The Scented Letter 'Fashion, Fragrance & The Feel-Good Factor'

THE

editor’s LETTER

On some level, we’ve surely all experienced the power of fragrance to shift our mood. As long ago as 1989, the Sense of Smell Institute, in a project with The Fragrance Foundation in the USA, began scientific research into ‘Aroma-Chology’ – perfume’s influence over our moods and emotions. But it’s taken till now for fragrance houses to start specifically marketing the scents we dab on our wrists and necks as uplifting, or grounding, or calming. For more on this, turn to p.36.

On p.26, acclaimed writer Catherine Turner writes about using scent in ritual. A yoga teacher and meditation expert, Catherine recently led a group of journalists through a guided scent meditation, which she shares with us in this edition along with her own aromatic picks for enhancing your mood, turning around your day, or going to bed in a more Zen state of mind.

Fragrance’s new feel-good factor now goes beyond what’s in the bottle. Almost every designer perfume house out there is beginning to address the issues of climate change and social injustice, on some level, and we’re delighted to highlight many of their initiatives in this issue – a real sign of hope. We need this to be much more than a trend, however. For the sake of our futures, it needs to go beyond fashion, and become the norm. So, turn to p.11 to find out about how designer houses – who are also embracing sustainability on the catwalk – are changing the fragrance arms of their businesses, too.

We all know about eating our ‘five a day’, but did you know you can now spritz them, too?. On p.30, Suzy Nightingale looks at the trend for vegetable and herb notes in fragrance, opening up a refreshing new gourmand scent category that’s as far from praline and chocolate accords as it’s possible to get.

And it wouldn’t be The Scented Letter without ‘A Working Nose’ interview, of course. So this issue, we bring you insights into the working life of one of the very greatest of the greats, Olivier Cresp, on p.20.

All in all, much to savour, enjoy – and think on – we hope.

Traditionally, this is the season we start thinking about new perfumes to go with new clothes. But there’s a trend afoot in the fragrance world, with scent reflecting the growing interest in wellness and sustainability, bringing us perfumes to make us feel good as well as smell sublime.

LETTER scented

EDITOR

Josephine Fairley

jo@josephinefairley.com

DESIGNER Jenny Semple studio@jenny sempledesign.com

CEO/ADVERTISING

MANAGER

Lorna McKay lorna@perfumesociety.org

SENIOR WRITER Suzy Nightingale suzy@perfumesociety.org

MANAGER

Alison Pitcher alison@perfumesociety.org

Maggie Alderson

CONTACT

info@perfumesociety.org

41 Holmethorpe

Catherine Turner

Catherine’s distinguished 30-year journalistic career has seen her writing/styling/editing glossy magazines such as Marie Claire, Psychologies, Porter and Conde Nast Traveller. Her journey with meditation and yoga began more than 20 years ago, taking her to India, Bali and Thailand, meeting many teachers and gurus and living in a Himalayan ashram. On p.26, she invites us into her ‘aroma zone’ and shares a fragrant meditation for daily life.

Instagram: @catherinemeditation

Haydn Williams

Haydn – who for this issue writes ‘It Takes Me Right Back’, p.54 – is a freelance writer, blogger and podcaster. He writes regularly about fragrance and gifting for titles such as Grazia, Closer and Rakes Sense, and has his own website and Instagram page, ‘You Smell Great! What Is It?’. This year, Haydn also launched ‘Man In The Mirror’, a podcast about fragrance, grooming and self-care aimed at men. Haydn was the recipient of the ‘Rising Star’ award at this year’s Jasmine Awards.

Instagram: @yousmellgreatwhatisit

Cat Deeley

The English TV presenter and actress has starred in and hosted a long list of hugely successful shows on both sides of the Atlantic, nominated for an Emmy for hosting the US show ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ Most recently, with her make-up artist friend Amanda Grossman, Cat launched a fragrance brand by the name of e11even, which debuted with an aromatherapeutic perfume oil. On p.18, she shares her ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’ in scent. Instagram: @catdeeley

Olivier Cresp

Our ‘Working Nose’ on p.20, Olivier’s family heritage is rooted in perfume: his grandfather and father were buyers and sellers of natural raw materials in Grasse. Now based in Paris, he entered the perfume world in the 1970s, joining fragrance house Firmenich in the US. Famed for creating legendary scents such as Paco Rabanne XS and Thierry Mugler Angel (among so many others), Olivier has his own AKRO fragrance house with daughter Anaïs. Instagram: @oliviercresp

The Scented Letter is produced for The Perfume Society by Perfume Discovery Ltd. All information and prices are correct at the time of going to press and may no longer be so on the date of publication. © 2022 The Perfume Society. All text, graphics and illustrations in The Scented Letter are protected by UK and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission.

Yet more gorgeous ways to fragrance our working from home lifestyles, overleaf – plus layering loveliness and a must-read book, for perfume-lovers nosing around

BATH, BODY AND BEYOND

Fresh and fragrant delights from top (literally) to toe…

CHANEL CHANCE Eau

Tendre Scented Bath Tablets Plink, plink, fizz! Just add water for floral-fruity effervescence. £53 chanel.com

An ode to Autumn

Jo Malone London English Pear & Freesia’s crunchy, juicy floralcy can now be enjoyed – as a limited edition – in packaging adorned with etched glass Regency stripes, along with grab-them-while-you-can EP&F bodycare and home scent delights. Bring on the breezes and leaves underfoot, we say. £25-135 jomalonelondon.com

DIPTYQUE Eau

Rihla Hair Mist

Mystery and Middle Eastern magic, enriched with camellia oil. £50 for 30ml diptyqueparis.com

PARFUMS DE MARLY Delina Body Oil Elegant, sensual, light, spritzable –and non-greasy. £75 for 100ml harrods.com

ELLA K Lettres de Pushkar Hair Mist

You’ll waft a unique, rose/ vanilla trail with every swish. £62 for 100ml harveynichols.com

One for the collector

Via the artisan skills of Chanel’s exclusive embroiderers, the House of Lesage, the most stunning limited edition of 20 exquisite boxes has been created to showcase Sycomore Extrait (see p.42). Heartmelting creation, at a heart-stopping price of €10,000. chanel.com

BULY 1803’S BODY BLISS

This does more than look good on the bathroom shelf: in your choice of fragrance from the Parisian brand’s perfumed portfolio, Huile de Savon is perfectly poised between soap and nourishing oil.

€40 for 190ml buly1803.com

May the Forte be with you

A new intensity, with on-skin tenacity. After swooning over this Guerlain image for Aqua Allegoria Forte – so gorgeous, we had to share it! – read in-depth about the fragrances on p.45.

From £95 for 75ml eau de parfum guerlain.com

Flying down from Rio…

… is Brazil’s bestselling Granado Pharmàcias fragrance collection, just landed at a mini-boutique in Liberty, where we suggest a leisurely sniffari to explore the gloriously-scented, stunningly-packaged and very extensive line. (Check out the gorgeous soaps, too.) £12-110 liberty.co.uk

AND B-R-E-A-T-H-E…

A ‘wellness’ scent (see p.36), in a solid format. Bertioli Water Meadow Breathing Balm is infused with chamomile, water mint, eucalyptus and rosemary – and we love that their site offers online breathing ritual videos.

From £20 for 30ml bertioli.co.uk

The fragrant bookshelf

SCENT: A NATURAL HISTORY OF FRAGRANCE (Yale University Press) If you’re as fascinated as we are by ingredients and their stories, this natural history of scented materials – and how humans have harnessed their olfactory beauty – is an essential and riveting read. £20

#WFH WAFTING FROM HOME

Who on earth would want to return to the office when our living spaces can smell so darned good? We share the newest candle and diffuser options, for your delectation

▼ PAUL SMITH

From £42 for candles/ wick-trimmer £22 moltonbrown.com

▼ ACQUA DI PARMA

AdP’s opulent Signatures of the Sun collection is newly available as candles and diffusers that capture four of the most popular scents: sun-filled Yuzu, radiant Osmanthus, magnetic Oud and Quercia, which has incredible strength and charisma. Check out the celebratory sculptures by Roberto Milan to showcase the collection, too.

£78 for 200g candle/£90 for 100ml diffuser acquadiparma.com

▼ SYNCHRONICITY

Chiming with the wellness/ritual theme of this edition of The Scented Letter, five candles composed to ‘reconnect our souls to the universe’, inspired by different human states of mind: Love, Transform, Hope, Compassion and strength. £45 each for 220g synchronicityscents.co.uk

His inaugural home fragrance collection harnesses the designer’s colourful life: verdant Botanist, libraryesque Bookworm, the holiday vibe of Daydreamer summer holidays, and Early Bird – wet London pavements.

From £65 for candles/£95 for diffuser paulsmith.com

▼

GLOVED

The cedarwoodpowered scent of Tom Daxon’s hand care range has been so popular, it’s now offered in a green glass room diffuser. £48 for 300ml gloved.co.uk

MOLTON BROWN

Four Molton Brown favourites – Orange & Bergamot, Coastal Cypress & Sea Fennel, Delicious Rhubarb & Rose and Mesmerising Oud – are now incarnated for our pleasure as candles, diffusers, in gift sets –and we ALL need a wick-trimmer, don’t we?

▼ NEST NEW YORK

NEST NY’s Wilderness collection invites us to step into the woods and explore the great outdoors. First to debut, Charcoal Woods, smokily sensual with charred birchwood, black truffle and patchouli.

From £43 for candles/diffuser £50 cultbeauty.co.uk

▼ OSTENS

Debut candles from master perfumers echo the brand’s flower-powered fragrances, Illumination Rose and Illumination Jasmine, in blown glass vessels. £65 each ostens.com

DIPTYQUE

With the potential to convert us into a nation of housework-lovers, La Droguerie puts the joy into cleaning with fabulously fragrant wood polish, surface cleaner, washing-up liquid and a divine Basil candle, to remove kitchen odours.

From £22-51 diptyqueparis.com

▲ FLORAL STREET

A creative collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum, art meets fragrance in Floral Street’s happy-making Sunflower Pop and fresh Sweet Almond Blossom candles, diffusers, scented reed sticks and room spritzes. And do check out their four mini-candle Discovery Set (above). Just so clever!

Home fragrance £18-34/Discovery Set £20 floralstreet.com

▼ ETRO

Two new scents in bright-toned diffusers and candles: walk-in-acitrus grove Dafne, and aromatic Zefiro, whispering of the Mediterranean.

