Wood Violet

Wood Violet is all about the violet and plum. It's a rare violet scent that isn't powdery antique violets, sugared parma sweets, or green and watery, but rather a full, velvet violet. The plum is a lovely pairing. It's not tart or fresh - nor is it really a dried fruit - it smells somewhat like the smell of ripe plum flesh if it were put through a soft focus filter. Underlying the violet plum pairing is a smooth musk (smells like suede to me) and a creamy, milky sandalwood (the same sandalwood from SSS's Fig Tree, all cream and no hard woodiness). It's a very smooth and warm scent. I actually don't get any woodiness from the scent at all, surprisingly, but I don't mind the lack of cedar. It allows the normally shy note of violet to shine. The overall scent reminds me of Dita Von Teese descending the stairs in her custom designed Vivienne Westwood wedding dress, made from seventeen meters of Swiss silk faille in shot violet. (seriously, look up that picture!) Sillage is close but longevity is great. A personal scent. I get wafts of plum and violet all day. I absolutely love Sonoma Scent Studio - Laurie Erickson has a knack for presenting each note in a naturalistic way, creating a blended harmony without the fuzzy lack of clarity that I find irksome in many natural ingredient scents. Hopefully Laurie takes on a protege in her retirement!

This beautiful fragrance is difficult to describe. At the first dab it is pure true violet, a real delight, with a smoky woodsey fragrance behind it. That quickly fades into, for me, a clean soapy scent with lingering violet. It is quite lovely and is one of the few violet scents where I can still detect the true violet after the dry down. I haven't tried it on around my boyfriend yet but I suspect he will notice this one. What struck me the most about this fragrance is the complicated and lovely opening - it was a very interesting, sophisticated and unusual beginning. The dry down is very soft yet lingers. This may become a favorite of mine. Of the two Sonoma Scent Studio violets this one is the clear winner for me. By the way, I cannot in any way see this as a fragrance for a man. I don't find it the least bit masculine - it is a distinctly female scent. A woman who is more at ease on a sunlit trail in the deep woods than she is under fluorescent blue lights in some cold office somewhere - this is an earthy but not at all hippy fragrance - a wood nymph perhaps and a beautiful one at that.

I've liked Serge Lutens Bois de Violette from samples I've bought but it had had poor longevity on me so I wouldn't shell out the $. So I tried this for comparison on the wood-violet theme(and I'm rather surprised that no one has mentioned this similarity). SSS Wood Violet opens up sweet and plummy and fairly intense. Candied violet, a touch of violet leaf, and cinnamon/spice. It's fairly sweet on me. This actually intensifies as time goes on and then after about an hour softens and some soft woods(sandal and cedar) come through. The sweetness subsides and what's left is a softly sweet violet wood. It has a depth and an outdoorsy natural feel that makes the Lutens feel quite sterile in comparison. It's really nicely blended and has fairly good longevity(about 6 hours). It feels more cool than warm and I think I'd wear it in any temperature.

This is one of the best violet perfumes I've come across. The violet is damp, green and in full bloom. There's none of the candy or powdery qualities that I often get from other violet perfumes. I didn't get any of the dustiness or sharpness someone mentioned. It was a mellow and calming experience. After a bit of time on the skin, the cedar warms up and just takes the violet to a new level that I have never smelled violet achieve before. The images of damp woods and serenity that the other reviewers posted are really true to where this scent takes you. I had images of rain pattering against a library window. The library filled with old books and me reclining in a chair reading, a pot of beautiful violets next to me on the desk. Cozy, serene, calm.

I get the picture of Terry(from Candy Candy)lying under a big cedar tree smoking fine tobacco while the wind brings around the beautiful smell of violets.Sadly this picture doesn't last long,after that is very dominant the violet note,but even that is cool!