Six perfume bloggers around the world, one word, every first Monday in a month: Scent Semantics are back, and the word is VERNAL!

The perfume I choose is  Fleur de Lalita by Pissara Umavijani (Dusita): as magnolia trees are now in full bloom, big blossoms drunk with Spring, my heart rejoices. Spring smells like hope, this is a beautiful perfume, and here is my story.

I felt it in the air before it arrived formally. There’s something about the color of the sky and the quality of daylight that feels intensely like Spring, even when temperatures are still low. Spring – a time for rebirth, rejuvenation, and renewal are now already past its vernal equinox moment, and yet I wasn’t surprised at all when it started to snow yesterday.

When the first, tender and softly green, tree leaves begin to unfurl, I feel the familiar, uplifting feeling of hope: even in the darkest times, even in times of the Orks and #neveragain happening all over again in Ukraine, hope is the thin thread I tend to hang on. Spring moves at its own pace, threading carefully at first with crocuses and snowdrops, first violets a bit later on, and then – all of a sudden, in a matter of a couple of days, EVERYTHING is in bloom!

The most wonderful season of the year for me officially begins when Magnolia trees start to bloom in Zagreb: we’re kind of Sakura-ritual observing-like fans of our city Magnolias: as with life itself, their beauty is short-lived, and best enjoyed to the fullest. Here and now, here and now, I keep repeating to myself, eyes glued to big petals unfurling, trying to inhale and fill my lungs with their weak scent:

Oh, now that’s what VERNAL looks like to me! And I immediately knew which perfume I would be writing about this time: Fleur de Lalita, created by Pissara Umavijani (Parfums Dusita), )and released in 20218. Fun fact: I adore this perfume. I love it, I wear it, it makes me happy, and I believe it’s a masterpiece. And yet, I haven’t reviewed it up to now – simply because I always think that I’m utterly subjective when personally loving and enjoying a perfume so much (Oudh Infini is also on this list…).

Let’s start with the Scent Semantics word  of the month, and here is the definition by Merriam Webster:

Fleur de Lalita

Everything about this perfume is VERNAL to me, I consider it simply breathtaking, in each phase of development, construction, materials used, and that refined Pissara touch to it: if you look at the notes listed, you might think that there’s nothing new about them. And yet, this is everything the art of perfumery is about: you may think that you know its character well, but the more you look into the Fleur of Lalita’s scented appearance dancing gently on your skin, the more it reveals its beauty.

The opening of Fleur de Lalita is vernal indeed: so tender, so youthful, and so softly flowing: it feels like touching the petals of Magnolia blossom, wrapping them around my nose to catch those faint whiffs of its smell, a thin wail of watery, somewhat milky smooth appearance of Ylang-Ylang, Jasmine, and Lilly.
Think pink, like Magnolia tree blossoms before they open fully, sprinkled with just a couple of drops of refreshing Spring rain, wet greens of its stem and leaves surrounding them, and the freshness of air on a bright, vernal day.

After this beautiful introduction, the goddess Lalita begins to show its full beauty, gaining strength and feeling very self-assured. Initial accords open the way to rose, a fascinating and multifaceted rose that’s allowing you to see its many facets, from green, playfully fruity, to just letting you take a quick look at its dark side.

This is when Sri Lalita, Mother, Daughter, and Absolute Deity (meaning: “She Who Plays”) reveals its true feminine form, and all-giving nature, a lovely combination of all things good, never too sweet, never too powdery, and with a touch of greenery that illuminates it from inside. A touch of Tuberose and Vanilla to Jasmine Sambac slowly rolling into the white-petal feeling of Jasmine Grandiflorum, perfectly tamed, is luscious and soothing at the same time. It simply makes me smile, in a most relaxed and peaceful way.

Hours later, the drydown is another part of this composition to admire, with its crispy Galbanum, deep and serene ambery tones tainted by Ambrette seeds and Tonka, and quiet muskiness that sings softly on my skin.

Fleur de Lalita feels playful in a very smart way, it’s energy flows like a big river of life, above whose surface dragonflies dart, with calm parts, but also with bright and swirling rapids.

Fleur de Lalita is also VERNAL indeed,  and I love it.

Fleur de Lalita Notes: Rose de Mai, Jasmine Grandiflorum, Magnolia Absolute, Lilium Candidum, Galbanum, Ylang-Ylang, Ambrette, Vanilla Abs Madagascar, Sandalwood Mysore, Tonka Beans, Ambergris. Available at Dusita Parfums / 50 and  (new)100 ml Eau de Parfum.