La Tulipe
Byredo (2010)

I've said “smells like hand soap” so many times I'm beginning to sound like a broken record.
This really, really smells like a partly uncooked soap though! As in synthetic floral fragrance, partially saponified oil, and the nose crinkling sting of sodium or potassium hydroxide.
I only knew one note (supposed rhubarb) going into sampling. I searched the database of a fabulous fragrance decanter for rhubarb, this popped up. And, I smell no rhubarb. I'm guessing tulip as well as that is the titular note. I get a warmed up floral, very linear, and not much development. It is nice though and delicately fresh.

The begin is floral and it remains so throughout. Initially, yes, tulip with freesias and touches of magnolia. This opening phase is pleasant.

The drydown adds mainly the typical cashmeran note, with hints of a rather perfunctory vetiver and whiffs of white musks.

I get moderate sillage, adequate and six hours of longevity on my skin.

The tulip does not feature very often in fragrances; hence this gives this spring scent an extra brownie point. On the other hand, it is an overly synthetic creation, and the other ingredients are frightfully generic in character. I wonder what the sales figures in Holland look like..... 2.75/5.

Perfectly passable modern fabric softener floral. To my nose, it's a mix of bright violets with cherry and rose, over lightly soapy white flowers and that Snuggle fabric softener base.

For the first half hour, this is a better-than-average fruity floral, and then evolves into a strong fabric softener smell, like some sort of "spring flower" laundry detergent. La Tulipe is well done for what it is, reminding me of the Jo Malone simple-fruity-florals-done-well aesthetic, but any perfume that smells this close to common functional odorants is hard to recommend at Byredo prices.

Pretty! This is the first thing coming to my mind trying la tulipe. Pretty in a very polished polite and agreeable way. Yet it is not flat as the word agreeable might suggest. It has a refined character, classy and elegant. It is well behaved but far from boring. Bubbly but not unnerving. Fresh, and soft notes of freesia lilac and tulips intermingle, keeping it on the sunny side. If la tulipe was a girl, it would be that long legged , dark blond, elegant, rich, educated, girl that you would urge to hate but can't because on top she is funny, down to earth, kind hearted and totally easy going about all of her enviable gadgets. I bought this last week and got compliments from five people till now. Worth loving it

Byredo La Tulipe is a very agreeable floral fragrance, certainly inherently geared toward female wearers in the conventional sense, but very nicely balanced, especially as it dries down.

It's mainly tulips, with some other florals mixed, and the main element that's mixed in the dry down is vetiver, to my nose, and perhaps a little musk.

Slightly fresh, slightly herbal, almost borderline citrus-smelling, though without any listed citrus notes.

Performance is adequate, certainly better than the Gypsy Water EDC but certainly not as robust as more of the cold-weather-leaning Byredo options.

Definitely one of the nicer Byredo offerings I've tried to date. Nothing something of which I'd buy a full bottle, but a pleasant one to wear.

7 out of 10

I just can't shake off the singular association I've formed with freesia since I was a kid. Whenever I smell this note I'm reminded of bath talc. Well, the same sort of thing happened with TULIPE though the note takes more of a backseat to the central white floral accord.

What a lovely floral! It hums along rather than shrieks, and feels pitch-perfect for a blushing young bride. Outside of weddings, however, I just can't see anyone rocking this unless her name is 'Mary Poppins'.