Violet Flame

The benchmark violet I've been searching for. Violet was my first fragrance memory - my grandmother had a little bottle of either Aidees or Lownds Pateman Devon Violets on the mirrored tray sitting on her vanity, next to the lipsticks and Chanel No. 5 talcum powder. I had been preoccupied with this vanity and the trappings of femininity since my child brain could conceive of something as wonderful as pink lipstick in a silver tube. I loved it so much, I snuck upstairs and applied said pink lipstick, tasting of powder and flowers, much to the amusement of the adults when I came back downstairs with it all over my face and teeth. Humor rather rescued me from a telling-off. During a later visit, my mother and grandmother brought me up those same stairs to sit at that vanity with them, after bathtime, sleep already starting to overtake, for the special treat of learning how to properly apply perfume. Carefully overturning the tiny bottle with my fingertip sealing the top, to then touch delicately to the insides of my wrists. Any more is a waste - they impressed upon me that you did not need a lot to enjoy the fragrance experience. It smelled like heaven. Secret rites of femininity and delight finally revealed to me, even after my disastrous first brush with that pretty lipstick. I'm turning thirty this year, and finally starting to feel something of the transition into adulthood. I read the Fragrantica article on Violet Flame purely out of happenstance, carefully considered the note list, and was drawn in primarily by the presence of heather. The same grandmother gave me a locket of sorts after a trip to scotland with dried heather inside - my namesake, and a favorite fragrance. Violets. Heather. Lipstick kind of orris. I had to get my hands on Violet Flame. In olfactory memory, I feel the sum of my experiences finally catching up. Violet Flame took my history and brought me soaring into the present. From the travel atomizer, I applied a half spray to the inside of my left wrist, and dabbed it on my right, before entwining my wrists around my neck and into my hair. The opening violet is gorgeously sunwarmed, bright and herbaceous and deeply deeply sunny, so different than the typical chill I experience with ionones. Licorice is present, here and there, deepening the violet, and bolstered by the rooty, warm spice of heather, which opened the way for that drop-dead GORGEOUS orris butter and oakmoss to come through. In the heart of the fragrance, I was expecting fluffy powder to start happening, but the violets always stayed crisp. I would snap my head up and catch a bright wisp of those sunny, bright violets still persisting, weaving in and out of perception as ionones are inclined to do. The character of each ingredient was so very strongly considered in this composition, and it shows in borderline miraculous ways. Orris and oakmoss and licorice and heather persist through the drydown, and the mood of the perfume shifts. What started out as sunwarmed violets turns deep, and dark. Smoke is not necessarily present, but the feel of sitting before a glowing campfire in a dark violet-moss forest was overwhelming. What powder does emerge is carbon-black, charcoal black, velvety as the oakmoss mousse, smooth and enveloped by that deep, deep orris. This deeply earthen phase is perhaps my most favorite, when those sunny violets are winding down to a whisper, yet the heat and the sense of a deep, forested night persists. I feel the totality of my fragrance experiences through the progression of Violet Flame on my skin. The bright, childlike preoccupation with the beauty of sunwarmed violet, progressing to the slow, gradual revelation of each ingredient in a gorgeous, borderline mystical dance, leading deeper into truth, into love, into reverence for the olfactory memories and experiences which inform the essences of who we are, with room to take what we've learned and make it our own. I feel very strongly that Violet Flame could be my signature. It's easy to get carried away where memories are strongest. The fact of the matter is that Violet Flame is structurally intriguing, well-composed, and very, very carefully thought out with utmost respect for the ingredients and their individual characters. My tiny spray lasted about 6 hours, with sillage from 6-12 inches from my wrists and neck. The price point is there for a reason, but in my own opinion, it's impossible to place a pricetag on the experience Violet Flame provided. An absolute treat for violet and orris lovers, with emphasis on the way ionones play. Delight and depth in equal measure.

I quite like this. She has black hair with strands of grey. She lives in a cottage in a meadow. Some woods and wildflowers.Its a crisp spring morning and shes getting ready for a trip to town. She powders her face lightly. You notice some dirt and roots...vegetables or for something else... Drole de Rose: Rose powdery iris. Grandma Iris de Nuit: Angelica powdery iris. Granddaughter Violet Flame: Licorice vegetal powdery iris. Midlife woman in the woods I thought about buying both Drole and Iris de Nuit, but I think I like this better. Oh my clothing this gets a little sweeter and more earthy on my skin. Much later it turns very powdery. ETA: this is very earthy rooty vegetal. Really nice.

I have been wearing this fragrance for more than a year now, and I can confidently say that this is the most beautiful scent I have every smelled in my entire life. Violet flames has a Chypre structure, the opening is a bright violet, that lingers into a buttery orris that is amazingly beautiful, on a remarkable oak moss base. There is a good balance of dark & bright nuances. I don't get a lipsticky, shampoo Iris, compared to other fragrances like Iris Poudre, Silver Iris, Dior Homme... Due to the richness of the natural compounds used in this composition, it lasts for days on clothes, but only 5 to 6 hours on my skin. A must try for Violet, Iris and Chypre aficionados. 10/10

If you really love iris and violet with a pinch of sugar and would spend coin for the perfect one, a sample of Violet Flame is certainly worthwhile for starters. I am struck by how natural it smells, definitely natural raw materials, and how harmoniously balanced (not too woody or metallic, not too sweet or powdery). It’s a delicious purple cocktail and I can’t get it out of my head.

My favorite from the line. Probably one of the easiest to wear also. It’s a powdery purple flower. Not too sweet, it really is nice. Because of the price ( I have the smallest size) I tend to save for special occasions all dressed up. But I think this can also be shabby-chic signature scent. This house is worth checking out. It is expensive so I always wait for coupons or specials.