Mastodon by Liz Zorn of Soivohle
Before I found it, I never considered that a perfume could smell like hunter velvet. Before I tried it, I never imagined a fragrance that could seem a secret only the bottle and I were privy to. Before I wore it, I never dreamed that a perfume could make me feel like a class act. Before I lived with Soivohle Green Oakmoss, I never realized how the colour green could materialize in the air around me every time I sprayed it on my wrists.
Soivohle Green Oakmoss, one of perfumer and artist Liz Zorn’s best sellers, is one of my very favourite perfumes, so much so that I own two bottles just in case Zorn ever stops making it. It was created in 2008 as a tongue-in-cheek pushback to the fragrance world fluster over IFRA’s ban of real oakmoss as a perfume ingredient. As Zorn relates, “There was a lot of buzz back then about regulations restricting oakmoss in perfume. I created a custom oakmoss accord for this using no real oakmoss, then called it Green Oakmoss.”
Liz Zorn of Soivohle
Soivohle Green Oakmoss is a timeless beauty built on contrasts of sharp, rich and animalic, with more shades of green than Kermit’s extended family. Constructed on the classic chypre structure of bergamot, oakmoss, labdanum and patchouli, Zorn then imbues the fragrance with a spectrum of greens that I have found in no other scent. Look at the green apples of Cezanne’s painting of the same name and you will see that the colour of the fruit is made up of myriad shades, ranging from chartreuse to forest. The notes of Green Oakmoss contain similar gradations: seaweed, cut grass, vetiver, mint, pine needle, and, of course, an oakmoss accord. The effect of these disparate green notes gives Green Oakmoss much of its depth and character.
Pomme Vertes by Paul Cezanne, 1873, Musee D’Orsay
Sporting this gorgeous creature somehow always makes me feel classy, in a retro-modern way, Soivohle Green Oakmoss bursts open with a Lauren Bacall head-thrown-back, throaty laugh of bergamot, spicy clove, and handfuls of mown grass. This trio of notes ping each other like a pinball; bright, sparkly bergamot bouncing off the slightly smoky, off-sweet woodiness of clove and verdant, springy grass. A saline note filters in, which is likely seaweed, adding another contrasting sensation. As it develops, the other notes begin to make way for oakmoss accord like subjects parting for their queen. It does indeed smell like there is a generous handful of the forbidden lichen in Zorn’s fragrance; there are oakmoss’ woodsy, loamy facets and its velvety texture. It is rich, earthy, with just enough acerbic bite to seem like the real thing to my nose.
Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice 1946 publicity shot
As you reach the heart of Soivohle Green Oakmoss, it would be easy to peg it as a 40s or 50s green chypre in the style of Balmain Jolie Madame. It is full-bodied, dimensional, with contrasting sharp and plush notes. Carnation swirls around the composition like spicy cream and geranium underlines the spice with its peppery velvet. Then it all starts to get a bit naughty, as animalic notes slink in with a distinct lash of leather and hints of transgression. Green Oakmoss gets sexy in a downlow sort of way, like those coutured and hatted highbrow dames of Noir cinema – think Mary Astor in the Maltese Falcon or Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice.
Soivohle Green Oakmoss is perfect for office since its projection is present but never loud. It also glams up beautifully for a night at the opera or the ambassador’s residence.
My love of chypres can be traced to a change in epoch: before GO and after GO. Trust me, life after GO is richer and just plain better.
Notes: Bergamot, cut grass accord, mint, green oakmoss accord, cloves, seaweed absolute, rose geranium, tuberose accord, carnation accord, pine needle, civet (cruelty free) castoreum (cruelty free), hedione, aged patchouli, labdanum absolute, Haitian vetiver.
Bottle of Green Oakmoss from my personal collection.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
In celebration of Soivohle’s 10th anniversary, the brand is having a 20% off the entire site through March 28, 2022. You can pick up Green Oakmoss, of course, as well as new creations and fragrances from the line’s early days, including some special vintage Misetu and Jazz Trio. I’m also going to give a shout-out to Gardenia Batik – a gorgeous green take on gardenia.
Thanks to the generosity of Soivohle Perfumes, we have a draw for a 10 ml spray bottle of Green Oakmoss for one registered reader in the U.S. To be eligible, please tell us what strikes you about Soivohle Green Oakmoss based on Lauryn’s review an if you have a favourite Soivohle perfume. Are you also a fan of chypres or green fragrances? Draw closes 3/19/2022.
Please read Contributor Michael Devine’s Tobacco and Tulle review
Liz’s Profiles in American Perfumery is here
Soivohle is pronounced SEE-voh
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