Violets for spring

[Red Theodora]

Hello my fellow Basnoters,
Again I want to pick your brains. I love having access to so many of you that have such a wealth of perfume knowledge. I am already thinking to springtime and I want a new fragrance that showcases violets; as violets are my favorite floral scent. I already have my old-fashioned violets - Violetta di Palma and Soir de Paris. I also have my violet soliflore - Devon Violets. Plus I just finished a bottle of Lolita Lempicka Midnight, which has a very pronouned violet note. So if any of you are violet lovers like myself, please let me know some of your favs. Thank you!

[rubyred]

Yep, Red Theodora, I think that violet is the best scent in the universe
Of yours, I have had Borsari's Violette de Parma - yes, a lovely soft, powdery violet.
these are my best
April Violets by Yardley no don't be a perfume snob - Amazingly cheap and amazingly true wet crushed violet flower soliflore. I love this for bed.
Agent Provocateur - Maitresse - sultry, lush violet and white floral, oozing sensuality. Good for when you are sharing a bed
Kenzo's Flower - happy very sweet very violetty powdery floral - a unique and strong floral
Kenzo's Flower EdP (Red) stronger than the above, an oriental floral with a strong violet note. Gorgeous and sumptuous.
YSL Rive Gauche is a cold, metallic, haunting, aldehydic violet (more orris?) on me
Fleurs d'Ombre Violette-Menthe by Jean-Charles Brosseau. Every violet lover should try this. Powdery, cool violet flower never overtaken by the refreshing mint.
Yes, Guelain's Insolence is violets on steroids. Violet flower jam.
Some of the Daisy fragrances have violet - I think they are too weak to consider
D & G's By -smoky violet with leather and burnt rubber. maybe too thick/powerful for me

[Wingie]

I like LezNez The Unicorn Spell as a spring violet fragrance - it is a fresh green violet scent and very modern, so it either could offer a nice counterbalance to your more old-fashioned violet scents; or you might hate it if it's the old-fashioned violets that are more to your taste. It is a bit different and some people do not like the green opening as they feel it smells like green beans. I actually get this smell too but it doesn't put me off, and it only lasts a few seconds. Then you're left with a very fresh, very cold violet.

Parfums de Nicolai Violette in Love might be another one to try.

[LiliB]

The violet to end them all, is the now discontinued Le Dix. It is an effervescent, very feminine perfume, which does not list violet in the notes at all, but manages to produce a warm cloud of sweet violets around you all day.

I tried Balenciaga Paris, which disappointed greatly. It turned out to be a dry, peppery, green sort of mixture, quite unlike the feminine, sweet Le Dix, which it was supposed to replace. It's like replacing a ripe strawberry with a melon

I have tried a number of the modern takes on violet, and have always found that the leaf, rather than the flower, tends to dominate the violet character. Perhaps that's a reflection of the fact that such simple flowers as violets are not likely to appeal to the modern perfume aesthetic.

[iris_983]

Penhaligon's Violetta is natural, green violet.
I love powdery violets in Guerlain Insolence edp.
Violettes de Toulouse Parfums Berdoues are nice, very similar to natural violet smell, but lasting power is poor.

I didn't tried fragrance Meteorites by Guerlain, but if it smells like their make up, it's wonderful.

[Twolf]

Agree on the two suggestions from the previous posters: Unicorn Spell and Yardley April Violets. I like them candied and sweet, so "my" violet for many years has been Henri Berdoues Violettes de Toulouse (try to find it in a EdP concentration, although there is some variety of opinions about this) . For cold and wet and dewey violet I would go with either Balmain Jolie Madame or Geoffrey Beene Grey Flannel.