£80 for 170g candle/£135 for diffuser (refills £55) harveynichols.com

▲ GINORI 1735

Fancy a trip to The Cotswolds, Marrakech, Rajasthan, Big Sur or Venice? Ginori 1735 kick off their just-launched Profumi Luchino collection via a collab with design world darling Luke Edward Hall, offering compositions adorned with his illustrations, to transport us to imaginary homes in those locations.

From £140 for 320g candle thelondoncandlecompany.com

SUN.DAY X IKUKO

Scented self-care brand SUN.DAY of London collaborated with fine artist Ikuko on limited edition hanging ceramic sculptures, to waft essential oil blends into your living space or wardrobe. Seven beguiling scents span woody Nocturne to aromatic Rooftop Garden. £33 each sundayoflondon.com

fashion & FRAGRANCE: any colour, so long as it’s green

The biggest buzzword in fragrance right now is sustainability, reports JO FAIRLEY, who explores the exciting future of perfume for people and planet

We are all trying to tiptoe a little more lightly on the planet, these days – whether those feet are shod in Louboutins or Doc Martens. As awareness grows that every single purchase we make impacts the environment, shoppers everywhere are looking to the brands we buy from to take that on board. Shareholders, too, are demanding that companies they invest in are doing all they can to tread more lightly. And the world of perfume – including ‘fashion’ fragrance – is having to wake up to this, fast.

From how ingredients are grown (including the social and financial impact on farming communities), through

to packaging refillability or recyclability, energy usage, transportation: there’s such a lot for the eco-minded perfume-lover to take into account. But as perfumer Emilie Bouge, who has deployed ‘upcycled’ ingredients in her new creation Myrica Muse, for Miller Harris, observes: ‘It’s now a commercial as well as a moral imperative for the perfume world to become more sustainable – but thanks to amazing advances in the industry, in response to growing awareness, we can see change everywhere.’

Nobody said this was going to be easy, though – either for shoppers, or the fragrance brands who create the scents they wear and love. And I probably understand that better than most. In 1991, in a previous life (before I co-founded The Perfume Society with Lorna McKay), my husband Craig Sams and I launched Green & Black’s, the world’s first organic chocolate company, and (with Maya Gold) the UK’s first Fairtrade-marked product. At the time, as a couple of long-term eco-warriors (in my case, dating back to the gift of a life-changing book called The Shopper’s Guide to Saving the Planet, when I was 13), we were just doing what felt right and just and fair – but on our rollercoaster journey, we were faced with all sorts of sourcing and manufacturing challenges.

The logistical challenges we faced made me realise that sustainability is a journey of 1,000 miles that begins with a single step. And I truly believe that as the fragrance world embraces sustainability, each of those steps need to be applauded and trumpeted rather than shot down in flames or received with cynicism. Ironically, I often come across businesses that are making great strides in sustainability, but are frightened to make a noise about it, for fear of being taken to task about other areas of their operations where they’re not yet ‘perfect’. But as Voltaire said, ‘The perfect is the enemy of the good’ – and I’m all for every small step being celebrated. It sets an example to the rest of the industry concerned. Because most of us are fundamentally decent, and want to get out of bed in the morning feeling like we’re making a difference, it impacts incredibly positively on the people involved in that initiative, in turn, rippling out into the rest of the organisation. Thus, little by little, its very DNA is changed, in a positive way. And in turn, that of the whole industry.

The reality is that a small company can make a small difference – but a huge company can make a massive difference. When a global brand decides to launch a lighter-weight bottle, for instance, or to offer refills or take the seemingly simple step of stopping the use of cellophane, we’re talking hundreds of thousands of bottles and tons and tons of glass, or square miles of plastic. When a niche fragrance house chooses to do the same, you might be talking a few thousand flacons, at most. Yes, those smaller fragrance houses absolutely deserve our continued hurrahs and applause. But at a time of climate crisis (and nobody lived through the heatwaves of 2022 without surely realising this is urgent), we also need global multi-national names – the likes of Procter & Gamble, LVMH, Estée Lauder and PUIG, who between them are responsible for so many millions of bottles sold each year – to take this really seriously. NOW.

Even for someone who’d been into this stuff for decades, a ‘gulp’ moment some years ago brought home the real urgency of change. At a Soil Association organic conference, I heard the inspiring Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva give a talk. In the Q+A, she was asked if she thought it was too late to save the planet. Sagely, Vandana simply smiled and replied: ‘The planet will be fine without us.’ A chilling reminder: we might talk about sustainability being about ‘saving the planet’ – but in truth, it’s about saving the human race.

Personally? I’d like my great-grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren, to be around to enjoy the pleasures of perfume – never mind the natural world – too. So, I’m hugely heartened by the initiatives I’m sharing over the next few pages: the packaging advances, refill options, sustainable ingredient projects. Looking around at what’s happening in the fragrance world, these examples are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the changes afoot – and there’s no time to waste, because as David Attenborough regularly reminds us, those icebergs are melting faster than ever before.

So, I say: three cheers for each and every one of these efforts to save the planet – or more to the point, our species – one flacon at a time…

CHANEL

The longstanding partnership between Chanel and the Mul family, the largest flower producer in Grasse, has preserved precious acres of flower fields from the advance of property development, which now blankets so much of the South of France. Rose and jasmine, as well as the more recent introductions of tuberose and rose geranium, are produced through regenerative farming, without the use of chemical fertilisers, leaving fields fallow between crops, to avoid the risk of depletion.

Chanel have also begun looking at glass usage. The square Gabrielle bottle, for instance, pioneered the use of a thinner, and thus lighter-weight glass; N01 de Chanel L’Eau Rouge Revitalizing Fragrance Mist also features a streamlined, lighter glass bottle, no cellophane wrapper, and printing inks that require less heat during manufacture, thereby consuming less energy. Many of Chanel’s fragrances are also now available as refills – even the legendary N05.

COMME DES GARÇONS

Just-launched Zero is described as having ‘carbonneutrality as a formative concept, with each element shaped by reduction and restraint,’ according to this Puigowned brand. Haitian vetiver, from a sustainable project, is a key element in the formula, which is intentionally pareddown to be simple – but it’s the packaging here that’s truly notable: the famed CdG ‘pebble’ bottle has been reinvented to become fully recyclable, even removing the plastic lining inside the cap. The box? Simple black ink, minimal typography, on FSC-certified paper.

Chanel’s rose fields. Right and below: lighter-weight Chanel flacons

Lighter glass helps reduce greenhouse emissions

Regenerativelyfarmed roses at Chanel. Right: CdG’s eco offering, Zero

Refilling one 50ml flacon three times will save 55% of the glass, 75% metal, 64% of plastic and 32% of cardboard

DIOR

Iconic lines – including Sauvage – are already available as refills, the first step towards Dior’s aim to ensure 100% of packaging is refillable or recyclable, by 2028. Parfums Christian Dior’s French production is already powered by 100% renewable energy. As members of UEBT (Union for Ethical Biotrade), Dior have embarked on a programme to evaluate how their sourcing impacts both people and nature. And with flowers at the very heart of their fragrances, Dior are also working to ensure all of their own ‘gardens’ and partner suppliers are organic, or regeneratively farmed, by 2030.

GUCCI

Coty – the parent company for Gucci, as well as Tiffany & Co, Calvin Klein and Burberry – have started production of fragrances using CarbonSmart carbon-captured ethanol, or alcohol, the key ingredient across almost all perfume and by volume, its most-used fragrance ingredient. Producing ethanol releases carbon dioxide, but this ‘carbon-captured’ alternative works to tackle the problem by capturing emissions during the production process and recycling them, via an innovative technology. All Coty’s factories and distribution centres are now run on 100% renewable electricity.

GIORGIO ARMANI

As they put it, Giorgio Armani have ‘a commitment towards the planet’s natural environmental protection, through eco-conception choices and the reduction of carbon emissions, the main cause of climate change.’ What does that mean? Well, L’Oréal, who create and market Armani’s fragrances within their ‘L’Oréal for the Future’ programme, now put environment front and centre when new fragrances are developed.

In the case of Giorgio Armani blockbuster MY WAY, that meant the shift towards a refillable bottle. The bottle is recyclable, featuring recycled materials – but think on this: refilling one 50ml flacon three times (via the 150ml refill 150ml bottle) will save 55% of the glass, 75% metal, 64% of plastic and 32% of cardboard. (And while those figures can’t be 100% translated to other refills, it does give an idea of the difference that refilling makes.) The juice itself features a base of 100% natural alcohol – still far from the norm – while the key vanilla ingredient is sourced through a local programme in Madagascar which encourages farmers to hire employees from socially vulnerable communities, and to plant other crops alongside the vanilla, enhancing their livelihood and promoting entrepreneurship at a local level.

Working in partnership with Qantis, a consultancy specialising in the life cycle analysis of products (as well as services), Armani measure 14 different social and environmental impacts, from raw materials to ingredients, manufacturing and transportation, gift boxes, training

Dior are moving to organic production

of beauty consultants etc. Through a programme that Armani established in 2020 to preserve forests and their biodiversity, the fragrance house offset 7,000 tons of carbon emissions created by MY WAY during its first year alone, and is committed to doing so on an ongoing basis.

GUERLAIN

Since 2020, Maison Guerlain have been a partner of the GoodPlanet Foundation, and aim to be carbon neutral across the business by 2030. As Guerlain CEO Véronique Courtois explains, ‘Guerlain must give back what Nature gives us, and we must protect our planet’s beauty. We must continue to show the way forward and address the challenges of a sustainable world.’ Since 2021, Guerlain have been members of the Union for Ethical BioTrade, to evaluate 40 different sourcing channels for ingredients they consider inextricably linked with Guerlain’s signature, spanning neroli to jasmine, bergamot to patchouli, vanilla to sandalwood.

For the relaunch of Aqua Allegoria, meanwhile, which uses a base of alcohol from organic beetroot, the bottle has been redesigned to make it refillable and recyclable, and is now made of recycled glass. And in 2023, we can look forward to the launch of ‘recycling bars’, in-store.

Fragrance’s Global Footprint

When it comes to sourcing ingredients in a planetpositive way, fragrance houses play a key role. Firmenich, Symrise, Givaudan aren’t names that trip off the tongue as readily as Armani, Chanel or Dior – and indeed, most perfume-wearers may never have heard of them – but it is their projects on the ground in the developing world which produce the ingredients that allow perfumers to create to a ‘planet-friendly brief’.

