Fleur de Rocaille
Caron (1993)

It is spring time, when the sun comes out yet it is still a bit chilly, blooming flowers/trees, juicy berries, melon dipped in honey, sitting on freshly cut grass for a picnic with your loved one, feeling the breeze in your robe early in the morning, and clear sparkling waters. It is what I consider a hugging your mom perfume.

I don’t like the opening. It's chemically, sharp, a little damp, unpleasant. And it gets even worse in the following 10-20 minutes. But within an hour or so it magically turns into this exquisite floral spring bouquet of flowers. In fact, there is an initial alcoholic burst of yellow flowers which rapidly unfolds into a dramatically beautiful white and yellow floral bouquet. The base notes of amber, sandalwood, benzoin and cedar don't fully account for what is left over once the top notes have passed. There is a persistent and sumptuous yellow floral note which somehow lingers on your clothing for weeks. It smells like summer and spring in equal parts.

Fleur de Rocaille is simply one of the most delightful floral symphonies I know on the fragrance market. It's layered, sophisticated and joyful, sunlight falling on a bouquet of fresh yellow and white flowers in the drawing room of an beautiful french chateau. It's really amazing that such lightness and natural, non coying sweetness can emerge from underneath that opening. This a showpiece of complex perfumery knowing how to create these layers that eventually finish in this celebration of beauty. Don't listen to that who poorly rated it. It's your chemistry here.what does he know ? It is a great perfume ! Use carefully till you understand it. 

This review is for the EDP. This scent seems to be a reformulation of the original 1933 Fleurs de Rocaille. They shouldn't have bothered. The original was perfect.

My EDP sample is a heavily indolic floral, with none of the finesse of the original. It also contains a repellent plasticky note which was not present in the original.

Though I love the house of Caron, I rate this barely tolerable

Why Caron should have put out a modern bitter-syrup floral is understandable - from a commercial point of view. The problem is, it stands out from the crowd by the way it smells so horrible and synthetic.
But why they should have named it Fleur de Rocaille - when they already had a (hopelessly out of date) rose and wholewheat affair called Fleurs de Rocaille - that's deeply baffling.

Purchased a bottle of this untested on the off chance as I like most of the earlier Caron's and appreciate the quality of raw materials & essences used by this perfume house, Thankfully my intuition paid off. The floral top and heart notes are so very complex, at first I detect violets, (leaves & stems) carnations and roses then after a brief sparkle of aldehydes the blend becomes even more complex with the entrance of gardenia ? jasmine, honeyed mimosa and two of my favorite floral absolutes Lilac & Lily. The quality of the iris (orris) is exquisite giving the whole fragrance a slightly 'figgy' dry/green fruity accord finishing with just a hint of woods (santal&cedar) + golden amber. Superb staying power and incredible sillage, also this Caron doesn't assault the senses with strong synthetic musks, milky lactones & cloying vanilla esters. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea and totally different to her older sister with the 'S' *Fleurs de Rocaille* but that's OK. I "LUV" this unusual 1993 offering from one of perfumery's most exhalted houses.
*Fleur* & Fleur's de Rocaille in my opinion are completely, totally & utterly two different perfumes !
It's so confusing that the header photo at the top of the page is clearly the image for the original Fleur's circa early 1960's, is it really that difficult to disassociate these two fragrances? obviously not!

Taken as is, this is a decent floral. It goes on with rose and violets, making way for lilies and tuberose, and ending up as rosy orange blossom. It's soapy and there's just a tiny hint of plastic in the background from the aldehydes.

If compared to the grand floral chypres by which this is inspired, it can come off as simple and loud, but it's still miles better than the strawberry candy bombs that pass for perfumes today. If you enjoy big, insistent 80's florals like Estee Lauder or Giorgio, then Fleur might just be a great fit. Neither grand nor terrible, it's just a proud, soapy mix of flowers and that's OK by me.

Fleur de Rocaille is a soapy white flower arrangement that centers on a strident rose note. It's the kind of prim – even stuffy – composition that gets labeled as “old lady,” but in this case the construction is crude enough to evoke air freshener. Loud, linear, and abrasive, with an extended drydown that devolves into undiluted detergent and rose. I believe the technical term is “ick.”