Charcoal Drawing with Gold by RedDoorArts

The grasp of a perfect shadow or the way the breeze catch a woman’s curl, scribbled in charcoal. A sketch is a first impression of a moment, a fleeting thought rendered to paper. And it is the name of the first fragrance of the venerable, reestablished Maison Violet, whose brand ethos is to adapt and reinvent. Sketch – whose name implies what is yet to come – symbolizes the house’s renewal with an elegant, surprising, milky floral.

John Singer Sargent, sketch of Mrs. George Swinton, 1906

Based on the original 1900 perfume Ambre Royal, Maison Violet Sketch is a rethought oriental — rich, lactonic, woody –  given creative modern twists that keep it from feeling overtly retro. An overarching, cozy creaminess provides the backdrop like the bisque parchment backgrounds to old master drawings. Against this thick, milky-sweet curtain floral and spice notes will stand out at different stages of development like a bas-relief.  This is cashmere for the wrists, a John Singer Sargent aristocrat dressed in Donna Karan; all soft rustles and filtered light, but with a wry archness of expression.

Gustav Klimt, Portrait of a Lady (Unfinished)

Initially, Sketch’s woody, wooly, soft-serve opening – brimming with ambery tonka bean – reminds me of the pashmina elegance of Chanel Coromandel. But, the resemblance fades suddenly as an unexpected, mentholic note pierces through that ice-milk quiet, bringing the startling top note of Serge Lutens’ Tubereuse Criminelle to mind. Throughout the rest of the perfume’s trajectory, Sketch sets unusual, oblique notes against vanilla and cream: crème brulee one moment, mint pistachio ice cream, the next, steamy chai another, before settling into a luxuriant, anisic woodiness.

Natalie Lorson of Firmenich

Firmenich perfumer Nathalie Lorson’s unusual use of nutmeg is inspired: it adds adding a graduated, spicy dimension to the woods, and provide contrast, punch and ballast to the composition, all the while giving the sensation that you recognize something familiar you cannot quite put a finger on. The way Lorson teases out tuberose’s ammoniated facet – that smell of the fleshy flower just past prime– is so unexpected but strangely harmonious, that Sketch, at its apogee, blooms into a radiant, spicy white floral that smells neither bridal nor sexpot, but comforting, subtly sexy and classy.

The original Sketch in 1924

Maison Violet Sketch is at once so familiar and so strange that it is entrancing. There is more than a suggestion of classic orientals such as Secret de Venus by Weil or Guerlain Shalimar, yet without the overt furriness of the former or the toothsome vanilla heft of the latter. Rather, Sketch treads a middle ground that is both delicate and assertive, its graceful outlines filling in with inventive touches such as that splendid nutmeg and turpentine tuberose. It is enveloping and easy to wear – just the sort of fragrance to dab when you can’t afford that Loro Piana wrap but want to feel cocooned and elegant.

Bon retour parmi nous, MaisonViolet!

Notes: Bergamot, nutmeg, pink pepper, rose, tuberose, patchouli, Madagascar vanilla, tonka bean.

Disclaimer: Sample of Maison Violet Sketch kindly provided by Maison Violet. My opinions are my own.

–  Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

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Read Sr Editor Despina Veneti’s introduction to Maison Violet, the founders and creative directors as well as her review of Pourpre d’Automne here

Read Sr. Editor Lauryn Beer’s review of Tanagra here

Maison Violet Sketch

Thanks to the generosity of Maison Violet, we have a bottle of Maison Violet Sketch for one registered reader in the EU, USA or Canada

OR

Maison Violet Pourpre D’Automne, Un Air D’Apogée, Sketch and Tanagra travel sprays (Photo Despina Veneti for CaFleureBon)©

the set of 7.5 ml travel sprays of all four Legacy Collection perfumes for readers in the EU and USA only.

To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Maison Violet Sketch based on Lauryn’s review, where you live, and if you would like the parfum or the the travel sprays Draw closes 6/5/2019.

We announce the winners only on our site and on our Facebook page, so like Çafleurebon and use our  blog feed… or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.