Fleur d'Oranger 27 (2006)
by Le Labo

Summer in a bottle. Sweet, thirst quenching citrus floral.

I absolutely hated this the first time I tried it. It was so sickly sweet to my nose that I had to scrub it off. Even my neighbor's kid said it stunk. There was something about it that reminded me of the sweetness smell in vomit. I hated it that much.

Then I received it as a gift, relunctantly gave it more tries and surprise !! it really grew on me. It's now become one of my favorites. I wear it often, especially on those kind of dreary freezing winter days when its easy to lose faith that summer will come. It's the crutch that has gotten me through the 2nd sloppiest snowfall in NYC history.

If you are expecting a cologne type of orange citrus fragrance, or a bitter orange, you might get disappointed because this is quite sweet. People who like gourmands and are looking for a citrusy floral should give this a try.

4th March, 2011.

I’m not sure what the idea behind this fragrance is… It’s a simple, dry, clear floral / green accord. It doesn’t smell like orange blossom and there’s a streak of clean green running through it that seems to confuse or disguise the floral notes to my nose… I just can’t identify the floral. At times the simple, clear, pristine, straight-forword scents can be incredibly beautiful, but this isn’t a scent like that – it isn’t pristine or delicate or at all captivating. I agree that it seems like a household cleaning product.

1st February, 2010.

Le Labo Fleur d'Oranger 27

Notes: bergamot, petitgrain, grapefruit, amber, musk and vetiver (from luckyscent.com)

I'm not sure what I am supposed to be smelling, but it is not orange flower, nor is it neroli. Fleur d'Oranger 27 starts bright and green, with bitter and sour citrus fruits (bergamot, and maybe a little grapefruit), some woody, herbal notes (petitgrain, lavender) and mint. It seems harmless at first. However, when the citrus and lavender fade, I am left with a sweetened, somewhat wintergreen-like menthol fragrance that smells like toilet bowl cleaner. It is too bad that household goods now have this scent association. On the other hand, the mint is really one-dimensional and not terribly compelling. If this were stronger and long-lived, Fleur d'Oranger 27 would be intolerable.

21st November, 2009.

I only tested it on a paper, but that's enough!

What is this??

There are two elements: One could be a flowery note (light, sweet).
The other is an undefinable artificial smell, which causes an acute nausea.
I can hardly detect one of the listed ingredients (no bergamot, no petitgrain,
no orange blossom, no musk, no grapefruit, no amber, not at all a lemon).
I dread to think what is behind the other 20 ingredients.
I had to put the test-paper immediately into the last corners of my wastebin (rating 1/10).

28th October, 2009.

As a disclaimer, I'm certainly not the right person to judge the merits of this fragrance. I simply fail to appreciate the sickly-sweet, powdery smell of orange blossoms and no matter how "natural" or "realistic" the note's supposed to be (I've never smelt real orange trees in bloom) I think only of scented, chemical-smelling cleaning fluids and bathroom air "fresheners" working in quite the opposite way.

20th April, 2009.

Break it down in a couple of words. Sharp, dry, green, aromatic and floral. Its a fantastic summery unisex combination. Not meant to be a traditiional fleur d orange. Would only by in the summer.

26th August, 2008.