Reviews of Fleurs d'Oranger (1995)
by Serge Lutens Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido

Fleurs d'Oranger was among the batch of Serge lutens samples that I got from Aedes de Venustas NYC this weekend. When I first spritzed it on after I sat down on the bus headed back to DC this afternoon, I knew it was a scent that was going to be a little bit too sweet and floral for my taste, but I figured I had a four-hour ride ahead of me and all the patience in the world to allow it to do what ever it was going to do in that time. I thought it it may surprise me since some Serge Lutens scents can be full of surprises (maybe I've been spoiled by Un Lys). As I sniffed, all I kept thinking about were those little bathroom guest soaps that you keep in a dish on your bathroom vanity. At some point it got a little indolic and I'm thinking it was the orange blossom. Nice, but that passed rather quickly into notes of pink bubble gum and candy. In the extreme drydown it was back to a soapy floral. Sorry to say there were no surprises for me with this one. Personally, this isn't a scent I would need to smell again.

Notes: Orange Blossom, White Jasmine, Indian Tuberose, White Rose, Citrus Peel, Hibiscus Seeds, Cumin, Nutmeg

Here we have Mr. Lutens' interpretation of the Florida state flower. Fleurs d'Oranger (FDO) opens with a decent orange blossom note but is quickly conjoined with the white flower twins jasmin and tuberose. The immediate effect is the blooming of a floral, predominantly tuberose aroma with the orange blossom note pushed way in the background. The tuberose note, while dominant, is not of a particularly high quality and the same can be said of the "starring note" of orange blossom which cant match the intensity, brightness or richness of other superior orange blossom/neroli fragrances on the market. But a cause for celebration: the floral melange is well blended, with none of the over-the-top saccharine or over-dosage tendencies of the trademark Lutens gaudiness present in the juice.

The second half of the fragrance does the whole armpit-smell thing (via cumin) in the name of 'exotic-ness'. It may have worked in 1995 but today the cumin-spicy body-odour backdrop to impart uniqueness comes off as a wee bit cliche. After the white flower first half, the backend of FDO slowly infuses vapours of nutmeg and cumin to provide a twist to the formula. A note of caution: body heat and warm weather makes the cumin note bloom more and may end up making you smell like a NYC cab driver on Valentine's day. On the positive side, the cumin-spice backend is well restrained, with none of the indian spice-rack madness evident in some of the other Lutens.

So there it is... FDO is a decent, albeit a tad boring and cliched orange blossom frag from the former Dior makeup-meister. The white floral notes are a bit lacking in quality but the fragrance flows well. There are just too many other neroli/orange blossom fragrances that I would choose to wear before this one. File it under 'Only for Lutens fanboys/girls'.

Rating: 6.5/10.0

Lutens calls it "the scent of happiness". but it evokes so much more than that!
To have paired several massively indolic essences with musk and cumin (the "sweaty" spice) and come up with such a fresh, lively, soft and sensual fragrance is pure genius.
It is ever changing, sometimes innocent and child-like, other times wanton, hedonistic and lewd, always beautiful and seductive.
It took me a while to get acquainted with this one and make friends.
But now, we're partners in crime. :)

If only cheap air freshener smelled this divine! It would save me a ton of money, but unfortunately this is far too high quality to be compared to anything related to the word cheap. C'mon people! Yes there will be some scents that remind you of this, after all there are a million products out there that try to capture this type of scent because it appeals to the masses. But keep in mind that Fleurs d'Oranger IS a floral with a foody citrus-like edge and there are so many products out there that use this type of scent too. Any fragrance that tries to capture this will be condemned for the same reason. And men should not try this one, I hardly feel this qualifies as a "man" scent. Men please, only review this if you are smelling it on a woman, because that is the only standpoint which would allow you to be fair to this Fragrance. It's girly, of course YOU won't like wearing it! It's rich, it's dripping like so many Serge Lutens creations. I've said it once and I'll say it again, if you like your frags tame then steer clear of this entire line. That way the world won't have to read your misleading thumbs down ratings-which only come from the ones that can't take a potent scent.

