Verity

Even though it's not my usual fare, I picked up Colleen Hoover's Verity over the weekend. It's a dark, twisty, and gave me the absolute creeps. Set on an isolated estate in Vermont, it put me in the same headspace as The Shining. It certainly created an interesting challenge in terms of a scent match. Doubly so because Hoover's writing is very cerebral (e.g. not much direct discussion of scents or textures). I therefore took cues from the novel's setting:

Woods: Maple, birch and other Vermont hardwoods. And, *cough*, the headboard. Omg.

Dampness: The cool, damp scent of hidden decay.

Parchment: The ever-present manuscript.

Sandalwood/patchouli/incense: The warm, alluring aura of Mr. Wonderful, the male lead.

Floral/medicinal: Verity's sickbed.

After an intriguing detour through the world of niche/ "creepy" scents (apparently this smells like "a vampire", this discontinued scent smelled like "an autopsy table", and this smells like...I can't even write down the words but the perfumer names ALL bodily secretions...), I finally landed on Dans Tes Bras by Maurice Roucel. It's an incredibly polarizing fragrance. Just read the comments on the recent article by Eddie Bulliqi, and the reviews at Fragrantica. No one can agree about about whether it smells "warm' or "cold". Some mention a "chilly" or "medicinal" quality, while others rave about its smoky, musky, warmth, like a lover's nape, or sheets that have been slept in. Many characterize the scent as "strange" and "unsettling". It's this duality that led me to ultimately select Dans Tes Bras as the perfect pairing. New love between people battered by their pasts, juxtaposed against the manipulative workings of a disturbed mind. The official scent notes for the fragrance are bergamot, clove, jasmine, violet, heliotrope, cashmeran, patchouli, sandalwood, and musk. Others mention "pine", "smokiness", and salt. Cashmeran is a synthetic molecule that evokes the fragrance of a cashmere sweater, and it features prominently in this fragrance. Most agree that it opens "masculine" and dries down "feminine", creating an ultimately unisex overall scent experience. It's a complicated and challenging creation that speaks of hidden secrets and conflicting accords, much like the novel itself!

Finding a scent pairing that felt right for Verity was such a fun challenge. Send in your alternative suggestions, and as always, I'll post them!