Lys Solaberg

Lys Sølaberg is a lily that surprises. Instead of emphasizing the flower’s greenness or its savory, almost meaty character, the perfumer has chosen instead to highlight the flower’s sultry, heady facet. This then is lily on her way home from a night out with friends. Swaying a little, all the good Cognac and dark fruitcake and double cream she has ingested threatens to spill over onto her pearlescent flowers. This is an unfamiliar picture of the normally pristine lily, and we absolutely love it.

The exotic hothouse feel of Lys Sølaberg is punctured here and there by touches of a crunchy green calamus leaf and the vegetal muskiness of carrot seed, but honestly, there’s no real way of keeping the florid sensuality of this lily in check. That is, of course, until the woody, diffuse muskiness of Ambroxan, cedar, and oak rises like a Phoenix from the belly of the scent. There’s more than enough power in this woody-musky finish to make lily behave herself. The transition from Christmas cake lily to the blown-out radiance of salt and air is unusual, expertly handled, and well, rather beautiful.