There is a particular moment in a garden in early spring when you feel something is about to happen but hasn't quite yet.
The soil is still cool. The light is still in that in between place. But something in the air has shifted. You can feel it. And if you stop and pay attention you can smell it. No flowers yet. No warmth from the sun. Something just before both. It's like the promise of the garden waking up. It literally makes me so happy.
That's where Daffodils Dancing begins.
A cluster of daffodils at the edge of a path, moving, swaying in the wind. The combination of damp soil and something green pushing up through it, and something floral that hasn't fully blossomed. Daffodils Dancing is my attempt to hold that moment.
What's in it and why?
The scent opens with basil and orange. Bright, clean, a little unexpected. Not sweet. Alert. The way the air feels before the day warms up.
In the heart, ylang-ylang and jasmine arrive slowly, the way flowers open up, not all at once, but gradually, one note at a time. Clove adds an edge of spice that keeps it from becoming precious. Vanilla is there underneath everything, holding the whole composition together the way good soil holds a garden.
And then it settles into something warm and a little earthy. What a stunning garden smells like in the last hour of a spring afternoon, when the light has gone golden and the day coming to a close.
On the name
I named this scent for the way daffodils move in wind, that particular combination of stillness and motion that feels almost like joy. I have stood in many gardens watching them, experiencing their magic, and there is something about that specific movement that I have never been able to fully explain. It is one of those things you have to see, and smell, to understand.
Daffodils Dancing was chosen by Oprah Daily for their Mother's Day O-List in 2024. This is a scent for the women who stop to notice things. Who find the beauty in the small and seasonal. Who understand that a garden in spring is one of the best arguments for being alive.
Opening: Basil, Orange — Heart: Ylang-ylang, Jasmine, Clove, Vanilla — Finish: Patchouli, Musk
7.5oz — 45 to 50 hour burn time. Paraffin-free coconut soy wax. Hand-poured in Los Angeles.
xx Caroline