Soivohle' Lilacs & Heliotrope

Liz Zorn, the nose behind Soivohle, creates some truly unique and artisan fragrances. Sometimes, in the case of Underworld, Oudh Lacquer and Purple Love Smoke, it takes a fragrance connoisseur to appreciate the brilliant twists and turns of her work. Other times, Zorn creates beautifully rendered true-to-nature scents; such as Acoustic Flower, Grand Canyon, Violets and Rainwater and today’s focus: Lilacs & Heliotrope.

When I heard Zorn had created something called Lilacs & Heliotrope, I couldn’t wait to try it. I knew from wearing many of her other scents that she could do this like nobody’s business. I knew the lilac would be ethereal and true and never glance towards air-freshener-land.

Lilacs & Heliotrope (L&H) is a slightly green tinged pillow of lilacs floating in a sky made of marshmallow heliotrope clouds. It begins with the emphasis on lilac blooms and leaves over a billowy heliotrope note. L&H is relatively linear on me, except that it begins with mostly lilac but ends with mostly heliotrope. The lilac here is subtle and there is a whiff of green leaves keeping it from becoming cloying. The base of heliotrope, musk and benzoin reminds me of LT Piver Heliotrope Blanc, which is my very favorite heliotrope fragrance. The heliotrope in L&H is of the floral variety, not the foodie sort. If you’ve ever smelled real heliotrope blooms or LT Piver Heliotrope Blanc, you’ll understand the difference (there is no candy or syrupy-sugary sweetness here; this is all floral sweetness). Once dried down L&H becomes a delicate balance of heliotrope, soft white musks, benzoin (which smells like vanilla to me) and the slightest sprinkling of earthy moss.

Lilacs & Heliotrope is gorgeous. In fact, I’ve decided I must carry this at The Posh Peasant. Our Soivohle stock has dwindled and it’s time to restock some of her older classics as well as her lovely new offerings.

Notes (from Soivohle website): green tinged lilacs in full bloom, settling to a rich heart of white and purple lilac, a touch of orchid, the slightest hint of rose melding into heliotrope with a base of mosses, soft musk and benzoin.

Keiko Mecheri Datura Blanche: A Review

Being a wee little perfume shop and decanter, it sometimes takes The Posh Peasant a bit longer to obtain new releases. Keiko Mecheri introduced a quartet of new fragrances in 2009, two iris scents, a leather and the one I’m reviewing today, Datura Blanche. From the moment I read the list of notes I knew I wanted to try Datura Blanche. Most Keiko Mecheri fragrances agree with me quite nicely, and this is part of the reason we carry KM at The Posh Peasant...just in case we don’t sell a single bottle, at least I know I can wear them!

Datura Blanche does not disappoint me. But for the first time in a long while, Datura Blanche is exactly the fragrance I imagined it would be when I read the list of notes. If you’ve ever smelled Dior Cologne Blanche and Serge Lutens Datura Noir then you can probably imagine KM Datura Blanche (DB) because it's a middle ground between the two. DB is not nearly as heady, sweet and tropical as Lutens Datura Noir nor is it a plain, dryer sheet fragrance like Cologne Blanche. In my estimation, DB is perfect. DB exhibits a subtle datura flower aroma, which is a heady and intoxicating night-blooming oddity. I had a few datura plants in my sunroom back in NJ and I can attest to their smell being sweet, sultry and somewhat odd. The flowers and plants themselves have a “Little Shop of Horrors” vibe so I guess the scent is fitting with their appearance. DB is a wondrously light and not-too-sweet datura scent accompanied with one of my favorite things: heliotrope. The heliotrope gives the overall fragrance a fluffy, puffy, cottony texture that’s delightful. The actual scent of datura blooms are slightly similarly to jasmine with a green stemmy aspect. KM captures this idea of datura blooms perfectly. I find Datura Blanche to be a hybrid between a straight floral and a heliotrope/vanilla skin scent. It’s probably 50/50 floral & oriental/gourmand. I use gourmand cautiously because DB contains vanilla and almond therefore I’m sure it technically contains gourmand genes but it is not, by any means, foodie. Last year I discovered LT Piver Heliotrope Blanc. There are some similarities between the LT Piver and KM but overall Datura Blanche has a more overtly floral quality, it’s less sweet and lasts longer. Datura Blanche seems impossible to dislike. It’s the sort of fragrance co-workers will compliment. It’s easily casual yet could be elegant. I’ve asked those in my household what they think of it and they all responded quite favorably, which is far from the case most of the time! DB starts of with a fragrant dose of datura but once it dries down I smell more heliotrope/vanilla/almond than flower. The Datura is still there yet it has moved to the background after about 90 minutes. Whipped fluffy clouds of datura blooms on a bed of vanilla, tonka and almond... mmmmm... what’s not to love?

Notes: white datura, Indian tuberose, heliotrope, bitter almond, tonka bean, vanilla madagascar