Death Of A Ladies Man

I am an absolute violet fiend! I’ve collected all manner of violet fragrances over decades and I can say I have nothing else like this! It’s absolutely mesmerizing in its uniqueness and wearability. I find it to be perfectly balanced between a “feminine” and “masculine” style. The opening is an effervescent aldehyde that rings beautifully and isn’t soapy or sharp. The violet is the star of the show by far but it’s so well blended with the basil and mastic that you are breathing in a Chord of scents, a beautiful shimmering chord instead of singular notes. And this is no easy task with bold notes such as basil or violet. The galbanum doesn’t bite but instead balances the natural sweetness of basil and violet with a bit of green that comes off fresh, vibrant, alive instead of bitter or vegetal. Bravo!!! PS. It lasts for hours and hours! Ooof it’s wonderful!

Is it too obvious for spring? To be worn on a crisp-but-sunny March day, with birds retaking their position on the patio railings off the side of apartment buildings, and green bursting through the cracks in the pavement. To position it in the context of its namesake, it evokes emerging through the doors of said apartment building the morning after, a sunlit and shame-free walk of shame, satiated and clear headed; "The art of longing's over and it's never coming back." The sugary violet twinkles under freshly picked basil, while the galbanum and resins insist it stay grounded, a bit tangled up in the weeds. It's somehow surprising that the vibrant freshness does not read as youth-- this is not your first time reentering the world on the first day the temperature allows for a light jacket. You've done it year after year.

It's so good. Green, vibrant, & floral in an ambiguous, non-annoying type of way (I'm not a huge floral person). A little earthy & woody. I wore this and someone asked me if I was wearing an Aesop fragrance, which I thought was an interesting take. Do with that what you will! I wrote this in another UF review, but there's an accord in a few of Courtney's fragrances that kind of read as "clean sweat"-- not spicy or cumin-y, but more like being outside on a brisk walk and feeling a little perspiration on your brow. I get that a bit in DoaLM, as if you're running through a verdant field during summer, the smell of freshly cut grass and flowers swirling around you, a trickle of sweat running down your back.

smells like a treble clef. like the precise moment a stem freezes over, veins crystallizing; if you could be very, very still and quiet, you might just hear a twinkling like chimes. And it smells like the sweet river waters that flow afresh in the spring, breaking from its caged throat. perhaps this is what the Mole, emerging from his dusty cellarage for the first time since fall, smelled of the early upshoots of spring... i'm finding that i love greenness in perfumes—here, it's lushly green, with a sweet bite to it: the cold nipping at his snout. if i were Mole, i, too, would be so tempted to leave the underground safety of my home and spend the summer at the river's side...

When I first bought this it was autumn, and it smelled too strong and stuffy and made me a little nauseous, & I think it's because I needed to wait to rediscover it in the dog days of summer, like today. The spritz of the perfume itself was juicy and satisfying in a way that added to forthcoming scent of green vegetal, crystalline BEAUTY....Starts GREEN, fresh and bright, and evolves into something softer PURPLE. I smell sexy, and like spring, in a way that actually compliments summer-wear even more than spring. Once again, Courtney is a genius.