As a leading global ingredients supplier, the responsible sourcing programmes co-ordinated by IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances) include a biodiversity programme to support patchouli farmers in Indonesia, through the planting of 85,000 trees, and a partnership in Australia which is restoring soil fertility across 13,900 acres of degraded land, previously dedicated to wheat, through the growing of sandalwood and mimosa; IFF’s LMR Naturals division, meanwhile, has long been a go-to source for perfume brands of certified renewable/organic ingredients.

The precious relationships with growers are actually central to the very viability of the perfume industry itself. They help protect fragile eco-systems, while offering farmers a greater incentive to continue with the tough work of growing and harvesting. That helps ensure that patchouli-farmers don’t switch to rubber, vetiver farmers don’t all go off to Bangalore to work in computers, and ylang producers aren’t tempted to give up growing and open guesthouses for digital nomads.

IFF’s initiatives are mirrored across all the big fragrance houses, encouragingly. Givaudan’s training programmes for 1,000 patchouli farmers, for instance, not only covers agriculture and distillation techniques, but also management of household incomes and nutritional education. In Venezuela, the community of families who collect tonka beans is given incentives and technical assistance in exchange for their commitment to monitor the local forest and its biodiversity.

Fragrance ingredient and raw material suppliers are also leading the way globally in terms of reducing carbon emissions. IFF have pledged to be carbonneutral by 2040 and ‘climate-positive’, just a decade later, becoming ‘zero waste to landfill’-verified. Firmenich is one of only two companies in the world, meanwhile, to have received a Triple A listing for climate change, forest and water management for four years in a row from CDP, and are committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2039, seeking to keep global warming below 1.5oC, in line with the Paris Agreement. (CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs a global disclosure system for companies, investors, cities, states and regions, to manage their environmental impact.) Since 2020, all Firmenich’s operations worldwide have been powered by 100% renewable energy, meeting their aim to be number one in ‘Conscious Perfumery’ by 2030.

A new phrase in the lexicon – embodying a new phase, in perfume’s story. And one that we couldn’t find more encouraging and optimistic...

It’s now a commercial as well as a moral imperative for the perfume world to become more sustainable

”

Guerlain’s Thierry Wasser, and Aqua Allegoria

Changing the world, one flacon at a time

A snapshot of sustainable actions from other fragrance names. And if some of these efforts sound insignificant, imagine the impact if every perfume brand in the world went down the same route…

MILLER HARRIS Perfumer Emilie Bouge used ‘upcycled ingredients in the new Myrica Muse fragrance. As Miller Harris explain: ‘We re-assemble previously used Turkish rose to re-build a new profile of this flower which is 100% pure and natural.’ In the case of patchouli, sourced originally from Indonesia, this natural upcycled material is created from byproducts and parts of the plant not otherwise used.

SANA JARDIN Tackling head-on the financial challenges facing pickers and growers, who are often only employed short-term for harvesting, Amy Christiansen’s ethically-focused fragrance house offers orange flower pickers the chance to upcycle floral waste materials. This enables them to produce orange blossom water and candles that they can sell locally and nationally, through their own brand, Annamaa, offering year-round employment.

DIESEL For the first time, the bottle for new D by Diesel features 25% recycled glass, with the outer pack made of 55% recycled material – and they’ve ditched the cellophane wrapper. (Can’t wait for this to be rolled out across the whole Diesel line-up.)

FLORAL STREET From the get-go, Floral Street’s fragrances have been presented in plain pulp cardboard trays that will actually biodegrade (if you don’t repurpose them as trays for seedlings). The Covent Garden flagship store, meanwhile, offers a refill station.

ACQUA DI PARMA 2021’s launch of Colonia Futura was a landmark for the Italian name: 99% natural origin ingredients, a label created from scrap dust from marble quarries and FSC-certified cardboard for the packaging. Importantly, the dispenser can easily be removed from the bottle for recycling, while the iconic cap has been replaced with a recycled, recyclable version, something that’s been expanded across the brand’s perfume portfolio.

MUGLER In keeping with the design house’s haute fashion reputation, Thierry Mugler’s brand was ahead of the curve with the launch of their refillable perfume scheme, The Fountain, when it launched 27 years ago. One Mugler bottle is refilled every 25 seconds, around the world, saving 1.5 million bottles and 380 tons of glass each year. We look forward to the day when every fragrance house follows Mugler’s lead on refills.

Mugler’s The Fountain launched 27 years ago

MEMORIES, DREAMS, REFLECTIONS

Cat Deeley

What’s the very first thing you remember smelling? The first distinct smell I remember was a drawer in my Grandma’s dresser. It contained all the items in her arsenal, needed for leaving the house. I thought it was the most intriguing, exciting, ‘grown-up’, glamorous Pandora’s Box. I used to love going through all her beads and her jewellery; I would adorn myself with every bead and bauble. Yet to learn the classic Coco Chanel art of removing one accessory before venturing forth, I would parade in front of the mirror admiring my own maximalist reflection. The dresser smelled of wood, powdery rose from her lipstick, nail varnish, Ellnett and a heady concoction of floral scents from the strings of her beads, which were placed around her neck in her signature style.

When did you realise that scent was really important to you? I always loved fragrance of any kind, but I never realised it was so important to me until it became my party trick. My sense of smell was incredibly strong and I could instantly tell what any of my friends or my Mum’s friends were wearing, an apparently useless talent that would make my friends laugh.

What’s your favourite scented flower? I absolutely love the scent of lily of the valley, and in fact, I carried a small bouquet when I got married in Rome, tied with an antique lace handkerchief. The scent is gloriously traditional and each tiny flower so

exquisitely beautiful and powerful.

What was the first fragrance you were given? Chanel Coco. I remember feeling so grown-up. It was launched in the 1980s and I fell in love with Vanessa Paradis, as the bird in the gilded cage in the advertising campaign. I loved how the warm, heady fragrance changed on my skin and I still gravitate to notes of rose, orange blossom, amber and sandalwood today.

What was the first fragrance you bought for yourself? I remember saving my pocket money and travelling on the 96 bus to The Body Shop to buy my first bottle of White Musk. It was a rite of passage I revelled in and I probably treated myself to a handful of bath pearls too.

Have you had different fragrances for different phases of your life…? After White Musk and Chanel Coco, I wore Paco Rabanne XS in my early twenties, then moved on to Clarins Eau Dynamisante for work; it always smells clean and fresh and it could be layered and reapplied. More recently I have been wearing Le Labo Rose 31, always remaining pretty true to my Chanel Coco roots. But my favourite is of course e11even!

The smell that always makes me feel happy is… nighttime in LA. The stillness and heat, mixed with jasmine and eucalyptus wood and the smell of the desert.

The smell that always makes me feel a bit sad is... the scent of church. Churches are still standing despite the passage of time; they make me feel vaguely reassured, but also a little melancholic, recollecting happy times gone by and dear friends and family who have passed on.

The scent that I love on a man is... e11even – and it’s my favourite scent on a woman, too; it smells divine on everyone! Our perfume oil somehow manages to be relaxing, grounding and uplifting. Clean and fresh, with a rose accord, geranium and patchouli, with woody undertones, it warms on the skin and develops into an intoxicating scent that makes the wearer truly memorable.

The fragrance from the past that I’ve always wanted to smell is… the scent of Elvis’s neck. I would have definitely been one of those women at the front of the stage in Vegas, waiting impatiently for a kiss or a neck towel!

What is your favourite book about fragrance? Adam Clayton [of U2] always has the best book recommendations, and suggested that I read Perfume, by Patrick Süskind. It’s so dark and obsessive, but beautifully illustrates the power of scent and its intoxications in every form.

Find e11even fragrance oil, price £80 for 20ml, at e11evenfragrance.com

TV presenter Cat Deeley recently entered the scent world, launching a fragrance oil, e11even, with her friend Amanda Grossman. It’s the latest chapter in a life-long love affair with scent, which Cat shares here

The scent of night-time in LA makes Cat happy

Cat loves the scent of sea air. Above: fragrances she’s worn over time

Cat’s five favourite smells

1 MY BOYS IN THE MORNING, when they are still warm from sleep, pleasantly dozy and I can kiss them all over and devour their sweet smell.

2 COFFEE Love the smell, love the taste , can’t do without it. Nothing says good morning like the smell of freshly brewed coffee!

3 CHRISTMAS MORNING The mixture of pine, rosemary, turkey cooking in the oven; such delicious scents that conjure up child-like excitement.

4 TRUDON

A WORKING NOSE Olivier Cresp

Recipient of The Fragrance Foundation’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Perfumer Award, creator of fragrance icons including Thierry Mugler Angel, Olivier Cresp shows no sign of slowing down. SUZY NIGHTINGALE reports

One of the perfumery world’s most distinguished figures, Master Perfumer Olivier Cresp has almost certainly composed some of your favourite creations, since his lengthy CV includes Dior’s Midnight Poison, Penhaligon’s Juniper Sling, Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, Givenchy Gentleman and, of course, the legendary Thierry Mugler Angel.

Cresp joined the team at fragrance house Firmenich in 1992, was named Master Perfumer in 2006, and was honored with the title Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture in 2012. Most recently, he has launched his own fragrance line, AKRO, in partnership with his daughter Anaïs.

When does your day start?

I like to play tennis in the morning, then go to the beach in the afternoon… [laughs] No, seriously, I never really feel like I’m working because it’s my passion. That’s why I’m still working within Firmenich, as well as on my own projects with AKRO. The latter is pure pleasure because we have no limits; with our own fragrance brand, we can dare. On a normal day, I get to the office around 9.30. The first thing I always do is talk to the other perfumers –ask how their evening was, have a coffee. Around 9.45 or 10am I open my laptop and start working.

Where do you work?

I have a double job, in fact, working for Firmenich as Master Perfumer, based in Paris, and working for my own house, AKRO, with Anaïs. I have assistants working with me, FDMs (Fragrance Development Managers), sales teams, managers – any number of colleagues depending on the project.

How does your day break down?

My office is open plan, so I have the FDMs come to see me, followed by the evaluators and the salespeople. After that, customers call me. An innovation is the number of Zoom and Teams meetings we do throughout the day – a few years ago this just didn’t happen, but since lockdowns, it can be three hours a day of talking to colleagues online.

How many fragrances might you be working on at any one time?

