As much as I love a winter expressed to its fullest, with snowstorms and scarves spritzed with my heavy-duty, cold-weather-only chypres and ambers, I’m now looking forward to longer days and pleasant weather. Spring is a great time to try new floral perfumes, and the one I’m focusing on today is especially nice because it’s something we don’t see much of in the solid perfume world: a collaboration between artists. Beija-Flor, the newest release in the Scented Tales solid perfume collection from Art & Alchemy, is a partnership between perfumer (and classical musician) Mika Tremblay and a flute and guitar duo from Montreal, Duo Beija-Flor.
Beija-flor is Portuguese for “hummingbird,” though it literally translates to “flower kisser,” which conjures a nice image, too. I don’t see hummingbirds very often here in Philadelphia, but a highlight of visiting my parents’ home in the Midwest is watching the hummingbirds sip nectar from their bird feeder and “kiss” the flowers in their yard. These sweet and dainty little birds are lighter than air, zipping around the property in fleeting jets of color and motion, always managing to evade my camera. At the height of the pandemic, when I hadn’t seen my family in almost three years, I bought a crazy-colored hummingbird skirt just to bring myself some cheer and remind me of better times, and my husband gifted me the hummingbird brooch you see in one of the photos that same Christmas.
Duo Beija-Flor, with their amazing rapid-fire flute and guitar work, brings to mind the frenzied-yet-graceful motions of a hummingbird in high summer. I am invigorated by the creativity of others and it is always interesting to see what emerges when artists who work across multiple media combine their efforts. I do hope we’ll see more of this kind of thing amongst the perfumers who are making a serious artistic effort in the solid perfume format.
But, as compelling as the artistic collaboration behind this fragrance is, it’s the fragrance itself that drove my curiosity. As with the others in the collection, this Scented Tale begins with a story: “Luna, a curious and spirited hummingbird, discovers an exquisite hibiscus flower…” (Read the full description on the Art & Alchemy website,) The perfume is categorized by the brand as a Fruity Amber and it illustrates the journey of dear Luna through notes of hibiscus, coconut, bergamot, mandarin, passion fruit, honeysuckle, tonka, vanilla, amber and sandalwood. Beija-Flor contains so many of my favorite scents–hibiscus, coconut, honeysuckle, tonka, vanilla–that it quickly became a must-try and was my first fragrance purchase of 2024.
Shipping from Canada to the US took about ten days, and it arrived on a chilly day in January like a flower petal floating on a tropical breeze. Swiping it across my wrists on a gray winter’s workday transported me to warmer climes and better times. My mood and energy got an instant lift.
Solid perfumes can sometimes hold down the lighter top notes in a scent, but Beija-Flor goes on big and the fruits and flowers open beautifully on the skin. The florals are more prominent than the fruits at first swipe, though I can definitely detect them, especially the passionfruit. The fragrance smells clean, reminiscent of shampoo florals in the earliest stages, but a grounded warmth and sweetness waft through every layer of the perfume. The tropical hibiscus and coconut notes gradually fade to a soft woody-floral topped by brown sugar, with just a splash of fruit juice remaining.
As with most of the others in the Scented Tales collection, the longevity on this solid is excellent. I applied it to my wrists mid-morning, and I could still smell the base notes nine hours later, though the sillage had faded to a skin scent around the 3-4 hour mark. I purchased a 3 ml container, only because I have so much perfume already, but if these notes intrigue you, Beija-Flor is definitely worthy of the full 7 ml container. (On the fence? Try a 1 ml sample.) With this fragrance, I also purchased a larger size of Izo EDP, and the brand gifted me a sample of Rusalki, another Scented Tales fragrance offering an intense and highly original take on the classic aquatic fragrance category. At the end of last year, the brand also released some limited editions for Halloween and Winter that I didn’t get a chance to try, but I hope we’ll see more special editions and collaborations like Beija-Flor in 2024. In the meantime, don’t miss this very special fragrance that commemorates the collaborative efforts of the artists so beautifully, while also fully realizing the concept of its backstory or “tale.” Bravo to all and encore! Encore!
Art & Alchemy currently ships to the US and Canada, and the brand regularly participates in exhibitions and showcases in and around the Toronto area. Follow them on social media or via their newsletter to keep up, and please visit the official Art & Alchemy website to purchase any of the Scented Tales fragrances.
All images by me. All links ’cause I love.
Solidly Scented 
You must be logged in to post a comment.