Ryuhashi at Night Yanagibashi by Tsuchiya Koitsu via ukiyo-e.or

“Remembering this July evening by the sea.” ~  Clara Molloy’s haiku which accompanies Floraiku This July Evening

Never mind that it is already August; that is beside the point. What matters above all is ambiance – the lyrical evocation of summer by the sea, the light dimming just enough to showcase a panoply of shimmering stars reflected upon rippling water.

To be literal is to rob such a moment of all poetry, render it voiceless as the little mermaid after she has gladly given her tongue to the sea witch in exchange for the gliding gait of mortal maidens. Let us, instead – view this night through a Japanese lens: limpid, humid, full of tender promise. Perhaps via the painter Tsuchiya Koitsu (1870-1949) of the Shin Hanga movement, whose landscape woodblock prints leap off the printed page, light-filled and emotive. Somehow his fine naturalistic work sprang to mind as I sprayed my tester of Floraiku This July Evening upon my wrist.

 Tsuchiya Koitsu. Yanagibashi, Woodblock print, Japan, 1934.

 

“The short summer night.

The dream and real

Are same things.” ~ Takahama Kyoshi, Summer Poem

Floraiku This July Evening via Instagram

 

Floraiku is the third branded venture of creative directors/founders Clara and John Molloy, who initially entered the fragrant arena with their lines of travel-inspired perfumes entitled Memo Paris; Hermetica soon followed. As Senior Editor Lauryn Beer observes, Floraiku’s aesthetic is an Asian-European fusion, the desire to combine an overall elegance in design with correlatively refined olfactory minimalism: three materials are revealed per fragrance (the remainder are not listed).

 

Photo by Ida

Presentation is paramount, as the brilliantly jewel-hued flacons attest – their uniquely designed caps each embossed with an exquisite design inspired by a specific haiku poem (penned by Clara) which accompanies every scent and is emblazoned on the back of the bottle in a cartouche-like fashion. The fragrance we’ll explore here, This July Evening – is part of their Enigmatic Flowers Ikebana collection.

 

Kiyoshi Sakamoto 1928 photograph 

Floraiku This July Evening is balmy, warming. It is a dreamscent: billowing clouds of balsamic vanilla afloat in a firmament perfumed with waves of lightly indolic jasmine, the haylike floral/herbal douceur of chamomile. Imagine an aroma which flutters like a gauzy kimono in the wind, clinging where it must, with sleeves which invite crepuscular breezes to fill them like sails upon the water. This July Evening speaks with no great haste; there exists no urgency, only the wish that an all-too-brief evening might last just a bit longer, drenched in sweetness. This honeyed aspect is tinged with burnt caramel and the faintly singed wood of memory; it lingers over many hours, beyond even a full day. One is aware that soft jasmine and wisps of herb are interwoven throughout the fabric of this fragrance – but vanilla reigns supreme, envoûtant and queenly. Floraiku This July Evening would be justifiably classified as a floral gourmand with stellar longevity. Twilight is a fleeting creature by comparison, but perhaps this is intentional – permitting us the privilege of capturing something so ephemeral and bottling it as well, like fireflies in a jar…

Notes: jasmine absolute, blue chamomile oil, vanilla extrait

~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor

My exquisite tester flacon was kindly provided by Eden Square at my request – many thanks!  My nose is my own…

 

Floraiku This July Evening via Instagram

Thanks to the generosity of Eden Square/Europerfumes we have a 50 ml tester flacon of Floraiku This July Evening for one registered reader in the USA. Please leave a comment telling us what you enjoyed about Ida’s review of This July Evening. Have you tired Florahaiku perfumes ? Draw closes 8/29/20

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