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Tara: A Bottled Rose
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Hi APJ,
Creamy petals in the breeze…
Whenever I’ve encountered LM Parfums online, the brand has come across as rather sleek and sexy. It also has some intriguing English fragrance names such as Army of Lovers, along with de rigueur French ones.
LM Parfums is a New York based niche line launched in 2010 by fashion designer Laurent Mazzone, after first releasing a collection of scented candles. Sensual Orchid is a floral oriental launched in 2012 composed by Jerome Epinette who has done a number of fragrances for Atelier Cologne and Byredo.
Sensual Orchid by LM Parfums 2012
Sensual Orchid by Jerome Epinette
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, Almond, Neroli
Heart: Heliotrope, Jasmine sambac, Orchid, Peony, Ylang-ylang
Base: Benzoin, Blond woods, Labdanum, Musk, Vanilla, White cedar
From the name and my impression of the brand, I expected Sensual Orchid to be a nocturnal, narcotic scent. Therefore the fresh opening was a surprise; comprising sweet, juicy mandarin and a dash of booze which together create a cocktail effect.
Almond is a nemesis note of mine but here, combined with orange, it doesn’t trigger an adverse reaction and I may not have even identified it if I hadn’t read it in the notes. The almond and heliotrope merely round out the fruit (and later the florals) giving the composition a gourmand twist.
The luscious fruit continues into the body of the fragrance which is made up of creamy, velvety white florals, mostly ylang-ylang. The finish is plush and the whole composition feels top quality. Sensual Orchid is labeled Extrait de Parfum and the lasting power is extremely good, coupled with noticeable presence.
The style of Sensual Orchid is the vein of the gorgeous Pichola by Neela Vermeire Creations. Both have an exotic feel but are billowy and citrusy.
The mood is tropical-lite, starting off with a gentle ocean breeze and blue skies, getting a little duskier over time but never quite hits sultry on me. While I get that vacation vibe it’s not a trashy beach scent in the slightest. It keeps it classy throughout. You will feel like you’re lounging in hotter climes but you won’t have people in the city wondering who’s wearing Hawaiian Tropic sun cream.
As attractive as it is,Sensual Orchid feels too laid back for me to imagine its scent coming from the striking orchid flower. Those blooms are seductive attention grabbers while remaining rarefied and delicate. I wanted the fragrance to be darker, sexier and more mysterious but it is well done, if a tad too sweet for my taste. It’s overtly feminine and entirely wearable.
Further reading: APJ and Scented Hound
LuckyScent has $220/100ml + Samples
It’s not setting my world aflame but then white florals are rarely my thing. I can imagine it working well for those who like a sweet, rich, hothouse floral with substance.
Have you tried this or anything else from LM Parfums? I’d be particularly interested if you know Hard Leather or Army of Lovers.
Tara xx
(Ed: We are so lucky to have Tara drop in today from A Bottled Rose. Do go have a look at her blog. You’ll love it. Thanks buddy!)
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Hi Tara!
I agree with almond being a nemesis – what did we describe ourselves as once? Scent cousins? 🙂
I’m not at all familiar with LM Parfums. This sounds like a great get-out-there summer scent for daytime wearing. I lurvvve mandarin and find ylang ylang & jasmine (from the notes) kinda fab in most of their incarnations.
Thanks for the intro into the house & scent!
xx Tina G
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Hi Tina!
I also lurvvve mandarin so we are definitely Scent Cousins at the very least 🙂
Yes, it would make a nice daytime summer scent and I can imagine it performing really well in Aus.
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Tresor’s reviews of LM Parfums – Epine Mortelle and Sensual Orchid – were so lovely that I added them to my try list. Now Sensual Orchid is on my buy list. What surprised me most of all is that it is a sweet fragrance. I usually hate hate hate sweet perfumes but in Sensual Orchid the sweetness adds to the beauty as it does in VM Hedonist.
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Maya,I know what you mean. It really depends on the composition, I think.
As a general rule I can’t cope with sweet perfumes but occasionally a fragrance will come along where it just works.
Enjoy your bottle of Sensual Orchid when you get it!
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Hey Tara,
You picked my favourite of the LM set to write about. I nearly went FB on it a couple of times but haven’t.
So wonderful to have you guesting here darling, See you soon in old blighty.
Portia xx
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It’s totally your style Portia and I can see it getting a lot of wear if you do go for it.
It’s always fun hanging out at APJ!
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Hi Tara! So good to see you here. I really liked Sensual Orchid when I tried it. Hard Leather was far too much for my liking. There are a couple of others that I also liked. Have a great week. Sandra xoxo
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Hi Sandra!
It was lovely to see a pic of you looking so glam and with your gorgeous boy on Portia’s Facebook page the other day. I bet you all had the best time.
I have a feeling a perfume called Hard Leather may be a bit much for me too 🙂
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I love Sensual Orchid and yearn for a full bottle. My husband also finds it very alluring, I enjoyed reading your article,
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Thanks for reading Melissa. I hope you get a bottle some day. It’s great when both you and your other like the same fragrance.
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I dream to try Sensual Orchid. I only have tried Aldheyx by LM so far but it’s not really my style…
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Hi Anastasia,
I’ve also tried Aldheyx but like a lot of people, aldehydes aren’t really my style either.
I hope you get to try Sensual Orchid at some point.
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Almond a nemesis note for me too – and often heliotrope too! – though I take the point that they are well blended in this composition such that they might not trouble me either.
I like darker, more sultry florals myself, but would definitely give this one a go – am ashamed to say I had never even heard of the line(!), albeit I don’t get out much these days, or not to London and perfume emporia generally.
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Ooh, having read back through all the comments, I am more and more convinced I would like this too, being a ylang-aholic and all that. Thank you for bringing this company to my attention! I hope you have a blast meeting Portia next week. xxx
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Thanks, V. I’m looking forward to the beanie fashion show 🙂
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I think you would like this one, V. I have the fig perfume from this line which is your style and I’ll bring it next time I visit.
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Hi Tara, I like your review very much, although the perfume itself is not my cup of tea. It’s very well done and the lasting power is super good but to me it is a too heavy, deep and rich scent filled with exotic flowers and it is not my style.
Army of Lovers is a heavy scent too but it has a certain freshness. That’s why I like it more.
My favourites from LM are Vol d’Hirondelle (spicy-woody-fresh/citrus) and Scandinavian Crime, again fresh,woody (pine), spices and musk.
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Hi Neva,
Thanks for filling me in on a couple of their other scents.
They have a perfume called Scandinavian Crime? Hilarious!
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Almonds are my friends (as in food) but I strongly dislike them in perfumes. And heliotrope as well, same as Vanessa. But when I get a chance, I plan to try the rest of the line since I thought that Hard Leather was rather interesting. It wasn’t love for me but I liked it. And I really want to try Army of Lovers – just because I still have a soft spot for the group with that name.
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Ah, that’s interesting. I didn’t realise you were almond adverse like me and V when it comes to perfume.
The ones I’ve tried from LM Parfums have all been very well done and high quality. I should look up the group Army of Lovers…
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