Clive Christian’s Noble XX Water Lily Eau De Parfum is the type of big, luxurious floral chypre that French perfume companies just don’t make anymore. If you mourn the fall-from-fashion of powerful, statement-making scents like Eau de Soir (Sisley), Odalisque or Number One (both Parfums de Nicolai), then say hello to Water Lily. This is Perfume with a capital P; the kind worn both by rich ladies to church and women dressed to kill on a night out, all glossy red lips and high heels.

A burst of hairspray aldehydes ushers in a huge floral credenza of creamy tuberose flushed with the salty, aquatic freshness of water lily, all stretched over a surprisingly animalic base of cashmere woods, musk, and patchouli. The name ‘Water Lily’ makes it sound as if it might be a light, watery scent, but no - it has the density of velvet folded many times over. Green leaves add a soapy freshness but fail to make much of a dent in the thick, salty creaminess of the golden florals. If you loved the potent civety floral chypres of the past – Eau de Soir, Giorgio, Odalisque – and mourn what the restrictions on oakmoss has done to this genre, then we highly recommend you get acquainted with Clive Christian’s Noble XX Water Lily. To us, Water Lily is less a perfume than the bugle call of a woman confident in her own worth, allure, and place in the world.

aldehydes, green leaves, iris, tuberose, heliotrope, water lily, cashmeran, vetiver, patchouli