Fairchild & Moondance by Anya’s Garden : Perfume Reviews

Seasoned perfume lovers will already have a pretty good idea of what to expect from an all-natural perfume, but even they are set to be surprised by Anya McCoy’s creations - and that’s a promise. Anya is a pioneer who daringly reaches new frontiers by using the most unusual notes: rutting billy-goat hair will grant her creations a strong touch of cruelty free animalic musk, while toasted seashells beautifully render the scent of the ocean spray sans calone. With seven perfumes produced under the brand name Anya’s Garden, Anya truly has something there for everyone. Last week she was kind enough to send me tiny samples of her precious perfumes to test. Today, I present to you my two favorite ones.

Fairchild: Fairchild opens with a strange animalic potency that is quickly overtaken by a bracing, beautifully awakening blast of citrus. I personally find this strong opening incredible as it feels like a powerful jolt of energy that fills me with a positive outlook. Definitely something I’d love to start my day with. After a while this almost superlative burst calms and the perfume transforms into a smooth lemon note enfolded in gorgeous sweetness spiced with accents of pepper. I can’t help but reiterate my feeling that this is the perfect morning scent: Fairchild feels to me as though it produces light. As the heart notes bloom on the skin, the gorgeous sweetness intensifies with the beautiful scent of white florals: jasmine and lemon blossoms are the ones most perceptible to me. Despite their indolic nature, here they both project an image of brilliant white purity - like a wedding bouquet. Sweet ylang ylang gives this perfume a perfectly light expression of tropical bliss. Slowly but surely the base notes begin to emerge bringing the full animalic glory of this perfume to the fore. Gorgeous ambergris bathes the skin in its softly sweet animalic glow, while sun-baked seaweed adds extra naughtiness. The scent of toasted seashells in turn brings with it the calming sound of rolling waves. This is a beautiful animalic citrus-chypre, very much in the same vein as the original Philtre d’Amour by Guerlain, but beautifully suffused with intense light. Some time ago Anya and I had a conversation about whether all-natural perfumes can render light in the same way that synthetics can. With this, a last note: Congratulations, Anya. You’ve created light.

Moondance: If you love violet, then you must try Moondance, as it opens with one of the most interesting and fabulous violet notes I’ve had the pleasure to smell. Lightly sweet, pastel in color and velvety textured like the skin of a ripe peach, the violet in this scent sings with melodious clarity. At first its scent is accompanied by an almost fougère herbal feel, as though it’s underscored by lavender, but after a while that impression subsides as the violet intensifies and deepens. The texture too changes, from velvety to buttery and the sweetness intensifies. An almost fruity, vaguely apple-scented note emerges, perfectly balancing the otherworldly, beautiful melancholy of the violet with its childishly innocent cheer. Two more complementary notes emerge: The buttery character of the violet is beautifully complimented by hints of carrot seed, while the sweetness of the light apple scent is amplified by orange blossom water. At the heart of this fragrance we find the most ethereal whisper of tuberose. Light and diaphanous (and no, I never expected to used these words to describe tuberose either), the infamously sensual blossom manages to retain all of its femininity and guile while shedding all of the qualities that tend to be perceived as overbearing and demanding by many. The base is a sweet symphony of mellow amber and sandalwood, peculiarly lanced through by a slightly bitter resinous vein. Glorious!

Images: via Flickr by alexdecarvalho and Memotions