Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Flora Nymphea: Another favourite fragrance

I've mentioned before that Tom Ford's Black Orchid is my favourite fragrance (here's the sketch I made of it). It's a glorious, unique scent but unfortunately not that suitable for spring and summer. However, I've come upon something that is perfect!

I've gotten quite attached to Aqua Allegoria Flora Nymphea. All of the Aqua Allegoria series are fairly simple fragrances. Flora Nymphea is all about a lovely not-too-sweet honey smell. Which is weird because I hate the smell of actual honey. But this just smells so amazing! Fumehead Katie Puckrik describes it as a happy, natural, real smell. Here's her video review.

On the surface, Black Orchid and Flora Nympha are complete opposites: Complex vs. simple, heavy vs light, warm n' spicy vs light an floral. None of their notes are the same. But both have sweetness to them that isn't sugary or overpowering. And both have earthy qualities that work well on skin.

Here's the illustration job I did that inspired these fragrance sketches.

Other fragrance recommendations:

If I was more into fruity florals, Givenchy's Hot Couture is a good one of that type. It's hard to do a fruity fragrance that doesn't smell cheap or common. Hot Couture's got some nice raspberries that aren't overpowering. And it's got other stuff going on so it's not just fruit. Lancome Tresor Midnight Rose is another raspberry fragrance, but boring and generic in comparison.

Prada L'eau Ambree is gorgeous if you are looking for a sophisticated amber fragrance. And yes, to anyone who isn't big into perfumes: amber is fossilized tree resin and probably doesn't smell at all! Amber in perfumes is a sweet, woody, balmy smell that is created by combining a bunch of different ingredients.

My favourite jasmine fragrance so far is Bvgari Jasmin Noir. It's a little bit strange-- the first note I get off of a spray is something like rubber! But maybe I'm just weird, because when I smell my mom's night blooming jasmine I almost get a cigarette smell. And jasmine, of course! A lot of jasmine perfumes end up being too sweet. Even Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Jasminora seemed too sweet. But maybe I should give it another chance, because Guerlain is usually pretty great when it comes to perfume!

As for men's fragrances, I haven't really looked into those much. Ages ago I bought my boyfriend Burberry Men after spending hours smelling everything in sight at the Bay. He still wears it! It's great in all seasons, dries down nicely, and wears close to the skin. Decently priced, too.

What's your favourite perfume? :)

-- Julia
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