Image - Wikipedia -Peach flowers
One of the pleasures of summer I look forward to each year is peaches. They’ve always been my favourite fruit this time of year, even as a child. I’ve always been drawn to their sensuous fullness, the soft down that covers them, the cleft in their round shape, their gentle colour. So when I first smelled the nectarine blossom (peach’s fraternal twin) at the opening of Suave Petals from Italian niche line Merchant of Venice, I felt a tender tug from the past: summer family trips in our big boat of a station wagon to orchards in the Niagara region. We’d buy bushel baskets of fruits and vegetables from farm stands along the roadside that were destined to be preserved for the winter. On the ride home, we kids would pluck cherries, apricots, nectarines and peaches from the baskets, still warm from the sun, and eat them out of hand, the juices running down our hands and staining our clothes.
Peaches are native to Northwest China, where they are highly valued as symbols of longevity and vitally because peach trees flower before their leaves sprout. They also bring good luck in romance, which is the inspiration behind Suave Petals. According to the Merchant of Venice press release:
“In Asia, peach blossom represents feminine beauty. During the Chinese New Year, those who wish to find love must buy a peach tree. The soft velvety touch of Suave Petals creates sensorial layers that lightly grace a woman’s skin.”
Peaches likely made their way to Europe through the silk trade during Roman times, so it makes sense for a fragrance house inspired by Venice’s prominent role in ancient Mediterranean trade routes to create Suave Petals, one of six eau de parfum in the "Murano Collection". And now is the perfect time to wear it.
Suave Petals opens with bitter, citrusy bergamot leading to notes of apple and pineapple. They usher in a lush note of nectarine blossom – not peach. Nectarine and peach are the same species, but nectarine blossom is a little sweeter, with more of an apricot nuance. Used here, it gives a fuller peach effect. It also has a floral aspect that merges with the violet facet of orris root, so that the opening is fruity/sweet, floral and summery but gentle and smooth and well, suave.
As it blooms, the petals appear: creamy, fleshy tuberose along with citrusy, honeyed orange flower and lush, romantic rose. The fruits at the top are beautifully tempered by the florals at the heart and make me smile every time I get a whiff of it them rising from my skin At the base, sandalwood and patchouli give it a woodiness and a link to the east. A touch of vanilla sweetens it just enough while musk smooths it out, like a second, sensuous skin.
The drydown is smooth, sophisticated and very feminine. Suave Petals is so beautifully blended that I get gorgeous fruity, floral and woody whiffs but nothing dominates or is loud. As much as I love peaches, I want to wear them in a fragrance just the way they are presented here: a soft, gentle reminder of summer days past that I carry for hours on my skin on summer days present.
Suave Petals is listed in our Decant Store. Decants are $5.00 for 1 ml.