Solstice Scents Spirit Tree EdP. Photo via Solstice Scents ©
“There are places I’ll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone, and some remain…” The Beatles, My Life
Live Oak and Spanish Moss via Pixabay©
“You can’t go home again” – the old aphorism is sad but too often true. Places cherished and protected in memory change with time, sometimes beyond recognition. Woodlands, swamps and creeks transform into strip malls, parking lots and drainage ditches. Windswept beaches, once empty and wild, are now lined with high-rise condos and crowded with people. But despite all the construction – and destruction – the spirits of the land and sea remain. A closer look (and yes a sniff) will reveal them, as if by magic. The perfumes of Angela St. John of Solstice Scents Summer 2020 Collection spirit me away to landscapes lost to “progress”, celebrating the beauty and mystery that still reside in what remains of our natural world.
Angela St. John via Solstice Scents ©
As a child I was alternately at home in two very different environments – the cool, wet mountains and rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and the warm beaches, crystal clear springs and semitropical lowland forests of Central Florida. In her extremely popular and quickly disappearing Summer 2020 collection, Floridian perfumer Angela St. John conjures up my early memories of the Sunshine State. I relive the scent and majestic presence of the native Southern magnolias via Solstice Scents Magnolia. I imagine the wet-hot coquina sand beaches by way of her Coquina fragrance and, with single spritz of Solstice Scents Spirit Tree, recollections of long-ago, sultry summer evenings fill my mind. The 2020 reprise of Spirit Tree distills the essence of Southern gardens, citrus groves and live oaks – their spreading branches festooned with Spanish moss – into a fragrance that is at least as real as my remembered experiences.
Live Oaks and Spanish Moss Under the Moon via Pixabay ©
Solstice Scents Spirit Tree is a white floral perfume like no other in recent memory. Instead of a simple, easily parsed bouquet of gardenias, jasmine and orange blossom, Spirit Tree opens like the wall of scent I encountered when first stepping into a Southern garden at midnight. Each note plays off the other, creating a humid, rendition of spicy, lactonic gardenia, laced with jasmine and smoothed with creamy vanilla and sandalwood. After this almost brazen introduction, the initial warmth, humidity and floral density quickly evaporate into the night, revealing a clear, ethereal heart of the lightest cedar, sandalwood, citrus and magnolia.
Tree Spirit II. Digital art by Gail Gross ©
As Solstice Scents Spirit Tree withdraws and embraces the skin, contrasting facets of scent are exposed; first the sandalwood, paired with light cedar, then a sweet, vegetal, citrus-laden magnolia. Solstice Scents Spirit Tree is never static, but transforms and shifts as one scented wraith after another appears and then disappears, surprising my nose with its depth and diversity. The perfume continues to evolve for eight hours on skin and overnight on clothing, the constant change supported by a lingering sense of déjà vu. Yes, I have been here before. I know this scent. I’ve lived this life.
Notes: Gardenia, vanilla, jasmine, sandalwood, Soft Woods blend, orange blossom and magnolia.
Disclaimer: I would like to thank Angela St. John and Solstice Scents for my cherished sample of Spirit Tree. My opinions are my own.
Gail Gross – Senior Editor
Note: Angela St. John was featured in one of ÇaFleureBon’s most popular Perfumer’s Workshops “Composing Gourmand Fragrances“ here and in The Art of Artisan Perfumer’s Workshop here.
Special note: You can read Robert Herrmann’s review Sea of Gray here. It was a favorite of Angela’s. RIP Robert
“…All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends, I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I’ve loved them all.”
Solstice Scents Spirit Tree via Solstice Scents ©
Thanks to the generosity of Angela St. John of Solstice Scents we have a draw for one gift pack that includes both formats of the perfume, one 5 ml Spirit Tree perfume oil and one 2.5 ml EdP. The prize is for one reader anywhere in the world (with the exception of Italy due to shipping constraints). The draw is for registered readers only, so be sure to register, if you have not done so already. To be eligible please let us know what appeals to you about Solstice Scents Spirit Tree based on Gail’s review and tell us where you live. You can also mention your favorite from Solstice Scents. Draw closes 8/31/2020
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