Norma Kamali Violette: A true violet floral

Violets have been on my mind the past few months.  This summer when I couldn’t wear much of anything due to the heat and humidity, I turned to Annick Goutal La Violette quite a bit.  It was either the weather or the simple fact that I love Goutal’s La Violette so much. The Goutal Violette is perfectly powdery, but not plasticky, and it smells like true violets with a hint of green and a dash of anise.  I’ve had a long struggle with violet fragrances over the years.  I still haven’t found one, aside from the Goutal Violette, that I really think is The One.  The new Tom Ford Violet Blonde is one its way to me, tracking number says it should arrive by the end of this week, so I’m revisiting all my violet scents in an effort to make comparisons once the Tom Ford arrives.  While sniffing around my ‘violet cabinet’ I found Norma Kamali Violette and I can’t imagine what my problem has been all this time, because the Kamali Violette is really great and I should have written about it, or at least been wearing it more often.

Norma Kamali Violette opens purple.  It smells like purple floral syrup.  It starts off heavier than it ends; I’d classify NK Violette as a light-medium weight fragrance by the time it dries down.   I think what I have been looking for all this time is a violet that smells of violet flowers most prominently, with less green than say Penhaligon’s Violetta, and much less powder than say Guerlain Meteorites and a bit more oomph, less delicacy than Goutal’s Violette.  It sounds like I’m describing Guerlain’s Insolence in edp, but that one, while extremely violet-y, ends up a bold fruity floral and not so much a violet soliflore on me (I do love Insolence edp, though). NK Violette is strongly about violet florals with less green and less powder than most other violet scents.    NK Violette is also much less candied and doesn’t remind me of violet flavored candy treats.  NK Violette dries down to a more subtle scent than the big purple syrup opening.  Once it settles in, it becomes a cool, dry violet; a complete violet floral, with hardly any green or earthiness.   This is all about the flower.  And it’s very well done; it stays true to the scent all the way to dry down and many hours thereafter.

Berdoues Violette Divine

Berdoues is a French perfume house established in the early 1900’s with it’s original violet fragrance, Violettes de Toulouse. Violet soliflores were a huge trend, an absolute craze, during the early twentieth century, similar to the fruity floral phenomena of the past decade. The house of Berdoues has managed to stick around all these years and has now added two new violet scents to their repertoire. Their original, Violettes de Toulouse, is a typical violet fragrance, very similar to Borsari Violetta di Parma. It is sweet and pleasant but possesses that plastic-y note I can’t stand. Their other new violet fragrance is Violet Cherie, which is aimed at a younger consumer, essentially a violet-fruity-floral.

Last year Berdoues introduce a heartier, denser violet called Violette Divine. I admit it was solely the packaging that caused me to purchase this one. The boxes are darling and the bottles are retro chic, plus they were on sale at Parfum1.com! I wasn’t expecting much and wouldn’t have been upset had I not liked Violette Divine. But the good news is that I like it. Violette Divine is a nice sweet violet, more potent than most, with a woodier dry down and no plastic note.

I can’t find a straight list of notes anywhere so here is the mumbo jumbo ad copy: “Intense, powerful and sensual, it opens with notes of mandarin. The heart is magical with violet and cedar, while the romantic base consists of sandalwood.” It starts off almost like a violet gourmand to me. There’s something highly vanillic and syrupy at the start. But if this puts you off, don’t worry, this is brief and the vanilla fades away to mostly a dense violet note. A sweet, deep purple violet note with a touch of spice and a mild woody base. This is nice. It is not exceptional or even especially good, but it’s nice. My favorite violets are still firmly in place: Creed Love in Black (for a sweet, edgy take), Sonoma Scent Studio Voile de Violette (for a cheerful, jammy, flirty violet) and Penhaligon’s Violetta (for a fresh, green, unisex violet) and Annick Goutal La Violette (for an old school violet soliflore that isn’t too sweet or powdery, and doesn’t have plastic).

