One loves smoky and woody florals, the other; warm amber blends with hints of sharp citrus - and yet, woman&home's Beauty Editor and Writer have found common ground, in the form of this elegant French skin scent...
When it comes to your signature best long-lasting perfumes, there are few worse feelings than bumping into someone wearing the exact same scent as you. This, thankfully, is something woman&home's Digital Beauty Editor, Aleesha Badkar, and Digital Beauty Writer, Naomi Jamieson, have not experienced whilst working side by side. What with Aleesha's go-to being Baccarat Rouge 540 (one of the best perfumes for women) and Naomi's, Diptyque's L'eau Papier - two scents that live in completely different olfactory families.
That is until one iconic fragrance somehow managed to strike all the right notes with both of them, leading to the inevitable dilemma of who can wear it when. And what is this uniting perfume, you ask? The answer: Diptyque's Fleur de Peau...
Why our beauty team can't get enough of Diptyque's Fleur de Peau
Encased in a black-tinted glass bottle, complete with an illustrative label (a signature of the brand) Fleur de Peau is the picture of elegance. And being that it's one of the best Diptyque perfumes in general, it smells as good as it looks, if not more - a point, our beauty team can attest to.
RRP: £153 for 75ml | Notes: musk, iris, ambrette and pink peppercorn
This perfume smells like spring sun gently warming your skin. It's fresh and powdery thanks to its blend of iris, pink pepper and sparkling bergamot but quickly melts into the skin, giving way to warmer, sensual nods of rose, musk, ambrette and earthy woods.
As mentioned, the beauty duo have differing tastes when it comes to long-lasting perfume notes.
Aleesha describes her preference as: "woody, amber blends with hints of sharp citrus, salty animalistic notes or subtle sweetness." While Naomi on the other hand says she's drawn to either: "cosy and smoky musks or soft and sweet, powdery florals, blended with warm and rich woody notes." And yet both were equally enamoured by Fleur de Peau's cottony mix of iris, ambrette seeds and spicy pink peppercorn.
What does Fleur de Peau smell like?
So what does it smell like, exactly?
Aleesha says it smells like, "a rich, spring day in a fancy South of France restaurant, sitting out on the terrace in bloom with a glass of crisp but oaky white wine in hand."
As mentioned, she's not normally one for floral fragrances, so, "the 'fleur' in the name convinced me that I was not going to get along with this. But boy was I wrong. I love the soft powdery muskiness of this, which is lifted with a punch of light juiciness from the bergamot. The intense woody base with a hint of saltiness from the ambergris really grounds the more cottony notes of the blend, preventing it from becoming too laundry-like or 'sneezy', as I like to think of it. And the angelica root on the opening gives it a touch of sweetness, which takes away from the powderiness of the blend."
To Naomi, this scent is indeed spring, bottled: "It smells like early spring mornings to me, of a breeze bringing with it salty hints from the sea, mingled with delicate flowers in bloom and dewy green leaves. It's fresh and powdery, like pulling on a crisp white shirt and yet, quickly melts into the skin - that muskiness blending with richer, woody tones that create a feeling of intimacy. It's the only perfume I've ever worn where someone has turned around and said it suited and smelled more like 'me' than any other scent."
Who should buy Fleur de Peau
As our team have proven, Fleur de Peau can endear itself to anyone - from floral fans to lovers of more woody or citrus perfumes. Being often described as a 'skin scent,' its musky blend really melts in, creating an air that is distinctively you...only better.
So, if you're looking for an aroma that is both warm and soft but very much a signature, this perfume could be the one for you. Equally, if you're already a fan of Glossier You (£62 at Sephora)- which is another popular skin-like scent - Diptyque's Fleur de Peau has been described by some as something of an older sister fragrance. It's slightly more mature and rich, but thanks to its notes of iris, pink peppercorn and ambrette it shares a similar powdery and spicy depth.