Facinating really
the first time I smelled Fd'o, I did not realy like it.. I thought it smelled like a old unwashed woman who tries to hide her b.o. with a heavy floral perfume.
It was hard to overcome the cumin and the indolic florals but their was something that made me want to smell it again and again... so much that to this day I'm thinkin of getting my self a bottle. All the elements I used to dislike about this fragrance are now the elements I find so intresting, sensual, almost intoxicating: the sweet citrusy/medicinal top notes some people are talking about (perhaps the tuberose and mandarine), the sweaty cumin, the thick fruity-fecal jasmine, the indolic/phenolic orange blossom, the musky (so-called) ambrette seed, etc... though the dry down is quite clean and does not live up to it's heart and top notes but give and nice rounded and smooth but generic finish(Galaxolide?). Very nice overall

The prior reviews are pretty damned good. I don't really disagree with any of them. There are times I think this smells like cheap sh*t and then there are times I'm captivated. So, why add my two cents? Well, I get a bit of an orange-y Eau d'Hermes vibe from it. So, if you're a fan of that, give this a chance.
Personally it teters a bit too much towards the feminine, but I do so love orange blossom I'm willing to overlook it.
I'm hardly an acolyte of the Lutens & Sheldrake sweetshop, but this gets a positive vote from me. If I just wrote this exact same review but was in a bit of a crappier mood, it would have been sideways.

This is a masculine point of view.

This fragrances is a Floral Oriental, sweet and heavy. The Orange Flower note is not very peculiar and the overall scent is pretty linear. Much more appropriate for a woman than a man. It has good longevity and good sillage, but it will not be a sillage emanating from me.

I'm thrown through a loop after testing "Fleurs d'Oranger"--- it pulls me away from referencing other Serge Lutens options. This is a very pretty scent; unfortunately, I smelled Glade's "Country Garden" vacuum powder first and a strong similarity between the two is undeniable. I like the potpourri scent of the floor powder...but I just can't imagine wearing it. I'm used to the off-kilter magic of Lutens scents like "Gris Clair","Douce Amere", "La Myrrhe", "Fleurs d'Citronnier" and "A la Nuit". I'm surprised "Fleurs d'Oranger" originated from the same house.

The combination of orange blossoms and cumin in this is stunning - I find it an incredibly sensual scent, but at the same time it has a delicacy that makes it appropriate for occasions when I don't want to send people reeling. It stays quite close to my skin, but people I hug when I'm wearing it always say I smell amazing.

I know, people love this one... I was told it's the best seller of all SLs at the Shisheido flagship store. The saleswoman insisted to give me a sample and trying to convert me to this one. I have tried basically all SL's perfumes and owned most of them. I agree with mikey_p, it's definitely not unpleasant, definitely more interesting than Fleur Citronnier. To my nose, all these notes put together seem very plastic-like, something vinyl/ plastic-wrap or like a barbie doll just taken out of its cardboard plastic package + an aromatheraputic dish-washing detergent. I'm unsure with this one personally, I might not wear it, but it's interesting to sniff.

Really smells just like orange blossoms. Even though there is tuberose in here as well. Sweet and floral (obviously), but surprisingly very pleasant. Lush, yet not too heady. I love smelling this because it's a beautiful achievement. Unfortunately, it's not something I'd wear simply because it feels somehow awkward on me. I'm not big on wearing white florals, but I love the odor of my orange tree in bloom wafting on the air. Now I have this scent tucked away to enjoy any time of the year!

To me, it doesn't really smell like 'Fleurs d' Oranger, rather like pure BLACK TEA. Especially the dry down irresistibly resembles of Ceylon tea. Slightly less synthetic than Daim Blond, still nothing more than one of those soapy, boring scents. Don't get me wrong: Fd'O does not lack on originality, but nonetheless - it is so BORING.

I had been looking for a scent that reminded me of a blooming orange tree I smelled in Tucson, Az. This is the same smell but with alittle cardamon or is it cumin. Hummm I wear this constantly.

Whoosh! Fleurs d'Oranger hurls heady, indole-laden orange blossom like a projectile weapon as soon as it leaves the bottle. Once it's knocked your head back with its opening salvo, it calls in reinforcements in the form of a crisp, green floral note that suggests lily-of-the-valley, but must actually be a very limpid rose. This addition lends the scent some clarity while balancing the swoon-inducing indoles of the opening. The simple, sweet floral accord taht results soon settles in as the heart of the fragrance, and its extended sillage leaves a bright nebula of scent in the wearer's wake.

For all the animalic decadence inherent in the orange blossom indoles, Fleurs d'Oranger reads as a happy scent: sweet, dewey white flowers in the sunshine of a cool spring morning. An unusually crisp, yet still sensuous tuberose note spreads itself out as a backdrop, but its heady tendencies are moderated by a healthy dose of citrus zest. I get very little cumin out of this scent, and the base reads to me mostly as clean white musk. I quite like Fleurs d'Oranger, and add it to the list of Sheldarke-Lutens fragrances (Gris Clair, Un Lys, Sa Majeste la Rose, Chene, Tubereuse Criminelle,) that offer relief from their accustomed spiced and honeyed orientals.

(As an aside, I am puzzled by repeated assertions that Fleur d'Oranger was cloned when Lutens released the more recent Mandarine-Mandarin. Except for orange zest - a condiment in Fleurs d'Oranger, the main course in Mandarine-Mandarin - the bright but indolic floral and the dark, smoky, spicy, carmelized citrus-oriental have exactly nothing in common. Maybe my nose is broken.)

