Poésie Midwinter Feast Collection 🌊❄️
Poésie is coming to quite impress me as a perfume company, and even if her scents were not invariably unique and complex, I would be won over by the lovely subject matter by which creator Joelle Nealy is inspired. This collection was inspired by the Vikings and Norse mythology - more than a slight interest of mine, and I couldn’t wait to take a journey through her fragrances. Unfortunately, I forgot to post this during the period in which it was new and relevant! Enjoy these slightly-belated Vikings, and my sincere apologies.
A Day & A Night: sweet amber, white amber, natural fossilized amber oil, sensual musk, vanilla, dark spices & resins
A darkly golden amber-vanilla. As much as I love vanilla, I am a bit pickier about the nature of the vanillas I wear, and golden and rich is not the kind I prefer, but for someone else, I am sure this would be heaven in a bottle.
Beloved: sugared plums, sumptuous brown sugar cake dusted with cinnamon sugar, a hint of woodsmoke and labdanum
What starts out as a candied plum scent fades into a brown sugar cake with candied fruit accents. I got a bit of smokiness, but never any cinnamon.
Forest Cat: fuzzy paws tinged with earth, night forest, grey fur musk, milky breath
I get an impression of snowy earth and chilly forest air (but no pine or ozone, so I’m not sure why that impression is quite so strong) an an accompaniment to a strong cream note. This scent is pretty and innocent, and I currently have a pair of kittens living in my house who do smell a bit creamy, where I would argue adult cats certainly do not, so this is the smell of the idea of kittens frolicking in the snow.
Idunn’s Apples: golden apples, caramelized hazelnuts, sweet cedarwood, hazy oud, creamy musk
If you love sophisticated gourmand, this is something you simply must try. A genuine tart-sweet apple note and a caramel note are quickly enveloped in and grounded by nutty wood and musk notes, giving it a sultry edge.
Mead of Poets: honeyed mead, a historical medley of intoxicating herbs and spices, red musk, the blood of the wise
If anyone has ever had mead before: it literally smells like this. Honeyed as all hell and very strong, with loads of spices (including cinnamon, I believe, as this stung where I applied it, but quickly faded).
Mischief Maker: black coffee clouded with sweet cream then drizzled with caramel, naked salt-tinged skin
Here we had an unfortunate accident of skin chemistry: on me, this scent was ALL sea salt and black coffee - almost scorched black coffee, then mellowed into a bracing black coffee with some caramel. However, on the hat I was wearing shortly after putting it on, it transformed into the fluffiest caramel macchiato scent you ever smelled. The sweet cream note on my hat and coat collar were, in fact, so strong that when I put them on again after work, I could not tell what it was they smelled like, nor how they had come to smell like it! I wondered if that pretty, dreamy smell was coming from somewhere else. Oh, Loki, you have pranked me once again. Fortunately, I was never one to want to smell like coffee scents anyway.
Northmen: weathered leather, turbulent seawater, woodsmoke, oakwood, birch tar, a blood-stained shield
The leather note from Poésie is much stronger on me than BPAL’s leather note is, but soon the leather becomes, like the woodsmoke and birch tar, a supporting note adding texture to the dark blue ocean scent that dominates this blend. It was a deep blue aquatic note with a few nearly floral characteristics, and I found it very pleasant to wear, if not “me”.
Shield-Maiden: pink rose, peony, sharpened metal, crisp air, deep pine woods and frozen earth
I am IN LOVE with Shield-Maiden! This is the winter floral of my dreams, and I must get a bottle of it soon. The full lush florals of the peony and tender rose balance perfectly against a backdrop of a perfect winter scene. It really does smell like frozen earth and crisp air, with a faint, almost spicy touch of pine.
Thought & Memory: fresh herbal lavender spiked with anise & cardamom, deep vetiver, galbanum, leather, balsamic woods
Very dry and herbal, with a strong lavender and vetiver right off the top; it reminded me of Possets’ Harold and Edith, but darker, deeper, and also more powdery. I did not enjoy wearing this blend, but I could tell it was a very good one that many others would like; it smells like a pre-20th century perfume, to my nose.