Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia by Guerlain, 2012

The opening is a burst of pretty flowers, mainly lily & ylang, with a little hint of jasmine. The accord is creamy & slightly salty, & definitely reminiscent of sun-soaked skin. After a few moments, the vanilla becomes apparent, & ten minutes in, a warm, sweet lily blooms. The citrus notes are extremely subtle to my nose. The projection is good for the first hour, but after this it all settles very close to the skin. The base is a musky vanilla, just detectable after seven hours. ln comparison to other lily fragrances l've tried; Un Lys is less sweet & more heady & creamy than this, while Lys Mediterranee is saltier & cooler in feel. l'm giving Lys Soleia a positive rating because it really is a very pretty tropical floral, but l personally prefer these other two for my lily fix.

Casablanca Lily and ylang-ylang, my nose gets these two note in a very beautiful mixture. I love casablanca lily, but unfortunately many lily-scented perfumes out there tend to go on the fresh side instead of this warm sweet casablanca scent, except Serge Lutens' Un Lys. When I heard Guerlain would do a lily scent, I was half hopeful and half worried. Hoped my beloved Guerlain would satisfy me with a real Casablanca lily. And happily, my hope was rewarded on the first spray. This is warm and sweet, but not too warm for this season, and not too sweet to be offensive. and the ylang-ylang really is the perfect match for this lily.

This is a wonderfully balanced fragrance. Tender, in no way loud, a whiff of sunny lily with some lemony (yet orientally sweet) ting-a-ling. Never expected Thierry Wasser to come up with such a wonder.