There is something pretty eccentric about launching a floral fragrance for people who don’t really like florals. But then, this is Glossier, beauty disruptor, champion of the “your skin but better” aesthetic, and creator of Glossier You, a fragrance meticulously formulated to be so personal that it defies categorisation.
Now, as the brand reveals its latest olfactory foray, You Fleur, it subverts the fragrance world again.
“We challenged Dora Baghriche [perfumer and the co-creator of You], to create a floral fragrance for a woman who does not love floral fragrances,” Glossier founder Emily Weiss explains. The result? A scent that doesn’t just reinterpret the floral category, but redefines it.
Smell Fleur and you’ll find it far removed from the bouquets in bottles or rose garden romps that are so prevalent on our bathroom shelves. Instead, you’ll discover a hint of petals and minerality - a “city floral” designed to feel as at home on a New York street as it would in a London Park or Parisian courtyard.
Weiss describes the fragrance as “a flower garden in the city, coming up from the cracks of the pavement.” And that’s essentially exactly how it smells - a hint of something organic and especially pretty making its way through the man-made.
Baghriche explains that she approached Fleur as an evolution rather than a reinvention and that the result - which I’d put money on being a sure-fire success - is a floral that doesn’t behave like a floral - a scent that hints at blossom rather than tipping the stuff from the rooftops.
While the scent is built around vegetal Musks, Ambrox, Iris, and woods with Osmanthus and Ylang-Ylang, you’ll be hard pushed to sniff out a distinguishable floral note here. Instead there’s that common thread with the original You; namely the warm, soft sensuality of skin.
“There is a link between a musky accord and a salty accord, as both evoke skin scents,” Baghriche expands. “I was inspired by flowers with unique textures, like Osmanthus, which has coppery nuances. From these, I sought to extract what could evoke suede, skin, and velvet.”
“Salt is a metaphor,” says Baghriche. “It evokes surprise and the unexpected, much like the way Fleur rethinks florals.”
Aptly described by Weiss as “delicate, raw and ethereal,” Fleur is as much about texture as it is about scent; it doesn’t just smell floral - it feels floral. A barely-there petal-like softness, the feathery touch of warm skin.
A floral for people who don’t wear florals, it very much is.
Glossier Fleur £70 for 50ml (uk.glossier.com)
