Cicada

Hey there, handsome…

As much as their rattling drone signals the arrival of the dog days of summer, I do love cicadas. Newly moulted, they are the most gorgeous, luminescent green, with chips of bright copper (ocelli, or simple eyes) embedded in their foreheads. We found this fellow the other morning, on the Callery pear tree in front of the house.

Last year’s August Limited Edition was The Queen is Dead, a heady, sexy scent if ever there was one. This year I wanted a respite from the heat of summer, rather than a celebration of it, & so Cicada emerged. Fizzy, watery, green & fruity, it’s a lighter scent than I usually blend. I wanted a scent that was refreshing & crisp, but that didn’t make a nuisance of itself by sticking around & morphing in the heat. Alas, being all top & middle notes without much to ground them, Cicada was a bit of a wash when I tried it in lotion format – allowed to linger on the skin, it turned oddly sour, not at all what the original scent intended. But it’s delicious in Sorbetto & soap, so all’s not lost.

Kaffir limes are funny, warty little fruits with lovely lobed leaves, used in Thai & Indonesian cookery. I was tickled to find a fragrance oil that featured them, as it’s not a scent you often see. I tried a few different blends with it, & quickly found that it was easily overwhelmed by heavier notes. Luckily, I had some really light-weight oils that helped lift the kaffir leaf without overpowering it – white tea, a bit of champagne for the bubbles, a really interesting green amber blend & just a drop of sweet cantaloupe at the end.

Cicada will be live through the end of September