When everything was done by hand, I could only work on eight or 10 fragrances a day. Now, with computer technology, I can create 50 formulas a day, sending them all over the world. There are perhaps 20 projects

I’m working on at once, sometimes more. I prioritise the fragrances by dates and even hours for deadlines. I can be

fast. You have to be, in this business today! Depending on how quick you are, you can win or lose a project. To work fast you must have the experience and use your time well. But instead of doing hundreds of experiments, like I did at the beginning of my career, I now only need to do four or five – then I know exactly where to move forward in my fragrance formulas. And it just works.

How do you work? Perfumers are like writers; some prefer handwriting or dictating, others like writing straight on a computer. Thirty years ago, I used to do everything by hand and with my calculator. I’d handwrite the ingredients and work out the percentages and price for them. Those days are long gone. Now we have special programmes that work those bits out for you. When I’ve written my formula on my laptop I send it straight to the robot, which compounds about 80% of the formula. Then I have my assistants who weigh and compound the missing 20%.

As soon as I get the idea for my fragrances, I know exactly what ingredients I want to use. The next step for me is to discover the correct type or best quality of that ingredient for that fragrance. In two or three hours, it’s fixed in my head. From that point I think about what else it needs to create the atmosphere I want: some smokiness or an animalic note, for example. Sometimes the idea is easy, but then it’s not always easy to find the right molecules to match that smell in your head.

The other day, for instance, I had to create the smell of a marshmallow. I’d never really done that before, but in two or three experiments I had it. I knew I wanted orange blossom, I used some violet and some rose-y elements, then some praline and vanilla to make it smell edible. It must be logical. It’s essentially a chronological story, and then I’m never lost that way – it’s kind of a red thread I’m following, to get where I want to be.

What kind of other inspirations do you look for, during your day?

I can be inspired by anything, but conversation is really important to me. I buy loads of magazines on all subjects; I enjoy reading Le Figaro, but I get lots of women’s magazines, too. I also love walking, being in the forest, foraging, fishing, smelling the seaweed. I always carry blotters with me, so during the day I tend to jot down ideas on those, just in a few words.

Do you break for lunch?

Yes, I like to meet colleagues for lunch. We always go out, because there’s no canteen or anywhere you can get food in the office. Perhaps a few times a year if I’m in a

INK, from Oliver’s own brand AKRO

One of several creations for Dior

Boucheron Place Vendôme –bottling his dazzling home city

A masculine classic, reworked

One of four Light Blues by Olivier for D&G

Parfums de Marly Sedley

Scent icon Mugler Angel

Another classic for Penhaligon’s

Creating for Guerlain was a career high

hurry I grab a snack and eat that at my desk, but I hate it.

I also have the possibility of going to my house for lunch, because it isn’t far away. I might walk there and stay an hour, make myself some nice food, have a change of scenery, then I come back and feel revived by that.

What will the afternoon be spent on?

I always feel more energetic in the afternoons than I do in the mornings – probably helped by the lunch, inspirational conversations with colleagues and simply the change of scenery – so I feel I can tackle more difficult things then.

When does the working day end, for you?

In the past I used to stay until 9pm, working at least twelve hours a day, but I don’t do that any longer. Now I stay in the office until around 7.30pm, then I go back to my house and do some sport. I never work at home, not ever, otherwise my head would explode. Well, OK, sometimes I take my laptop and work from home, but on these occasions generally I’m with my wife, and we’ll stay maybe a week in Paris and a week in the South of France, where we have a nice flat. Seeing the sea, the luminosity, being in Cannes, visiting the islands, the harbour, watching the boats coming in and out, gives me such inspiration. My nose doesn’t switch ‘off’ as such, but we’re not going around smelling things all the time as a perfumer, not in the same way as when we work. I think it would be impossible to have a life.

Do you need to be in a particular mood, to create?

I need to feel energised. I must feel passionate about what I’m doing because otherwise what’s the point?

How long does it take from concept to finished fragrance, in general?

My initial concept can be done in two or three hours, but how long it then takes to come out as a finished fragrance might be two or three years. Ideally, a year and a half is enough to create a great fragrance, then you have to wait until the year after that to be on the market. There’s one project, I don’t want to say for whom, but I’ve been working on it for 11 years. And it’s still going on.

Is a visual moodboard helpful for you to create? More and more clients send me pictures to look through. Before, I’d be sent a few piles of pictures a year, as printouts. Now it’s mainly digital they can easily create a moodboard; it’s a visual language. To see on the screen what they want is useful. But often they can turn out the same. You know: ‘It has to be strong but easy to wear, pleasing to the market, something different, long lasting, another unique fragrance…’ When I’m gathering inspiration for myself, I flick through magazines; it takes about 10 minutes to get an overview and see the colours – colours really drive me. I like to keep my eye in, see

what people are interested in. I often see these images again in moodboards that clients send me, because they also use images they’ve found in magazines. Sometimes the inspiration they send is really good, though; it helps give me ideas more quickly.

What is the most number of modifications you’ve ever had to do, on a fragrance?

Some just happen really quickly. Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, for example, I did in 40 experiments, but I have some that are painful – the longer you’re working on something, the worse for creativity because you can get lost. I’m lost, the client is lost. The entire concept can change along the way, the name, if it’s feminine or masculine in style, literally everything.

Do you listen to music while you work?

No, I can only concentrate on one thing at a time when I’m working. So, I couldn’t even read a book or magazine with the radio on in the background. I do find most of the perfumers like to have music on the radio or stream it from their smartphone, but for me the key is to focus.

How many materials do you have at your fingertips, to work with? Out of 1500 main fragrance ingredients I have access to – what we call a ‘living palette’, which can always be added to – I’m usually working with the same 400. This means I don’t have to keep smelling them all the time. That might sound strange to some people, but I know them so well I know all the outcomes and possibilities of them. It takes you 10 years to get to know them that well – to see, to feel, to touch, then just to know.

How much of your time is spent on your own work – creating new accords, for future use? I don’t have that luxury, generally. The only trésor time I have, to do exactly what I want, is with AKRO. The thing is, I don’t need to actually smell materials all day, to write a formula. I will only then smell them to create a big step in that formula or change it somehow. When we get new molecules or ingredients and extractions to smell, that is always exciting, because I don’t know them.

Is there one fragrance you wish you’d created? Shalimar. It’s what I’ve smelled in my family for years, I love the richness of the bergamot with the leather and vanilla, the benzoin. It’s magic! I created ChampsElysées for Guerlain – with musk, mimosa, you know, very different; I loved it but it didn’t go so well. Still, I created for Guerlain, and it was a great time. For a masculine, meanwhile, I’d loved to have created Dior’s Sauvage. Another all-time classic. What more can you ask for?

Find AKRO fragrances, priced £140 for 100ml fenwick.co.uk

‘With computer technology, I can send 50 formulas a day, sending them all over the world “ ”

A ROSE BLOOMS IN THE DESERT

DEEP WITHIN THE ARABIAN DESERT, nature occasionally carves art from the sand: nomadic travellers happening across twinkling clusters of improbable roses blooming amidst the arid landscape. But these so-called ‘desert roses’ aren’t plants at all. They’re formed by gypsum or baryte particles clinging together with sand grains in water-saturated areas, creating beautiful curved ‘petals’ radiating from the axis, making ‘flowers’ from the dunes.

It is this stunning and unique natural phenomenon that British fragrance makers Molton Brown have now captured in olfactory form, in new Rose Dunes. Created by senior perfumer Philippe Pararella-Paris, this swoon-worthy ambery-rose masterpiece is elegant, velvety, infused with a hypnotic romance and mystery.

Rose Dunes can be explored and enjoyed in two fragrance evocations – each very distinct, both sublimely wearable, and definitely to be sniffed out, in this new perfume ‘season’. The Eau de Toilette tops tart cassis with an intriguingly green spiciness from pepper and leafy geranium, the fresh rosiness rounded by a gloriously mossy base, deepened by earthy patchouli and a pulse of resinous amber.

Building on this composition, the Eau de Parfum is woodier, richer, a bolder leathery interpretation in which the rose sizzles, the patchouli deliberately ‘overdosed’ for a velvety midnight-in-the-desert darkness, with an oudh accord addictively lingering in

the dry-down of sandalwood, musk and vetiver.

As we’ve come to expect from Molton Brown, the Rose Dunes collection also offers layerable treats, including a Bath & Shower Gel with a spellbinding pearlescent texture; these body creations deepen the olfactory impression, tethering it to the body, too.

Born in London in 1971, Molton Brown is of course an icon of uniquely British style – always proudly ‘Made in England’ and completely cruelty-free from the getgo. And it’s notable that while some fragrance makers are only just starting to boost their eco-credentials, Molton Brown were way ahead of the game. Into every single one of Molton Brown’s stunning scents and exquisite bath and body treats – including Rose Dunes – this forward-thinking brand seamlessly infuse their environmentally-conscious ethos.

Championing beauty that’s kinder to the environment, and as part of their ever-advancing sustainability journey, Molton Brown control their own manufacturing facility at Elsenham, in Essex. Molton Brown are in fact net carbon neutral, having relied on entirely renewable electricity at the site since 2016, and recycling 98% of their waste. Plastic bottles are created from 50% RPET (recycled PET), while Molton Brown’s ‘Return. Recycle. Reward’ scheme in their UK and Ireland stores invites customers to bring back bath, body and haircare bottles for 10% off their next purchase. Everything is 100% vegetarian, too, while

a

to

the Rose Dunes collection uses 100% vegan formulas.

As a reflection of their passion for quality, Molton Brown are proud to have been awarded a Royal Warrant from Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Molton Brown’s focus on the environment helped shape the creation of Rose Dunes, with Philippe Pararella-Paris showcasing a special and intense patchouli note, sourced from Sulawesi, in Indonesia. He explains: ‘We set out to ensure that the patchouli in Rose Dunes is truly sustainable, as well as of the highest quality. Patchouli takes a lot from the soil and is an expensive material, but these farmers use newgeneration fertilisers that respect the earth, and a new technique to harvest it.’ This innovative cultivation process sees the patchouli roots lifted and alternate crops planted, 15 months after harvest – improving the livelihoods of farmers, while helping to restore and preserve the precious soil, between patchouli crops.

The other signature element at the heart of Rose Dunes is a sensual rose note that also respects both the land and the growers. The perfumer told us: ‘I like knowing that every single drop I use in my composition is giving back to the people who grew and picked them.’ Philippe explans: ‘We get our rose from Bulgaria, and offer financial security to the farmers even before they begin to harvest it. And although the growers have been doing this for generations, we’ve also retrained them, to ensure that the environment is respected.’

