I sometimes find lily fragrances too heavy, too sinus-achingly heady, but there is a freshness in Floris' Lily (because it is more towardslily of the valley than lily) thatis quite beautiful, uplifting even, particularly at the start. The delicate florals nuzzle up with greener facets that are without bitterness or sharpness. Together they hint at a sap-like quality that tones down any heavy white floral aspect. This gentle aquatic-ness smoothes everything out, washing over the fragrance in watercolour sweeps. There is a powderiness to the scent too, which brings to mind the pollen-laden stamens of lily of the valley in full bloom, perhaps warming in the sunlight after a briefsummer shower. Night Scented Jasmine is like a fresh bouquet of pale pink young long-legged roses brought in from a rainy garden where jasmine blooms - it has rain, jasmine, greens, and roses. It is the scent of a Sunday morning and is like a simple light dress that is not casual. It's pure and light. Slowly I am coming to the conclusion that I am dancing on a wrong wedding or that I don't have the right skin. Next to versatile roses and intoxicating jasmines, lily of the valley is one of the most important florals in perfumery. The scent of this delicate woodland flower, with its small, milky white pendants has been used in fragrances for decades, but it was arguably Dior’s Diorrissimo (created by Edward Roudnitska in 1955) that put it on the map. Known for being Monsieur Dior’s favourite flower, fresh sprigs of lily of the valley were once sewn into the lining of his gowns so audiences got a whiff of the scent as the models graced his runways. A fragrance that turned out not pompous but special, despite its name. That's what I like about Floris – the brand isnot a poser, like modern Penhaligon's, for example. In this clean, almost detergent-like scent, lily-of-the-valley blends with dewy airy violet leaf, and together, they create a sensation of nurtured purity and slimness, unusual in modern perfumes. It is not spontaneous; there is a calculated effort, not haughty but based on principles, which helps dispel foggy chaos, like freshly ironed clothes do – a voluntary commitment to look decent in all circumstances.

Springlike freshness? Yes, a little green, a little lemon But otherwise I only encounter shy restraint. And just as I like their spring-like, virginal freshness, I like them in the state of their first slight decay: when they become slightly "stinky".

The whiteness is dazzling, but it doesn't hurt. They soften it with creamier flowers as much as possible while staying true to the flower. Many lily-of-the-valley scents releaseeither syrup or water or are disheveled with too much greenery when brands try to adapt them to modern tastes, but Floris' Lily of the Valley is true to itself. Hours later, its base softens to a delicate velvet, but it is still lily-of-the-valley.

Lilies of all types feel, to me at least, like one of the flowers which are most synonymous with British fragrance traditions. If you're going to be a British house making a scent bearing the name of "lily," then there is always going to be a lot of pressure on you to deliver and to do such a bold and fulsome floral family justice. When I was young lily of the valley was a favorite fragance of mine. I loved it. But later it became an awful smell to me, disgusting not only in perfumes. The natural flowers stunk to me as well. - Of course there is a certain personal reason for this which I will not describe. - So I started to fear perfumes with the dominating scent of lilies of the valley. Meanwhile I tested some scents with lily of the valley and some of them do no longer smell to me so bad. But often for my opinion it is not quite the original scent of lily of the valley. We should perhaps pause a moment here to consider the difference between lily and lily of the valley. These two botanicals are but distant cousins, with lily being rendered in perfumery as a heady, spicy, white floral. Lily itself can be many things, but those can include sombre, heady, serious, and funereal. Lily of the Valley, on the other hand, is a more youthful, green, dewy cousin. It can have spicy facets, even lemony or rosy facets too, but it is often portrayed in a cheerful, optimistic manner - harbinger of spring and herald of May as it is. It is Lily of the Valley which is the central focus of Floris' new fragrance.

Reviews

I don't expect much from a "little scent", that's well known: but a little more than a light nothing after all. This seductive scent is a love letter from Juan Famenias Floris to summers spent in Minorca with his beloved wife Elizabeth." I am convinced by "Lily of the valley" that I overcame my trauma of this flower. "Lilly of the Valley" is a light and cheerful fragance, long lasting, with a delicate sillage. Excellent indeed. Unfortunately I own already "Aqua Universalis" by Francis Kurkdjian and Tauers "Collectible Zeta a Linden Blossom". However ist is good to know there exists another first-class parfum of lily of the valley thanks the possibility of a test for me. Floris showed two fragrances at the Esxence event, which were either upcoming or recently released. Mulberry Fig was the first of those fragrances, and Lily was the second, an upcoming release due to land on 18 May this year. Floris is a good, sensible brand, discreet and romantic precisely because of its noble restraint. Floris scents donot take up unnecessary space and, on the contrary, allow you to develop a smell into a thought or a feeling.