Nothing says I love you like a nice bunch of flowers but if you’re wild about beauty, floral products will outlast wilting buds.

Here at 7DAYS we’ve witnessed flower power with our own Emirates in Bloom contest and it seems the beauty world has now gone bloomin’ mad for all things floral.

L’Occitane has revealed a passion for peonies with a limited edition floral make-up and fragrance collection; and Clarins has released it’s Cotton Flower make-up line too.

Put on your rose tinted spectacles and bask in the beauty world’s floral infusion...

Blooming beauty
Banish notions of smelling like your grandma - flower-based products have come on leaps and bounds to offer both modern and traditional versatility for flower fans.

“The ultimate in nature’s purity, floral fragrances have always remained the most popular style of scented products,” says
fragrance designer Bella Bellissima “Floral scents can be sweet and feminine, sophisticated, creamy and voluptuous, fresh and sparkling, or dramatically mysterious.”

Lillies may be affordable enough to decorate your villa, but before you go looking for cut price floral beauty, consider the origins of your products.

Bella explains: “Ingredients are so precious that the petals may have to be picked at night before the early sun evaporates their delicate scent or, as with some rarer varieties of rose, it can take more than 300,000 petals to make a single kilo of pure oil.”

Bathroom bouquet
Maximise the flower power of your pampering routine by choosing scents to enhance your mood.

“Floral scented products are so attractive because they have wonderful, happy connotations,” says Geraldine Howard, founder of Aromatherapy Associates.

Transport yourself into a garden of paradise while you bathe by choosing a floral to benefit your skin and mind.
“Rose, an old age symbol of love is famed for

its uplifting aroma as well as being hugely beneficial to add radiance to the skin,” Geraldine explains.

“Neroli is a very pretty white flower with a floral-citrus scent that is both calming to the mind and also a great soother for irritated skins.

Jasmine is another little white flower with fantastic feel-good properties.” And if you want a recognisable floral to bring memories flooding back, bask in the beauty equivalent of a lavender field.

“Lavender’s a trusted favourite that not only has wonderful relaxing benefits but also brings with it associations of summer, holidays and peacefulness,” Geraldine says.

Floral fragrances
It’s easy to walk into Spinneys and pick out a bunch of your favourite blooms, but choosing a floral-based scent to wear on your skin can prove to be a confusing attack on the senses.

“Floral fragrances are beautiful, feminine but complex,” says Kate Williams, Imperial Leather’s in-house perfumery expert.
“Floral bouquets can be created using a number of different floral notes, or individual florals can be accented within a fragrance.”

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Budding talent

Don’t be flummoxed by flowers. Kate offers her guide for finding aN essence to suit your personality:

* Want to stand out from the crowd? Try iris or violet-based scents.
* Opt for Jasmine if you love to indulge and consider yourself confident and strong-willed.
* Sentimental and caring types will fall in love with rose scents, especially those who embrace their feminine side.
* Always on the go? Orange flower is well-matched to busy bee characters as it’s associated with being up-beat, fresh and idea enhancing.

* Carnation and lily fragrances are suited to sociable fun-loving types who like to swap and change between different scents according to their mood.