Violets for Remembrance: Knize Two, Caron Aimez Moi and Guerlain Apres L’Ondee

Well we had quite a surge of stuff hit the mailbox this week- looks like I will be having posts made ahead for a few weeks. Unless I get lazy, and what are the chances of that happening? Shut up, you..

The first of the bunch was a selection from StC of Violet scents that I have never tried, although I had others in their lines. It’s really kind of a testament to how good the lines are that it’s taken me this long to get to them.

So, in order of the way they fell to hand:

Knize Two is one that I didn’t even know about for a long time- I had only ever encountered Ten. Later at ScentBar I did see that there was another one, Knize Two and even a Knize Forest, but I was distracted by something shiny and never asked for a sample. Knize Two arrived on the scene in the 70’s, fifty years after (the wholly brilliant) Knize Ten. It has (from StC): Notes of Bergamot, Lemon, Petitgrain, green notes, Galbanum, Iris, Violet, Jasmine, Carnation, Rose, Aldehydes, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Moss, Tonka Bean, Musk, Ambergris. I don’t get a whole lot of violets here; I get a very nice, bright, slightly aquatic chypre with carnation and yes, violet leaf. It’s clean in a 70’s way- the flip side of ones like Halston. It manages to be clean but complex. I don’t need it at the moment, but at $80 for 50ML it’s a bargain.

Caron Aimez Moi (love me) is the newest of the bunch. Created in 1996 by Domonique Ropion it refers in name if not composition to the 1916 N’Aimez Que Moi, the WW1 wear fragrance that men on the front lines would give their sweethearts back home to remember to “love no-one but me.” First spritz of this one made me sure that I would not love him- it was sweet, sweet anise with bitter caraway- it was far more bagel than bouquet. But then the flowers started cutting into the spice and things started to get very interesting. That bready accord never really goes away for me, so I think I will pass, even if it’s less than $80 for 3.3 OZ at Walmart.

Guerlain Apres L’Ondee also starts off sweet- but more like an old time confection you would pick up on a pier (back when piers were perfectly acceptable). Sweet vanilla and again with the anise adding that pernod punch that keeps it from the kiddie pool. Then the violets pop in. And out. And in, and out again. It’s meant to evoke the scent of a garden after a rain. For me it seems like being a child that heard the rain overnight and thought that the day would be spent indoors, only to awaken to bright sunshine and a clear sky promising fun outdoors. We don’t get a lot of dark, gloomy days here in Southern California, but if the glass was sadly down (as E. F. Benson would write) in my internal barometer I can see reaching for this one. I can only imagine how delicious it was in 1906 when Jacques Guerlain first created it- even reformulated (as it must be) it’s a delight. It’s $125 for 75ML at the Guerlain website and I would order it there to get the whole experience with the box and all the frills.

So have you tried these? Do you have any other fave violet scents? Let us know in the comments.

Images: My iPhone, Pexels. My Samples were from Surrender to Chance