When I last stayed in London, I was able to visit the wonderful Bloom perfumery, near Covent Garden. I highly recommend a visit! They carry an amazing range of niche perfumes and the staff is remarkably friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I spent a LOT of time there and emerged with a few discovery sets, including a set of three floral fragrances from Brocard, the revived Russian perfume house. It holds three of the series “Gardens of Temptation”, 15 ml each. This set includes: Mechta, Elegantnost, and Luybov.
Brocard Gardens of Temptation set “Inspiration”
The set contains three small, simple flacons, not the funky bottles pictured above, which are the full-size bottles.
Mechta is described on Bloom’s website as a “spicy mimosa”. Its composition is described as: top notes are violet, hyacinth, and grass; middle notes are mimosa, linden blossom, magnolia, and clover; base notes are musk, honey, and cedar.
On my skin, Mechta opens as a bright, grassy violet; no hyacinth that I can detect. One thing I enjoy about this opening is the absence of citrus, which makes it a little different. I do love a good citrus opening, but I like this scent’s different top notes. As it dries down, the mimosa emerges, and it is a soft, pretty, yellow mimosa. In the process of reading for this post, I discovered a wonderful Russian fragrance blog (thank you, Google Translate!) called Parfumistika, and its review of Brocard’s Gardens of Temptation, which includes the brand’s own description:
… drops of morning dew glistening on the grass and unusual green bitterness of hyacinth. The sun rises, coolness recedes, and the bright, joyful smells of linden-colored, mimosa, magnolia and acacia are revealed in all their glory. A firework of flowers gradually turns into a warm, honey-musky trail.
My experience of Mechta is more soft than bright, but very pleasant. If you don’t care for intensely green scents, fear not — the only green I detect is the grassy opening, which gives way to the mimosa pretty early. I would describe Mechta as a soft, warm, yellow, light floral. It’s very pretty, and very affordable if you can find it. I look forward to trying more of Brocard’s fragrances!
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
I like the look of those smaller flacons rather than the full size bottles. They’re adorable! I like the idea of a soft mimosa with no citrus top notes. Like you said, that makes it a little bit different.
I have never made it to Bloom in London! The last time I was in London, I was there with my sister. I managed to drag her around the beauty sections at Harvey Nichols and Harrod’s smelling everything in sight, and that was enough for her, haha. Next time I visit London it will be one of my first stops, for sure!
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Bloom really is wonderful! They pay a lot of attention to customers, make throughtful suggestions, etc. Burlington Arcade in London is also a treat to visit for fragrances, and less overwhelming than Harrod’s. My favorite department store fragrance section to visit is Liberty, one of my favorite stores of all. And the Jovoy Mayfair boutique is also a great place to visit, with very helpful staff. I was also impressed by the small but distinctive fragrance department in Fenwick; they had some lines I hadn’t seen in other stores, like Ruth Mastenbroek and Antonio Alessandria.
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Oh yes, we also scrolled through Burlington Arcade and tried some Penhaligon’s and the Chanel Exclusifs. Otherwise, we mostly did museums. Thank you for the recs! I always hear raves about shopping at Liberty. I’ll have to go back purely on a sniffing mission!
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P.S. I agree with you about the bottles, these ones are very cute. The large ones are a bit kooky.
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This sounds beautiful and perfect for spring!!
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You know, it’s really nice! And it’s so cool that Bloom carries this inexpensive Russian line.
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I don’t think I’ve ever tried anything from the brand: it was either before my time or then much later after I moved to the US. I would be curious to try these three and the other three in the same line. I’ll check if eBay has any.
Do you know the translation for the names? The one you reviewed is Dream. The other two – Love and Elegance.
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Thanks! Brocard is interesting, not just because of its history. They’ve been working with some top perfumers in recent years. Bloom Perfumery in London carries some Brocard.
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If I’m ever able to travel to the UK again… 😦
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I know!! I want to travel abroad again!
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