I doubt I’ll be able to post every day in May, but let’s get this off to a good start by posting on May 1, the day when French people traditionally give each other bouquets of muguet, or lily-of-the valley. According to http://www.timeanddate.com, this began when “King Charles IX of France was presented with lily of the valley flowers on May 1, 1561. He liked the gift and decided to present lily of the valley flowers to the ladies of his court each year on May 1. Around 1900, men started to present a bouquet of lily of the valley flowers to women to express their affection. The flowers are a more general token of appreciation between close friends and family members these days.”

Perfume Shrine has an amazing post on the role that muguet has played in perfumes for a long time, with some of the folklore about the flowers and a list of dozens of muguet-based fragrances. It doesn’t include Decou-Vert, though, which was launched in 2012, some time after that post.

Decou-Vert

Decou-Vert, by Laboratorio Olfattivo, is presented as a unisex fragrance and in fact, it would be quite appealing on a man while also lovely on a woman. Continue reading →