Slowdive  :  from Hiram Green // Nose : Hiram Green // Year : 2017 // Notes : Tobacco blossom, neroli, orange flower, beeswax, dried fruit, tuberose, resins

The Low Down : A honeyed floral perfume with a buzzed out blissful vibe –  perfect for languid days and nights.

Slowdive is a new perfume from Hiram Green that made an appearance right at the end of 2017. One of my go to perfume brands, this line of natural fragrances is highly wearable with seemingly long-lasting superpowers. Favourites in the line include Dilettante and Moon Bloom, one of the best tuberose perfumes in recent years. You can also read more about Green here in a Fragrant Hommes interview from 2016.

I like what Green brings to life in the world of perfume and so far all of his fragrances work well for me personally, and folks that’s what we’re all looking for. Perfumes that make us feel something, anything actually. A reaction that conjures an emotion – good or bad, love or hate, revulsion or admiration – just something.

It goes without saying that this name of this perfume has significance – to me anyway due  to the Brit shoegaze band of the same name. As an aside their track Star Roving on last year’s comeback album was my favourite tune. It’s a happy, uplifting track, with just the right touch of nostalgia and in a way the same could be said of Green’s new scent. Slowdive has that burst of joy feeling that harkens back to happier times.

Slowdive is designed to conjure  languid afternoons and the evocative image Green pairs with the perfume is perfect. A vintage photo of a woman caught diving mid-air into the water, back arched and arms outstretched, seemingly touching the sky.

Slowdive is without a doubt a beautiful honeyed perfume and one with an interesting character to boot. A darker hued honey that feels dense and opaque for a while at least, and oozes deliciousness, fortified with the semblance of a shot of liqueur at the end of an evening. A moment of Dilettante nostalgia rolls by with the presence of neroli and orange and there’s also a stewed Lutenesque fruity resinous effect that bolsters the perfume. A more whimsical, laid back vibe occurs about an hour and a half into the development. It feels like sunshiny days spent lazing in the afternoon’s haze with a faded postcard Nashville filter vibe. A hay like hint of tobacco flower helps to nudge it along in this direction.

Now I have a very high tolerance for sweet and if you’re reading about honey here you may start to think the perfume is not for you. Slowdive  is not at all what I’d describe as a saccharine perfume though, which will be a relief for many. It doesn’t smell like any other honeyed perfume I’ve tried which is a great thing.

Slowdive is not as full on as Miel de Bois (Serge Lutens) or Absolue Pour Le Soir (Maison Francis Kurkdjian), two perfumes with a dominant honey presence. I know honey can have a urinal slant in some fragrances but there’s none of that here. I highly recommend a Nuxe  face wash in the Rêve de Miel line that is worth seeking out if you’re a honey fan that captures a lovely dark, ambered scent.

If you like Green’s work and honeyed perfumes, this is definitely one to try. It’s interesting to see the scope and range that Green is developing with his collection of well crafted, natural perfumes. Slowdive makes me feel like there are better days ahead when the winter gloom will lift, disappear and take away my fog. Just Like Honey.

PS : If you want to know more about shoegaze music from the 90’s Pitchfork has an article and playlist here.

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Read more about Slowdive : takeonethingoff, chemistinthebottle, colognoisseur  // For where to purchase: Please check the  Hiram Green website for further details. The perfumes are available in sample size (5 Euro), 10ml (39 Euro) and 50ml bottle (144 Euro) // Notes : Images :  Hiram Green // Disclaimer : Sample gratefully received from Hiram Green.  Opinions my own.