Violets, violets, delicious violets! A review of Chanel's Misia.

When I was a little girl, I used to adore a particular sweet: Parma Violets. These appear be a particularly British sweet and a divisive one at that, people either love them or they hate them. I loved them. I loved their scent, their flavour and the slightly subversive idea of eating a flower (even highly processed and blended with sugar). When I was older, and heavily steeped in Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge books, I sought out candied violets too and, predictably enough, I loved those too. It was practically a given that, once I became obsessed with perfume, I would adore violet perfumes. 

As far as I am concerned there is one violet perfume, a relatively recent addition to the genre, which really takes the crown as the Queen of Violet perfumes: Misia from Chanel's Les Exclusifs range.

Misia is availible as an Eau de Parfum but the version upon which this review is based is the Eau de toilette and I have always felt that violets are particularly suited to the light airy composition of eau de toilettes, as Shakespeare said: 

"A violet in the youth of primy nature

Forward, not permanent, sweet not lasting

The perfume and suppliance of a moment, no more"

Hamlet, Act I, Scene III

If you want words beautifully composed to capture a feeling, one should always turn to the Bard.
    If you want a beautifully composed perfume try Misia. Though, I would have to say, for an EDT these violets, unlike Shakespeare's, are quite long lasting. On my skin, and everyone skin is different so I can make no promises, Misia lasts for roughly six hours before I need to reapply a dab or two.

 Like most Chanel perfumes, Misia carries a signature top note of aldehydes, a spring breeze ruffling the delicate petals of a field of violets. Oh, and how deeply violets dominate the composition! These are, deep, dew moistened violets; their petals sweet and their roots sunk deep into the moist, dark earth. Violets in abundance, their sweetness rounded and warmed by middle notes of raspberry, rose and peach; their roots made temptingly, tantalizingly dark by notes of orris and tonka bean. It's a dancing scent, at once modern and fresh and wreathed in the sunlit glow of memories.

     Misia is a perfume of rococo dressing tables heaped with delicate lace and glittering silver; it's the cloud of powder artfully applied to the maestro's coiffed wig before he settles himself at the piano and dazzles his audience; it's the scent nestled in the beauty spotted decollete of a powdered Mademoiselle; it's the delicate billow of scent that clings to a ribbon tied bundle of Edwardian letters and sepia toned photographs.
     It is also the perfume of an evening stroll by the river; a late spring evening out; a Valentines day bouquet; it's the perfume of romance. 
I can think of no one this scent would not suit. How beautifully it would shimmer and glow on every skin! I do not subscribe to the idea of gendered perfumes and, to me, Misia is decidedly unisex.
How delicate and delicious it would be with a slight rasp of stubble! How delicate and delicious it would be on soft, downy skin!
If you want to escape from the cliche (delightful as it is) of a bouquet of roses this Valentines Day, why not try Misia: a delicious bouquet of violets!

For more information on Violets in Shakespeare, their meanings and quotations, I direct you here:
  A Shakespeare Garden.

A scent of snow and pine...

Christmas may be receding into memory but the winter weather hasn't  left us yet, if anything it’s gotten colder out there so it is time, perhaps, for some scented indulgences to chime with the crispness of falling snow or warm us up with fire and spice we can wear close to our hearts.

I’ve picked out the six perfumes which most remind me of winter.

If you’re longing for the sharp crispness of snow brushing your face then I think La Fille de Berlin by Serge Lutens brilliantly captures that exquisite feeling.

Fille De Berlin is the most delicate snowflake of a perfume by which I do not mean that the perfume is light, although it is suitably subtle. No, I mean that from the first moment I smelt it, it reminded me of a winter’s day, two or three years ago when it began to snow whilst I was out shopping. Perfect crystal flakes danced down out of a sky suddenly radiant Madonna blue, flakes large enough that, when they settled on the dark sleeves of my coat, revealed each detail of their intricate crystalline structure without the need for a magnifying lens.

That is Fille de Berlin to me, delicate, intricate and the embodiment of snow. Its notes are simple and dazzlingly effective: rose and geranium layered over patchouli and honey. 

The other stand out snow perfume, in my opinion, has to be Floris’s Snow Rose which feels as if the frost has embraced a single bloom. Snow Rose starts off a little greener than Fille de Berlin and with vanilla rather than La Fille’s honey note providing the slight sweetness of winter air but with an equally crisp, fresh geranium note.

However, if you’ve seen too much of snow and it’s left you shivering you just might want to turn to a perfume that’s going to warm you up rather than bring in the weather then there are plenty of perfumes that fit the bill with their spicy warmth and smoky depths.

Annick Goutals Encens Flamboyant has all the sharp woodiness of an open fire conveyed in intense notes of incense alongside pepper, nutmeg and balsam fir. You can almost hear this perfume crackling invitingly as you curl up in your favourite chair. The pure perfume is stunning in its depth and longevity but the eau de parfume equals it for staying power and for sillage so that you can be sure that your blanket of winter warmth is following you wherever you go.

Equally reminiscent of winter to me is Coco by Chanel with its citrus and spice notes reminds me of the Christmas Pudding scene from Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, “In half a minute Mrs Cratchit entered: flushed, but smiling proudly: with the pudding, like a speckled cannon ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half-a-quartern of ingnited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck in the top.” One can’t help but envy the skill with which Dickens conjures, in a few lines, a pudding one can almost smell, almost taste on the tip of your tongue! It’s also a perfume reminiscent of the clove studded oranges which perennially adorn the pages of lifestyle magazines in December as well as our own Christmas tree this year. Not entirely surprising as clove and Mandarin orange are both notes in Coco’s composition. Coco is a perfume which just invites compliments whenever you wear it so you’d better be prepared for people to ask you what you’re wearing pretty often (the appreciation of others is no real hardship though, is it).

I’m going to be a little naughty now because my next winter perfume choice is something a little rare but very special. If you are lucky enough to find a bottle in ebay, at a flea market, in a vintage store, anywhere in fact, then treasure it.

My fifth, and possibly favourite, winter perfume is: Winter Delice by Guerlain.

Like Encens Flamboyant, Winter Delice is a strong and sensual balsamic perfume bursting with the warm embrace of pine tree branches and resin but snow has settled on this Winter landscape, it’s chill breath just creeping in with a note of vanilla (always so good at conjuring snow) and sugar. It’s such a rich perfume that it feels like it demands you acquire a sleigh and velvet cloak at once. Although I happen to think that you can get away with this perfume even when you are not all dresses up; in a jumper (sweater) and jeans you could use a few spray of Winter Delice to feign a sportive walk in the woods. Or wear it all dressed up and unleash your inner Snow Queen.   

Now, I have two last, very indulgent, winter perfume suggestion: if you’re hungering after the indulgent desserts and sweets of Christmas still but have a New Year resolution you’d like to keep then L’Artisan Perfumers Traversee du Bosphore should help to assuage the cravings of a sweet tooth. It’s notes of nougat, sugar, honey, pistachio, red apple and spices would make as beautiful an ice cream as they do a perfume! Also worth trying if you crave the sweetness of Christmas dessert with a hint of snow is Coudray's Vanille et Coco which smells exactly as it's name suggests and is very charming.

Well, those are my winter perfume choices, I hope you've seen something you like, Or at least something which feels like winter to you. 

I wish you all a warm and beautifully perfumed winter!