In 2012, Maria Christofilis (formerly of Anthousa) launched the feminine fragrance Fleur 09; it was limited to an edition of 80 bottles, and I somehow missed it both coming and going. Just this month, however, Christofilis has re-released the fragrance. Its formula remains unchanged: it is a white floral composition with notes of mandarin, bergamot, bitter orange, orange blossom, tuberose, vanilla and benzoin, originally developed privately for Christofilis by perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux.

Fleur 09 is described as “a symphonic poem, exquisitely balanced and using only the finest and rarest oils—including best of the best elements from Givaudan’s Orpur® portfolio.” The Orpur range is reportedly a top-of-the-line collection of raw materials (all of them may be natural, or not — you know how hard it can be to determine this sort of thing!). I normally take this sort of “finest and rarest” claim with a grain of salt, but Fleur09 actually smells like a high-quality perfume…

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