Circassian

I got a package in the mail from my dear friend Evonne at Darling Clandestine.  I've mentioned her before: Evonne makes amazing earrings.  This package contained something new and entirely different...

Well, well, well...what do we have here?

Is it? It is!  Darling Clandestine now has a line of fragrance, and Evonne sent me Circassian.

I opened it up and took a sniff.  My stomach dropped. I just wasn't that impressed.  How was I going to tell Evonne?  I instantly envisioned a very unpleasant conversation in my future, and how I might feign interest in her new product.  I was panicking, especially since Evonne and I go way back, and I know she puts her heart into every project she does.  But then I came to my senses and remembered a few very important things:

1. Everything Evonne touches turns to gold.  Everything.

2. She would never attach her name to something that wasn't a quality product.

3. Evonne's work is always new and different. There is truly nothing else out there similar to what she does.

4. Most perfumes smell very different once they are applied.  After all, how many times had I liked something that was sprayed on a card, only to realize too late that it stunk once I actually put it on at home?

With all that in mind, I rolled Circassian on.  At the 30-second mark, I sniffed my wrists and smiled.  It smelled good.  At the 45-second mark, it smelled great.  And at the one minute mark, I was bowled over.  And I was feeling like a fool:  How could I have doubted Evonne?

This might be the best perfume I've ever tried. 

Now, I wear Circassian every day.  Every single day.  Without fail.  In fact, I keep it next to my wedding band, so I am sure to put it on each morning.  I wish you could smell Circassian for yourself, but since I have yet to invent a scratch-and-sniff blog, words will have to convey how intoxicating this scent is.  And I know my words are inadequate, so I'll simply steal the description from the Darling Clandestine store:

"Odd and wondrous, these trinkets the suitors bring—astonishing flowers that look like paper birds, jasmine tea and black coffee, a costly box of chocolates with a red silk ribbon. You once saw a tiger in Bangkok, a riot in Paris, a machine at Coney Island that they said could really fly. The exotic butters in your fantastic hair, the livelihood you've adopted and the orchards you left behind. Your love is not a curiosity—it's a marvel. Make them earn it.

Carefully blended and infused by me in small batches in vintage green glass wine bottles, this is a warm chocolaty fragrance with intriguing notes of amber and blossoms. A dozen different scent elements and several days of methodical alchemy make Circassian no ordinary scented oil mix—it's a truly inimitable fragrance."

Every word in the description is absolutely perfect for this perfume.  I truly could not have said it better myself. 

Darling Clandestine has a whole line of circus-inspired fragrances.  I have Circassian, and the other two in the Calliope Crash line are Step Right Up and Fire Eater.  Different size bottles and samples are available.

My birthday is coming up in a few short weeks.  Forget about a party, cake or dinner out.  Hint, hint Big Guy:  I want Step Right Up and Fire Eater.  I must have them all. 

And to Evonne:  well done!  Once again, your work is golden.