I’ve drained my sample of st clair scents Eve and could easily write 2000 characters remembering long days sitting in a tree that leaned over dark water, eating apples and reading until there was no more light. I could mention the vetiver, orris, and rich naturals that must be why Eve feels like that shimmering green light in deep shadows, at a time alive with possibilities. But instead I’ve spent a week trying to write about Eve: drafting sprawling thoughts about art and craft, about religion and fear, about transgression and hunger, about curiosity and storytelling, and about how we perceive perfumes and try to explain them to each other.

Because Eve is a perfume that makes me think as much as it makes me feel shamelessly alive in my skin, inhabiting a world of endless pathways to explore.

Despite the source inspiration of Waterhouse’s painting of Pandora, I’ve not turned to the pretty, loose-limbed maidens of the Pre-Raphaelites but immersed myself in paintings and prints by Cranach, Durer, Van Eyck, Blake, Alasdair Gray, Eric Gill. I’ve become slightly obsessed by the gestures: how Eve stands, how that apple is plucked, held, proffered, or received. How she looks at Adam, the serpent, or the viewer. This Eve, however, would be heading to the Goblin Market with Christina Rossetti, or maybe calling Asherah and Lilith some late night to talk about hierarchies, motherhood, and the price of women’s defiance.

There’s a new confidence in Eve and Pandora. They stand taller and look back at you, unapologetic, and unafraid of shadows. There is something in this perfume–and perhaps in how Diane St Clair works– that encapsulates the curiosity that makes humans so interesting. From the sparks of possibilities that generate a tumble of “I wonder, why, what if, could I, and how do I?” to a focused study, and a concentrated practice to produce work that tackles those questions. Knowing that the best answers and the most satisfying art prompt yet more questions.

I have no essays and no answers here. While my sample was a gift, I will be buying a bottle of this and enjoy asking and answering them for a long time to come.

originally posted 29 September 2019, final photo from 1 March 2020 when we went to see the newly restored and re-instated Ghent Altarpiece. Of course I wore Eve.