A love back home unfurls.

L’Artisan Verte Violette


Every perfumista has certain notes that she doesn’t enjoy. She tries. In fact, the deeper she goes into perfume, the more frustrating those elusive notes can be. As her nose begins to mature, she expects she’ll finally find the beauty others see in leather scents or find a classic rose she wants to own. Every perfumista has something she loves instantly, and likewise has a blind spot where you can try, over and over, and still just not feel it.

For me, it’s the violets. Violets are so hard for me to love. I know that many perfumistas enjoy them and quite frankly, their soapy sweetness is a classic perfume scent. For me, though, so many violets are too soapy. I sniffed and I sniffed, and then I set aside several violets purported to be the most lovely in the land in the hopes that I might eventually come around to them.

And eventually I found one.

Ah, L’Artisan Verte Violette! Here was a lovely violet I could see the beauty in. L’Artisan describes Verte Violette as follows:

Discover the true essence of spring. The secret of this violet lies in the greenness of the leaves, which delicately prepares you for the iridescent aroma of the flowers. The graceful, infinitely feminine bouquet melds into the skin, becoming the perfect skin scent…your skin but better!
Notes: violet leaves, violet, iris, rose, cedar

Verte Violette was created by Anne Flipo, the same nose that created my lovely Iris Pallida. In Verte Violette, the soapy elements are balanced with a sweetness that I find remarkable. I get a lot of the iris out of it, too, and hints of rose. A lot of reviewers think Verte Violette is too pretty or too nice, and they prefer greener or woodier or more musky violets. For me, though, this violet is tempered with some of my favorite other notes, making it accessible when other violets, for me, simply aren’t. On the whole, Verte Violette is a great presentation of violets, one that might be accessible to you if you find violets otherwise difficult to take.

Verte Violette is available in a 50ml bottle for $95 from LuckyScent.

“I took my love down to Violet Hill.
There we sat in snow.
All that time she was silent, still.
So if you love me
won't you let me know?”
-- “Violet Hill,” Coldplay

Want more? Try...
~ A review from Robin at Now Smell This!
~ A review from Scent Hive.
~ A review from Perfume Posse.

Images from L'Artisan.