First Dream of the Year Floraïku 2017

A sour-bitter opening that makes me want to bite directly into the grapefruit. It has character - and it even smells fun. But within a minute, the zest fades away, leaving a fine acidity on a dry-bitter base. This too dissipates after yet another all-too-brief moment, and after maybe two or three minutes, a layer of orange blossom laundry detergent takes over.

The fragrance now rests on this for a long time. In the following hours, only a few things twitch here and there, while the sillage glides into free fall: orangey green close to the skin. Later in the morning, I think of a slice of heavily toasted gray bread. Dull laundry freshness at noon, then something reminiscent of a swimming pool.

By early afternoon, a pale, medium-light wood has quietly been reached, which is refined with iris. Essentially a superb idea, and something similar happens excellently in ‘Italian Citrus’, ‘[96Cm] Curium’ or ‘Vanille d’Iris’. Here, however, it’s just a breeze and manages to save little. The fact that the fragrance somewhat returns in the evening (the wood becomes warmer, rounder) doesn’t really help anymore.

Conclusion: Disappointing. Even if the start can justifiably be called spectacular - it is a flash in the pan that extinguishes faster than any citrus fragrance typically does. And to simply end up on wood after just about five hours is meager.

I thank Verbena for the sample.