Soft Muse

Soft Muse has the shortest note list in the entire range and makes a virtue of it. Bergamot opens the fragrance alone, bright and clean and gone within about ten minutes, doing nothing more than clearing the way. What follows is violet, and violet is the whole personality of this fragrance. It is a note that reads two ways at once, powdery and cosmetic on one side, green and faintly leafy on the other, and here it sits closer to the powdery end without tipping into makeup-bag territory. Cedar underneath gives it a thin dry structure and stops the violet floating away. There is no fruit, no white floral, no spice and no gourmand element anywhere, which in this range is genuinely unusual. The base is vanilla and musk, soft and warm and extremely close to the skin, adding a gentle sweetness that rounds off the violet without changing its character. The whole thing behaves more like a scented lotion than a perfume, and that is not entirely a criticism. Performance is the weakest in the range at two to three hours from the mini spray. Wear it when you want to smell clean and pleasant and nothing more, in any season except deep winter, and anywhere at all including an office. Modest, and honest about it.