FlowerbyKenzo is the first fragrance from this company and I believe that it remains on the consistent bestsellers for them. This fragrance is often talked about when magazine writers discuss fragrances that changed the industry and ushered in new types of fragrance mixes and is considered by many to be one of the few fragrances that is universally liked. I didn't think that I had ever smelled this fragrance before I started playing with the sample yesterday and wondered what all I was missing out on.
The Sephora website provides a description of the fragrance and the notes contained in it. "Originally launched in 2000, this scent marked Kenzo's invention of the poppy fragrance. At once soft and floral, notes of violet, vanilla, and rose flourish with sly giddiness. It's a contemporary perfume for urban women who look to nature for inspiration and renewal. Uniquely packaged in a bottle embossed with a poppy, both the scent and the flacon have become contemporary classics. As Kenzo's commitment to nature continues to evolve, so has this iconic bottle. FlowerbyKenzo is now refillable. Flower by Kenzo. A flower in the city."
The fragrance notes are: Wild Hawthorne, Bulgarian Rose, Parma Violet, Cassia, Hedione, Cyclosal, Opoponax, White Musk, Vanilla.
I think that a bit more research is needed on the notes before I can discuss my thoughts on this fragrance, I see several notes in this fragrance that I don't recognize and have never seen before. Hedione is a floral note that is very similar to the scent of jasmine, I have found that jasmine often compliments violet notes in fragrances and I am willing to bet that it plays much the same role in this fragrance. Cyclosal is a bit more of a mystery to me, when I Googled it all that I got back was a few references to articles in scientific journals (most not in English) and references to this fragrance. So I don't really have an answer as to what this note it doing in the fragrance. Opoponax is a flower that grows in the Middle Eastern regions of the world and produces a resin that is similar in fragrance to incense, a note that would seem to compliment the musk notes in the base of this fragrance.
This is one of the few fragrances that really changes form from the first instant that I apply it to when the heart of the fragrance emerges. The first application of the fragrance is awful, the musk and violet notes come out. Initially, I decided that this fragrance smelled like an old woman and I wasn't into this at all. After about half an hour, the musk note dies out a bit and the violet note really emerges, flanked by the Hedione floral note. The Rose note never comes out on me, a very odd fact since this note always comes out and flourishes on my skin. After about an hour, the Violet note tempers down a bit and the musk comes back out and mixes with the white florals. I liked the fragrance more when the Violet note comes out and then a bit less when the musk note mixed with it.
When the Violet notes came out, I was considering buying a bottle of this fragrance to wear in a more professional environment since it is very light and won't overwhelm anyone. However, after the final musk note comes out, the fragrance only lasted about three total hours on my skin. I would need to keep a bottle of this in my bag and reapply it every few hours throughout the day. I would use this fragrance exactly the same as I would the Bulgari Omni Crystalline (fragrance that I tried a sample of earlier in the month) and between the two, I would purchase the Bulgari scent without a doubt.
I can see why this fragrance holds it's own in the niche market and I know that many fragrance hours have tried to copy this scent over the years and create a light floral fragrance that is easy for many to wear. However, the combination of notes in this fragrance just do not work with my skin chemistry and lasts way too little on my skin for me to add a bottle to my fragrance collection.
photo courtesy of Sephora
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