I special ordered this perfume from Hawaii. It is inspired by the flowers Telosma cordata. I love this flower since I was a child. I would go with my Mom to the market to buy them, the seller will wrap them in banana leaf or newspaper. The flowers were then washed and we would cook the winter melon soup with small cubes of meat, shrimp, mushroom and corn and then the winter melon will be in cubes too. Then when ready to serve, we will put the Telosma flowers in the soup bowl and pour the soup on top. The flowers are crunchy and fragrant.
Now I still eat the dish like this with flowers came from Vietnam by air.
The long flight made the flowers lost the fragrant. There is no hope to cultivate the plant as our gray sky and cold weather in winter will kill the plant.
Saffron James' Ipo opens with a strong top note of lemon, more precise the smell if bruised lemongrass, so it is a combination of lemon and ginger with an air of lemon sorbet. Then it settled down with a hint of violet and sweeter smell helped by orange blossom. It is actually quite beautiful. I think it is a great summer fragrance.
The painting I have chosen to describe the scent is young man in a fantastic costume ready for dancing or battle.
Widespread from eastern India to southeast Asia, Pakalana (also known as Chinese Violet) was introduced to Hawaii by immigrants from southern China around 1823. An ancient Chinese tale contends that a troop of savage warriors once seized an enemy castle but that night the aromatic powers of this dusk-blooming flower over took them and by morning the enchanting fragrance had inspired such tranquility, they inexplicably abandoned their conquest.
Since then, like the full moon, the captivating scent of this local favorite has earned a reputation for rousing the most unexpected behaviors.
