Tilleul Friction de Nuit d'Orsay 1999

A late spring evening in a magical garden, somewhere on the southern edge of the Alps or by the upper Italian lakes… Tall hedges enclose the garden, allowing just a gentle breeze and the scents of the surrounding nature to flow through. The tart lemon cocktail with a hint of mint has lightened my thoughts and lets my feelings wander through my body… At the edge of the garden, proud angelica plants rise up and open their green umbels. In the shade, the last alpine violets bloom, releasing their fragrance into the late afternoon. Outside the garden, the linden and robinia trees are in full bloom; I hear the buzzing of bees as a single light vibration, I can almost feel the hum on my skin with the fine hairs standing up to air, scent, and sound… The sun begins to set, and before it lays down to sleep, it allows all the colors to glow particularly warmly once more. Now the wind carries the aroma of fragrant dry hay from the nearby meadows to me, caressing my neck. A shimmering aura of powdery fairy dust hangs in the air,* or as if everything were wrapped in a bright, velvety fur…
I am here in the garden and waiting, I’ve made myself beautiful for you… Finally, we will meet… Every single part of my body is looking forward to you…
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This fragrance transports me to such a garden and exactly the longing love anticipation that has been described in literature since antiquity as “locus amoenus,” a beautiful place, always with metaphors of spring or early summer and a green, fertile place like a garden or a lovely meadow under trees. And it provides the setting for the meeting of lovers. For example, Hartmann von Aue described in the late 12th century in his “Erec” how a knight spends time with his lady in such a garden - indulging in physical love - where the fruit trees bloom and bear fruit at the same time, all the flowers bloom, the grass is fragrant, and the birds sing.
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“Fleurs et Phéromones” by Duftkumpels is an Extrait de Parfum based on “Tilleul Friction de Nuit” (d´Orsay). The notes of this classic have been adopted - therefore “Fleurs et Phéromones” is not listed as a standalone fragrance here - but additionally blended with pheromones, here Hedion and Cashmeran, as well as wonderful natural ambergris. In the Duftkumpels webshop, it says that the “Midsummer Night's Dream floral fragrance [was] transported to another dimension with the help of pheromones”; I can only confirm this. The scents from this house are usually not synthetic but based on natural ingredients. Here, the synthetics are extremely well integrated and fantastically used; I do not perceive Hedion and Cashmeran individually, they lightly connect the other notes without blurring them too much, and add that certain soft, bright fur-like quality. The ambergris gradually brings the entire composition to life, as I also know from Annette Neuffer's fragrances.
The top notes are herbaceous-citrusy but quickly give way to the other floral notes. Therefore, it never becomes cloyingly sweet, but the floral aspect consistently retains a fresh, green, tart aura. Hay and vervain add extra spice. The longevity is - likely due to the additional notes of Hedion, Cashmeran, and ambergris - really good.

This review refers to the version from Duftkumpels (Extrait de Parfum).
As only 5 bottles of 30ml of this love elixir were probably made, I consider myself very lucky to have one of them in my collection.
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(* I borrowed this half-sentence with thanks from the description in the webshop.)