A Whisper of Green Fire: Narcissus Poeticus 2 by Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery

If you think narcissus is a well-behaved bouquet, think again. Narcissus Poeticus 2 from Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery is the moment you step off the manicured path and into the meadow itself. It is tender, but not tame. There is a soft-focus serenity here, yet beneath it a pulse that feels very alive, very skin.

On first spray I get the narcissus I crave - green, slightly bitter, honey-tinged, with that hay-and-shade duality that narcissus lovers chase. It glows without shouting. The floral heart feels silky and damp, like fresh petals pressed between book pages, and then something more feral flickers in and out, a vegetal hum that keeps the prettiness from going pastel.

The brand is known for small-batch, natural artistry, and Laurie Stern has a way of letting flowers speak in their own accent. Here the narcissus reads true and nuanced. No sugar frosting, no white-noise musk cloud, just the natural push and pull of sap, pollen and breath. As it settles, I catch a gentle hum of what smells like botanical musk, soft and slightly skin-salty, the kind of closeness that feels like a secret rather than a broadcast.

Projection sits in a personal halo - think conversation distance, not boardroom takeover - and on my skin I get 4 to 6 hours, with a tender green-floral ghost that lingers longer on fabrics. The mood is unruffled and contemplative, but not sleepy. It is the calm you get after a storm when the air is ionic and the ground is wet, a steadiness that invites you back to your senses.

Because this is a limited edition, there is a pleasing tension in its ephemerality. It smells like something fleeting, captured at peak. If you collect floral studies that actually feel like the flower, not a lab sketch of it, Narcissus Poeticus 2 deserves a place in that cabinet of curiosities.

Final word from a narcissus loyalist: this is not a pretty face, it is a living portrait. And that is why it lingers in memory long after the last pale-green sigh fades.