first tried it at Luckyscent’s retail store, the Scent Bar, on a trip to LA a few years ago. I love everything about it, including the packaging and beautiful presentation. (Yes, I finally caved and got a full bottle).
One of the reasons I went down this whole fragrance rabbit-hole was that I was searching for a worthy successor to the Diorissimo I wore throughout the 1980s, having been spooked by Luca Turin’s distress over its reformulation. I’ve shared some of my explorations (including my thoughts on Muguet Fleuri) in my blog’s “May Muguet Marathon”, which has been so much fun to write! I have to wait a while before I do it again, because I’ve now written about most of the LOTV fragrances I have. I’ve got a few new samples, though, so stay tuned! Another one I like a lot is Laboratorio Olfattivo’s Decou-Vert. Here’s what I wrote about Muguet Fleuri: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2016/05/27/may-muguet-marathon-muguet-fleuri/.
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Hey OH! YAY, So glad to have a real deal muguet fan in the house. Woop Whoop!
Diorissimo seems to be one of the frags that changed dramatically over the years. The vintage bottles I have don’t seem to be as bright as my reading suggests they should be. Still wearable and such but I think some of their notes have degraded. The bases are still pretty wonderful.
OOHH! Do your spritz your Muguet Fleuri with gay abandon? I think it would be divine to lay perfectly still in a cloud of it.
Thanks for the link.
Portia xx
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I agree, vintage Diorissimo tends to lose those bright top notes. One thing I haven’t (yet) tried is layering the vintage with the new, in hopes of getting the best of both, which might be interesting.
What a lovely idea, to recline in a cloud of Muguet Fleuri! Since I work from home now, I’ll have to try that too!
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SUCH a good idea to layer the vintages! Love it. Now I need to hunt down a modern Diorissimo!
Report back on your Beast Mode Muguet please OH!
Portia xx
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I’ve not smelled the Oriza, but I love Guerlain’s Muguet. Some day I’ll be in Paris in May and get another one.
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Hey TaraC,
Is the Guerlain muguet slightly different each year or the same?
Portia xx
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Here’s what Fragrantica wrote about that, in connection with the launch of Guerlian Muguet 2016: “In April 2016, Guerlain will present a completely new edition of their Le Muguet perfume. The history of this fragrance begins with the first version, created by Jacques Guerlain in 1908. It was creamy and powdery, with pronounced iris. The modern reinterpretation circulating annually as a limited edition launched in late April and signed by Jean-Paul Guerlain, first saw the light of day in 1998, being fresher and more vivid, with sharp bergamot notes and emphasized lilac. It is this perfume composition that has remained featured in the limited editions that appeared from 2006 to 2015 (except for 2010).” The bottles, which are gorgeous, change every year.
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Interesting. Thanks OH
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I love it too! I’ve never tried one of the older versions, but I adore Guerlain’s Muguet 2016, the version by Thierry Wasser. I think that is what is still issued annually now.
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I like LotV as a flower. As to perfumes… I like the scent, but since I know that it’s not possible to get a natural LotV oil (and all the attempts to recreate it with other natural ingredients that I smelled were just horrible (I won’t name names but those were very respectable and known brands), I just can’t justify paying niche prices for anything close to the LotV soliflore. I don’t mind though this note in the support role.
Diorissimo is excluded from these considerations :) I enjoy wearing it from time to time.
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Hey Undina,
Isn’t it interesting how many of us love Diorissimo. It’s so much more that just muguet.
Portia xx
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