If you don’t already like violet fragrances Violette Divine isn’t going to change that, but if you enjoy violet scents and collect a variety of them you might want this one, if not just for the pretty packaging.

A weekend voyage through violets

It was barely 16 months ago when I listed violet as one of the notes I disliked. I met Brian in a chat room and now I have at least a dozen violet fragrances. I started with L’Heure Bleue, and while I grew to tolerate it, it never became a love of mine. This should give you a glimpse of the type of violet fragrances I like, since I don’t like L’Heure Bleue, or anything candy sweet, powdery and old school.

Last year I wrote that the Indies saved violet for me, and this is still very much the case. It’s the dirty, dark, edgy and also fresh, woody and green violet perfumes that draw me in. It doesn't seem to have received the most positive feedback, but Brian and I both loved the brutally assertive violet/tar of Creed Love in Black. Comme des Garcons + Stephen Jones is another fun violet fragrance, mixing the usually innocent violet note with the scent of meteorites. Since I’ve been doing so much violet research, I’ve noticed that I’m now enjoying the violet soliflore variety much more. Penhaligon’s Violetta, in particular, is a beautifully refreshing violet scent. Without further adieux, here are some brief reviews of six violet fragrances I’ve been wearing and evaluating lately.

(alphabetical order)

Borsari Violetta di Parma. Oh, the box and bottle are so pretty and this is violet perfection for so many, but for me, this is violets in melted plastic.

Caron Violette Preceiuse. Caron’s violet is surprisingly good. This is a dark, sweet, spicy violet. It has excellent longevity and brings to mind a chaise lounge made of deep purple crushed velvet. It’s not girly but elegant and full of depth and intrigue.

Histoires de Parfum Blanc Violette. I had such high hopes for Blanc Violette, because I’ve found many excellent fragrances from Histoires. Perhaps I’m anosmic to several musks because I couldn’t smell anything from Annick Goutal Musc Nomade or Hermes Gentiane Blanche – these were like water on my skin. Blanc Violette is a brief moment of a pale powdery violet that vanishes into thin air on me.

L’Artisan Verte Violette. L’Artisan’s violet is what I had hoped Borsari’s would be. Verte Violette is not green so the name is misleading. L’Artisan’s VV is somehow “chewy” and seems to have a physical texture as if I’ve been enveloped in a cloud of swirling violets. I believe the aspect I enjoy so much is heliotrope, which gives L’Artisan VV a delicious slightly sweet, yet creamy quality. Verte Violette, like most L’Artisan fragrances, is fleeting so that’s a major disappointment. I apply about 15 sprays and can usually smell it until lunch.

Penhaligon’s Violetta. I don’t have any other loves from Penhaligon but their Violetta is great. It’s an assertively fresh, green and woody take on violet that leans toward the masculine. This isn’t one of those old school candy-sweet-powder violets but instead an almost bracing violet. I love this stuff. This is the bottle I dropped on the floor that smashed to bits. I bought another one straight away. That’s sayin’ something.

Sonoma Scent Studio Voile de Violette. Somehow an alphabetical list still managed to save the best for last. SSS Voile de Violette makes me swoon. This isn’t even my usual favorite kind of violet, it’s not dark or edgy but it’s so luscious, ripe and beautiful I can’t help myself. Voile de Violette is fruity, like plum jam blended with larger than life violets. Voile de Violette makes me feel simply joyous when I wear it. Voile de Violette has base notes of cedar, musk and vetiver which I’m guessing manage to perfectly anchor the fragrance and give it depth and interest. It’s sweet but just the right amount, not candy sweet and the longevity is excellent.

Looks like the Indies are still saving violet fragrances for me. My favorites remain Liz Zorn’s Domino Viole’, Ava Luxe Midnight Violet, Neil Morris Spectral Violet and now I can add Sonoma Scent Studio Voile de Violette to the list. Not indie but excellent are Penhaligon’s, Caron and L’Artisan.

Photo artist: Ann Garrett