I like this top 5 series because it’s much easier coming up with 5 things than with 10. 🙂 Unless you’re choosing your top 5 perfumes for life.
When I think of spring, I think of green, dewy grass and spring flowers. Asali did a great lilac post a few days ago but for some reason, I never think of lilacs when I think of spring even though I adore the smell.
My first idea is always green (grass) when it comes to spring. It still sur
prises me how difficult it is for me to find perfumes that smell green to my mind and are not chypre/galbanum variants because even though I think of galbanum in those terms, I would love a perfume that reminds me of dewy grass. If anyone has any suggestions, I’m open to all.
And then, the flowers. You can’t have spring without flowers and in this case, my first idea is somehow always iris. I have no idea when irises actually bloom but they are among first spring flowery perfumes I decide to wear.
Closely followed by the most perfect grass of this world – vetiver. So far there wasn’t a vetiver perfume I smelled and hated. I just think I have a natural propensity towards that smell. 🙂 (there is a top 5 vetiver perfumes post in the making)
One note I unfortunately only smelled in one great perfume and would love to wear more during spring is narcissus. I absolutely love the smell of L’Artisan’s Fleur de Narcisse and I wish from the bottom of my heart they would bring that perfume back. I wasn’t aware of it when it was available and only got to try it later but it is perfect. If there is another great narcissus perfume out there, I’d love to try it.
And the last, but not least (although if considered by the amount of wear it gets…) – the loveliest smell of the little white flower – lily of the valley. I both love the smell of it in Diorissimo and it will always remind me of my mother who adores those flowers. I also wish that annual Guerlain release of Muguet wasn’t so awfully expensive.
Pics have no relation to notes I mentioned but were the first spring flowers I saw this year some time ago so it seemed fitting.
Tagged: Diorissimo, Fleur de Narcisse, galbanum, grass, Guerlain, iris, L'Artisan Parfumeur, lily of the valley, Muguet, My top 5, narcissus, perfumes, spring flowers, vetiver
All I am - a redhead 
Here’s my list:
1. Iris
2. Dandelions/mimosa
3. Heliotrope
4. Galbanum
5. Incense
Of course, the list is variable and changes all the time! 😀
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Incense? Interesting.
Personally, incense just doesn’t fit me. Plus, I really don’t enjoy perfumes featuring it (unless there is so little of it in it that it can’t be detected).
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Haha it’s because spring has a very meditative quality to it!
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By the third post I did notice that you’re not asking for our lists but it shouldn’t stop me, right? ; -)
In that specific order:
1. Linden
2. Mimosa
3. Lilac
4. Lily of the valley
5. Narcissus
P.S. Until I read the final sentence I was puzzled by the flower pictures trying to figure out to which of the notes they were supposed to correspond.
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😀 Yes, I thought the last sentence is needed because there was absolutely no correlation.
I really like the smell of linden, I just don’t seem to enjoy it that much in perfumes…
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Funny that you don’t associate lilac with spring, when for me it’s the no 1 spring flower. And thanks for the mention 🙂 You did try narcisse noir, right? I’m with you on lotv, so lovely but it really doesn’t get much wear. I just have a few lotv fragrances for those days when it’s the only thing that will do.
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I meant, even though I know it’s a spring scent, it just doesn’t come to my mind when I think spring. I believe I tried Narcisse Noir but can’t recall the smell. I have to check out if I have a decant hidden somewhere. 🙂
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Ines, you wondered what perfume smells of dewy grass, and for me that would be Chanel Bel Respiro (dewy Spring grass and wildflowers).
My top five spring notes would have to be:
1) galbanum (for the grass smell)
2) mimosa (for the dandelion smell … it took years until I realized that mimosa in perfumery isn’t the flower of the pink mimosa trees that bloom here, but the yellow variety, very dandelion-like)
3) narcissus
4) hyacinth (love them in real life, even more than in perfume
5) jasmine
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I haven’t worn Bel Respiro for ages and now I can’t wait to re-smell it and look for grass. I really like that perfume. 🙂
The smell of hyacinths is wonderful but still, what perfumes you know and love feature it?
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Well, it’s in Bel Respiro, MDCI Chypre Palatin, Deneuve and Guerlain Chamade for starters 🙂 … and in a whole lot of other green floral fragrances, as it is frequently paired with galbanum. I would have to agree with you, though, that one rarely finds it as a star note, and I’ve not smelled the ones that do or did exist (such as Ombre de Hyacinth by Tom Ford; Yardley Hyacinth, Avon Hyacinth, L’Artisan Parfumeur Jacinthe des Bois).
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Hmmm, I love all of them but I never wear them. Especially Deneuve as I’m saving that particular decant. 🙂
I’m definitely wearing Bel Respiro tomorrow though. 🙂
I also haven’t tried any of those hyacinth perfumes either. They sound good though…
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Lovely post, Ines. It’s so good to tune into spring notes once winter is over.
I would have recommended Bel Respiro for grass also otherwise Eau de Campagne from Sisley comes to mind by I haven’t worn in an age.
Hyacinth, narcissus and green notes all say spring to me. Have you also tried Bas de Soie by Serge Lutens for hyacinth or Temps d’Une Fete by Parfums de Nicolai for narcissus?
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Ah Temps d’une Fete! 🙂 I love that one but somehow I don’t think of it as smelling like narcissus. I will have to re-smell that one as well.
I wonder what is it with my nose that it skips over most floral notes – they just register as floral…
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I really like your list, and second Tara’s suggestion of Bel Respiro. I also think of Ormonde Woman with grass, but I realize many people think of that as a “darker” scent. Just for fun, I’m going to try to share my top five for spring, off the top of my head: lilac, tulips, carnations, soil/fertilizer (not the super stinky kind), and wet pavement.
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Hmmm, the smell of soil is a great scent.
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Thanks for reminding me of narcissus as a favourite spring note – it would definitely be on my own list (DelRae Debut is a good one for that), along with linden like Undina (probably at the top too), also hyacinth and magnolia. Galbanum should be in there too I guess, though I do also love mimosa.
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Thanks for the Debut suggestion. 🙂 Hyacinths have a beautiful smell.
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