The beauty of Queen Esther is captured in Virtue & Valor’s Virtuessence of Esther perfume oil.

Queen Esther said when she had to save her people and went to the great Persian king Ahasuerus, without his summons, which meant death for her, “….And so I will go in to the king, who is not according to law: and if I perish, I perish.”

To be honest, I almost cried when I smelled this scented oil. Never in my life have I encountered a scent so beautiful, richly complex and deeply motivating. A fragrance that transforms me into another dimension when women are praised, not only for their mere beauty or sensuality, but for their good attitude, their courage to defend the poor and their good deed.

Like a symphony, each scent sings in harmony. First, the freshness of ylang-ylang burst with screaming orange zest. Too weird. I found, or fell in love with, an opening consisting of ylang-ylang, which is known for its strong aroma.

The aroma lingered for a short time, as the sweet smell of cinnamon, spiced with cloves, overpowered its predecessor. Remembering my bad habit of putting a lot of cinnamon powder on top of my Starbucks latte foam, I smiled instantly.

Gently, the jasmine, soft, blooming, enveloped me like an intoxicating cloud, like a bewitching mist. Feeling clean and relaxed, I awakened in me a true woman. Talk about the inner beauty of a lady; I felt like a princess running in my English garden, in my stunning party dress, full of spirit of life.

Caught up in the beauty, I eventually smelled the long-awaited incense mixed with my all-time favorite wood: sandalwood. I was brought back to a quiet afternoon in a small church near my bedroom when an Easter mass (in Latin) was held. The lingering smell of burning incense left a trail in his mind.

As a whole, it is a complex perfume. Hours after the first application, when the substances mixed well with my body, a totally different smell came out of each part of the body. I could smell amber with incense in the middle part of my body. And, on the back of my hand, I found jasmine and cinnamon. All of them blended together on my wrist, layered with musk and vanilla.

Suitable for religious/school/family events, this fragrance can also be worn for some indoor shopping. Interestingly, somehow the sophisticated scent inspires you and uplifts your spirits. I’ve tried it twice: once when a boring legal document needed to be read, and the second time when faced with a management meeting as terrifying as an uninvited plea meeting between Queen Esther and King Ahasuerus.

This perfume oil can be purchased online from Virtue & Valor, Inc, a niche perfume house. Payment can be made through PayPal. Shipping took a week. And yes, the perfume arrived safe and sound.