Solstice Scents Old Florida Backroads, EDP bottle; photo courtesy of Solstice Scents
“Barbed wire fence carving out a hillside, cutting holes in the midday sun, like a postcard framed in a windshield covered in dust. I love the rhythm of an old grey blacktop, 33’s just whistlin’ by. Steer the wheel, one handed on a two lane, hugging that line. I got the windows down, no one else around.” – Granger Smith, “Backroad Song”
I’ve explored the shadowy rooms of a (perhaps) abandoned estate, I’ve rambled the dusty roads that extend from Mount Willow to Blackburn Farmstead, past the Drive-In, through the cemetery and over Bell’s Covered Bridge. Solstice Scents’ town of Foxcroft is an olfactive dreamscape, a four-season fantasy from the prolific mind of Angela St. John, the creative force behind the mystique. Several years back, after perfume-nerding-out over a sample of the brand’s Manor, I was hooked—all but searching Zillow for real estate opportunities in Foxcroft. Solstice Scents, Old Florida Backroads, takes us on a detour out of town, but the reverie remains. Solstice Scents aren’t just fragrances—they’re moods, they’re stories. They’re also utterly wearable. With Foxcroft in the rear-view mirror, let’s explore Old Florida Backroads…
Solstice Scents Old Florida Backroads Label; photo courtesy of Solstice Scents
Artfully described on the website, Solstice Scents Old Florida Backroads is a “woody and earthy atmospheric” composition that “opens with a top note of sunlight streaming through green tree leaves. A puff of limerock dust rises from the road, followed by the scent of sun-warmed soil. Fallen logs are baked by summer sun, the horizon is obscured by a shimmering heat haze and tendrils of Spanish moss sway from century oak branches. A charcoal sky approaches from behind, the scent of rain sprinkling on limerock carried upon the sudden whips of wind. The deluge gives way to blue skies and wispy white clouds as swiftly as the storm erupted. Steam hovers in the air and the aroma of damp Earth quickly shifts to the diffusive hot woods and a touch of moss on the dry down.” I’d usually truncate a description for a review, but I had to leave it unedited, awed by the aesthetic eloquence. The moment I read that description on an Instagram teaser, I set my alarm for the release date and time. Would the execution live up to this picturesque concept? Let’s continue down the dusty road …
Michael Devine’s personal Solstice Scents collection; photo by the author
To my nose, Old Florida Roads opens with Solstice’s distinct petrichor, a first-rain accord that evokes the kind of summer shower that appears out of nowhere, soaks the scorched earth, cools the sultry air, renews life, and disappears as quickly as it came. A rich soil accord, common ground (pun intended) in many Solstice Scents, emerges through the shower in a delicate rain-dance of clean and dirty. It’s lively and rejuvenating. As we progress further down the road, the damp earth dries under a blazing sun to a red/ brown clay and the dusty limerock road note emerges beside the dirt and mossy vegetation, grounding the composition with a touch of forlorn nostalgia. This element also exudes a sense of adventure, as you crank up the radio and roll down the windows, enveloped by the sun-soaked landscape. The unique addition of a “heat haze” note adds an intriguing layer of warmth and dimension, while Spanish moss weaves its delicate tendrils into the composition, ribbons of budding greenness through time-worn browns and grays.
via Pexels apped by Michelyn
As mentioned, many of the creations in the Solstice Scents universe are deftly composed to a evoke a story, a journey; accords are layered to evolve in tandem with the chapter. For example, the wonderful Sweet Clover and Wood Smoke opens verdant and dewy and as it wears, it transitions into sepia tones, earthy and russet, evoking (in my interpretation of the story) the transition from summer to fall. Old Florida Backroads is a scented roadmap that encapsulates a backroads daytrip on a sweltering summer afternoon, unveiling its intricate facets hour by hour, mile by mile. To add, it is as wearable as any earthy patchouli-based composition, particularly in the dry-down. This is a multisensory experience wherein the realization is as ingenious as the concept, beautifully capturing the essence of exploration and the joy of discovery. Where will Old Florida Backroads take you?
Notes: sunlit leaves, dusty limerock road, warm soil, baked woods, heat haze, Spanish moss, rain
Disclosure: review based on the eau de parfum spray; bottle purchased by the author.
—Michael Devine, Senior Contributor
photo courtesy of Solstice Scents (cropped)
Thanks to the generosity of Solstice Scents, we have a 5ml bottle of Old Florida Backroads for one lucky registered ÇaFleureBon reader IN THE CONTINENTAL US OR PUERTO RICO ONLY. Please register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment with what intrigues you about Old Florida Backroads and indicate that you are in the Continental United States or Puerto Rico. Draw closes 8/16/23
Please read more about Angela St. John, the perfumer for Solstice Scents in our Perfumer’s Workshop: The Art of Artisan here and Profiles in American Perfumery here where Angela shares her path to perfumery (and that she grew up in Gainesville Florida).
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Editor’s Note: Please join the team at ÇaFleureBon in congratulating Michael Devine on his recent article for Newsweek. Michael shared how his experiences on and after 9/11 were creatively and therapeutically channeled into his new album, “Sentinels,” being released on August 18, 2023, and can be pre-ordered in the iTunes store. Congratulations, Michael, and best of luck with “Sentinels!”
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