I love perfume, and over the past year I've dived headfirst into the world of indie fragrances. Poesie has become one of my favorite indie perfume houses due to their diverse range of scents which range from
In 2019, Poesie released a special limited collection titled "In the Steps of Marie Antoinette," featuring 6 scents inspired by the queen of France. At the time the collection was released, I didn't have enough spending money to try them all--but thanks to Poesie's annual "Reissue Event," a limited-time event where you can order retired items from their catalog, I was finally able to collect all of them.
À la Reine
Scent Notes: fresh ripe tomato, cucumber, a bouquet of garden herbs, sweet soil, all damp from the summer rain
My Thoughts:
This scent is so, so green. I love that the emphasis is on the vegetable garden, rather than florals--not that there's anything wrong with florals, but I feel like most 'hameau de la reine' inspired scents I've tried before are heavy on the florals. This scent makes me feel like I'm walking through a vegetable garden after the rain--moist garden dirt, spicy herbs, but then a vegetable sweetness from the juicy tomatoes and cucumbers. It's really amazing how this scent captures the very particular way that gardens smell after the rain... a sort of slightly sweet, slightly spicy earth tinged with vegetables and grass.
Petit Trianon
Scent Notes: a freshly picked bouquet of wood violets, accented with jasmine sambac, tuberose and Madonna lily, sheer sandalwood
My Thoughts:
This is another scent that I picked up when the collection was originally released. I can't resist a Trianon inspired scent! This is a very white floral scent, with hints of green underneath, but it is mostly the violets, jasmine and tuberose that stand out. The sandalwood provides a solid thread for the florals and overall the scent gives the impression of walking through a carefully cultivated garden. A very warm, floral scent.
Rococo Paradise
Scent Notes: ripe strawberries, plush apricot, fresh grass, milk + honey, lavender sprigs
My Thoughts:
This is one of the scents I picked up last year, and it's one of my favorite scents in my collection. This scent smells it belongs in the scene from Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette where the queen and her entourage are picking strawberries and drinking fresh milk at the hameau de la reine. The milk provides a soft creaminess to the scent, which is complemented by the fresh grass and lavender. The strawberries add sweetness--it's more of a wild strawberry undertone, berries tinged with green. A naturally sweet and mellow scent overall.
Folly of Love
Scent Notes: Paradise apples, purple lilac blooms, white Bourbon roses, seductive vanilla
My Thoughts:
I didn't receive this scent until the 2020 reissue event, and truthfully I wish I had picked up a larger size! It is a very soft, summery fragrance. The lilacs and roses form nice floral base, while the apples brighten the fragrance with a touch of sweet fruitiness. The vanilla takes awhile to come out, but when it does it adds a rounded softness to the delicate fragrance. I was originally a bit worried that the florals would be overbearing, but the apple note keeps things bright and youthful.
Infamous
Scent Notes: luscious white cake layered with sticky marshmallow creme and topped with mounds of vanilla frosting
My Thoughts:
Unfortunately, this is the only scent from the collection that I did not enjoy. The reason for this is that there is barely any scent at all on my skin. It has an extremely light throw, and I genuinely have to stick my nose right up to my skin to smell anything. Even then, all I can get is a very, very faint vanilla. This is pretty unusual for this company, as while I haven't always enjoyed every scent I've gotten from Poesie, none of them have been so non-existent in terms of scent. Maybe it was an off batch!
Versailles
Scent Notes: golden cake, intoxicating orange blossom, fluffy vanilla citrus icing, blood orange
My Thoughts:
I feel like “Versailles” is what I anticipated from Infamous. It's not an extremely strong scent, but it has a light to medium throw comparable to other “cake” scents I’ve gotten from Poesie. This one smells like a vanilla cake smothered in delicious, luscious vanilla-orange frosting. Rich and creamy and downright yummy.
Where to Get Them
"In the Steps of Marie Antoinette" was a limited collection, so the full collection is no longer available from Poesie. However, "Versailles" was added to the Poesie General Catalog based on its popularity so it is available for ordering on the shop page here. The scent does seem to sell out fairly regularly, but it is restocked regularly as well.
May 2021: Two of the scents from this series are returning on a limited basis in 2021!
Folly of Love is available as part of the Spring Favorites collection
A La Reine will be available starting July 8th as part of the Summer Favorites
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