Aside from their love for (and protection of) naturals, Molton Brown are always at the forefront of fragrance innovation, working with the world’s leading perfumers to weave the best from both nature and art into their compositions. This was especially important for Rose Dunes, explains Philippe. ‘We use natural rose to give a soul to the fragrance, to give a vibrancy and brilliance on top that you can’t get from a synthetic. But in order to enjoy the smell of a rose from your garden, you can’t use natural rose alone, or you won’t make out all its facets. Adding synthetics to the blend puts back the complexity into the rose scent – a harmony that truly works, in Rose Dunes.’

So: sustainably formulated, boldly enticing, utterly bewitching. The Rose Dunes collection is the very embodiment of ‘feel-good fragrance’, for sure. It only remains to ask the question: which of these desert roses will bloom on your skin, we wonder…?

WE set out TO enSURE THAT THE PATCHOULI IN ROSE DUNES IS TRULY SUSTAINABLE, AS WELL AS OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY

In a world of constant distraction we so easily lose connection to the simple and sacred. CATHERINE TURNER explains how and why personalised daily rituals are the key to maximising the healing power of aroma, to reduce anxiety and improve the quality of our lives

A FEW YEARS AGO, pre-pandemic, I travelled to Southern India on an adventure to experience panchakarma, a process of detoxification for mind and body in the yogic Ayurvedic tradition. Each morning began with a queue to visit the Vaidya (Ayurvedic doctor). I’d squeeze myself into the tiny, shambolic waiting room alongside a throng of travellers and locals, enjoying the smoky, woodsy-sweet scent of incense in the air as we listened to the Vedic chanting by Pandits (monks) sitting cross-legged in the lobby. Amidst all the chaos, those mystical sounds and unforgettable aromas created a profound sense of ‘in the moment’ stillness and calm. This set a meditative tone for a daily pattern of treatments including massage, healing foods, tinctures and other rituals known as puja.

Throughout a month of this routine, a deeper understanding beyond my physical body and my preconceived ideas about my whole self began to emerge. It felt like every pungent, hot herbal potion and rhythmic pouring of sticky warm ghee on my skin became an anointment; each turmeric yellow powdery scrub rubbed on my body was peeling away stuck layers and every meal imbued with chanting became an offering digested into every cell. Some of the treatments pushed me into my discomfort zone; this was not a cosseting luxury spa, so it was a rollercoaster. However, I left completely re-set mentally, physically, emotionally with a sense of confidence in my own body to heal itself.

That trip was one of the milestones on a yogic path which had been sparked years earlier when I was beauty and health director on a glossy magazine. Back then, I met Horst Rechelbacher, the visionary founder of holistic naturals brand Aveda when it was launching in the UK. It was the mid-90s when the words wellness and organics

hadn’t become marketing-speak and aromatherapy was a hidden secret with a hippyish hangover. With Aveda, Rechelbacher created a new genre of beautiful botanical ‘lifestyle’ products perfumed with therapeutic aroma blends to encourage users to engage and luxuriate in everyday self-care rituals inspired by his study of Ayurveda in India. (A sort of D-I-Y version of panchakarma.) The brand even had its own in-house natural perfumer, Ko-ichi Shiozawa, who worked with Rechelbacher to create Aveda’s pioneering ‘pure-fumes’.

It’s thought that as humans, we have been practising rituals for thousands of years; evidence of ritual practice found in Africa dates back 70,000 years. But more and more of us, I gather from chatting to friends and colleagues, are finding it very important now. It’s almost certainly down to the fact, as studies suggest, that performing a repetitive pattern satisfies a need for order in our lives – so vital in our chaotic world. And by bringing the mind to focus, rituals calm negative thinking and offer a sense of meaning and perspective.

This resonates with my experience of puja as moving meditations, which can be an at-home daily practice – or on a grand scale in a temple. I later learned that the offerings made represent the five elements – candle/ fire, flower/air, incense/space, fruit/earth, plus water –bringing what feels like a sense of connection to the very fabric of the universe. Interesting that the word ritual is thought to relate to the Sanskrit ‘rta’, meaning cosmic order. And yet, daily ritual can be something as simple as massaging our face, body, and scalp with oils, if it’s practised with meaning – not to achieve anything, but with intention to be present with yourself.

Aroma plays a powerful part in enhancing and anchoring any act of ritual, bringing immediate

peace of mind

It’s thoughtthat as humans, we have been practicing ritualsfor thousands of years “ ”

sensory pleasure and creation of positive memory. This is important in our virtual lives; the screens and gadgets we work and play on every day stimulate our eyes and ears, but not our olfactive system. In terms of aromatherapy, inhalation of volatile actives of specifically chosen pure essential oils hits the limbic system, helping to regulate our emotions and response to stress and pain. When oils are absorbed into the layers of the skin, particularly when combined with massage or touch therapy, there is a healing action; it’s believed that molecules can actually reach the bloodstream, to regulate hormones and enzymes.

If we visit a professional aromatherapist, oils can be bespoke-blended according to our physical, mental and emotional state. Depending on the therapist, they may use various massage techniques, even sound therapy such as tuning forks or crystal bowls to work with vibration. It then becomes a multi-sensory fusion of ritual and aroma. Most of us have experienced the power of essential oils as a fix-it remedy – for example, lavender for burns, tea tree as an antiseptic or via sprays and rollerballs containing blends for sleep or energy. But why not take it one step further by mindfully choosing and using essential oils, blends – and of course, perfume – to create sacred moments of meditative stillness in your day?

Think of them as your ‘scents of calm’…

Daily Rituals

Tap into the power of intentional ritual by applying lotions, potions and perfumes with simple nourishing touches which follow the sacred geometry of the body, recommended by healer/aromatherapist and natural perfumer, Michelle Roques-O’Neil

Take a few drops of product, warm in the palms, take three breaths to inhale the aroma, set a gentle intention to nourish yourself, then massage with loving care onto:

l WRISTS The P6 acupressure points, known as nei kuan, have been found to reduce nausea in people who have migraines.

l TOP OF THE NECK, where the spine meets the skull. This is the base of the brain; gentle stimulation here can help ease tension and a cluttered mind.

l BASE OF THE SPINE at the sacrum/coccyx. Use both hands to massage this area for a sense of grounded connection.

l BOTTOM OF THE BREASTBONE (or the solar plexus – in Ayurveda, the area of the heart, also known as Hridayam). Often very sensitive and in need of touch.

AROMA PLAY

If you want to experience the full power of aromatherapy for yourself, try exploring 100% natural essential oils. They’re potent, so need blending and dosing (see ‘How to use’ below). Quality matters and price is often reflective of the rarity and nature of the extraction process. For example, it takes approximately 3 kilos of fresh rose petals to create 1ml (20 drops) of rose essential oil, making it one of the most expensive. Michelle recommends picking three to four oils you’re drawn to instinctively. Or to expand your ‘nose’ and experience the nuances, try different types of lavender, for example.

l Rose – heart lifting, aphrodisiac, anti-depressive

l Frankincense – meditative, peaceful, relaxing

l Lavender – calming, healing, soothing

l Neroli – luxurious, uplifting, anti-depressant

l Cedar – woodsy, earthy, grounding, energising

l Peppermint – spirit raising, cooling, invigorating

l Patchouli – deep, woody, grounding, aphrodisiac

l Bergamot – fresh, citrusy, calming, balancing

l Ginger – warming, spicy, alive, energising

l Ylang ylang – nerve-soothing, anti-anxiety, aphrodisiac

Recommended essential oil suppliers are nhrorganicoils.com and oshadi.co.uk

HOW TO USE

On the skin (for massage/nourishment) – blend 5 drops essential oil to 10ml base oil

Bath Add 5-10 drops to the bathwater after water has finished running

Inhalation 3-6 drops in bowl of hot water; cover the head and inhale

Anxiety/nausea One or two drops on your collar or pillow

FURTHER READING

Essence & Alchemy by Mandy Aftel (Bloomsbury Paperbacks)

Rituals: A Daily Guide to Natural Health & Beauty by Horst Rechelbacher (Henry Holt & Co.)

The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils by Julia Lawless (Harper Thorsons)

MindfulEssentials

Lovingly crafted and sublimely scented products to bring ritual and sensory pleasure into each and every day

PERFUMER H Wood Land Incense/£30 for 30 sticks. These luxe, Japanese-style hand rolled sticks are clean yet complex; their church-like smoky mystical-ness mingles through a woodsy, green, earthy walk in the woods, drawing the outdoors into your mind and surroundings.

FINDHORN FLOWER ESSENCES

Sacred Space Room Mist/£17.95 100ml. A spritz of this ethereal mist shifts an edgy atmosphere into a place of peaceful harmony. The woodsy, light floral is subtle enough to use in any space –home, office, yoga studio.

AROMATHERAPY ASSOCIATES

Discovery Wellbeing Miniature Collection/£40 for 10 x 3ml mini oils. Experimentation is the invitation with these therapeutic quality blends which cover all bases, from emergency cure-all Support Lavender & Peppermint to sumptuous, sensuous scent Revive Evening, which resets from office exhaustion to night out.

YOGI Tea Rose/£3 for 17 bags. Turns teatime into a sensory and uplifting experience - softly floral/ herbal with hibiscus, rose petals, lavender flowers and a hint of cinnamon/cardamom sweetness, rounded with ginger.

THERAPIE Cherish Skin Repair Serum/£58 for 200ml. Honour your body, face and mind with this beautiful, complex top to toe oil. Narcotic floral-green, yet light and rosy with citrus, it lifts the spirits, while its grounding, earthy aspects help you to relax into your own being.

ORGANIC PHARMACY

Antioxidant Face Serum/£85 for 35 ml. Press a few drops of this golden amber-hued liquid onto clean skin for a fresh, radiant glow. Lightly nourishes skin and the zingy aroma (lemon, orange and grapefruit) uplifts and energises.

FOREST ESSENTIALS Luscious Lip Balm Sugared Rose Petal/£10 for 4g. A sweet and rosy treat made with cocoa butter and sweet almond oil infused with a traditional rose preparation known as Gulkand where rose petals are layered with organic cane sugar in glass jars and kept in the sun.

TIME TO SPRAY your -a-day

There’s a veritable glut of vegetable notes cropping up in perfumes lately, from beetroots and carrots through to artichokes and even cauliflowers.

