FLOWERING PERFUMS: women and men alike, enjoy the charm of fragrant nature

It's in the early morning or late afternoon sunshine during the summer that the fragrant scents of a garden, a visit or a stroll through town exalt their perfumes. The south of France is the best place to go, below the Loire and during the months of May and June, depending on how far nature has advanced; these months are perfect for enjoying the aromas. When you're out walking, don't hesitate to sharpen your senses, breathe deeply and pay attention to the scents that are naturally released in nature. A plant seems fragrant, the flower of course, but also the stem, the branch, the wood and the root. The best thing to do is to rub the plant material between your thumb and forefinger to heat it slightly and extract the fragrant molecules. Smell your fingers, it's divine!

Martine and I have already camped in Corsica. This island is a perfume reserve; it's simple, practically all the plants are perfumed. As soon as you wake up, you're in direct contact with nature's scents. A trail of resin, bark or aromatics often tickles your nostrils. Washing up is a daily ritual, so I head for the toilet block. I was greeted by a beautiful armful of Rosa geraniums planted right in the warm sand. By reflex, I rubbed a leaf between my fingers. It gave off a sweet scent, starting with lemongrass mixed with rose and camphor. Then came a minty green facet reminiscent of wild herbs or traditional English gardens. 

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While my nose feasted on this fragrant trail, campers of all nationalities walked past this beautiful floral clump, completely indifferent. What a pity, the world needs to be educated about scents!

Flowers grow and express their fragrances on earth to be seduced by insects.It's nature's olfactory rivalry, to our great delight. Flowers have been the perfumer's Muses since the dawn of time. Recently, a terracotta still was found in Mesopotamia. Carbon-14 dated, it dates back to several centuries before our era. In prehistoric times, men and women were already perfuming each other. A few rubs of scented plants on the skin and a gentle scent would harmonise. 

Flowers are also at the origin of phytotherapy, the science of using active molecules for human health. Dr Bach's 38 flowers are recognised therapies that influence the physiological and emotional state of human beings. Flowers are indispensable on earth and in life. Imagine a life without flowers, how sad!  The court of Louis XIV was bathed in the opulence of flowery perfumes. They are a must and I hope to inspire you to discover them in this wonderful palette of scents.

In perfumery, floral notes are worked on like music. Like an olfactory melody, natural fragrance flowers provide the low notes of the melody and synthetic notes provide the high notes.

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A true perfume is therefore a judicious balance between nature and synthesis.

It is a pastoral symphony, it must be melodious, classical or modern, fluid or jerky, it must seduce you like a hummed tune and carry you away in its wake. This emotion may also be created by that flowery scented moment you discover on a perfumed person on the corner of a corridor.  True perfumer-creators are rare. We hunt them out for your pleasure.

Flowery perfumes are numerous and the choice is abysmal, certainly too much, but so much the better! The Paris-Parfums perfumery has selected the best and most interesting perfumes of the highest olfactory quality. Don't fall into the trap of those perfume superstores that sell you flowery perfume without any flowers in the bottle. Let our 50 years of experience and know-how guide you:

Discover the Paris-Parfums selection of floral fragrances in the Perfume tab on the left of the screen. Then choose the fragrance of your dreams from the comfort of your own home.

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