Flower Market Liquid Perfume

I have Lush to thank for my increasing interest in floral perfumes. Before I discovered the company, I only ever opted for sugary-sweet, rather immature smelling fragrances that had very little staying power and certainly wouldn't have suited anyone above the age of 25. Lush taught me that stronger, more defined scents are often far more beautiful. Unfortunately, there are often exceptions to that rule and Flower Market is one of them. 

Having read glowing reviews about this perfume, I was so excited to win a 40g bottle on eBay last year. Sporting an old design, I couldn't wait to get it home and spray it all over myself. However, upon trying it for the first time, I was less than impressed. Don't get me wrong - it's not a terrible smell and I can imagine that many people will love this aroma, but it's not one that appeals to my tastebuds.

As the name suggests, this smells like you've walked into an dusty hall full of fresh flower stalls and little else. It's a strong, spicy and rather complex green-flower smell. The floral aroma is a fresh one - it's not a sweet, powdery scent like Potion Lotion - it smells more like you've collected up a handful of freshly-picked flowers and arranged them inside a bottle. 

The ylang ylang immediately makes an impression - giving the perfume a sweet, refreshing and very heady floral aroma. Coupled with this is the galbanum, which sits underneath and gives off the main grassy note. The violet leaf and carnation absolute add elements of muskiness that round the fragrance off and give it a very powerful, multilayered experienced. Although there is subtle elements of spice when the perfume is freshly sprayed, it's not until it has matured on the skin for a while that you can detect a layer of cloves.                                                                                                                                                                                           On the positive side, this perfume lasts an incredible amount of time on the skin - it doesn't weaken for ages and I could still smell elements of it the day after I sprayed it on my skin. This is obviously a little unfortunate if you dislike the scent as I did. I think I took a disliking to it simply because it's rather overwhelming and too 'in your face' at the start - it's slightly more pleasant once it's settled. 

While I can see the beauty of Flower Market, and as I said earlier, fans of floral scents will no doubt love the strength, complexity and longevity of the aroma, I've come to realise that I prefer sweeter floral notes - ones that have stronger elements of violet, rose and jasmine. 

Lush haven't released anything with this scent for a good number of years now, so there is a possibility that you'll never get to try this perfume or indeed the dusting power or bubble bar that shared the scent. However, with the many beautiful floral aromas that they currently offer in their perfume collection, I don't think it's a major loss.  

Quantitative Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Ylang Ylang Oil (Cananga odorata), Galbanium Oil (Ferula galbaniflua), Violet Leaf Absolute (Viola odorata), Elemi Oil (Canarium luzonicum), Carnation Absolute (Dianthus caryophyllus), Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Salicylate, Benzyl Benzoate, Citral, Eugenol, Farnesol, Limonene, Linalool.

Vegan?: Yes

Year Of Original Release: ?

Scent Family: 

Flower Market Dusting Powder

Flower Market Liquid Perfume

Monet's Garden Ballistic