Sweet Anthem Cordelia Solid Perfume

Sweet Anthem is a Seattle-based one-woman rock-band of a hand-made perfume house. Each fragrance has a name and a distinct personality. I will unashamedly admit that I bought this Sweet Anthem perfume as it is Miss London's name, and happily this perfume is every bit as lovely as my child is.

Cordelia is one of the recent Autumn/Fall additions to the Sweet Anthem line up, and is described on the Sweet Anthem website as:

Be the sweetest of all the petulas. Woodsy & fall-fresh top notes of plum and fir needle make way for lavender, black pepper, and a sultry coriander - all are thrown asunder by the most marine of all musks.

The notes are listed as : Ambergris, Black Pepper, Civet, Coriander, Fir Needle, Lavender, Plum, Sandalwood.

I mostly get plum on sniffing the tin or when the perfume is first applied to my skin, with a subtle snap of something behind it. I don't sniff it and think, 'Oh, that's fir,' but there is a crispness underlying the plummy sweetness. After a few minutes on my skin the woodsy/musky warm heart of the fragrance develops and the plum note lingers softly (and doesn't ever completely disappear). When I first shoved my wrist under Mr London's nose wearing this he immediately said that it smells of the seaside to him, and although I can't detect an obvious ozonic note there is a note/accord woven in that also reminds me of being at a cold beach (we saw a lot of those this 'summer').

This is a beautiful warm fruity fragrance for Autumn/Winter, and it's layering well over the Haus of Gloi Halloween body products. As a solid perfume it remains quite close to the skin, but lingers for a good 4-5 hours (solid perfumes are perfect if you prefer your perfume to remain intimate). The formula of the solid perfume is a soy/coconut blend which is quite hard at first particularly in cold weather (you can see I've dug in my nails to get it out) but then softens up a little once you get past the surface, and it feels absolutely lovely on the skin. I've now also ordered Cordelia in the perfume oil to layer underneath the solid perfume for a longer wear and a bit more throw.

Sweet Anthem is on Etsy, although I bought mine directly from the Sweet Anthem website at www.sweetanthem.com. The turnaround time is not short at 14-21 days from payment to dispatch, but the fragrances are made by hand in small batches as ordered for freshness. For me, the perfumes are worth the wait.