Hello Indie Lovers,
One of my favourite Indie Fragrance Houses is SOIVOHLE with it fabulous Artist turned Perfumer Liz Zorn, who still paints incredibly evocative images that have become less attached to pictorial representation and more to finding and conveying emotion. So too with her perfumery, when I wear a SOIVOHLE fragrance I find it completely mood enhancing or changing, depending on the scent and my intention.
Today I would like to introduce you to a fragrance that Liz currently has in her Sale Section for $15/11ml. I know, outrageously affordable and in a perfect size to fit in your purse or as a travel frag, it also looks very nice on the dresser.
Orris Ochre by Liz Zorn for SOIVOHLE 2012
Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Orris root, wild orange, violet, honey, narcissus, cedar, suede, muhuhu (very hard to find wood), palisander rosewood
Orris Ochre opens on my skin with honey and orange peel, there is a soft powdery fuzz too that reminds me of pith. Dabbed I get much more iris in the opening and it is clear and clean, carrot rather than dirt but with a vegetative depth that may be the violet leaf. When I sprayed though I get a lovely warmth, a feral animal heat both sexy and intriguing. They could be two entirely different fragrances. Most interesting.
Photo Stolen Flickr
It takes about 20-30 minutes for the two different applications to merge into more related scents and they seem to come together as the woods appear, old dry furniture wood made even more reminiscent of old through the honey. It smells like my 1960s sideboard that has been beeswaxed every few months by my mother and now me since it was new. There is a beautiful richness to its smell now that is both waxy honey and wood. The lovely iris goes all soft and fluffy on me, weaving through the woods and after about 4 hours my skin smells like that lovely, fresh washed, just worked out, healthy young flesh smell.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
It is absolutely intoxicating and I can’t help putting my nose down my top and huffing hugely. I smell like the lovely nubile young musclebound men I used to tryst with many, many years ago after the disco. It is an extremely specific smell of health: fresh, soft skin over rock hard muscles that have been dancing and are now fresh washed and ready to cavort. This is the EXACT smell. Gorgeous.
This lovely scent stays around for about 4 hours on my skin, much longer on my clothes. My jumper still smells beautiful at lunch time the next day, it will need a wash but maybe not this week. Really excellent scent.
Don’t miss the SOIVOHLE SALE<<< JUMP
Which of the SOIVOHLE fragrances have you tried?
Portia xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Just purchased! Thank you!!
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Heya Katherine,
I hope you enjoy Orris Ochre as much as I do.
ENJOY!!
Portia xx
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This scent is mmmmmmm NICE 🙂 Tears of RA launches the first day of summer – be ready w/ mula! Did you get your Kentucky Bourbon Rose??
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No Hotlanta Linda,
We went to Korea remember. Sometimes you have to make choices of one or another.
Portia xx
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Celadon was the first Siovohle aroma i experienced… i thought it smelled exactly like following Alice down the rabbit hole.
is muhuhu now scarce? it is often used to extend, mimic or otherwise try to fill the shoes of sandalwood.
thank you for the review! i’m very partial to indie perfumers, natural or otherwise!
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Heya Einsof,
I’ve never tried Celadon but I love the colour and the pottery.
On Fragrantica it says that Muhuhu is extremely rare. That is the extent of my knowledge to be honest.
I love an Indie perfumer too. They have a distinct lack of boundaries that I find more fun and challenging, it also means that they have far less restrictions.
Portia xx
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my bad, as i went to dig up the sample, it is called Centennial, not Celadon.
*laugh* lack of boundaries. yep, those are my peeps. 😉
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Righto! Centennial I have tried, though Celadon is a FABULOUS name for a fragrance, VERY Armani Prive.
He He He, Those are my peeps too.
Portia xx
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I may have to break down and buy a bottle. I have a number of Sohvoile’s scents and I think Underworld is my favorite. Thank you for the review and the reminder!
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p.s. I did break down and buy the Reem Acra that you reviewed and liked : ) but I haven’t had a chance to wear it yet. I know, I know…what am I waiting for??!!
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Ha Ha Ha! I am EXACTLY the same Sandy. I fall madly in love with a fragrance, drain a sample and then buy the bottle, which may NEVER get opened. That’s why these 11ml are so excellent, it’s a perfect purse size travel frag.
Portia xx
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Just visited their website and there are quite a few things I want to try… Now I’m going through stuff I wanted to buy and trying to decide what I can sacrifice & do without.
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Ha Ha Ha! That’s exactly how I work ThinkingMagpie. You wait, SOIVOHLE fragrances are excellent.
Portia xx
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I had to sit in front of the fan for a few minutes after that review.
The only Soivohle scent I’ve tried so far is Rosa sur Reuse (Thank you, Portia!) which was both terrifying and fascinating. I get a big blast of mentholated tuberose with the rose roaring in right behind it. Not my kind of thing, but I keep putting a drop on one arm to relive the experience. Maybe by the time I get to the end of the sample, I’ll be a lover of both flowers. Everything on that site looks like something I want to smell at least once. I’ve bookmarked it to revisit when I’m not flat broke.
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Yes, Rosa sur Reuse is one of my all time favourites from SOIVOHLE.
It’s interesting how different frags wear on people, it’s a little teddy bear on my skin. Large but not ferocious.
It’s good to have a Bookmark and a dream LaurelS.
Portia xx
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I’ve only tried Vanilaville and A Rose for Beacon Free. I found Vanillaville severely overrated, I’ve tried more vanillas than anything else and after the talk up it was very disappointing. I like the opening of Beacon Free, it’s one of those where you feel you might want to keep re-applying just to relive the top.
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Wow! My memory of Vanillaville was that it was amazing, a dark and dirty vanilla that spoke volumes, what a shame it didn’t sing on your skin Elia. I have not tried A Rose for Beacon Free though.
Portia xx
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So am I understanding this correctly? If I spray this on my average height, slightly chubby, mostly bald, middle aged hubband he will smell like a muscled, young, sexy beast? Take me to the website.
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Well, your husband reads rather like me, except I’m FULLY chubby. I smelled so freaking good I wanted to have sex with myself.
Portia xx
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Spray it on him, close your eyes and think of the blog photos. 😉 Fantasies are harmless!
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As much as I’d like to comment about the perfume, I keep getting distracted by all those deliciously-sculpted abs. And that’s a great idea, Tara C! 😉
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I used to have a six pack, now sadly I am a keg.
Haefennasiel, it’s always hreat to see you and yes, I am a sucker for youth and sculpted-ness. I have a few friends you could use to wash your laundry on.
TaraC is NAUGHTY, but completely spot on.
Portia xx
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Don’t we all, Portia? 😉
Although a large part of my heart (and ovaries) belongs to sexy, mature men like Hugh Jackman (“X-men: Days of Future Past” – gasp!), it’s good to have some nice young eyecandy once in a while. And tell your friends I do my laundry on weekends – and it’s usually a heavy load! ^^
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HA HA HA!! Hilarious.
Portia xx
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