SUZY NIGHTINGALE reports on a new and different generation of gourmand scents

JUST WHEN WE THOUGHT we’d seen (and smelled) it all, vegetable notes have started sprouting up all over the place in perfume. Press releases regularly boast of brassicas and beetroots joining the more widely used ‘savoury’ scent ingredients of carrot seed and cucumber, while French niche house L’Artisan Parfumeur have devoted an entire Potager collection to the glories of the vegetable patch.

Like any other trend, newness in fragrance can be traced back through cultural patterns, a certain shift in the zeitgeist that suggests something’s in the air. One of the major happenings has been a gardening and growyour-own boom in the UK that began during lockdowns and shows no signs of slowing. Google reported that searches relating to how to grow vegetables doubled during May 2020

to May 2021, while new research from beauty and naturopathic product producers Weleda, meanwhile, reveals that in 2021, ‘26.7 million Britons grew their own fruit, veg and herbs’, with almost two thirds claiming that ‘connecting with nature has had a positive impact on their mood.’

Though cynics might suggest vegetable scents are only on the rise because everything – from Stilton cheese, puppies’ paws and even full English breakfasts – has already inspired a fragrance, as long ago as 2015, Lucas Sieuzac, senior perfumer at global perfume company Eurofragrance, predicted that ‘vegetables will become a trend in the next few years – because we use fruits, flowers, spices and wood, but we have never, so far, used vegetables in perfumes in large quantities.’

More recently, perfume designer

Sylvaine Delacourte wrote a blog on the website of her eponymous fragrance house, agreeing that: ‘A new trend is emerging. There are more and more notes expressing nature and the countryside,’ she said, observing: ‘This focus on nature is very much in-vogue and is right now being expressed through new players such as vegetables.’

Certain savoury notes have long been accepted as important materials for a perfumer to have at their fingertips. Edmond Roudnitska, for instance, used a high percentage of carrot seed in his Rose by Rochas in 1949, while Guerlain Perfumer Thierry Wasser once confided to us that celery seed was his magic ingredient for ‘filling the hole’ left by oakmoss’s restricted use in his masterful Mitsouko reformulation.

Tomato leaf (a bright, green

Leaps in technology have given perfumers access to new aroma molecules, which for the first time allow natural extracts of vegetables to be used in perfumery

TOP OF THE CROPS

1 SALVATORE FERRAGAMO  Giungle di Seta (pea)

Inspired by Ferragamo’s exotic silk prints, the verdant sweetness of pea shoots entwine with jungle vines, tempered by the powdery familiarity of peony: nature, tamed.

2 SHAY & BLUE Clementine (watercress)

Succulent citrus wreathed in swags of laurel leaves and the bright, peppery green of watercress; flagging spirits further revived via petitgrain’s piquant sunshine.

3 DIPTYQUE Eau Rose

Eau de Parfum (artichoke)

Artichoke was added to enhance the original rose oil – fleshy, green, slightly bitter, it speaks of melancholy moments wandering walled gardens, arboreal amour

4 TO THE FAIREST

Élan Vital (greens/nettle)

A settling of greens and grounding vetiver on forest-y floors, the gathering of soft moss and patchouli with which to line a cosy bolthole, a cover of golden leaves.

5 COMME DES GARÇONS

Rouge (beetroot)

Familiar notes are daringly subverted as blood red berries and earthy beetroot meet supremely calming swirls of iced incense and charred leather.

6 JACK PERFUME

Covent Garden (carrot)

From Richard E. Grant’s perfume house, Withnail’s ‘Camberwell carrot’ morphs into a market stroll, munching on vegetables as an aromatic, ginger-tinged breeze excites.

7 BOHOBOCO

Wild Carrot Oud (carrot)

Carrots ripped out with roots, clods and bundled in newspaper, nestled in the crook of a leather-clad elbow, biked to a pipe-smoking lover down winding country lanes.

8 MAYA NJIE

Voyeur Verde (fennel)

The comfort of cut grass and freshly washed car leather, aniseed sweets sucked on the back seat, windows rolled-down to drink in forest air – then home in time for tea.

accord created by perfumers, often achieved through a blend of blackcurrant bud and galbanum), has also been much prized by perfumers and perfume-wearers alike, with so many of us immediately propelled back to childhood memories of rubbing a tomato leaf between their fingers to get a hit of that so-green, astringent, slightly bitter and utterly nostalgic smell. First used to full effect in Sisley’s L’Eau de Campagne by Sisley in 1976, tomato leaf was also present in Passion by Annick Goutal in 1983. The first true ‘vegetable garden in a bottle’ fragrance, though, might said to be Hermès Un Jardin Sur le Nil (2005), when Jean-Claude Ellena so cleverly turned a stroll in the garden islands of the Nile at Assouan into a sosophisticated salad of a scent, evoking the aqueous juiciness of the tomato and

The greenhouse effect

carrot, atop luscious fruits, lotus flower and a silvery drift of incense.

More recent launches, however, rather seek to replicate the rain-soaked atmosphere of the allotment, the lifegiving joy of seeing the fruits (well, vegetables) of your labour pulled from the ground, earth still clinging to them. Why now this bumper crop of veg patch perfumes? Well, leaps in technology have given perfumers access to new aroma molecules, which for the first time allow natural extracts of vegetables to be used in perfumery. For DS & Durga’s Bistro Waters, for example, which features lime blossom, pear and basil, the pivotal smell of green pepper was only possible thanks to a patented ingredient from Firmenich called Firgood™, which is derived entirely from organic matter. Asked why he

German fragrance house Symrise recently released a collection of five vegetable ‘alcoholates’, 100% natural extractions made possible by SymTrap™ technology: a gentle, cold-processing technique that doesn’t destroy the volatile top notes of vegetables, but delivers the crisp freshness we so crave. Based on by-products from the food industry, SymTrap™ recycles wastewater produced by distilling plants and fruit, trapping the aroma molecules contained in the waters, turning them into resin – another example of ‘upcycling’, as the fragrance world seeks to lower its environmental impact. After washing that ‘resin’ with alcohol, the ingredient can then be used in fragrance formulas.

The five alcoholates consist of artichoke, asparagus, cauliflower, leek and onion. And while they might not sound as sexy as rose de Mai or jasmine sambac, perfumers are excited by this expansion of their ingredient palette, which opens up a whole new sub-category of gourmands – the olfactory opposite of the sugar-dusted original generation of gourmand scents.

L’Artisan Parfumeur were first to harness this technological bounty; for their Potager collection, they enlisted leading perfumers to ‘nurture the passion of L’Artisan Parfumeur and its founder Jean Laporte’s love for nature… by revealing notes of vegetables never before used in perfumery.’

Alexandra Carlin, who worked on the supremely creamy, cauliflowerinfused Tonka Blanc, speaks of her excitement at creating ‘the first perfume on the market to contain a natural vegetable extract.’ Quentin Bisch explains that the challenge for him was ‘to dress the vegetable with a classic material to keep a part of the mystery.’ Thus, beetroot is burnished with bergamot and soft musk for his Musc Amarante; Vetiver Écarlate fuses a zing of tomato leaf and grapefruit to its shadowy coolness; fresh fennel spiked with lemon juice and pink pepper enlivens Cédrat Céruse; and pea pods are draped in the mint-flecked glamour of orris, for Iris de Gris.

Mouth-watering, every one.

thinks savoury and vegetable notes are presently proving so popular, D.S. & Durga founder, David Moltz, says that ‘fruit can be perceived as young, but vegetables as very adult. So, a vegetable fragrance is kind of like an adult gourmand.’

‘The increase in the popularity of vegetable notes is challenging people that not every perfume these days has to be sweet to be pretty,’ explains indie perfumer Freddie Albrighton, who recently opened his first boutique, in Stourbridge.

To his latest fragrance, Somebody Else’s Flowers, Freddie added an overdose of savoury notes of radish and watercress. He also reached for an ingredient called allyl phenyl ether, ‘which has an ozonic, floral shop-air, a honey/mushroom smell, and adds a little of the sweet earthiness needed to remind us of the little green sprouting leaves.’

When creating for niche British house

To the Fairest, founded by Rebecca Rose, perfumer Penny Williams added the bitter green note of nettle, which proved a

creative turning point for the just-launched composition of Élan Vital. ‘With this scent,’ Rebecca says, ‘I wanted to capture the sensation of going “off grid” – embracing nature in its wildest form and taking inspiration from the earthy, grounding notes of the forest floor.’ She continues: ‘There’s something very stirring about vegetal notes, and the “mulch” of soil, rain and undergrowth is at once comforting and quickening. It is this duality that lends itself to such interesting expressions in creative perfumery.’

Author Alfred Austin (1853 – 1913), captures the love of nurturing plants in his book The Garden That I Love: ‘The glory of gardening, hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul...’  And having found such solace in our gardens – in particular, in our veg patches – what a treat it is that perfumery now offers perfume-wearers the chance to spray our five a day.

Not just dig or shop for them.

FIVE TO SPRAY Symrise’s ground-breaking vegetable ingredients…

ARTICHOKE

‘Using our patented Symtrap™ upcycling technology,’ Symrise explain, ‘we managed to capture artichoke, and its smell has now bloomed in the hearts of our perfumers! They love its mellow, creamy, velvety green textured facets, giving a pulpy touch that is also delightfully rich, yet green and healthy. The scent is described by most as the new geranium note.’

ASPARAGUS

‘Presented as the new galbanum note, Symrise is the first to have ever captured its smell. Since it is now part of our palette, our perfumers are playing with its myriad complex tones — salty sprouting green, bread crust, porridge, green peas, Brazilian nuts… and are having fun discovering the variety of its facets bringing a natural, seedy, grain-like texture for an innovative addiction into the new gourmand family.’

CAULIFLOWER

‘Perfumers love it for its nurturing notes – very creamy, slightly powdery,

it also has vanilla, spicy, and toasted, almost burnt, facets. [We believe that] cauliflower is an utterly “texturised” note; perfumer Alexandra Carlin adds: “When you have that “texture” at your fingertips, you can’t help yourself but to try it out in creations! Not all raw materials have textures.”’

ONION

‘Our Brazil-based perfumer Leslie Gauthier is utterly enthused about it, saying: “It is one of the most naturalfeeling products of the tropical notes we have in our palette, offering a unique sulfuric undertone. We use its sparkling, fizzy, tangy facets to enhance the tartness of fruits such as mango or guava. Onion turns to be a wonderful and natural exotic scent booster!”’

LEEK Symrise observe: ‘This was used by Leslie Gauthier in an experimental mineral-floral composition to add a depth and weight in similar ways to the manner in which violet leaf has conventionally been applied in Chypre or woody creations.’

