Solstice

I wore Solstice to a Monaco yacht party. By midnight, three strangers had asked to photograph my perfume bottle. The coconut-amber drydown lasted through dawn swims when my friend swore the sea smelled like my wrists. Compared to my Tom Ford, this outshines it like noon versus dusk.

During my TEDx talk, the mic picked up someone whispering, "What's that incredible scent?" Solstice's bergamot cut through my nervous sweat, the tonka wrapping each word in authority. Eight hours later, my producer asked if I'd secretly rehearsed.

I spray it on wool coats in -10°C Moscow mornings. The pistachio note? Like cracking nuts by firelight. By lunch, colleagues lean closer, mistaking my collar for some hidden tropical getaway.

He paused mid-settlement to write down the name. "Smells like someone who always wins," he said. The vanilla-ambroxan trail made compromise impossible.

Panic attacks used to smell like hospital antiseptic. Now when I feel the spiral, I spray Solstice. The ylang-ylang's buttery softness grounds me faster than Xanax.

Left it on a Dubai beach towel for hours. Returned to find the heat had transformed it into something smokier, deeper, almost like the perfume matured alongside my courage to quit my job.

Not to me, to the perfume. "Whatever that is, marry it," he joked. The coconut-amber blend outshone my diamonds.

14-hour flight. Spritzed at Heathrow. By JFK immigration, the officer smiled: "You smell like my Santorini honeymoon." Even my passport photo looked refreshed.

Too distracting. Students kept losing balance trying to identify the notes. The sillage? A moving meditation.

Promotion came the week I switched to Solstice. My CEO now says, "Your presentations have...textural depth." Little does she know it's the cardamom-vanilla synergy.

Widowed at 52, I wore it to our Paris reunion spot. The citrus-orris blend made ghosts taste less bitter. For once, the mirror smiled back.

He buries his nose in my scarf for hours. Vet says it's the only perfume he's seen calm separation anxiety. The musk must mimic...something primal.