Soivohle Winter Poem: a review

Dec 28, 2010 1:19 AM

by Carrie Meredith

My first experience with Soivohle's Winter Poem shocked me instantly out of my dead-of-Winter coma that I had been struggling through. Released for sale on Winter Solstice at midnight, I was pretty much first in line for this. It's not at all the type of perfume I would usually try from the description alone, but for some reason I knew I had to give it a spin.

The opening is filled with bright floral notes of freesia, gardenia and jasmine, and it doesn't take long for the fruits to squeeze their way in. I detect perhaps yuzu or nectarine, and it persists well into the dry down. The florals sparkle, shimmer gently and offer a welcome mental and emotional break from the winter blues. These are not the hard-edged, heady floral notes that usually give me a hard time.

After about an hour of wear, the base emerges with moss and a soft musk, but they never dominate in this blend. They are there to support the flowers and the fruits through their linear journey to the end. This scent has an inherent sweetness to it that is not cloying, but really serves to bring out the light earthiness of the base notes.

As I wear it, I long for Spring, with its giddiness and promise of rebirth. I think I understand why this doesn't smell like a rich "Winter" scent, its freshness and ability to clear the mind's cobwebs is why Winter Poem is an instant classic to me. It is a perfume blended with great care and skill, and I hope that many of you will get to experience it before it's gone.

Winter Poem's base is from a saved quantity of one of Liz Zorn's earlier perfumes called Writing Lyrical Poetry, but has been tweaked to create an original limited edition absolute. It is available in a 15ml flacon for $100, 5ml for $35 and a sample size for $5 on Soivohle.com. This perfume will only be available until Valentine's Day. Liz Zorn's new Facebook Page can be found
HERE.

Painting: George Bellows, Love of Winter 1914
Photo of Winter Poem 15 ml flacon, property of Liz Zorn