The Slumberhouse website describes Grev as “a transparent metallic/herbal accord of star anise, crisp apple peel, spearmint leaf, ocean pine and bergamot twisted into hollowed tunnels padded in turquoise hues, dusted in sweet mossy mineral powder and blanketed with copaiba resin and sandalwood oil.” I describe Grev as a minty shiv straight from the freezer.
Grev is one of the four fragrances Slumberhouse issued when the perfume house debuted in 2011. A generous splash from my sample tube gives green apple for a split second before mentholated mint and pine trees obliterate it. After ten minutes, Grev relaxes and becomes more comfortable to wear. After a few hours, its wood — dry and cut with a stainless blade — shows through. This is when I enjoy the fragrance most. Grev it keeps its metal-herbal-minty structure right to the end when many fragrances would have collapsed into wood or musk.
Mint is a tricky note for Americans, since we tend to associate it with toothpaste. Grev’s mint is too dry for that, but when I was wearing it, one friend said I smelled like dental medicine.
Despite how assertive Grev is, it’s sheer and not heavy at all. Since it’s an olfactory substitute for air conditioning, I didn’t expect Grev to last long, but it holds its own for a good six hours on my skin. If you’re looking for something cooling yet interesting to wear, and you’re tired of citrus, you might give Grev a try.
This was a short review, so I’ll add a scent-related ghost story. A few nights ago I had dinner in a friend’s backyard. We’d finished eating and were pushed back in our chairs with a curtain of old fir trees scenting the air. One friend’s son chased the dog around the yard. A frog croaked from the pond next door. It was getting dark, and I was about to suggest we go in — or someone lend me a sweater — when my friend’s mom, a graceful woman in her 80s, told us about Stella.
“She wore the loveliest violet perfume,” my friend’s mother said. Stella was one of four girls, including Pearl and Jewel, who were vaudeville performers out of San Francisco, and Ruby. Stella lived most of her life in tiny John Day in rural Eastern Oregon.
When Stella died in 1964, her bottle of violet perfume went to Pearl. Stella’s sisters wanted to smell it and remember Stella, but, try as they might, no one could open the bottle. Then, one day in the early 1970s, Pearl walked into her bedroom and breathed the scent of violets and amber — Stella’s perfume. But the bottle was still sealed. The family still talks about Stella’s visit from the afterlife.
Eventually, my friend’s mom ended up with the perfume. When I found out the bottle was down the hall on a bedroom dresser, I dragged my friend inside to find a yellowed flacon of Guerlain Violette Qui Embaume. Even better, there was still perfume in it, and the stopper lifted easily.
I dabbed some of Stella’s violet perfume on my wrist. It smelled like a simpler L’Heure Bleue, rich in violets tinged with heliotrope, all soaked in guerlinade. And it still smelled wonderful. I imagined Stella visiting her sisters in San Francisco and, in a hat and gloves, buying the bottle at I. Magnin to bring some of the big city home with her.
Slumberhouse Grev is $160 for 30 ml Extrait de Parfum. For information on where to buy it, see Slumberhouse under Perfume Houses. As for Guerlain Violettes Qui Embaume, it was created in 1904 and is long discontinued, left for ghosts.
Note: bottom image is courtesy of Aimee Miller.
Wonderful ghost story!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Wow, how exciting to get to smell that vintage Guerlain, lucky you!
When I saw it was a Guerlain, my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head!
I love a handful of Slumberhouse fragrances but only own a FB of Sova (disco’d) and a decant of Grev which is such an odd scent that is thoroughly enjoyable every time I wear it.
Your friend probably mentioned ‘dental medicine’ to you when he smelled Grev because may who wear it (including me) smell clove – maybe that’s the ‘star anise’ but my nose thinks its cloves and many associate that note with dentistry. I happen to not have that olfactory association and I love clove notes (and carnation which is so close). There is a whiff of ‘water’ in Grev – not enough to call it watery or aquatic – but it’s def there. It is hard to describe and very pleasing to my nose.
*many who wear it
I read reviews that mentioned clove, but it didn’t jump out at me. (I wonder if it’s more evident when Grev is sprayed?) I’m with you in that I like clove, too, and think of carnations, not fillings.
What a great story!
And a pretty great perfume to smell, too!
Oh but I want to know more! Did someone eventually figure out how to open the bottle? Was the perfume in good condition? I suppose it was just some trick of Pearl’s memory combined with a passing whiff of something, but still …
The idea of a simpler L’Heure Bleue really appeals, but I’m having trouble imagining violets and amber, especially as I always think of violet as a cool, damp green scent. (We don’t have your tradition of violet-scented confectionery here.) The contrast should work though, like lavender and vanilla.
I notice that Jo Malone has just released a violet-amber scent so I’ll seek it out.
I mean, obviously someone opened the bottle, but I wonder how?
Such a romantic story, but violet is the most romantic scent of all I think.
I agree! There’s something so old fashioned and poignant about violets.
I had lots of questions, too! I wanted to know if they’d been talking about Stella that day, for instance. How long did the scent linger? When did the stopper finally come free?
I can tell you that it smelled remarkably good. No weird acetone or pruney funk. As for the amber, think of the vanilla-sweet depth of guerlinade.
I CANNOT wait to try this one! I am searching for a 10ml roller right now on Fumerie! I missed it the first time out. It sounds very refreshing for summer’s heat.
Thanks for the lovely story as well. That bottle is beautifully like it’s time period.
Fumerie is where I got the sample, so they do have Grev in stock!
I never heard of Fumerie. Just checked out the site where I will empty my wallet next.
I live within walking distance, so I spend way too much time there!
That would be the death of me.
Or would it?😈
I know just what you mean!
Thats a truly wonderful perfume story. I have yet to smell a real violet. I hope too one day.
Grev did not work out for me. The mint is not the tooth paste type but it did remind me of several herby toppings we used on culinary dishes in Malaysia. Its too close to home for me.
A perfume can really go south when when you associate it with something in particular. I still have problems with Nuit de Tubéreuse because Robin mention Juicy Fruit gum in her review. She was spot on, and now I can’t un-smell it.
Of all the wonderful posts I have read on NST, the story of Stella and her violet perfume is now my favorite. And I agree that violets are romantic — I wore Violetta on my wedding day. It seemed perfect for a sunny April morning ceremony.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I want to learn more about Stella and her sisters. I’m going to have to talk with my friend’s mom more often.