More gems from Sonoma Scent Studio: Opal & Femme Jolie

The past few days have left me in a bad mood. Sometimes I turn to big, billowy fl-orientals when I'm down, as a sort of olfactory armor to make people leave me alone. But other times I want something cuddly and warm, something that takes care of me, gently.

I've mentioned before that one of Brian's sayings is "one can't have too few skin scents" and I thoroughly concur. But I broke my anti-skin scent rule by loving Barbara Bui Le Parfum. So maybe I was ripe for another skin scent to waltz along and win my heart. I ordered a few fragrances from Sonoma Scent Studio to have at The Posh Peasant. Several I knew I would love but a few were meant for decanting purposes. And, just for the record, I live in fear of being stuck with all this perfume at The Posh Peasant one day, that nobody will buy it, so I try to only purchase things I like. But I must buy perfumes for other's tastes, hence, Sonoma Scent Studio Opal.

Opal is described by the perfumer, Laurie Erickson, as a vanilla musk. A comforting, warm and sweet scent. Something entirely inoffensive and safe. Sounds utterly boring if I'm being honest. It took me about a week to even smell Opal. But yesterday I needed something comforting and the bottle was literally staring at me so I tried it. Wow. It *is* comforting, warm, safe and inoffensive but it's also downright cheerful, delicious and sexy. I find Opal powdery. But it's the sort of powdery quality I love, an illuminated from within sort of gorgeous powdery aspect. It's a vanilla-musk-sandalwood but the vanilla is that sort of fluffy powdery vanilla and not a foody one. There's also a hint of bergamot and ambrette giving the overall scent a jab of freshness so it's not all vanilla-musk-blah-ness. You might compare Opal with Creative Scentualizations Perfect Veil but I find Opal far superior. Opal is less sweet and more potent with a higher quality sandalwood note. A few hours after applying Opal for the first time I went back and spritzed myself again - at least 4 times. I wanted to be bathed in it. Instead of "Calgon take me away" this was "Opal take me away" and it did.

So now I have 2 skin scents in my arsenal. And the beauty of Opal is that it's potent. One big turnoff with other skin scents is that they're fleeting. Like all perfumes from Sonoma Scent Studio, Opal is highly concentrated, virtually parfum strength I believe, and it lasts forever.

Sometimes perfumes call to mind a specific person, celebrity or character and Opal makes me think of Nigella Lawson. Nigella is gorgeous, feminine, soft but also incredibly sexy. I can't seem to watch her cooking shows, though, because they are all about her beauty and not about the darn food.
The other gem from Sonoma Scent Studio is Femme Jolie. Now I purchased Femme Jolie knowing it was my type of thing. And that it was. I read on SSS's website that Femme Jolie is back by popular demand for a limited time. According to the perfumer, Femme Jolie is a long-lasting cedar scent composed of woods, soft spices, musk, fruits, and florals. Notes are ginger, cinnamon, clove, plum, peach, orange blossom, violet, cedar, sandalwood, vanilla, musk. The floral notes are soft and subtle while the cedar and spices are more prominent.

Ok, seriously, if you love woods and spices you've got to get some Femme Jolie. This is Serge Lutens Bois et Fruits and Feminite de Bois but better. I've said this before and I know it's probably taboo but I find Sonoma Scent Studio's fragrances on par if not better than the big boys. Femme Jolie is an extravaganza of soft woods and zesty spices. I love the undercurrent of ginger, cinnamon and clove. It isn't heavy in the least and swirls about you in a light, yet potent fashion. The quality of the cedar and sandalwood the perfumer uses is simply divine. Femme Jolie is fantastic stuff.

Sonoma Scent Studio website

Top photo of Sonoma Scent Studio boxes by Nathan Branch