Kenzo launched Flower by Kenzo L'Elixir last year, and I preceded to pretty much ignore it. I did like a few of the earlier Flower flankers (Flower Oriental is my favorite of what I've tried so far, followed by Winter Flowers) but hours are few and perfumes, to say nothing of flankers, are many: you all know how that goes. But recently someone said in the scent-of-the-day that the Elixir was good, so I gave it a shot.
This one was developed to celebrate Flower's 15th anniversary, and it's billed as a "sophisticated gourmand floral". If you took that to mean "fruity sugar bomb with a few rose petals", you'd be right on the money. It starts with a little nip of citrus and a generous-and-then-some dollop of raspberry syrup, already cushioned on a variation of the base you'll remember from Flower, if you've tried Kenzo Flower. There is a short-lived thread of orange blossom, there is sheer rose, there is a touch of praline, there is vanilla, there is creamy powder.
As is the current fashion, it's sweet but not as rich or weighted down as all the foody notes make it sound. The dry down gets warmer and darker and more woody / resinous, with a little hint of spice. After an hour, it's more like a standard floriental, less like a modern gourmand. Still, enough of the soft vanilla powder remains to give it the feel of an autumn comfort scent.
Verdict: Right away I classified Flower L'Elixir as a potential 'guilty pleasure'. It's too sweet for me and I'd guess it's probably too sweet for your average perfumista, but all the same it's fun, and I enjoyed wearing it. If I had a bottle, I can see reaching for it on a chilly day and then trying to ignore the first 10 minutes. (In August, I doubt I could tolerate it so soon as that.1) If you've been after something new and sweet, you've got plenty of choices this year, but you might want to add this one to your sample list.
The quick poll: name your favorite fruity sugar bomb, if you have one.
Flower by Kenzo L'Elixir was developed by perfumer Alberto Morillas. It is available in 30 ($65), 50 ($92) and 100 ($118) ml Eau de Parfum.
1. If you want raspberries and sugar in August, do try Thierry Mugler Angel Eau Sucrée.
Burberry Brit Red – the only fruity sugar bomb I wear more than once a year, I think.
Ha, the bar for “sugar bomb” has gone up by several cups of sugar since then! That was a fun scent but diet fare by today’s standards 😉
Surprised, btw, that Burberry has never brought back Red & Gold. Would think they would sell.
Yes, Brit Red! A bit sweet for sure but rhubarb and gingerbread go surprisingly well together. I’m still hoarding that lotion, a bit another and less sweet than the EdP.
I am a fan of the original Flower (but don’t wear it often anymore) and liked the Flower Essentielle and the La Cologne too…. My fav fruity sugar bomb is Casmir. Which is a bomb in a bomb.
You know, I am just not sure if I ever tried Essentielle or not — that’s 20 flower flankers ago!
Thank you for the review–one to pass up unless there is a tester and a free space on my arm. I think Winter Flowers is may favorite of the flower line. Ginestet Botrytis, DSH Mahjoun, or maybe Patou Sira des Indes are three of my favorite sweet fruities.
Winter Flowers was darned good. Still bugs me that they added the S. Why is it not Winter Flower? (and yes, I’m crazy)
I have a lot of sugar..not so much fruit
Lots of vanilla and honey in my small perfume wardrobe but no fruity sweet..Mon Precieux is sweet but more floral and less fruity..sheesh..I can’t think of anything! How am I without a fruity sweet bomb?
Obviously you have some shopping to do!
Lolita Lempicka. Best cherry note out there, IMHO.
I remember when I thought it was too sweet, but in comparison to some of the stuff on the market now it seems restrained.
I usually loathe cherry but I had a very delicious fresh one as a garnish to a lovely cocktail and now I crave it!
I’ll add my vote for the perfection of that cherry note!
In my pre-perfume craziness days, I had a rollerball of Hanae Mori Butterfly, which is comparatively fruity and sugary to what I like now.
I have a perfume-hating friend who calls anything I wear that is detectable to her nose “very sweet,” so perhaps now that I suss out all the finer details, I don’t notice the sugar as much?
Can’t speak to your friend’s preferences, but Butterfly is indeed sweet fruity. I like it, though.
It’s true, Butterfly is way sweeter than what I wear these days, but it still makes me smile when I encounter it “in the wild.”
Butterfly used to have an active fan club at MakeupAlley way back in the day. I never did love it, but trust me, it had post-perfume-crazy fans!
It still doesn’t smell “cheap” to me, the way others of its ilk do…
I’m very fond of Ineke’s Scarlet Larkspur, though it may not be quite saccharine enough to count. My favorite of the (to me) candy scents is Escada Loving Bouquet, which I just realized I can wear on Friday. I guess it’s not really as much about fruit as it is violet pastilles but I get a fresh citrus from it.
I think fruity gourmands is an area where my collection is a bit thin.
Oh, don’t think I have tried Loving Bouquet, but violet pastilles + fruit sounds good to me!
I haven’t thought of Loving Bouquet in a long time. I remember that i really liked it.
