Narcissus With Bite: Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery Narcissus Poeticus 2

I don’t reach for narcissus when I want to behave. I wear it when I want to be seen in a different light. Narcissus Poeticus 2 from Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery does exactly that, and yes, the “2” matters. It reads like a follow up that has lived a little, the kind of natural perfume that spends months steeping in its own secrets before it dares touch skin.

The opening hits with that unmistakable narcissus snap, green and humid, a cut-stem bite that never slips into airbrushed white floral. Laurie Stern is known for patience and small-batch craft, and you can smell it. The flower arrives with pollen dust, faint hay, a breath of spice, then this strange and beautiful waxen petal texture. It feels like a garden at 6 a.m., when the earth is still cool and the blossoms are already plotting.

As it settles, the narcissus grows more intimate, less gloss, more grain. There is a honeyed glimmer that suggests bees have been busy, but nothing syrupy. If you expect laundry-clean prettiness, look elsewhere. This leans feral and poetic, a floral with soil under its nails. The center hums with green shadows and a tender bitterness that keeps me sniffing my wrist, wondering where the sweetness went and why I don’t miss it.

The drydown is all about hush and warmth. I get a gentle skin-musk aura, the kind naturals do so well, with a soft meadowy undertone and a woody whisper that grounds the floral without dimming it. Projection is a radiant aura rather than a shout, which frankly suits a narcissus with secrets. On my skin it runs five to six hours, longer on fabric.

Is it pretty? Yes, but not obedient. Narcissus Poeticus 2 feels like a quiet rebellion against sanitized florals, a reminder that natural perfumery can be both meticulously crafted and thrillingly alive. If you think narcissus is just a porcelain beauty, this one will smudge your lipstick in the best way.

There is talk of perfumed rejuvenation around this launch, which makes sense. This is a return to the real, to breath and sap and shadow. I’ll take that kind of rejuvenation any day.