Chloé Eau de Fleurs - Capucine Eau de Toilette

Chloé introduced a new collection of three fragrances in February 2010. The collection, named Eau de Fleurs ($135 each), offers three distinct fragrances: Capucine, Lavande, and Néroli, packed in elegant glass flacons with silver stoppers. Even the boxes are beautiful. Each fragrance comes in a solid white box with a top cover that can be lifted and separated from the base of the outer carton, leaving each heavy bottle on a stand.

My favorite of the three fragrances is Capucine (Nasturtium), and I love it! Capucine is a green floral fragrance - it's even green in color. It's crisp and refreshing, with notes of lemon, jasmine, and rose essence. I've read that it also has notes of galbanum (which gives it its green essence, almost like green apple), sage, bergamot, neroli, lily of the valley, musk - and juniper berry for a tiny dash of spice.

It's a beautiful, feminine, fresh fragrance - different from others in my collection. I'm wearing it now, and I'll wear it all summer. It lasts on my skin for about four hours (it is an eau de toilette, after all), with a soft dry-down. I made myself a little travel size to throw in my purse for mid-day sprays so that I can enjoy it after lunch as much as I do earlier in the day.

In care you're curious, Lavande is composed with citrus, violet leaves, and musk. I can't smell lavender in it, even though lavender is its namesake. Perhaps the spring pollen season has affected my nose. Néroli has mandarin orange, amber, sage, rosemary, tonka bean, cedar, and peony notes. Néroli isn't your typical orange flower fragrance. It strikes me as a heady, herby, woody fragrance with bitter orange barely peeking through the other notes.

What's interesting to me about this collection is that the three fragrances are so different. I'll bet there's one you will love. Try them at Saks, Bloomingdales, or Nordstrom and see which one that will be! They offer a spectrum of unique florals - so unique that I hesitate to call them florals. They aren't easy to characterize; each has an unmistakable originality. I think the collection is a win!

Photos courtesy of Chloé