I used to love the Flower extrait, in the satiny red bottle.
Not sure if I ever tried it, but don’t think so.
The red bottle was my first love!
It was really good!
Sweet works for me if the base is dark but sweet fruit just isn’t my favorite thing in perfume. I think Angel is the only sweet fruity thing in my collection and it took ten years to grow on me. I’ve said before that my perfume preference could be described as “brooding” – maybe I should make more of an effort into lightening up 🙂
Flower L’Elixir is not brooding, that’s for sure.
I have tons of sweet scents but not much that you might call a fruity sugar bomb. Serge Lutens Rahät Loukoum, I guess, with its cherry-almond note buried in a metric ton of powdered sugar. And a clutch of CSPs: Vanille Abricot, Peach, Pineapple, and Orange, although they’re not poisonously sweet.
Rahat, yum. But the old school idea of a metric ton of powdered sugar is challenged by post-La Vie Est Belle perfumery.
Rahat Loukoum is probably too weird and wonderful to qualify as a “fruity sugar bomb,” but I think it’s the bomb. 😉
Back in the day – Cartier Delices was my go to fav fruity sugar bomb – and that’s just fun to say – fruity sugar bomb 🙂 Maybe more fun to say than smell for the past few years, but every now and then life does call for a comforting blanket of fruity sweetness. More to the tune of Nobile 1942 la danza delle libellule these days – esp if fall would ever get here.
It is fun to say! Wonder if Cartier is still making it.
No, it’s out of production, but the usual online discounters have it.
Thanks.
ELO Bendelirous might be my sweetest perfume – it always reminds me of cherry cola. Oh, there’s also Ylang Vanille, which might be my only vanilla scent.
Plus, such a great name!
I have to admit I like la petite robe noire couture, which is rather sweet and fruity.
And the new one is said to be even sweeter! Have not tried it yet.
V&R’s Flowerbomb is about as sweet as I can get without reaching for an insulin pen. And even then, only on other people, certainly not on myself.
Flowerbomb is darned sweet, but I think Bonbon is even sweeter.
Hmm, sweet-fruity isnt really in my repertoire – got burnt out on Bath and Body Works stuff in my youth. Does SL Arabie count? Kerosene Unforsaken? That’s about as sweet as I get 🙂
It’s sweet enough 😉
Ah, I love Flower l’elixir! On my skin, its sweet but dark. A gothic raspberry.
I love sweet scents, not like La vie est belle but Angel muse or Diesel Fuel for life- sweet. A little darker.
Anna, you might be the person who convinced me to get a sample!
I got a free sample of L’elixir and felt it was a restrained La Vie est Belle. I wore Flower when I was at uni and have such affection for the perfume and the brand, but can’t say I’ve enjoyed the flankers.
In my stash there’s lots of sweet (vanilla, warm/sweet ambre perfumes that are my favourte) some fruity (Traverse du Bosphore) but apart from Angel (a small refill bottle), I wouldn’t call anything I own a sugar bomb.
La Vie has cast a rather large shadow…
I love Hilde Soliani’s Il Tuo Tulipano, a cheerful floral with bergamot, blackberry, lime, peach, kiwi, and passionfruit. It doesn’t have quite the energy of a bomb, though. It’s more like popping a red balloon.
I like that image!
Fresh Brown Sugar is my favorite sweet. It manages to smell sweet and clean at the same time – never cloying.
I am surprised they have not done flankers for it!
The reviews for this one were so intriguing that I grabbed a couple samples off Ebay. It’s lovely! I love the raspberry note and the fact that it lingers for as long as it does, and it is definitely one of my fave interpretations of Flowerbykenzo, though Winter Flowers was lovely, too. I’ll have to try the Oriental flanker, too.
Fruity perfumes are a favorite of mine and just some of those I love include:
Hanae Mori Red Butterfly
Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy and Couture Couture
Yves Rocher Pomme Princess and Flower Party
L’Occitane Delice des Fleurs and Rose Jardine Delice
Hanae Mori Eau de Collection No. 1
Trish McEvoy Blackberry Musk
Byredo Pulp
Jessica Simpson’s original Fancy
Tom Ford Black Orchid
CSP’s Vanille Peche, Vanille Ananas, Vanille Abracat, Vanille Framboise and a much cherished sample of Vanille Fraise
Parfums MDCI Peche Cardinale (so on my fb list)
Indult Manakara
Guerlain AA Mandarine Basilic
Givenchy Hot Couture in the edt
Lancôme had a La Voyage with a fantastic mango note though I forget the name
Lancôme Tresor Midnight in Love? I think that’s the name, can’t find the sample
Dior’s Miss Dior Cherie (original, still trying to find more)
RM Cherry Musk (also fb worthy if a bit too spendy right now for the size)
Most of the Escada LEs
Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy
Among many others. But if Flower L’Elixir ends up on the discounter sites, it will likely end up in my cabinet. It was a lot of fun.
Wow, great list! Thanks.