One of L'Occitane's limited edition products for the holidays is Délice des Fleurs, a scent inspired by the traditional Provençal confectionary of candied flowers; it is "a gourmand floral fragrance with a powdery vanilla base and aromas of May Rose and Violet leaf absolutes." I do love candied violets, and anything edible made from rose petals, so I immediately put Délice des Fleurs on my must-try list.
Délice des Fleurs does indeed smell as though it were "inspired by delicate roses and violets draped in sugar." It leads with its violet note, which is sweet but not chalky; the violet is followed by a sugared rose heart, then vanilla (with a heliotrope-like creaminess) and soft white musk. The violet-rose-vanilla combination is smoothly blended. Despite its concept and its notes, Délice des Fleurs is surprisingly gentle, and can even be applied somewhat generously. On me, it avoids turning cloyingly sweet, and it doesn't send off overwhelming waves of sillage. It has solid staying power for an Eau de Toilette. It's simple, but nicely rounded and textured, just like its frosted-glass bottle.
If you loathe powdery-sweet floral fragrances, you probably won't be interested in this one, but if you're a fan of that mini-genre, you should give it a try. Just for fun, I tried wearing Délice des Fleurs on one arm and my longtime rose-and-violet love Frédéric Malle Lipstick Rose on the other, for a side-by-side comparison. Délice des Fleurs lacks Lipstick Rose's aldehydic, berry-tinged opening, its musty-sweet face powder aspect, and its almost-naughty vetiver note. In other words, it's not as complex or flirtatious, but it's cozier and easier to wear, not to mention easier on the wallet. I've been applying it at home in the evening, just as I might slip into a lambswool sweater or a pretty pastel robe.
I haven't purchased a full bottle of any L'Occitane fragrance in a while, although I'm loyal to the company's shea butter hand creams, lightweight body gels (especially in summer), and "Bonne Mère" Marseille soaps. I've previously tried Cherry Blossom and Rose 4 Reines and Pivoine Flora, and they all seemed thin and bland to me. However, Délice des Fleurs easily caught my fancy. I tried it first at a L'Occitane boutique in New York, then sampled it a few days later at the L'Occitane shop in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station and enjoyed its scent on my train ride home, then returned to the boutique in New York to purchase it the next day. I think Kevin recently had a similar experience with Immortelle de Corse, so L'Occitane must be doing something right these days.
Extra: If you'd like to know more about the floral confiserie that inspired Délice des Fleurs, you can see violets and roses being picked and crystallized in the first three minutes of this six-minute video (narrated in French).
L'Occitane Delice des Fleurs is available as Eau de Toilette (75 ml for $42), and solid perfume ($10); a matching shower gel, body lotion, and hand cream, plus a pair of rose and violet lip balms, are also available. For purchasing information, see the listing for L'Occitane under Perfume Houses.
Thanks for this review, Jessica. There was a rather lengthy dry spell for L’Occitane and I there as well, but it was broken when I tried their Rose Jardin Delice. That one was a gorgeous powdery rose accented with a hint of sweet berries and I loved it. Delice des Fleurs sounds similar in that candied floral way, and I am really tempted to pick up some of the DdF items during their next good sale. I love rose and violet perfumes and am actually rather excited about an L’Occitane fragrance, which I haven’t been in quite a while. Their Africa-inspired shea line for the holidays looks lovely, too. 🙂
AS, things *did* seem dull there for a while… and I’m sorry I missed that Jardin limited edition… but I *can* recommend the Desert Rose shea butter hand cream!
Nice review, Jessica. And while you didn’t actually inspire me to try this one, you did remind me to start wearing my Attrape Coeur now that the temps are below freezing in the a.m. Thanks!
Yes, it’s that time of year…! Attrape Coeur, how lovely. No argument here. 😉
Oh, I was hoping from your review that delices des fleurs could be along the lines of attrape coeur.
I love AC and wear it often- I stocked up when I could!
I’m sure there must be an inexpensive and unsuspect dupe around, because I keep smelling it in un-perfumista-like environments.
I might be mistaken by violet blonde, but I don’t think so- the lack of ambery notes gives the TF away… And it’s not particularly cheap.
BTW, love to eat those candied flowers. Violets and marrons glacées, hummmm!
Oh, I wouldn’t ever mistake Delice des Fleurs for a Guerlain… it doesn’t feel like a Classic French Perfume… but it’s very, very nice in its own way!!