9 DRIES VAN NOTEN Neon Garden (carrot)

A brightly lit allotment made photoshoot-worthy — carrot crops wreathed in morning mist, a gauzy gown worn with designer wellies, the soft surprise of minted orris.

10 ROGER & GALLET Verveine Utopie (fennel)

Fronds of licorice-y fennel tickle the senses, the herbaceous verdancy rippled with spices and fringed with decadence as wormwoodinfused absinthe has its way.

11 STORIES No.2  (tomato leaf/greenhouse)

The soothing steam of a childhood memory: grandfather’s greenhouse, his pipe smoke encircling tomato plants, rose cuttings, the joy of running barefoot on grass.

12 L’ATELIER PARFUM

Verte Euphorie (carrot)

The instant whoosh of sunshine-y citrus presages leafiness and crunchy carrot in the heart, earthy sweetness swathed in fluffiness on the softly musky base.

13 DS & DURGA

Bistro Waters (bell peppers)

A savoury special of juicy green peppers and aromatic, just-chopped herbs with undercurrents of fancy cocktails to follow, latenight lock-ins and snogging the chef.

14 PACO RABANNE

Fabulous Me (pumpkin) Eschewing showiness, a warm snuggle that speaks of cosiness, silky sandalwood wrapped around fleshy pumpkin, rhubarb’s tartness tempering the sweetness.

15 4160 TUESDAYS

Le Jardin de Monsieur

McGregor (cucumber/celery)

Mr McGregor’s pipe smoke trail traces a rambunctious bunny through a Lake District garden: leafy greens, creamy mushrooms and nibbled strawberries.

16 ÉTAT LIBRE D’ORANGE

Like This (pumpkin)

The thrill of turning leaves, returning home, carved pumpkins, and ginger-spiced bread on a worn, wooden kitchen table; a warm dram drunk beside a peat fire.

Vegetable notes open up a whole new sub-category of gourmands – the olfactory opposite of the sugar-dusted originals

FRAGRANCE’S FEEL-GOOD FACTOR

PERFUME-LOVERS often use the phrase ‘fragrance wardrobe’ to describe their collection of scents: something to complement every outfit, for every occasion. But for some time, I’ve realised that my perfumes are much more than that. They are an emotional toolkit. There’s the Chanel Sycomore that I make a bee-line for in Selfridges, to douse myself in, when jostling crowds on Oxford Street send my blood pressure soaring. Or the burst of zingy Eau d’Hadrien, when I’m in need of an earlymorning energy boost on a grey day, and the second cup of English Breakfast tea didn’t quite work its magic. According to Mood Media, in-store providers of music, on-hold messaging and – yes – scent, ‘75% of all emotions generated every day are due to smell.’ To which I’d respond: ‘Only 75%...?’

Most of us, I’d say, innately understand the power of perfume to shift our state of mind or our mood. But today, this is a key trend driving fragrance creation: the notion of ‘wellbeing fragrances’ – also referred to as ‘functional fragrances’ – which have a measurable effect on our psyche, and potentially a positive effect on our underlying health. As Jules Miller, founder of functional fragrance brand The Nue Co. explains, of our senses, ‘scent is the only one with a direct line to three of the most important areas of the brain: the orbito-frontal cortex, which signifies awareness; the hippocampus, which is linked to memory; and the amygdala, which helps us sort smells and is directly associated with our emotions and mood.’

It was way back in 1987 that Clarins launched what was overtly marketed as the first ‘treatment fragrance’,

Eau Dynamisante, a zesty, utterly refreshing fusion of botanical essences which could be worn as a perfume, but – as anyone who’s ever spritzed it can affirm – is a definite wake-up call for flagging spirits.

Then in 1989, the phrase ‘AromaChology’ was coined – from ‘aroma’ and ‘physiopsychology’ – by The Sense of Smell Institute (which started out as the Olfactive Research Fund, a study arm set up by the US branch of The Fragrance Foundation). Going beyond the art of aromatherapy – the use of essential oils in massage and skincare/bodycare – Aroma-Chology looked at the interplay between aroma, feelings and psychology, using solid science. To that end, a great deal of work was carried out at the Monell Chemical Smell Senses Center, in Philadelphia, subjecting hundreds of volunteers to some of the sweetest and most unpleasant odours on earth, in an effort to put a finger on just how smells affect human behaviour and emotions.

For whatever reason, though, interest in ‘functional fragrance’ fizzled out, at that time – except in the case of Eau Dynamisante, which remains in the ranks of global scent classic, and now spearheads a range of four ‘treatment scents’, within Clarins’s portfolio. But in 2022, we’re witnessing the rapid rise of brands where self-care meets fine fragrance. With the wellness industry valued at 1.3 trillion dollars worldwide, and growing at 10% a year (according to McKinsey), the pioneering perfume houses on the following pages are tapping into a massive societal shift, as we seek to take control over our own health and wellbeing, whether through meditation, yoga, integrative medicine – and now, the perfumes we apply to our skin.

Scents to de-stress, uplift, empower: the new ‘functional’ fragrances go beyond smelling great, acting on our mood and emotions, reports JO FAIRLEY

Below: Edeniste’s Lifeboost active essence fragrances are based on neuroscience

75% of all emotions generated every day are due to smell “ ”

Cat Deeley and Amanda Grossman launched their gloriously grounding e11even fragrance oil not on the back of scientific papers, however, but on the strength of direct feedback from friends (and Amanda’s clients) who wore the blend. They chose the name to embody the significance of the number 11, which ‘represents two pillars, representing awareness and consciousness. When we see the number 11, it focuses the mind, makes us be in the present moment and allows us to see all possibilities exist. It can really boost mind, body and spirit,’ they promise, adding that their fragrance has similar attributes and encourages the wearer ‘to stop, take a deep breath, stay positive and consciously focus on balancing themselves.’

Created by French businesswoman

Bénédicte Foucart, Valeur Absolue was also formulated to shift our moods, connecting us to the multitude of emotions experienced in the lives of modern women; each of the bottles also features semi-precious stones, to charge the blends energetically, and also to work via chromotherapy, with each colour chosen for a specific property – green peridot, for instance, in Vitalité, for emotional healing.

Interestingly, treasured French fragrance house Roger & Gallet has launched a line-up of ‘Wellbeing Waters’, going so far as to rename their Paris fragrance salon as a ‘Boutique de Bonheur’, or ‘Happiness Boutique.’

1 CLARINS Eau

Ressourçante There are now four in the line-up of Clarins treatment fragrances, with this aromatic spritz promising ‘serenity, freshness, balance’.

2 VALEUR ABSOLUTE Sérénitude As with all of their fragrances, infused with crystals to turbo charge the moodshifting power – in this case, Amazonite, to beckon a sense of calm.

3 INITIO Musk Therapy With white musk to activate the pleasure receptor and cassis to stimulate energy, it’s formulated to ‘release a supplement of eroticism.’

4 ELLEVEN Created by Cat Deeley and Amanda Grossman, this shareable fragrance oil is designed to be smoothed onto pulsepoints, to ground and rebalance.

With a glittering fashion career behind her, meanwhile (including a senior creative role at the hugely successful online retailer FarFetch), Yasmin Sewell has more recently moved into perfume by launching Vyrao, which she desscribes as a ‘high-vibration fragrance brand’, echoing her life-long passion for healing and wellness. ‘I started to think about my connection with scent and how much it alters the way that you feel – it shifts your mood, your emotions, it can transport you like time travel… When you inhale, there’s a brief moment that you experience a spark of happiness, protection, self-love or liberation – it alters everything in your body.’

The five scents – sensually liberating Free 00, Witchy Woo (‘all about courage and creativity’), ultra-green and energising I Am Verdant, spiritual Magnetic 70 and ‘heartopening’ Georgette – were developed by Lyn Harris, of Perfumer H, which tells you all you need to know about how good they smell. But the fragrances also highlight a shift we’ve been witnessing. As Yasmin Sewell observes, ‘Traditionally, fragrance has been marketed towards attracting others, but I actually thought about how they would make you feel.’

INITIO Parfums claim to have worked closely with laboratories to create fragrances with molecules whose vibrations ‘elevate mind and body’ – in the case of Musk Therapy Extrait de

Parfum, choosing a natural white sandalwood for its ability to promote wellbeing, together with an energising burst of blackcurrant.

The Nue Co. are more transparent about the research behind their their launches, created with the fragrance house Firmenich. Their trio includes Mind Energy, described as a ‘fragrance supplement’ for concentration and focus. Forest Lungs is ‘forest bathing in a bottle’, with the wearer encouraged to ‘spray to reset in moments of high stress, even when you can’t get outside’. And the third, Functional Fragrance, takes its very product name from this entire category, offering a soothing blend of coriander, green cardamom and bergamot.

But the science behind functional fragrance really doesn’t get much more copper-bottomed than at Edeniste, described as ‘the first generation of active wellbeing fragrances driven by neuroscience’. Brand founder Audrey Semeraro, daughter of a nuclear scientist, has had a longstanding fascination with brain function. ‘I had observed from reading countless scientific journals and magazines that olfaction provided an immediate link to the brain, which was being harnessed in medicine. And I thought: why can’t we combine cutting edge neuroscience with fine fragrance?’

Determinedly knocking on many lab doors, Audrey enlisted leading neuroscientist Dr. Gabriel Lepousez, along with Dr. Jeremie

5 ROGER & GALLET

Cédrat One of eight ‘wellbeing waters’ from the heritage French fragrance house, its zesty citrus freshness is formulated to uplift and restore dipping energy.

6 EDENISTE WELLBEING Lifeboost Designed to work in tandem with your mood and layer over your Edeniste eau de parfum, for a confidence boost.

7 VYRAO I Am Verdant An eau de parfum for ‘transformation and illumination’, with meditative frankincense, cleansing iris absolute and spirit-elevating orange flower.

8 THE NUE CO. Mind Energy Midafternoon slump? This is engineered to stimulate neural pathways and enhance mental performance, clearing brain fog.

Topin (from the French National Centre for Scientific Research) to join her on her mission. Olfactive materials were assessed through EEG recordings, MRI, saliva and biosensor tests (heart rate, blood flow, muscle tension etc.), to determine the properties of many different molecules. After talking to several fragrance houses, they then teamed up with fragrance house Takasago, where Audrey worked with star perfumers Aurélien Guichard and Jerôme di Marino to create seven eau de parfums Building on the science, and monitoring the psycho-physiological impact of the fragrances at each stage, the perfumers also developed six Lifeboost® active essences – Energy, Dream, Wellbeing, Relax, Seduction and Happiness –which are designed to be mixed and matched with the eau de parfums, layered to deliver proven emotional benefits.

