Happy May Day! I have a confession. I have never smelled an actual fresh picked lily-of-the-valley. Like lilacs, they just don't thrive in hot Texas summers. I love lily-of-the-valley, or muguet, scent but my point of reference is the grande dame Diorissimo, and prior to that when I was too young to frequent Dior counters, a coveted bottle of Coty Muguet des Bois.
Pissara Umivijani, founder of
Parfums Dusita, just this past week introduced
Cavatina, a perfume she has been working on for two years. It is in part based on the memory of someone dear to her who wore
Diorissimo, but she has put her own unique and modern spin on the fragrance
. Others who know a lot more about lily-of-the-valley than I do have written excellent pieces on this new creation. The only thing I can add to the conversation is my impression of
Cavatina and the feelings and emotions it stirs in me. The initial burst of scent brings a feeling of happiness and light-hearted energy.
Cavatina transports me to the joyfulness of childhood summers, and the innocence and happiness these memories evoke.
I love spring in Texas. Right now we are getting rain, some cool days mixed with the warm, and the first flush of nature's beauty, before everything starts baking in the sun and the only flowers that can survive are periwinkles and geraniums. The photo I took up top are flowers that spring up around my house and that will disappear once the days get hotter. There are roses, a wild honeysuckle that blooms in the woods behind my fence and dips over into my yard, a white spikey flower that popped up this year like a weed but smells divine. These notes are not all necessarily in
Cavatina, but they replicate the feeling I get when I wear this perfume. It smells like this short time of year when my yard is delicately scented with sweet white flowers and honeyed florals. Just like
La Douceur de Siam evoked memories of the many years I lived in Asia,
Cavatina makes me feel footloose and fancy free. We've had rain most of the time I've been testing this, but I can't wait to wear it on a warm day for I feel it will really bloom.
Artwork by Pissara Umivijani from her website.
Pissara spent two years blending her own lily-of-the-valley accord, and just as I found magic in her teakwood home-brewed base used in
Moonlight In Chiangmai, I find that same magic here. My memories of wearing
Diorissimo, which I do like but don't currently own, are that it features the beautiful lily-of-the-valley note, which sings like a soprano holding a high note but inevitably it eventually gently fades away. I remember it as almost a soliflore perfume, albeit a beautiful one. But from the first moment I spray
Cavatina on my skin I can feel it shape shifting, whirling about like a live thing. I do smell what I understand to be the scent of lily-of-the-valley, but there is so much more.
If I was an artist, like Pissara, I would illustrate this review by first drawing myself applying the perfume. Wavy lines rising upward would indicate the perfume drifting around me, then thought bubbles would pop up of the memories and emotions the smell invoked. Chasing golden fireflies in the dusk; sweetening our tea with honeysuckle stamens; playing hide and seek, concealed under the gracefully draping branches of a delicately scented abelia bush; churning homemade ice cream and the fragrance of the vanilla when the top finally came off. All these little remembrances lay a patchwork of memories imprinted with the fragrances and golden moments that color our past.
Pissara always uses a poem from the work of her poet father, Montri Umivijani, on each new perfume as both an inspiration as well as a tribute to her father. I can identify with this poem chosen for Cavatina maybe more than any that she has selected thus far, as it truly does describe the feeling wearing this perfume imparts.
They sweeten by the warmth of the sun,like the human heart by loving kindness. -- Montri Umivijani
Pissara draws a lot of inspiration from vintage perfumes but always manages to put her own unique imprint on the scent. Cavatina is no exception. It seems this project is close to her heart, and if you go here to her website there is a video that explains the creative process. I really like the way she describes the notes that make up Cavatina, but for those who like lists, here they are.
Top Notes: Calabrian bergamot, Litsea Cubeba, Paraguayan Petitgrain, Exclusive Muguet Accord
Heart Notes: Ylang-Ylang, Tuberose, Jasmine Grandiflorum, Tea Rose Accord
Base Notes: Heliotrope, Siamese Wood, Madagascar Vanilla
On my skin the perfume opens up like a ray of sunlight, a burst of happiness, uncontained and bright! If you love white flowers this will be heaven for you. The brightness of the citrus notes and the muguet accord last for some time. After many hours wear I still smell the white flowers, but now they are quiet and laying on a bed of soft vanilla woods. Cavatina is the eleventh scent in the Dusita collection and adds a beautiful floral to the mix.
Here are two more reviews of Cavatina:
Despina Veneti gives the definitive review of muguet scents and Cavatina here.
The Black Narcissus, otherwise known as Neil Chapman, always finds the perfect words to define any scent. Read it here.
Top photo is my own. The other photo is from the Parfums Dusita website. I was provided with a sample by the perfumer. All opinions are my own.
