“Inspired by Zelda Fitzgerald, America’s first flapper and the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, ZELDA’s bright beginning, full heart, and dark base evoke the story of Zelda’s bright life and tragic descent into a final heart of darkness.”
En Voyage ZELDA didn’t convince me at first. Nothing about this subdued perfume reminded me of Zelda Fitzgerald, of her legendary vivacity (F. Scott declared her “the most charming person in the world”) or of the vibrant colors that she used in her distorted paintings. But En Voyage ZELDA does smell like the magnolia trees that line North Charles Street, where the Fitzgeralds lived in a small apartment during Zelda’s Baltimore hospitalizations. I used to stand beneath those trees every April, breathing in the thick aroma of the pastel blossoms and tugging at their rubbery petals. It does capture the soft curves of “Japanese Magnolias”, one of Zelda’s last paintings.
When it arrives, the earthy vanilla dry down blends beautifully with the creamy magnolia. The ZELDA bottle is enchanting, and the price is remarkably low for an indie fragrance. And when I offered my ZELDA-scented wrist to the feline Zelda, she enthusiastically licked it. Draw your own conclusions. (Then she bit me. Draw your own conclusions.)
SCENTS OF SELF 
Hey there Arielle,
Can only depression and madness inspire such gorgeous painting, like a bird at the top of the tree looking down and another one on a branch looking towards the trunk, but I could also be on the ground looking up. Or is it a vase of magnolias in Ikebana style against or on a piece of driftwood. If Zelda the perfume is anywhere near as interesting then I should have some.
Portia xx
Portia, I don’t exactly understand what’s going on with the whole ban on shipping perfumes internationally right now, but it would be my pleasure to send you my sample if it’s still possible!
That would be purrrrrrfectly lovely Miss Arielle. can I reciprocate? Anything in my recent past that you’d like to sniff? If I have more than a sample you are welcome to it.
Portia xx
Haha! I love magnolia petals and have also been tugging a tree round the corner that overhangs an alleyway. Natalie gave me a sample of this and I do like it a lot, though had no preconceptions about how it might mesh with Zelda the person, so it is good to get your take on this. I was reminded a bit of Magazine Street by SIP, another magnolia-forward scent by a US indie house.
You know, those Strange Invisible Perfumes were on clearance at Anthropologie last year! I smelled a few (not Magazine Street, I think) and found them sort of mushroom-y, but I hadn’t had much exposure to natural perfumes at that point.
Mushroom-y is a good word. I have been a long time coming round to natural perfumes, also the likes of the Afteliers, and have now found a few I like a lot!
Curious, do you think it will elicit biting in humans too? Just want to be prepared.
I regretfully have to say that I wouldn’t consider ZELDA sexy enough to induce human biting!
I just got a few samples from En Voyage, Zelda among them. I finally wore it for the first time today. Overall I think I like it, but I think I might be slightly sensitive to something in it, because at every almost every stage of the scent’s development I get a strong, sweet note that really sticks out, though it doesn’t completely dominate. I’m not sure what it is, maybe the bourbon accord that is listed in the top notes? It does make me think of whiskey a little bit. I couldn’t speak to the magnolia thing. We have magnolias around here, but they never seem to smell like anything.
Thank you for sharing. I’d like to try it. Hope to hear more from you.