I live really close to L’Occitane, but haven’t spent much time there – I went in to try the new Plum Blossom last spring and through it was atrocious. Now I’ll have to try to this one, glad they’ve done some nicer ones now.
BG, I didn’t care for that one, either. The last fragrance I considered purchasing there was Calanques, a summer sea-air limited edition… but Delice is more “me.”
I went in last week to try the Immortelle after Kevin’s review (it’s quite nice if you like immortelle, but a bit too much for me) – I really liked their Green Tea and Eau de Baux (on the “masculine” side)
The Green Tea and the Jasmine Tea are really refreshing in summer, and I liked that Eau de Baux when it was released… I’d buy it for Mr. Jessica, if he wore fragrance!
I would love to have a less-expensive version of Lipstick Rose. . .I guess I’ll need to make a trip downtown to take a sniff!
It’s definitely worth a try… and it’s not too hard to find! You know what else reminds me of Lipstick Rose a little bit… Laurence Dumont’s Vanille Violette, although it’s much sweeter than L’Occitane’s Delices, heavier on the vanilla.
This actually sounds pretty good, I need to stop in at my local L’Occitane and try it!
It’s worth a spritz. A pretty, powdery candied-floral scent, for under $50… not bad at all!
I’ll go check what the Stockholm store brought in for the holiday season, would love to test both this one and the immortelle. Not that I need more powder at the moment, just fell for Shalimar Parfum Initial and its iris-powder-drydown-yumminess. Tested it out of curiousity with no expectations, the first impression was not overwhelming, but then the iris came sneaking up on me…
L’Occitane Verbena shower gel is always in my bathroom and the scented shea butter lip balm in my purse. I am also curious to smell the Eau de Beaux and their Vetyver.
I like the shea lip balms, too! I think I’ll be using one this winter.
And I haven’t tried Initial yet, but it sounds as though I should!
Jessica, I just bought the Holiday set yesterday. I really love the soft, comfy fragrance. Great find! Love the L’Occitane hand creams too!
Dear S! That gift set is an excellent bargain. The box is cute, too. 🙂
I tried this one the other day, along with the Immortelle, and came home with the Immortelle but I can’t stop thinking about the Delice des Fleurs as well! It was a little pink and boring to me at first, but the drydown is really lovely, and overall it is very pretty and easy to wear. Seriously considering buying a bottle of it as it’s really not very expensive at all!
My only regret about trying this one is the fact that it’s a limited edition!
Very pretty review Jessica, a delight to read! You were entirely too kind. 😀
One of the L’Occitane SA’s, who used to work at Guerlain, told me that L’Occitane “creates perfumes for people who want a certain quality but can’t appreciate or don’t want to invest in the real thing”. Maybe this disdain for the brand explains her rather hasty departure only 6 months into the job. But I think she was right. L’Occitane used to have simple, natural and light fragrances for people who love the idea of a natural “healthy” fragrance. Gradually they became more and more marketing-driven. I can’t express a lemming for any of their products except for the Citron Verbena in the summer, that one is heavenly for all of 15 minutes, the loveliest quickie fragrance in history lol.
I tried Delice des Fleurs a couple of weeks ago and found it completely forgettable. The Barbie-meets-Lolita packaging is suitable for a tween but as an adult I find it nauseating.
Thank God for Bottega Venetta my current main interest among mainstream launches.
I agree with you Jessica, I actually really like this fragrance as well and think that their fragrances have really improved. I, like you, am also loyal to certain products they make, like their shea butter hand creams, the same soaps you use and also love their bubble baths, especially lavender in the winter but their scents have been forgettable for the most part. However, I did like Pivoine for the summer, a good everyday fragrance for hot days, nothing complicated but in hot weather that works.
Now, I like Delices de Fruit even more. No, it is not your most complicated fragrance but sometimes it is nice for a change to wear something cozy, warm and yummy to enlighten our moods, this fragrances works really well for winter. I can easily imagine wearing it Xmas nite with the family. I do like gourmands but I hate overly sweet, sickening scents. This one is not that perhaps due to its floral facet, which makes it more interesting. Even though not extremely sophisticated, it is really likeable. Also, the price is great and they have a wonderful set with shower gel and lotion and handcream for the same price you would normally pay for only a perfume, not a bad thing and their body products tend to be really good quality as well (I actually that is the main strength of the brand). Interestingly, even though it is an EDT the lasting power is really good and it is not a faint scent, just the right sillage.
I think I am returning tonite to buy the set:)))