Parfum d\'Empire 3 Fleurs

An olfactory emblem of Love: that is the concept behind 3 Fleurs, the latest offering from Parfum d’Empire and perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, creator of the much-acclaimed artisanal brand. Uniting three flowers that throughout time and in every great civilization have come to symbolize some facet of love—sweetest rose for passionate love, warm jasmine for romantic love, and sensual tuberose for forbidden love—3 Fleurs does indeed hit its mark. The first thing I thought upon smelling it was, “This is the perfect wedding perfume.” Immediately followed by, “If I had a daughter, I would want her to have this perfume.” This scent, to me, is about love in its most tender, pure and joyous expression.

While my guess is that Parfum d’Empire views their fragrance as a more heady and intoxicating evocation of love (judging by their marketing description in which they refer to it in more sensuous terms), nonetheless, I think they’d be pleased to know that their fragrance tugs on my heartstrings in a very direct way, evoking a feeling of lo

ve that is immediately recognizable and deeply felt. There is such a youthful quality to this perfume—such a breathtaking sense of newness and still-clear beauty—that one can’t help but think of things like weddings, springtime at its finest, and the floaty, fresh-faced loveliness of the young woman who is your daughter (heart of your heart!), niece or granddaughter.

It is the green notes in 3 Fleurs—the cool chill of spearmint combined with grassy galbanum—that lends the floral notes their fresh, spring-like sparkle. The chill greens speak of blooms gathered in early morning sunlight, before the dew has lifted from the garden. Rose is the most prominent of the flowers, but it is not a deep dark rose; the accompaniment of honeysuckle-like jasmine and, later, creamy tuberose, makes for a delicate tea-rose smell that is easy to wear. It’s hard to separate these three flowers: they are well blended and at times combine to form a scent that echoes not only the tea rose but also the peony—and they drift around the wearer with effortless ease, thanks to the addition of white musk.

Altogether, this fragrance paints a picture of beauty in its most true and natural state—rendered in watercolor tones, and with a sense of purity that makes you feel hopeful, happy and somewhat protective. Here is a good thing that I want to hold in my heart forever, is the notion it inspires.

Yet in writing of these things—weddings, spring flowers, young women, new love—I fear I might be giving you a false impression about the appeal of 3 Fleurs; understandably, you might think that I am deeming it strictly a wedding fragrance, or something intended only for a certain age group, which is not the case. As a woman of a certain age, I would have no problem swanning about in 3 Fleurs and am already thinking how nice it would be to have a bottle of this come bleak and wintry February. This would fit nicely into my perfume wardrobe, right next to my bottle of Serge Lutens Un Lys, another scent that is distinctively spring-like and pretty.

But because my immediate thoughts upon smelling 3 Fleurs summoned up a specific image and feeling—of the daughter I never had (and would have loved to share this fragrance with)—and then, of the two young ladies who do light up my life, my nieces—these were the impressions that guided my review. These were also the impressions that convinced me that 3 Fleurs fulfills what it set out to accomplish. It speaks of love: perhaps not of a grand and sweepingly passionate affair, but of the tenderly sweet, enduring kind of love that is eternal, that never ages.

Parfum d’Empire 3 Fleurs is available from Aedes.com, BeautyHabit.com, and LuckyScent.com: 50-ml for $75, or 100-ml for $110.

Images: I found this photo of Caroline Kennedy at her 1986 wedding to Edwin Schlossberg at BlushingHostessEntertains.blogspot.com. 3 Fleurs bottle image is from BeautyHabit.com.

Posted by Suzanne Keller, 10/19/2009.

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