I am fascinated by how st clair scents explores the intertwined stories of curious women in her new sister scents, Eve and Pandora. Using shared notes like this could have been a pedestrian technical exercise, but instead she has woven them into gorgeous fabrics of different weights and textures, like shot silk and devoré velvet, and both are impeccably crafted from earthy greens, embroidered with layers and layers of rich florals, and shimmering with ideas.

While Eve stands in sunlight and dazzled me from the first wearing, Pandora is wrapped in darker shadows. Worn together, they dance, but it took me more time to find Pandora on her own. I got a little stuck in the deep resins, weighed down by her cloak of labdanum and opoponax.

But maybe that’s exactly as it should be for someone cast into the role of the bringer of death, sin, and suffering to humanity. (And if you’re a miserable git like Nietzsche, the hope that remains is the greatest torment of all.) The unforgiven sins of these mothers are a heavy burden. Yet the more sombre notes don’t feel like retreat or shame. There’s a fierce, defiant beauty in Pandora that glows gold in the dark with the stolen fire for which she paid the price.

There’s always a price for challenging authority, for daring to pursue learning, and valuing knowledge over Edenic innocence. I can’t help but think proudly of my several-greats-aunt, Jane Squire, who argued ferociously and at great personal cost for the right of women to take part professionally in marine investments, maths and astronomy, and fought for years for the right to be heard by the Board of Longitude. Sure, she spent three years in debtor’s prison for daring to challenge some of the most powerful men in court and her idea of dividing the heavens was discounted as “nutty”, but she never allowed herself to be silenced.

So here’s to the women like Diane St Clair who choose their own paths, tell new stories, and grow perfumed beauty from the rich earth of curiosity and determination. (And many thanks to Diane for the samples, which I have thoroughly enjoyed.)

Originally posted 10 October 2019 and 23 September photo only