3 Fleurs (2009)
by Parfum d'Empire

Notes (from Lucky Scent): Bulgarian rose, Egyptian jasmine, Indian tuberose, galbanum, mint, white musk.

I get green jasmine and buttery tuberose from 3 Fleurs right off the bat, the rose being far less obvious at first. Conspicuous galbanum and minty top notes initially align 3 Fleurs with Dominique Ropion’s Carnal Flower for Frédéric Malle, though 3 Fleurs is a cooler, quieter, and far less voluptuous scent. 3 Fleurs grows more intensely green as it develops, eschewing much of the indolic, animalic character of jasmine and tuberose in favor of a crisp, snappy, morning-in-the-garden mood. It’s the same kind of pretty, but thoroughly chaste, floral style that Estée Lauder does so well in scents like Alliage, White Linen, and Private Collection. In fact if you’d handed me 3 Fleurs to sniff blind, I’d of guessed it was a Lauder scent from the 1970s – especially once the soapy white “laundry” musk and peppery rose drydown sets in.

With such a green, herbaceous profile, 3 Fleurs also strikes me as a potentially agreeable floral for men. It’s really not all that far removed in style from Givenchy’s bitter-green Insensé or Power by Kenzo, themselves both owing much to the clean, green Lauder/Balmain florals of the 1970s. By now of course you probably know where this is going: 3 Fleurs smells good, but it’s been done before, and just as well, for quite a bit less money. I wouldn’t buy it without trying Alliage, White Linen, Private Collection, or Ivoire first.