Violetta

I am not sure why I want to smell like a sweetie from my childhood (the German version of parma violets = Veilchenpastillen, which have a hard liquorice centre), but apparently I do. I had no idea what it smelled like but had wanted to smell Bois de violets by Serge Lutens, which wasn't available and didn't get as good write-ups as this one on here - so I traveled into town to the nearest Penhaligons (there are six in London). They sent me to the next one. They sent me to the third one: because of its unpopularity, Penhaligon have discontinued it. Curse all those silly people who think this old-fashioned! It isn't! It is FAR more dark and delicious (though also powdery) than those best-sellers bluebell, lily of the valley and other such nonsense. You can't argue over taste of course, but in this case, lack of popularity means that those of us who really like it will have to do without it very soon. They had 4 left in the Burlington Arcade branch in London. I bought one. So that's three left - if you love this stuff, get it now!

Violetta is a smoky and haunting violet. It's devoid of the innocence often associated with violet fragrances, and instead it's deep, musky, and a little bit sensuous. It's slightly sweet,and slightly green,but there's a dark accord in the mixture, that makes it a worthy choice for the mother-murderer-artist character in Janet Fitch's novel White Oleander. Olfactory memories are used so powerfully in this novel that Violetta gives me that chill I'd get if I'd ever known a real, live Ingrid Magnussen. (Also, I'll never smell l'Air du temps, Ma Griffe, or Love Potion No. 9 in the same way after reading this novel!)

One of my favourite fragrances ever. Gorgeous, gorgeous violet scent. This is a very green violet - no sweetness whatsoever. I quite like sugary sweet violet scents, but this one is a pure violet. And very sophisticated for a floral. Very surprisingly I cannot detect the iris (I hate iris). Nor do I get any musk (and I adore musk). I just get crisp greenness with pure violet, almost like a violet-filled forest after the rain. Expensive, but well worth it in my opinion. I tend to use a light hand with fragrance so I rarely get comments on my perfume, but this one has received compliments.

I'm in love. Violetta is the platonic violet soliflore fragance, clean, flowery, not too sweet, not too powdery, not too green, just perfect. It's a victorian perfume with a modern edge, it has an airy quality that I enjoy a lot, I love powdery perfumes but I was looking for a fresher violet, well, I don't have to look further, I would've wanted to find a cheaper one, but you have to take advantage of the opportunities life presents you, and this is the VIOLET opportunity with capital letters. It has medium sillage but it's very longlasting on my skin. Beautiful, and oh that bottle.

This is a peppery little number! I like this take on violets. It is an old-fashioned, very powdery swansdown puff type of violet. It does resemble April Violet's somewhat, although AP has a bit more violet in it. Like I said, I also get some pepperiness to this, too which makes it lovely. I am really enjoying my sample in the evenings, it's a really relaxing perfume. If you don't like old fashioned type of violet scents, you probably won't like this. With the sweet little bottle with the purple bow, I think it's fit for a queen! Lovely:)