Louise Brooks in Pandora’s Box, image via fanpop.com

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” ~ Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, former Professor of Early American History at Harvard, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Midwife’s Tale

We have come to expect the extraordinary from Vermont-based perfumer Diane St. Clair. Her fragrance Gardener’s Glove was a finalist for the 2019 Art and Olfaction Award in the Artisan category, well-merited for its evocative verdancy and photorealistic agrestic aroma. Ms.  St. Clair’s fragrances possess the power to bewitch, be it via a tender hand (as in Frost) or unabashed volupté (Casablanca).

John William Waterhouse’s Pandora

With her latest works, The Audacious Innocence Collection – Diane explores the sisterly correlation between St. Clair Scents Pandora and Eve, with pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse’s Pandora as a foreshadowing. Italian artist Massimo Alfaioli has collaborated, providing his illustrative grace; he incorporates floral parallels which reverberate within the perfumes themselves and it is wonderful work.

 

Italian artist Massimo Alfaioli for St. Clair Scents Audacious Innocence Collection

The premise behind these perfumes celebrates those women who strayed from the beaten path while pursuing their abundant curiosity. Pandora and Eve were each an intelligent innocent, if you will. No for no’s sake was met with incredulity: why on earth not? No reasons given; no explanations means no dice. Diane chose to interpret their search for knowledge as an act of independent acumen, the exercising of creative will.

Italian artist Massimo Alfaioli St. Clair Scents Pandora

According to the Greeks, Pandora (meaning ‘all gifts’) was the first woman on Earth, created by the G-ds. Zeus intended her as punishment for Prometheus’ having stolen fire. From Hephaestus’ clever hands came her divine proportions, from Aphrodite her femininity, from Athena her skills and crafts. Zeus sweetened the pot by insisting that Hermes imbue her with deceit, stubbornness and curiosity – and Hermes was only too happy to oblige. She was offered to Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother – to wife, and despite his brother’s injunction not to accept gifts from the G-ds – Prometheus’ brother succumbed to her beauty. Along with her charms, Pandora was given a pithos (a box or jar) by the G-ds which she was bidden never to open under any circumstances. Try as she might to thwart her own curiosity, she eventually peeked into the box, unleashing every evil imaginable – despite her efforts to shut it as soon as this became apparent. What she DID manage to salvage was Hope. Pandora was inquisitive, not malicious – and therefore the perfect vehicle for this task.

Italian artist Massimo Alfaioli for St. Clair Scents Eve

Eve, the Mother of Humanity according to Abrahamic tradition (if one ignores the Jewish Apochrypha which cites willful Lilith as Adam’s first wife – said to embody the Serpent in the Garden) – was created by the Divine from  Adam’s rib, often interpreted as intending her as his equal or support. Of especial interest is her name: Chava, source of life חַוָּה  – is very similar to the Jewish Palestinian Aramaic word for snake חִוְיָא, which has caused Biblical scholars a good deal of amusement. She is traditionally considered the first woman, like Pandora – and like Pandora, she is tested. Adam and Eve are admonished not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden; they may eat anything else they choose. It is said that Eve was tempted by the serpent as they engaged in conversation; perhaps her burning desire for knowledge got the better of her, leading to her fall from grace and subsequent banishment from the Garden along with her helpmate Adam. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing…

How does the perfumer portray Pandora and Eve?

 Pandora by Odilon Redon via society.com, Pandora depicted as Eve

Their common DNA appears in both perfumes: an apple accord (no Eve sans apple!), full-hearted citrus notes painted in various vibrant hues to represent abundance, tomato leaf for natural effect. These women were innocent before they were wise and neither was maleficent by nature; this is reflected in the lush floral notes employed. Lilac, sinuous orris butter, lighthearted jasmine sambac with its pronounced sweetness, riotous roses. A curvaceous ylang ylang for feminine allure. Carrot seed waxes vegetal at times with hints of celery. We reach a point in which the base assumes an intaglio effect; it smells as if it were engraved, with florals resting in the background. Eve departs the garden with a somber tone, cloaked in mossy woods and muskily discomfited. Pandora has gleaned a terrible sagacity from her setting loose malevolent forces and it manifests with sylvan profondeur, so very dark with opoponax wed to endless labdanum – just as the backdrop of Waterhouse’s painting intimates. Their beauty, intelligence and strength will see them through whatever follows, with eyes wide opened.

St. Clair Scents Pandora and Eve common notes: apple accord, cedrat coeur, bergamot, red mandarin, tomato leaf, orris butter, lilac accord, Bulgarian rose absolute, Turkish rose absolute, ylang ylang, jasmine sambac, carrot seed, oakmoss, double-distilled vetiver, tonka, woods, musk. Pandora: addition of opoponax absolute and natural extraction labdanum

Samples provided by the perfumer, Diane St. Clair – many thanks!  My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor

Diane St. Clair of St. Clair Scents via Diane

Editor’s Note: Artisan perfumer Diane St. Clair was the recipient of my CaFleureBon’s Rising Star Award 2018. Gardener’s Glove was a favorite of our beloved Sr. Editor Emeritus (RIP) Robert Herrmann and was on his Top Ten 2018 list and Casablanca was a pick in Sr. Editor Lauryn Beer’s Top Ten Perfumes of 2018. Diane “met” Massimo on Instagram. The fragrance world is a wonderful place that an olfactive and visual artist can work together so seamlessly. The perfumes are extraits with 35 percent concentration.-Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief

Thanks to the generosity of Diane St. Clair of St. Clair Scents we have two sample packs for two registered readers of deluxe spray vials (2 ml) of St. Clair Scents Pandora and Eve from the Audacious InnocenceCollection for two registered readers anywhere in the world. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please comment upon what appealed to you in Ida’s review of Pandora and Eve? Do you have a favorite St. Clair Scents perfume? Draw closes 10/8/2019

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