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Guest Post by Dionne
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Fleur No1 by 1000 Flowers
Hey you great-smelling crowd, you!
It’s an honor to be here at Australian Perfume Junkies, and many thanks for Portia for inviting me to write a post. I’m the odd duck of Portia’s guest bloggers, as this is coming to you from the Great White North, aka the Canadian Rockies, where it’s white and hoarfrost-y and brisk as all get-out right now. However, my lovely mother-in-law was Australian, so I’m sorta-related through marriage and hoping y’all will grant me pretend-Aussie status. (It’s on my bucket list to visit someday.)
My initial plans for a first review got thrown out the window upon the arrival of an anticipated sample about two weeks ago. At the end of October I’d bought myself a larger bottle of Réglisse Noir, a stunning licorice floral that is one of the most unique and elegant perfumes in my collection, and figured I‘d throw a sample of Fleur No 1 into the cart for curiosity’s sake. Both perfumes are from the line 1000 Flowers, a Canadian indie brand created by perfumer Jessica Buchanan. The artisanal perfume scene is not as big in Canada as it is in Australia but we’ve got some neat lines, and in my opinion Jessica is a nose worth watching.
I don’t typically sample green frags anymore, as I did a massive exploration of the note about a year and a half ago at the request of my other half, The Engineer, who is a sucker for the smell of freshly-cut grass. After several months and lots of vials, I found my top three (Silences, Bel Respiro and Heure Exquise, if you’re wondering) and figured I was done. Boy was I wrong. Fleur No 1 is different from anything I’ve tried before, and changed my top three greens to a top four. This is a big deal for me, because I like things all neat and tidy, and “trio of greens” sounds so very prime number-ish and aesthetically pleasing, but what could I do? Fleur just wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Green notes, galbanum, narcissus, hyacinth, iris, magnolia and violet
So, how does this beauty smell? There’s an initial hit of galbanum similar to the beginning of Silences, but it’s a bit softer in Fleur No 1. After about ten minutes the spring flowers join in, mainly narcissus and hyacinth, with just a hint of earthiness. Envision a child clutching a freshly picked bouquet of flowers snatched out of the bulb garden that she really wasn’t supposed to pick complete with lots of leaves and the root ball still attached and she’s trailing clumps of dirt into the house and aren’t they pretty and I picked these for you because I love you mummy…………. yeah, that’s pretty much it. (I sound like I’m speaking from experience, don’t I?)
Photo Stolen Pixabay
Further reading CaFleurBon
1000Flowers eBoutique sells Fleur No 1 15ml @ $33.75. They also have a great Sample Program
IndieScents also stock 1000 Flowers
In my experience there are pretty perfumes, and there are interesting perfumes, but not a lot of pretty perfumes that are also interesting. Fleur No 1 walks that tightrope and does it beautifully. And I’m happy to report that due to some shameless begging on my part, Sons #2 and #3 are putting this under the tree for me for Christmas. Wheeee!
Till next month,
Dionne x
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Welcome Dionne!! I’m so excited to have you as our North American International Correspondent!! I hope you love being part of the APJ family.
Excellent post, I now have a serious lemming.
Portia xx
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“North American International Correspondent” I love it! It sounds so CNN-ish and official. 🙂 Thanks again for inviting me, Portia.
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Welcome. I’m looking forward to more of your posts too Dionne 🙂
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Thanks, Margeaux!
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Pretty and interesting ! 2 nd that lemming! That picture is stunning , isn’t green a beautiful colour .
So great to have your voice here ! Welcome Sister ! X
Tim x
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Portia found that photo for me, I love it too. And green is so very beautiful, especially after 5-6 months of snow. 😉 It does something for the soul. Thanks for the welcome, Tim!
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I love this stuff and thank you for reviewing it! I got a sample a while back and it is wonderful and a full bottle will definitely be in my future. It smells like early spring in a bottle to me. It’s green, and floral, and wet earth just like you said. There’s dirt, but it’s not dirty if that makes any sense.
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Hi poodle, it’s good to find another Fleur lover, as I think this one is still under the radar a bit for perfumistas. It’d be great if this eventually gets as much buzz as Réglisse Noir. As far as that full bottle goes, did you know this is on sale right now? It’d make a great stocking stuffer……
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Oh dear… I said I would behave. I said I was not buying anymore perfume this year…but I’m a sucker for a sale. Maybe I’ll just take a peek at the price…
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I know we perfume types typically encourage each other to go for it but the great news is this isn’t being discontinued and will still be in that great 15ml size come January. (My frugal side is arguing with my perfumista side at egging you on. Do what wil make you feel good in the long run, poodle, whatever that is.)
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Dionne it is an olfactory string quartet playing “Green For Stings” concerto!
Great review and I loved the image of the very special bouquet from the garden, roots and all!
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Thank you, Lanier, I like your image too; and you know I think you’re a wordsmith. I was working on my post and summing up the leaves, flowers and dirt, and all of a sudden the picture popped into my head, an “of course!” moment.
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Isn’t it wonderful when that happens? And again I just have to say I love your imagery.
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🙂
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Hi Dionne,
Welcome to APJ! Lovely review! I actually ordered a sample pack of all three of Jessica’s perfumes last week.
The one I was most looking forward to was the Reglisse, but your review has changed that. Fleurs with all that greenery sounds stupendous.
Madeleine x
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Isn’t it neat when fragrant serendipity happens? I’ll be interested to know how you do with the line, I think Ms. Buchanan is doing some pretty spectacular stuff. Thanks for the welcome, Madelieine!
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Lovely review Dionne, Now I really need to try 1000 Flowers. There goes my moratorium on buying samples. I also love green scents the most.
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Thank you for the compliment, rosiegreen (love your gravatar, BTW), and I hope this lives up to the lemming I created.
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I tried Reglisse Noire you’ve mentioned but it’s really not my story. But Fleur no. 1 might be something I would like
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I hate it when I hit the wrong reply…. check my comment below, Lucas.
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Will do!
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I understand, Lucas. Personally, Jessica’s Narcotic Flowers isn’t really my story either. But if you like greens, Fleur is definitely worth checking out.
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The line is not present in Poland anyway but I’ll give it a try if I ever pass next to it when I’ll be somewhere abroad
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Hi Dionne! It’s nice to see you here 🙂
I’m with Lucas on Reglisse Noire – it’s not my thing. That’s why I didn’t even think of sampling anything else from the brand. But now when I read “galbanum” followed by all the nice words in your review – and it’s coming from the person who’s not that much into florals… I probably should sample this one when I get a chance. Thank you for the idea.
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Hey Undina, good to be here!
The three fragrances that 1000 Flowers offers right now, Réglisse Noir, Fleur No. 1 and Narcotic Flowers are three very different perfumes, so it’s definitely worthwhile to sample the entire line. As far as florals go, it’s not so much that I’m not into them, more that they often don’t play well with my skin. It’s always exciting for me to find friendly florals. 😉
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