White chocolate, pale almond milk, delicate vanilla, cream, and a touch of sheer musk.
Offered in a 5 ml amber glass apothecary bottle.
Indie, handmade, vegan, cruelty free.
Perfumer's notes: The story of the obsessive, doomed love affair between beautiful Isolde and brave Tristan has been with us since at least the 12th century. Tristan (who would later be reimagined as a knight of King Arthur's Round Table) hailed from the mythical Kingdom of Lyonesse, a happy, prosperous land off the southwestern coast of Cornwall. One night when Tristan was away, a terrible storm rose up and huge waves engulfed his home. That night, Lyonesse and all of her inhabitants sank into the sea, never to be seen again. Rumor has it that if you stand on the Cornish cliffs and listen closely, you can still hear the faint ringing of Lyonessian church bells drifting up from under the waves.
I based this collection of scents on Sunk Lyonesse, Sir Walter de la Mare's haunting poem about the Lyonesse legend. Although the poem doesn't mention Tristan or Isolde, it is without any doubt their story, so I included them. And then I added an apocryphal Kraken, because it seemed like this tale needed a Kraken.
Sunk Lyonesse
In sea-cold Lyonesse,
When the Sabbath eve shafts down
On the roofs, walls, belfries
Of the foundered town,
The Nereids pluck their lyres
Where the green translucency beats,
And with motionless eyes at gaze
Make ministrely in the streets.
And the ocean water stirs
In salt-worn casement and porch.
Plies the blunt-nosed fish
With fire in his skull for torch.
And the ringing wires resound;
And the unearthly lovely weep,
In lament of the music they make
In the sullen courts of sleep:
Whose marble flowers bloom for aye:
And - lapped by the moon-guiled tide -
Mock their carver with heart of stone,
Caged in his stone-ribbed side.
--Walter de la Mare