Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery Beaumes de Cassis
Plantons la vigne,
La voilà la jolie vigne,
Vigni, vignons, vignons le vin,
La voilà la jolie vigne au vin,
La voilà la jolie vigne!
De feuille en fleur,
La voilà la jolie fleur,
Fleuri, fleurons, fleurons le vin,
La voilà la jolie fleur au vin,
La voilà la jolie fleur! ~ French song from 16th C.
via Getty©
(Translation: Let us plant the vine; here is the pretty vine! Let us vine the wine; here is the lovely vine! From leaf to flower, here is the pretty flower! Let us flower the vine; here is the lovely flower of the wine, here it is, the pretty flower!)
Laurie Stern of Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery
Natural artisan perfumer Laurie Stern of Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery is an absolute treasure amongst natural perfumers – unstinting in her employment of some of the loveliest materials you could possibly imagine. Her career background is as a wedding florist, and her husband Gary (a landscape artist) assures that her gardens are not only overflowing with scented plants and flowers, but also bees (Laurie uses her own beeswax as the base for her beautiful solid perfumes). Last year she was inspired to create a mouthwatering juicy floral solid perfume underpinned with woody notes – but she didn’t have a name for it! After mailing out samples and holding a contest, a dear mutual friend of ours – Jodi Battershell – came up with the current name, Beaumes de Cassis (from the Provençal word bauma, meaning grotto or cave – and cassis = currant). Intuitively, it couldn’t be more perfect: one of Laurie’s favorite dessert wines is Beaumes de Venise, which she insists is divine as an accompaniment to chocolate and a sunset. (Muscat de) Beaumes-de-Venise wines are sweet, fortified Muscat based wines from the village of the same name in France’s Rhône Valley, where they have been made since the 14th century.
Laurie Stern Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery Beaumes de Cassis and Muscat wine
When Laurie refers to Beaumes de Cassis as “the ultimate fruity bon bon”, and “the essence of celebration – the clinking of glasses filled with sweet dessert wine and jasmine petals”, she is right on point. Immediately upon contact, a dazzlingly juicy blood orange appears – in the playful company of fresh berries and piquant, winey black currant bud absolute (cassis). Cassis is tart and tangy, a delightful material – and the luscious apricot-y nature of both osmanthus and boronia flesh out the fruit aspect of a dessert wine, while subtle leather undertones (osmanthus) mimic tannins and contribute sophistication. In order to ground and prolong our pleasure, Laurie utilizes the balsamic notes of benzoin; the jammy character of fir resin echoes fruit while it adds a charming sylvan facet which complements the entire composition. I wouldn’t be surprised if a kiss of elemi or frankincense were included; jasmine lends a gentle indolic floralcy which feels just right.
I dearly wish that Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery was better known to the public. Despite a listing of notes which appear relatively modest, her perfumes are nothing if not complex – and Beaumes de Cassis is a beautiful example of this quality. I can also see why the solid fragrance format appeared appropriate: it glides over the skin obligingly, and the beeswax can’t help but augment a faintly animalic caress. There must be some form of trompe-nez at work here, because Beaumes de Cassis is much more than the sum of its parts. It’s a joy to don a fragrance which is both high-spirited and thoroughly sophisticated. Notes: blood orange, berries, black currant buds, jasmine, osmanthus, Tasmanian boronia, benzoin, resins, fir balsam
Sample kindly provided by the perfumer – many thanks! My nose is my own…
~ Ida Meister, Deputy and Natural Perfumery Editor
all photos courtesy of Laurie Stern unless otherwise noted©
Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery Beaumes de Cassis starlight solid perfume compact
Thanks to the largesse of perfumer Laurie Stern, we have a 5 ml Starlight solid perfume compact of Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery organic Beaumes de Cassis for one registered reader in the U.S. To be eligible you must be a registered reader. Please tell us what you enjoyed about Ida’s review of Velvet and Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery Beaumes de Cassis. Draw closes 5/8/2023
Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery Pangolin Violet Rose was a top 10 perfume for Ida in 2021 and Luminous Lemurs was Ida’s top ten best perfumes of 2020
Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery Luminous Lemurs was one of Editor-in-Chief Michelyn Camen’s Top 10 Best perfumes of 2020 and Laurie Stern and Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery was Michelyn’s Best Natural Perfume House and Perfumer of 2020
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