"Princess Parizade Bringing Home the Singing Tree", Maxfield Parrish © 1906

"…Every leaf is a song that is never silent…" – The Arabian Nights' Entertainments, ed. Andrew Lang (1898)

 Princess Parizade Finds the Talking Bird and the Singing Tree", artist unknown

As a child, one of my favorite stories from the Arabian Nights was the tale of Princess Parizade and the three enchanted elements. When I was six years old this Persian princess and her search for the Talking Bird, the Singing Tree and the Golden Water (so necessary for the creation and maintenance of her perfect garden) seemed more real to me than anything in my first grade classroom. Every day exotic stories from the Arabian Nights came alive in the tops of the trees and in the hearts of the blossoms in my mother's magical garden.

Bird and Flower Tiles, Photo by Gail Gross © 2019

Happily, my twenties saw my childhood dreams of The Thousand and One Nights realized as I found myself raising my young family in Tehran. This year, as I welcome my 70th spring, the new ethereal, woody oriental perfume – Jo Malone Violet and Amber Abslou – sings to a much wiser me.

 Jo Malone Violet and Amber Absolu, Photo Collage by Gail Gross © 2019

The elusive scent of cool, crisp violet leaves, stirs up memories of springtime in the foothills of the Alborz Mountains and the rich, warm perfumes of oud, musk and amber so characteristic of the air, the life, the gardens and bazaars of the Middle East.

Photos of Anne Flipo, recently awarded the title of Master Perfumer by IFF (L) and Céline Roux (R) via Jo Malone

Like Scheherazade in the Thousand and One Nights, Céline Roux, head of global fragrance development for Jo Malone London and master perfumer Anne Flipo, spin more than a few distracting, olfactory tales via Jo Malone Violet and Amber Absolu.

 Photo Collage with Qajar Painting by Gail Gross © 2019

The first story I sniff recounts the sweet, intense love affair between the crushed green leaves of the shy, elegant Wood Violet and the rich, earthy, herbaceous and mysterious Patchouli. The grassy ionones of the vaguely astringent brilliant violet flowers are cool and aloof at first, but soon succumb to the wine and the dark, subtle balsamic charms of Patchouli.

The Fisherman and the Genie", Maxfield Parrish © 1909.

Violet and Amber Absolu paints yet another vivid tale. It is a story of spirits, shades and wisps of a recalcitrant, smoky djinn, woven around musky aromas reminiscent of ambergris, the leather-like effects of labdanum and the woody sweetness of amber.  The Golden Djinn and his companions haunt the sweet green lovers, Violet and Patchouli, for several hours before they all find themselves imprisoned in an ornately carved casket of dark, caramelized Southeast Asian agar wood (oud), loosely fastened with a perfumed chord of white musk.

 Poetry from "Apparitions" by Robert Browning.  Illustrations found in the book Laurels From Browning, 1909.  Photo collage by Gail Gross​.

Jo Malone Violet and Amber Absolu offers a myriad of olfactory fantasies, fables of gardens and lovers, sultans and spirits, fragrant legends from long ago and far away. As springtime and Now Ruz approach I begin the necessary pruning and pick up, reminded of princess Parizade and her three magical elements, her enchanted guarantees of horticultural success and landscaping perfection.  I search through the deadfall left from winter storms, foraging in the moss, earth and branches for the first vivid, vernal blossom of wild wood violet, all the while listening to the unfolding leaves, singing in their clear soft voices and  luxuriating in the beautiful scented stories of Jo Malone Violet and Amber Absolu.

Notes: Violet, violet leaves, patchouli, labdanum, amber, oud and white musk.

Disclaimer:  I would like to thank Jo Malone USA for the beautiful bottle of Jo Malone Violet and Amber Absolu.  My opinions are my own.

Gail Gross – Senior Editor

Jo Malone Violet and Amber Absolu is available at Neiman Marcus and at Jo Malone London.com. $290 for 100ml.

 

Follow us on Instagram: @cafleurebon, @azarsmith7  @JoMaloneLondon @celine_roux_alezais, @anneflipoperfumer

We continue to celebrate Women’s History Month with two perfumers who continue to reinvent the olfactory landscape, Ann Flipo and Céline Roux