Grace at 67th

Beautiful and strange. This opens with room filling sillage; as in someone remarked on the scent from the other side of a large workroom right after I applied it one time. I've almost entirely made my way through my sample and the jury remains out. It opens with fresh, sweet herbs. The basil is at center stage, clean but not soapy. The tarragon and clary sage are a tad medicinal, there's a pleasant sharpness they impart. And the violet leaf heightens the sweetness. It's altogether much more lovely than a cool morning of potting herbs but it has that feel. The labdanum, ambrette, and myrrh take center stage for the drydown. It pulls much closer to the skin and retains its strong herbal vibe; but it really deepens and darkens. There's a definite spiciness that develops here and it's lovely. My skin burns through this and I only get about 3 hours (and that may be reaching), but that drydown may actually be worth it.

This is puzzling stuff. The vibe is theoretically urban and edgy but the scent is bucolic and very very green. Between all of the herbs (with particularly pungent tarragon) and the violet leaf the only other note that is particularly noticeable is the neroli. Reading the notes allows me to say, "oh, that's probably narcissus" but I never would have guessed that and Black Narcissus is one of my all-time favorite scents. The final effect is very much an unripe orange--mature enough to be juicy but not having much sugar. If you like herbal scents you just might like this but I find it rather weird. Sillage: personal, 1 ft or so Longevity: 2 hours and still going Fabulosity: orange tang Value to price ratio: mediocre 3/10