Love florals? How to create your own scent bouquet
Do you love floral fragrances? Then your scent dream has come true, because Chloe, the fashion house that embodies effortless French chic, has launched Atelier des Fleurs, a collection of 19 fragrances featuring soliflores, or solo flowers that you can wear on their own, layer with another fragrance or — breaking the codes of traditional perfumery — become your own master perfumer and create a unique and very personal floral bouquet using three scents.
“Your scent is more than just the fragrance; it’s actually an extension of your identity,” notes Chloe brand manager Bettina De Los Santos. “Like the creation of a dream secret atelier, the 19 fragrances live in harmony, whether in pairs, in threes, or even on their own. So with its made-to-measure bouquet experience, we invite you to compose your fragrance, just as you would compose your own bouquet at the florist’s shop.”
Chloe Atelier des Fleurs is also one of the first luxury collections to champion sustainability with its natural origins and clean, vegan formulations.
Chloe worked with 14 master perfumers to create the collection, with one under the artistic direction of the late Karl Lagerfeld while he was still alive, Tuberoza 1974, a timeless, elegant fragrance suited to special occasions.
The other flowers are Rose Damascena, Cedrus, Lavanda, Vanilla Planifolia, Magnolia Alba, Hibiscus Ablemoschus, Jasminum Sambac, Herba Mimosa, Neroli, Papyrus, Iris, Ylang Cananga, Santalum, Violette, Narcissus Poeticus, Hysope, Immortelle, and Chene.
According to Luxasia training manager Tin Conde, all the soliflores have been made as eaux de parfum, and were carefully selected because their essential oils could be extracted.
She then taught us how to make our own personal scent bouquet. First, choose a fragrance from the different categories. Atelier des Fleurs has fresh florals (citrusy and green-smelling), soft flowers (light and powdery), blooming flowers (aquatic or fruity), sensual flowers (creamy and sexy), and woody florals (more intense or a bit smoky).
Then think of what kind of bouquet you want to create: will it be a spring, summer, fall or winter bouquet?
“Lastly, if you would like to choose a flower that you would like to give as a gift, there are meanings or symbols of the flowers that we have, for example, Cedrus (a delicate mix of woody, balsamic and smoky notes evoking a bouquet of branches), which symbolizes loyalty.”
We did a trio bouquet with one of the collection’s bestsellers, Magnolia Alba, which smells like the fresh, creamy magnolia blossoms perfumer Louise Turner would smell every spring in her native England.
“If you’re going to create your floral bouquet in trio, it’s very easy,” Conde says. “Just choose your master flower or your favorite flower. Now we will try the combination with the second facet, Jasminum Sambac, so a soft flower and a blooming flower.”
The last flower we added was Herba Mimosa, another soft flower that Conde said symbolizes female strength and is normally part of a winter bouquet. It added a powdery facet to the lovely composition.
“When you wear the Atelier des Fleurs collection, you’re not merely indulging a scent; you’re also mirroring your own values and embracing an environmental ethos that we all stand for here today,” said De Los Santos. “So, in a world that’s heavily influenced by conflicting opinions on who a woman should be, the Atelier des Fleurs collection reminds us that there’s no one else we should be other than ourselves.”
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The Chloe Atelier des Fleurs collection is exclusively available at Rustan’s Makati.