Perfectly Poesie.
The Cardamonth collection is a chance to explore the many magical facets of one of my (and it seems your) favorite ingredients, cardamom.
Like Walt Whitman, cardamom contains multitudes; citrus, green, woody, warm spice. So many complementary notes come to mind to bring out the different elements inherent in the note. Fresh but cozy, energizing but calming. It's the joys of winter, after the bustle of the holidays. It’s cozy knits, soft textures, muted pastels paired with earth tones, and vintage elements.
I wanted this year's collection to showcase calm energy. Looking within, staying grounded, finding the moments of beauty and joy that are available to us while not being afraid to hold space for those who need our support. I guess that's a lot to ask of a plant, but I've been thinking more and more about how connecting with the earth is our only way forward.
The fragrance names came from things I've been reading; Carl Sagan, Mary Oliver, Shakespeare. Coquette came from the Tiktok trend (it's not always highbrow around here!). As much as I love puns and wordplay, I've tried to avoid using them in fragrance names because it can come across as gimmicky. That said, I couldn't resist with Pod Person. Perfumistas may recognize that fragrance as my response to Le Labo Santal 33, and the name is a bit of a play on how ubiquitous that scent was for a while in metropolitan areas.
Where She Most Satisfies was an instant hit with the Poesie team. Part of working at Poesie involves being a tester at any moment of the day (it’s a hard life). When trying this one, a team member said, “I like that it's not cloying.” Which reminded me of one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes, “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety. Other women cloy the appetites they feed, but she makes hungry where most she satisfies,” a quote referencing Cleopatra -- and coincidentally, quoted in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, which was the inspiration for the first Poesie collection. Sometimes names and ideas sprout from the team just that easily.
I've wanted to develop Invent the Universe for a while. Apple is one of my favorite notes, and I love the Carl Sagan quote, “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” That apple pie has been on my mind for a while. Inviting cardamom to play makes it literally and figuratively a bit fresh, while retaining the homey apple pie reference.
Speaking of the universe, cardamom is a note with which I could create a massive collection of scents, but the Poesie team has limited me to six fragrances per collection for practical reasons (sigh, if I must!). Six is literally how many fit on our shelves, for one thing. But it's a good number. If it was good enough for Henry VIII (honestly, it was too good for him, but I digress), it’s good enough for us. Limiting the collection forces me to edit myself, and I think that makes for a more creative and thoughtful collection.
I've had so much fun creating the Cardamonth collection, I'm happy to see that the Poesie community is just as excited to explore the pod life as I am. We literally couldn’t do it without you!
Love, J
(PS: For those of you wanting more cardamom inspired scents, we just released favorites from the We Heart Cardamom collection on – when else? – Galentine’s Day. They are only available for a limited time.)