Bruise Violet
Sixteen92 (2016)

It has what is by now a definable accord - the powdery make-up/lipstick of violet, rose and iris - smelling meltingly good and wrapped in a memory echo; almost visceral. That these quiet pale notes can be so vivid is olfactory gold.

The lighthearted delicate, powdery lilt of the opening is charming and affecting. This is full-on expression of the inside of my mother's makeup box. Its fragrance had such power to bring to you a quiet, still moment and the ability to stop time and envelop you in a hush in a way I never understood.

When Bruise Violet dries down it brings out for me a butch makeup accord, wrapped in subtle leather, Ooh, nice. That the drydown is as strong as the top and middle and brings it to a satisfying end makes this one stand out in a time of top-loading and weak endings.

This one made me chuckle because it is a soda pop version of a ‘cosmetics' scent. Here is the typical powder-compact-meets-lipstick odour profile – but handled with the lightness of a soufflé, and it somehow seems to fizz as well. So alongside the starring roles of the cool iris and palely sweet violet ionones – the usual culprits of such scents – there is a hologram rose tucked away inside it, sheer, slightly green, with the slight pucker of citric association. It suggests sparkle from within – or the gas bubbles in this unusually flavoured bottle of pop.
Bruise Violet (Breeze Violet seems like a more appropriate name) comes across as a simple but assured and playful take up on the make-up theme. This is make-up that's ready to go – none of that cakey, heavy stuff. I am taken by just how see through it seems to be while still being shaded. Good to wear on busy or stressful days when it will provide a waft of something pleasant rather than intrude.

Delicate. Powdery flowers like I've not smelled before. Lipstick in pale pink. Faint rose petals. Clouds of memories from another time. Suberb! Wispy violet. Smiling iris. Need more...