Lily of the valley
Parfums Quartana (2016)

Les Potions Fatales is a collection by Parfums Quartana under the umbrella of Joseph Quartana's SixScents in which poisonous flowers (and their histories) inspire fragrances, the collection consisting of nine perfumes at this time.

I had the pleasure of smelling all nine during a presentation at Perfumology, and Lily of the Valley was one of the few I liked most from the start, both on paper and eventually on skin.

Lily of the Valley involves its eponymous floral note, but as part of a lengthy blend of accords, which, for me, comes off priarily as a mix of lily of the valley, sandalwood, and leather, with an opening of bergamot and neroli and a base / dry down of vetiver, vanilla, and resins, with other florals like rose seemingly more a part of the blend throughout.

I'd not read the full note list until now and my reaction is that it seems gargantuan, along the lines of a Roja Dove creation, so it's plausible that there's plenty more going on than what I'm detecting, but I do vaguely perceive the perfume's complexity and multifacetedness.

It's not overtly floral-dominant, to put it bluntly. Yes, th lily is prominent among other notes but I'd taxonomize the perfume mainly as a floral/fresh/leather/woody blend that could even be described as a little sweet and spicy at times, as well. It feels difficult to classify, usually the mark of a sophisticated creation.

As my own collection has grown, I look for more unique offerings like this (in fact, the whole Les Potions Fatales collection very much has this feel), even though I otherwise gravitate toward weighty gourmands and semi-traditional freshies.

Performance is very good, I'd say, on par with the type of fragrance it is, above average projection and above average longevity. Like many EDP (or extrait) compositions, its longevity significant exceeds the time during which it projects a lot, but on my skin, in projects for several hours.

It's priced at $165 for 50ml (the prices of bottles in the line range from $145 to $185 for 50ml) and is sold at Perfumology, among other similar retail boutiques like Twisted Lily and Fumerie in the US, and in a handful of other countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, and even the Maldives!

In conclusion, LOTV makes for an unusual but excellent composition that feels diverse in and of itself, a departure from my norm, but nevertheless a blend of a lot of familiar elements that harmonize nicely and bring about a gender- and seasonally-versatile offering.

8 out of 10

Slightly vegetal, green, leafy rose, hence puzzlement over the naming of this one. It's all a bit wispy and watery (‘dew drops' is the aspirational declared note), save for a salty woods accord trying it's damndest to cancel out the freshness. Morphs in the later stages into a powder compact floral.
This entry belongs to a collection called ‘Les potions fatales' by the brand, whose marketing copy is all about edge. I suppose fatal insubstantiality isn't much of a selling point.