At the end of February, the air after a cold rain carries a clarity that belongs neither to winter nor to spring. Wet pavement, bare branches not yet in bud, a flower opening somewhere out of sight. COLOR DROPS was composed with this moment in mind: the drops of a rainbow that appear once the rain has passed.
Of Soie's five fragrances, it is the one we think of as the lightest and the most transparent. It opens softly the instant it touches the hands, then settles quietly against the skin. This article looks at the notes of COLOR DROPS and at the occasions where a fragrance this light feels exactly right.
A hand fragrance is not a perfume cast into a room. It is a scent of close distance, noticed only when a hand comes near. Lightness, in that context, is a virtue rather than a limitation.
The notes: lilac and a watery accord
The notes of COLOR DROPS are lilac, wisteria, rose, watery accord, sandalwood, musk and cedarwood. The dreamlike air of lilac and wisteria is layered with what perfumers call a watery accord, a transparent impression of water itself, and musk gives the whole a softness that sits naturally on skin.
It is classed as a fresh floral, but it does not lean on sweetness. Its character is brightness, the kind that lets light through. Sandalwood and cedarwood in the base hold the airy opening in place, and as the hours pass the fragrance and the warmth of the skin become one thing.
Every Soie fragrance is blended with the temperature and humidity of the hands in mind and evolves from top to base notes as the skin warms. In COLOR DROPS that evolution is especially delicate: what you apply in the morning may, by afternoon, have become little more than a trace of musk.
A scene called the shining morning
The image behind this fragrance is a shining morning, a memory that lights the first step towards something new. The first day of a new job, a long-awaited meeting with an old friend, the first morning in a flat you have just moved into. On days when you want to stand a little taller, COLOR DROPS is often the scent people reach for, beginning with the hands.
Seasonally, it belongs to the stretch between the end of February and spring. As the layers of winter clothing come off one by one, the wish arises to change the fragrance too, from something woody that suited a heavy coat to something clear that suits lighter colours. COLOR DROPS fits that transition well.
Where a light fragrance belongs
Lightness brings a particular freedom: it does not have to choose its occasions. Because the scent is designed to be enjoyed at the hands rather than projected into a room, it is comfortable at the office, on the move and in the close company of others.
- In the morning, as the last step of getting ready. The few seconds spent smoothing a hand serum over the backs of the hands become a small ritual that sets the day in order.
- During the day, after washing. If the soap at the basin carries the same fragrance, the scent layers itself naturally within the simple sequence of washing and then moisturising.
- When you need to change gear. Scent is said to speak to feeling and memory through the sense of smell, and the act of raising a hand towards the face creates the pause of a single breath.
For those who find sweet fragrances difficult, or who want a floral without any weight, COLOR DROPS is an easy choice. It has a unisex brightness that suits any age and any gender.
The method itself does not change. Take one or two pearl-sized drops of hand serum onto the back of one hand, bring the hands together to spread it, and work it between the fingers and around the nails. The warmth of the backs of the hands opens the fragrance slowly, so once you have finished, lift a hand towards your face just once. That instant is where COLOR DROPS is at its clearest.
Texture and scent together
A fragrance like this depends on what carries it. A heavy, oily texture would weigh the watery accord down and leave the lilac feeling muffled. Soie's hand serum is designed to be light, to settle into the skin without leaving a film, so the scent has room to rise rather than being held under a layer of oil. The serum and the fragrance were conceived together rather than one being added to the other.
This also matters in practical terms. A fragrance worn on the hands is worn on the part of the body that touches everything: a keyboard, a glass, a door handle, a child's hair. A scent that is light and a texture that is not sticky let the hands go back to their work at once, carrying the brightness of COLOR DROPS with them rather than announcing it.
The pleasure of layering
Soie's hand serum and hand and body soap are made in the same five fragrances. Wash with COLOR DROPS and moisturise with COLOR DROPS, and the transparent scent builds in thin layers on the hands and stays longer.
There is also pleasure in choosing differently: a soap in another fragrance, with COLOR DROPS reserved for the serum. Washing with the calm of SUPREME TEA, for instance, and finishing with the brightness of COLOR DROPS. We write more about combinations in our article on layering the soap and the serum.
How Soie thinks about fragrance
Soie (pronounced swah; French for silk) is a hand beauty brand and, equally, a brand for enjoying fragrance. Its five scents are composed by a dedicated perfumer over many years from raw materials selected around the world, each intended to stand as a perfume in its own right.
Among them, COLOR DROPS is the one that carries the light. To choose it for a hand serum is to place the brightness of a morning after rain on your hands, together with moisture. The five fragrances are introduced on our fragrance page, and the serum itself on the Enlight Hand Serum page.
