The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Strings of Light in the Forest takes its name from those strings of warm lights threaded through trees at night. Mountain towns do it in December. Some outdoor cafés do it year-round. That suspended-in-glow feeling is the whole idea. Caitlin Hayes built the fragrance around the contrast: vanilla milkshake for sweetness, beeswax absolute for warmth, Maillette lavender for something herbal underneath. Amber and Ambroxan extend everything. The name promises a visual moment as much as a scent.
Lavender sits rounder on skin here, less camphoraceous, more floral-herbal, keeping the sweetness honest instead of letting the vanilla milkshake turn candy-sweet. The beeswax absolute is the structural move: waxy, golden, warm, closer to a candle than a honey jar. Ambroxan and Helvetolide extend everything into a skin-like warmth that never fully leaves, even hours later. The composition doesn't try to smell like a forest. It tries to smell like the warmth you find when you step under those lights.
The evolution
The opening blends aromatic lavender with labdanum, slightly resinous with herbaceous undertones. The vanilla milkshake arrives soon after, with its lactonic creaminess, vanilla notes, and sugar warmth. Beeswax sits underneath, keeping everything waxy and intimate rather than airy. Amber and Ambroxan carry the sweetness into the longer hours. The drydown is Haitian vetiver and Helvetolide, powdery-warm and close to skin. You can still find it on your wrist hours later.
Cultural impact
Strings of Light in the Forest has found an audience in the indie fragrance community for its sweet warmth and unique beeswax-vanilla-lavender combination. It's the kind of composition that gets described as a comfort scent, appealing to those who want something intimate and distinctive. For a niche indie house, finding a voice that resonates with fragrance lovers is worth noting.
The House
SorceSorce began as a modest experiment in Charlotte, North Carolina, where founder Caitlin Hayes turned her home‑lab blends into a small‑batch perfume label. The brand offers a rotating catalog of niche scents, each released in limited quantities and presented in minimalist glass vessels. Sorce’s lineup includes playful titles such as In Dreams and Fairy Tales Blueberry (2025) and more contemplative notes like English Major (2024). The house focuses on scent as personal expression, inviting collectors to explore fragrance as a daily ritual rather than a fleeting trend. By keeping production tight and distribution direct, Sorce maintains a hands‑on relationship with its community of indie perfume enthusiasts.
The Creator
Caitlin HayesCaitlin favors natural extracts that whisper rather than shout. Lavender, vanilla, and freshly cut herbs appear frequently, often paired with unexpected mineral accords that evoke rain‑kissed soil.
