Une Fleur de Cassie (Dominique Ropion 2000)

"Here it is the star illuminating the evening: Isis rises and with her blessing may the flood and life come to the lands". Thousand years ago in the ancient Egypt these words introduced the summer solstice, the beginning of the year. Sirius shined at dawn in the aegyptian sky marking the start of the longest day and the rebirth of Isis, goddess of fertility bringing with her the tree of life. It seems that for ancient aegyptians the tree of life corresponded to cassie (acacia farnesiana or huisache), maybe due to its round, yellow flowers with a perfume as radiant as the sun playing a keyrole in Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Une Fleur de Cassie.


Cleopatra - Rolf Armstrong (1926)

Appearently ethereal and delicate, cassie perfume isn't that easy to tame. Its exotic smell mixes the sweetness of violet and the ripe facets of jasmin and heliotrope to the cheeky, almost mineral spiciness of cinnamon, cumin and clove, a yeasty greeness of old wet papyri together with an utterly erotic leather note intoxicating the soul at every move, like dancing Carmen, femme fatale casting her love spell by throwing a cassie flower to Don Jose. Don't call it soliflore though: with such complexity and character it could take offence at it!



Claudette Colbert as Cleopatra (1934)

Great Master of Perfumery, Dominique Ropion seems to take his spell straight from the sacred book of deaths as every perfume drop sprouts on skin, making planets allign and bringing Isis to a new life. In the mirror of time there's a reflection of Claudette Colbert coated in gold and raunchy ointments like Ernest Daltroff's Farnesiana. Nowadays she wears Galliano but at dawn Sirius still brightens her with a warm, musky halo made more contemporary by a beauty bath in milky sandalwood worth of a Deity.



Helena Christensen
John Galliano FW 1997/98

Even before joining the Estée Lauder Group, reformulations axed most of Frederic Malle's perfumes. You can see this from Une Fleur de Cassie juice turning to a paler color and you can smell it from less depth and lasting power in the basenotes. Yet its refined floral trail is still unmistakable and finds no replacement for its lovers and for who's looking for a floral perfume out fo the crowd.

Une Fleur de Cassie features notes of bergamot, mimosa, clove, aldehydes, rose, violet, jasmine, cassie, cumin, cedarwood, sandalwood, musk