Tirzah (2007)
by Ayala Moriel

I was also expecting more of a honeyed, heady sweet blossom when I opened my sample vial, and was taken aback by a completely different scent experience.
This starts out as a very green, herbal perfume, and it seems that the floral notes are dwarfed behind the hay, wood, and hint of citrus.
Once it dries down a bit, the soft linden shyly makes an appearance, although it is more of a supporting note than the star of the show.
This is much different than what I was expecting, but it is hypnotizing! It smells very "outdoorsy," to quote purplebird7. Some perfumes claim to re-create the feeling of the great outdoors, only to smell like ozone, pine, citrus, or grass. Tirzah stands alone, and when it wafts up to me, I am transported to a summer hike in the woods, surrounded by lush vegetation and green wildflowers. This is fascinating, and would certainly become a Holy Grail for lovers of the outdoors, if only they knew where to look ; -)

The linden flower deserves much more appreciation in perfumery. Here it finally gets its due reward. Tirzah is a lightly citrus, relatively non-sweet, gently green floral. It smells genuinely outdoorsy. One hallmark of Ayala's perfumes is how CLEAN they smell--no harsh topnotes, no chemical afterburn. It is easy to forget one is wearing this, because it smells so natural. This fragrance captures the unusual and beautiful fragance of this particular tree in bloom. In my area of the world, however, the linden trees smell much sweeter and stronger (almost overpowering). My expectations caused me to look for more honeyed sweetness in the base. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful interpretation--unique, refreshing, and unisex, too.