We tend to complain that many fragrance houses offer a surfeit of new releases, season after season, without any apparent concern for quality or aesthetic consistency. Houbigant is one house we can’t blame for taking that approach: although it certainly has a “heritage” that would turn newcomer niche lines green with envy, its complicated recent history has resulted in a pared-down catalogue of offerings, which is somehow refreshing these days.

I do remember Chantilly from my teen years, but it’s now owned by Dana Classic Fragrances (and probably doesn’t smell much like it used to in my Seventeen-reading era). And, just a few years ago, I had a co-worker who wore the venerable Quelques Fleurs (1912!) as her signature scent; I loved catching a whiff of it when she passed me in the corridor. On the other hand, I’ve cordially loathed Quelques Fleurs Royales since its release in 2004 — the last news I’d heard about Houbigant until this summer’s launch of Orangers en Fleurs….

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