Zelda

Zelda, Zelda, Zelda! Oh, how I love Zelda! I discovered Zelda after reading a biography of her amazing but tragic life. I wanted to find a fragrance that was emblematic of this incredible woman, did a quick internet search, and found En Voyage and the wonderful Shelley Waddington's creations. And Shelley just absolutely nailed the essence of Zelda. The Magnolia, the smokey woods, the pepper...it all adds up to an Oriental group dream. Everything is perfectly blended and the fragrance is a wrist sniffer from top to bottom. If you like vintage orientals but want to try something new, this is a winner.

After the opening of spice, bergamot and galbanum starts to settle this is a creamy bouquet starring magnolia on a gorgeous, rich, slightly mossy bed of musk, sandalwood, vetiver with vanilla periodically dancing through for me. I don't smell rum at any point; I do occasionally get hints of something that my brain reads as coconut in the heart. Sillage and longevity are impressive. Zelda holds it's own in my cabinet full of vintages very nicely.

I get lots of odd, rich, sticky-sweet (sappy) balsam and spices as it opens. Warm but w/ a slight undertone of a cooler nature (magnolia, I guess, but can't discern it), this definitely is interesting and very different. To me it's not so much boozy as somewhere between creamy and roughly sugary, like a real sugar scrub with herbal and sandalwood ingredients. It smells like freshly dripped balsam from a cut tree and feels very natural. I'm intrigued but not yet sure if I like it. 3hrs later: ok, I definitely like it. It reminds me of Slumberhouse's Ore but with less of the 'Carmex' smell of that one, and a touch sweeter thanks to sandalwood and spice.

An amber in heart. Resinous with a surprisingly mentholated coolness that isn't unpleasant

I'm not feeling any woods in it, mostly honeyed florals, very warm and cozy.