First Impressions – L’Artisan Parfumeur – À Fleur de Pêche – L’Artisan Parfumeur is a house that has seemingly disappeared off the radar. Not helping matters has been their recent sketchy output. And here in Australia, they’re particularly challenging to track down—possibly the result of commercial distribution deals. Still, as one of the original niche houses, I’m always interested in what they’re doing. Fortunately, I procured a decant of their latest peach scent from a trusted store in Australia. I’m glad I did. It’s lovely, greatly surpassing my low expectations.
I shouldn’t have been so shocked, as L’Artisan has a way with these fruity scents. Their fig is still one of my favorite figs. And their banana scent from a couple of years ago was a quirky delight. This latest peach is a fabulous fresh chypre that thankfully doesn’t go down the path of other peach scents that too often smell tooth-achingly sweet.
Instead, À Fleur de Pêche smells realistic, akin to walking in a field of flowers on a sunny day while eating a peach. There’s certainly a mood-enhancing quality to this perfume. The opening punchy burst of bergamot, pink pepper, and the hero ingredient, peach, smells almost drinkable – tea-like.
As the fragrance develops, a jasmine note and fresh rose come through. The floral notes combine to convey a sense of purity. They never come across as too harsh. The jasmine isn’t indolic but rather creamy and milky—doubtless, the perfect peach/floral to pair with a linen outfit on a summer’s day.
Patchouli, tonka, and woods anchor the perfume, ensuring this peach retains a classy elegance. However, the impression of creamy peach remains throughout. Despite that, I never associate this peach with cheap body sprays or air fresheners. Although I’ve classified this perfume as a chypre style, it contains no discernable oakmoss. So, technically it’s not. A semi-chypre fruity floral is a more accurate classification.
Because of the well-judged semi-chypre framework, À Fleur de Pêche retains an elegance and a balance often missing in many peach perfumes. In addition, there’s almost certainly a touch of Ambroxan (officially the brand list Ambrofix) in the base notes, but even that isn’t overplayed. À Fleur de Pêche doesn’t smell like Bitter Peach. It’s much softer, less grating on my skin. Nor does it remind me of Mitsouko or Rochas Femme, either. I can’t help but enjoy it—great work from Antoine Maisondieu.
Have you tried this new perfume? Do you have a favourite peach perfume?
Other than the photo of the bottle (Fragrantica) and the peach, all images are my own. I purchased my decant.
