Fleur Cachée Anatole Lebreton 2020

After application, there is a long olfactory silence: no water, no spice, no flower.... nothing. I search the sprayed area on my arm with my nose, but no scent emerges.

After about 30 minutes something glows up: it surrounds me slightly sweet. Maybe it's floral? Maybe green? In any case, it's quite pleasant. Hopefully, I point my nose at the spot I sprayed and sniff. Again, I smell nothing!

For me, this delicate fragrance can not be located at the sprayed spot, does not become more intense when I smell at this spot. The scent doesn't behave at all like I'm used to from perfumes. Instead, I feel as if I have to feel my way forward laboriously in a pitch-black basement and have lost olfactory completely the ground under my feet.

I can't identify any of the individual components: Fenugreek? I take my jar of fenugreek from the spice rack and sniff: No, it's much sweeter and much spicier and not so narrow-chested and generally just different.

Texas cedar? Well, maybe the cedars smell like that in Texas. I was there once, but unfortunately missed it there a cedar olfactory under the magnifying glass to take. Oh no, wrong track, 'Texas cedar' is probably the essential oil of the so-called alligator juniper. Do I smell juniper? Hmm, might be getting there, at least I don't want to completely deny it.

After an hour and a half, a sweet fruity wave suddenly appears, liqueur-like rum pot scent, and I think, ok, now it finally starts! But no, after a few minutes the wave collapses and leaves the field again to the weak Texas cedar aka alligator juniper. The dry cedar has probably gotten engaged with the Peru balsam by now, because at least now it's smoldering a tiny bit warmer and more incense-y.

But where is the vanilla? The has not yet arrived in my nose after 4 hours.

Instead, I get a dry throat. And the place where I sprayed the fragrance, briefly burns a bit.

Conclusion: actually, it could be a nice, spicy, slightly bitter fragrance that I could like. What I perceive, awakens faint associations with the Badedas foam bath from my childhood. But flower? Well, rather not. Or if it is, it's really very well hidden.

Because I can not locate the fragrance on my body, and because it thus gives the impression that it is not actually there, this perfume, however, makes the attribute 'caché' all honor. For me, it's like walking on thin ice in the dark. Everything about this fragrance feels very synthetic to me. Nothing is tangible, the scent is irritatingly oscillating and leaves a burning and dry feeling at the same time.

Even though I find this perfume rather unpleasant overall, it was a very interesting experience to sniff after its undulating appearance, and I thank button nose for the sample.