Diptyque’s florals all have something of the shadowy ancient world about them, as if the perfumes were trapped and panting in glass. Ofrésia is no different. Rather than attempting the usual freesia bouquet of the conservative – moingy and prissy a l’Americana – Ofrésia is an intense, rain-grey block of freesias, peppered quite spitefully with mauve and lemon-yellow.
The flowers’ natural, sherbet-like vivacity – surely the most deliciously child-friendly of all flower scents – is tempered here with a certain dour, French severity. Olivia Giacobetti – master of the quiet, live floral – imbues the stems of her just-cut freesias with sternness, lending these beautifully fragrant flowers a watered, vigorous astringency.
Fascinating. I love how you used a black and white illustration and yet colored the fragrance through language. Exquisite!
Thank you very much. Do you like the smell of freesias?
I do. I have a sample of this and will hunt it down when I’m bold enough to surf the sea of samples that has taken on terrifying proportions.
I love the illustration. Love. And I love freesia. I’ll have to try that one some time. Hope you are well, Mr. Ginza, and enjoying spring. The tree blossoms here are over and falling now, and I just saw some wild honeysuckle in bloom this morning, some creamy white and yellow, and others pale mauve. When we were children we would pull out the stamens and suck the sweet nectar from the blossoms.
Exquisite!