This floral is thick! So thick, it may be applied by using a spatula! Honestly, the orange blossom, jasmine, tuberose, rose, musk and spices all come out at once and the effect is smothering. The closest comparison I can draw is if there was a super concentrated extreme version of Fracas. But even then, Fracas has a certain garden freshness ~ Fd'O has an underlying note of B.O. Yeah, when I caught a whiff of THAT I had to check my own armpits...sure enough, my anti-perspirant hadn't failed me, it was the Fd'O.

I can't say that I really took to this one at all. To me, it smelt like some sort of cheap room fragrance. I do get a certain cumin "body" smell which in itself is not unpleasant but the overall effect to me is far too loud and "80's". The orange blossom had a very synthetic effect, similar to that of Giorgio and I feel this scent is already dated.

In my opinion it is the scent of an orange cloves christmas ball. Like it.

This sweet and floral offering is way too feminine for me.

Pass.

Realistic orange flower buoyed by an almost palpably warm tuberose. Delicious but still floral, not edible, just like the real flower. Exceedingly sweet, but appropriately so.

sadly, one of the most revolting things I have smelled on my skin. maybe it's just me, but it smells like cheap bathroom freshener. i grew up smelling orange blossoms on a daily basis, but this just smells fake and cloying.

Fleurs d'Oranger was an instant love for me, and it differs from most other orange blossom fragrances not only because of the inclusion of jasmine and tuberose, but because of its tang and spice! As in true syrupy juiciness that I can taste. It's sweet and sour and tropically floral - the antithesis of L'Artisan's interpretation of orange blossom, which is airy, ethereal, seraphic, but clean ... the Lutens variety is hotly sensual flowers with all their lovely evocative parts displayed!

There is a moment of revelation when approaching a familiar scent – for a moment there are two matching vibrations between two scents – the first one being the one in the smeller’s mind and the other the actual scent that is being smelled. A whiff of a flower and the vapour emanating from a bottle met and struck a chord in my ofactory heart when I smelled Fleurs d’Oranger.

The top notes of Fleurs d’Oranger are likened to dewy orange blossoms on the tree in early morning. However, this tree grows in Serge Lutens’ garden, which means it has an unbelievably rich soil. The blossoms warm up to the glowing sun of high noon and attract humming bees to transform them into honey. They exude a sweeter scent with the help of understated tuberose and jasmine notes. By the end of the day, the rich soil reveals itself in full blast with the signature Serge Lutens amber. The blossoms have melted into sweet golden honey and turned deep orange, saffron, crimson and fuschia in the sunset. Its creator was right: it is the scent of happiness.

When I wear this beauty I see big, NO HUGE... wax blossoms...mmm something out of the garden of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory... oozing with sumptuous fragrance...oozing like honey, dripping like the creamiest of ice-creams... melting into my skin...blending until they are only ONE... velvety fields of floral delight... tuberose blossoms as big as dinner plates and jasmine scented creamsicles... orangy color lifting all worry and sadness of the world and coloring the whole world in orange delight and 'orange smiles'!!!! I love the creaminess in this fragrance, love the way it lingers and caresses you with delicate fingertips and soft whispers in your hair... This is the fragrance of joy and delight and calm and love and all that is smiles and heart bursting with happiness...

Beautiful. Romantic, heady, dewy, enchanting...a fragrance for my wildest dreams.

I was slightly dissapointed with this. This was not, to my nose, as heady and complex as other reviews had lead me to believe. When first applied, there is a very nice combination of Orange Flower, a touch of Jasmine, and a smidge of Rose. However, there is also a pretty strong sweetness to it, almost peachy-sweet. Too sugary for me, and it drowns out the complexity of the rose and jasmine curling around the orange flower. The overall effect after a few minutes was 40% peachy-sweet and 60% orange flower.

The peachy-sweetness faded after about an hour, as top notes are wont to do, but by then so had the rose and jasmine. All that's left is orange flower orange flower orange flower. Nice, but not very complex, nor does it justify the Serge Lutens price, in my mind.

Big, intense neroli with jasmine, tuberose and spices. Not a polite gentleman's afternoon cologne.

Almost 20 years ago I stayed with a friend in central Florida, in early Spring. The house was a huge Spanish villa c. 1928, built around a courtyard filled with flowers. We arrived late at night, wide awake, and decided to walk around the lush, haunted neighborhood. The air was heavy and balmy, and its scent was the most beautiful, intoxicating smell I've ever experienced. I've carried this olfactory memory with me - searching for the smell - but it had not been recreated, until I got my first whiff of Fleurs d'Oranger. This is the scent of paradise.