There are three things in this world that still have me believing in magic: music, fragrance, and summer. Any one of these can lift me out of the worst of moods and if that isn’t magic, there is nothing in this world that we can give that name.
Last summer I had tickets to see Wilco, my favorite live act, in a park in Brooklyn. The pilgrimage seemed ill-fated, for it was raining, it took over two hours to get there, I argued with my husband on the car ride there, when we got there we couldn’t find a parking spot, and as lagniappe when we finally found a spot, some crazy person purposely backed into our car because he didn’t like how closely my husband was following him.
I’d had enough. I told the DH to forget the show and go home, and believe me, for me to willingly forgo a show like this is tantamount to saying I’m about to be hospitalized for exhaustion. But he wouldn’t oblige. He told me to “calm down,” and bought me a beer.
The show started and I began to relax. Then a thunderstorm unfurled and the band covered the stage with a gigantic popup tent and announced their intent to continue no matter what. I was grudgingly enjoying myself and then I saw Elliott, a local fixture with a music blog (I’d link but I can’t remember the name at the moment), who is always at the same shows as me and always standing in the same spot, where he can get a peek at the set list.
He was a talisman. I felt like I’d found my tribe, and in spite of the agonizing quest to get there, and the thunderstorm, and my own portable critic accompanying me (“They always do the same songs;” “I’m soaked; can we just leave and go get something to eat?”), I was suddenly not just calm but having a very good time. The park was green and wet, and lit with lightning, and I felt like I’d been transported to the feast for Titania and Oberon.
Sonoma Scent Studio’s Wood Violet reminds me of that night. When you first put it on it is a sharp,shimmering, non-sweet violet, but shortly thereafter some lovely earthiness peeks through like shoots poking from rich black soil. I adore this stage of the fragrance and while the whole experience is nice, if it stayed this way I would wear it almost every day. I get hints of the lactones that I love so much in Cocoa Sandalwood– perhaps a bowl of milk left out to appease the faerie? There is also something almost fungal, like mushrooms with magical properties– it is not unpleasant, and not decaying, but very fertile. And then it morphs into something else, like a changeling.
That latter stage gave me pause at first. It was very, very pretty, a smooth blending of flowers and wood without excessive sweetness. But I don’t usually go for pretty in fragrances; I missed the dirt, and more than anything, it was bothering me that it reminded me of something that I thought was common.
One of my relatives wears Moonlit Path by Bath and Body Works, and I thought it was reminding me of that. And though I like that, it costs $14 and is available at any local mall, two things which are anathema to me (hey, I never once claimed to be rational!). It bothered me so much that I told my daughters I wanted to go to the mall and spray some of the latter and compare.
As luck would have it, my younger daughter said, “You got some of that for Mother’s Day; it’s in the car.” She was right, so I did my side-by-side comparison right away.
The faeries must have sprinkled me with forgetfulness dust. The Sonoma Scent Studio Wood Violet is so much more beautiful, so much richer and three-dimensional and real. I’ve decided I can live with pretty when it is actually shiningly gorgeous, and I will be buying a full bottle soon.
Wood Violet is available exclusively from Sonoma Scent Studio in a variety of sizes and formats, including samples. Notes listed are violet, plum, cedar, cinnamon, clove, sandalwood, violet leaf, and musk. Wear it and you will experience some real magic.
DISCLAIMER: Review provided based on a sample which was a gift from a friend. I have no material connection to Sonoma Scent Studio, Wilco, or the Queen and King of the Faerie, unless fan girl counts.
Make Perfume, Not War 
I am so, so happy you found a violet you fell in love with as well as a pretty that’s not cloying. And yes, it does almost seem as if it were created by faeries. My DH describes it as really, really, *really * heightening his senses.
And it was thanks to you, my dear! I really do understand K’s comment because there is something magical about it. I dashed this review off this morning but will be revising because I want to say something more about that exotic middle stage.
Oooh. I’m already looking forward to seeing that. And I always am happy to enable. Once I thought all rose and violet fragrances were too sweet and powdery. Fortunately I was wrong :-).
Agree completely; there are truly some sophisticated florals and this is one of them!
awesome piece
Thank you! Awesome fragrance, really.
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What a great story! I’m glad that one of my favorite SSS’s perfumes brought it up. For me Wood Violet is a scent of late Spring – when everything has awaken already but still fresh and not dried by summer sun.
Thanks, Undina! I can see what you mean; the fragrance has a definite freshness to it, but in the true sense of the word (as opposed to, say, calone…)
Awesome fragrance and Awesome story you’ve got here… i never tried Wood Violet , but if every perfume would have as a review such a great and inspired story then probably the sales numbers would explode… it was a pleasant reading , thank you.
Thanks so much, Alicia!
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