40 Days & 40 Nights Of Fragrance Notes: Lilac

We have been doing the 40 Days & 40 Nights project since the Lent of 2006. It all started with primers.
Back then, primers were just starting to gain popularity. It was a stretch to locate 40 primer products. We were begging for samples on the beauty floor of Bergdorfs.
Last year we tackled skincare. This was the most exhausting and stressful project. It almost made me throw in the towel.
My friends have encouraged me to continue the blogging tradition.
This year we have decided to focus on fragrance notes. So for 40 days you will see gushes and slams on everything from the rose to the oud.

The first note in the series is lilac. This is one of my favorite flowers to grow and wear. The tiny flower bundles come in the shades of purple, white, pale yellow and pink with heart shaped leaves. The moment of bloom is fleeting. The scent makes up for the short life of the flowers. It is operatic and glorious. Lilacs smell sweet without being cloying. They smell innocent. They smell fresh and clean.


When "fragonerds" discuss great lilac scents, there is one perfume that is always mentioned as a benchmark of greatness. This fume is Frederic Malle En Passant. En Passant is a stemmy lilac with some salt and a loaf of bread thrown in. The actual notes are lilac, water, greens, cucumber and wheat. It is haunting and quite lovely. It is considered perfumer Olivia Giacobetti's finest creation.
En Passant can be purchased at Barneys in NYC. The 50 ml bottle retails for $130.

I recently fell hard and fast for a new scent at Anthropologie. It is a collaboration with the Le Labo perfumers and creators. Bouquet Blanc listed notes are cassis, bergamot, jasmine, tuberose and vetiver. My nose picks up lilac. A strong and singsong lilac. Patti aka Cavewoman proclaimed it to be the best lilac she ever sniffed. This is a grand statement coming from Blogdorf's chief perfume pal. It is springtime in an amber bottle. The price point is lovely at $62. The Le Labo/Anthropologie fragrance series really knocked my socks off. Impressive quality.


Other lilac fragrance appearances are Ineke's After my Own Heart(a favorite of Beauty Alchemist!), Guerlain's Apres L'Ondee, Yves Saint Laurent's Jardins Romantiques, Ralph Lauren's Blue, Gucci's Guilty, Estee Lauder's Pleasures and Demeter's Lilac.

Disclosure: Le Labo's Bouquet Blanc was purchased at my local Anthropologie
Photo Credits: Blogdorf Goodman
Graphic Credit: Melanie Parker
Day 1 Reviewer: Annie

Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria Angelique-Lilas

This is a limited edition fragrance currently sold at your local Sephora. It is a charming floral that has the most delicate lilac note with a dash of celery.

Lilacs have always been one of my favorite flowers. They seem to herald the arrival of spring.

The staying power of the fragrance is short but sweet. This needs to be reapplied throughout the day. I know I throw the word "pretty" around often but this one clearly deserves to be described as a bottle chock full of pretty.

It oozes pretty.

It is all about pretty.

Pretty, pretty and pretty.

The notes are: Pink Peppercorns, Jasmine, Seville Orange, Angelica, Lilac, Ylang-Ylang, Cedar, Heliotrope.

Credits: The Time of the Lilacs by Sophie Gengembre Anderson and Sephora