‘Lifeboost®,’ Audrey explains, ‘is for your inner self. It’s all about your personal moment. Customise a ritual for each Lifeboost®: spray the fragrance and take a deep breath, allowing its active molecules to release their optimal effects through our emotional processing centres of the brain.’

Edeniste marks the elevation of ‘functional fragrances’ to the status of true ‘neuroscents’. A toolkit, yes – but not based on hunch, or intuition, but solid science. And most definitely giving us an exciting whiff of the future.

latest launches

NEW

The Perfume Society’s Platinum Discovery Box is a glittering curation, showcasing stunning classics and new launches from rising star brands, many of them proudly British. Priced £25 (£21 to VIPs), find it at perfumesociety.org/SHOP. And look forward to these, among other treats...

● PENHALIGON'S

THE FAVOURITE

● FLORIS PLATINUM 22

● TO THE FAIREST AUBINE

● CONTRADICTIONS IN ILK X 2

● PARTERRE RUN OF THE RIVER

● RUTH MASTENBROEK ZEPHYR

● FLORAL STREET

SUNFLOWER POP

THE FRAGRANCE FAMILIES

As scentophiles know, fragrances fall into different ‘families’. So we’ve used the same classification system for launches as on our perfumesociety.org website. Just look for the coloured strip above the name of the perfume, which is your visual clue to the families. These are listed below. Most of us are drawn to a specific family/families: once you know which you fall into, that colour can act as a cue – and help you take a short-cut to the ones you may want to try first.

FLORAL-AMBRÉE

AMBRÉE CHYPRE WOODY

New season, new scents, inviting you to walk in the breezy outdoors –or snuggle up by the fire

ACQUA DI PARMA Signatures of the SunMagnolia Infinita

AMAN Alta

ANGELA FLANDERS Artillery No 3 Hungary Water

Magnolia continues its reign as one of the key ingredients du jour, in a radiant, holding-onto-summer fresh-floral that envelops you in its sumptuous, sun-drenched floralcy. Breathe in luminous citrus elements of orange and lemon before an encounter between sambac jasmine and magnolia, rose and ylang ylang, in the heart. Skin-warmed, it reveals sensuous undertones of musk and patchouli. The perfume equivalent of a late-season getaway to Capri, we think.

From £201 for 100ml eau de parfum selfridges.com

Alta – from the Latin for ‘high’ –alludes to New York’s skyscrapers, embodying ‘the splendour of the Gilded Age and the dynamism of Fifth Avenue’, where Aman’s newest hotel outpost is sited. By the masterful Jacques Chabert, it has the dynamism you’d expect: spiced with juniper, saffron, cardamom, riven with cedarwood, orris, leather, blessed with the staying power of labdanum, patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver. If you can wear it there, you’ll wear it anywhere. £220 for 50ml eau de parfum shop.aman.com

A new ‘Artillery’ collection showcases historic scents that have stood the test of time, and if you generally save Cologne styles for summer, get ready for an olfactory rethink. First created for Queen Elizabeth 1st of Hungary in 1370, this blends rosemary, lemon balm and richer, zestier lemon peel with frosted rose for an herbaceous wake-up-call that’s welcome at any time of year. It transfixed courtiers and set a lasting trend. Little wonder. £85 for 50ml eau de toilette angelaflanders-perfumer.com

An intensified version of the original, this doesn’t merely turn up the power: patchouli has been invited to the party, a seamless ripple of noir that nuzzles at the silkiness of sandalwood and nutty tonka in the base. Cool cardamom slinks throughout, combined with smoky black tea, Bourbon vetiver, a lick of fig milk and dusting of orris. We know those who’ve been followed around supermarkets wearing this, begged to reveal their addictive scent.

£220 for 100ml extrait de parfum selfridges.com

Yet again, Alberto Morillas casts a spell here, proffering a gorgeous bouquet of violet leaf, rosebuds, rose petals and lily of the valley, underpinned by white musks. That apparent simplicity, however, belies a youthful audacity: this is not one for shrinking violets (or even shrinking rosebuds, come to that), but an elegant, empowering floral for a woman utterly at ease in her skin, as unabashedly feminine as a fragrance can be.

£65 for 50ml eau de parfum fenwick.co.uk

Bulgari are also launching the Allegra collection: two fragrances that can be intensified and personalised with a Magnifying Essence (see overleaf). Composed by the esteemed Jacques Cavallier, Baciami – it translates as ‘kissing’, in Italian – sets out to channel the dizzying sense of falling in love, with its floral-amber lushness delivering a headlong, creamy rush of gardenia and vanilla; it sits alongside Spettacolore, an equally perfect play on earthy, powdery iris.

From £140 each for 50ml eau de parfum harrods.com

BDK PARFUMS Gris Charnel Extrait

BVLGARI Allegra Baciami BVLGARI Rose Goldea Blossom Delight

Allegra Magnifying Myrrh Essence

CAROLINA HERRERA Very Good Girl Glam

This was formulated to turbo-charge either Allegra Baciami (previous page), or its playmate Spettacolore – but we’re loving this purring, resinous juice on its own. Warm, enfolding, it reveals why myrrh was regarded as valuable as gold by Greeks, Egyptians, Persians and Romans. A pair of myrrh accords simmer within the essence, the first teasing out the note’s fruitiness and its almost liquorice tones, while the second is all smoke and leather. Magnifying – and magnificent. £160 for 40ml essence de parfum harrods.com

In the most spectacular shoe flacon yet swaggers this intense cherry and bitter almond swirl of sumptuousness. Co-created by mega-talents Quentin Bisch, Louise Turner and Shyamala Maisondieu, the welcome trend for using ‘upcycled rose water’ is continued, with a ripple of sour/ sweetness richly intensified and contrasted by sustainably sourced vetiver and vanilla Bourbon. Wearing this, any Cinderella can go to the ball, yet feel virtuous while they’re at it. £84 for 50ml eau de parfum boots.co.uk

Ethically-focused jewellery entrepreneur Carrie Elizabeth launches her debut fragrance, explaining: ‘There are two finishing touches that make me feel attractive, polished and ready to face the world. One is jewellery; the other is scent!’ Exuding the paredback polish of her covetable pieces, warm amber, vanilla and musk feel lit from within by luminescent lily of the valley, peony and jasmine. An effortless, everyday invitation to find your own light.

£65 for 50ml eau de parfum carrieelizabeth.co.uk

CHANEL Gabrielle Parfum

CHANEL Sycomore Extrait

COMME DES GARÇONS Zero

Olivier Polge describes his latest Gabrielle interpretation as ‘a floral fragrance that can be worn as a jewel.’ Radiant and sunlit, it is powered by a quartet of perfumery’s finest white florals, a voluptuous fusion of tuberose, ylang ylang, orange blossom and jasmine. What also makes this extrait interesting is the innovative delivery system: a new high-precision spray nozzle that allows for precise application on pulse-points. (Though we’d happily spritz all over, frankly.) £250 for 35ml parfum chanel.com

On p.36, we focus on ‘wellbeing’ fragrances – but we know many people for whom Sycomore, from Chanel’s Les Exclusifs portfolio, has long been regarded that way, with its grounding vetiver and cedar woodsiness. Here, an intensified accord of the eau de parfum is rendered super-sensual by iris, leather and amplified notes of vanilla. One to relax you at the end of a stressful day. Ideally, with someone you love, within nuzzling distance. £207 for 15ml parfum chanel.com

As you can read on p.11, ‘sustainability’ is the buzzword in the fragrance world right now. Here’s CdG’s initiative: a fragrance that aims for zero carbon, via cool vetiver sitting alongside bergamot oil and synthetic, almost varnish-like rose oxide. Then as Zero warms on the skin, cedarwood – handharvested and extracted using hydroelectric power, we’re told –emerges, sweetened by Cashmeran. Minimalist construction, but maximum olfactory pleasure.

£120 for 100ml natural spray doverstreetmarket.com

CARRIE ELIZABETH Aura

BVLGARI

Milk+

An interesting idea, from a US fragrance innovator newly introduced into the UK. Their concept? Each fragrance is available as a ‘Personal’ blend – light, ethereal, perceptible by those who come close; ‘Expressive’ (balanced, not overpowering) – and ‘Bold’, an amplified version which is deliberately intended to turn heads. Commodity Milk+ is to be worn with confidence, the second-skin milkiness ramped up loud and proud with deep, smoky firewood and amber.

From £22 for 10ml eau de parfum commodityfragrances.co.uk

DIOR J’adore Parfum d’Eau

Making a fragrance based on water, but which lasts on skin, has proved one of perfumery’s greatest challenges. (Ask any child who’s steeped rose petals in water to create ‘perfume.’)

But Dior have achieved that with this game-changing twist on the legendary J’Adore, infusing water – via a patented nano-emulsion technology – with a high concentration of fragrant oils, to create a fresh, milky floral with an exquisite and surprisingly lasting floral sillage

From £63 for 30ml parfum d’eau dior.com

D’ORSAY G.A. Dandy or Not

DRIES VAN NOTEN Sur Ma Peau

Oh, the romance of it. The D’Orsay fragrance house – available in the UK for the first time in almost 200 years –was founded by Alfred d’Orsay in 1830, to honour his forbidden love affair with London-based poet and novelist Marguerite Blessington. Today, the world’s leading perfumers have been enlisted as the keepers of the fragrant flame; this newest is a rebellious, passionate pairing of leather and orange blossom that is simply magnifique!

From £100 for 50ml eau de parfum selfridges.com

Opsis

Two new genderless EDTs promise ‘fresh, luminous overtones and a lasting radiance,’ via naturally-derived ingredients. With a come-hither promise from a name that translates as ‘On My Skin’, the vanilla and tonka bean in this offering are brightened by luminous bergamot, orange flower and a breeze of vetiver. ‘I wanted a big contrast between two strong sensations: bursting freshness versus pure, sensual attraction,’ says perfumer Quentin Bisch. And he nailed it. £180 for 200ml eau de toilette selfridges.com

‘Opsis’ translates as spectacle, in Greek, and this invites us to time travel to the theatre in the 1920s, where the backstage scent of the greasepaint fuses with the powdery make-up and perfumes worn by women in the room. Lose yourself in the first act, starring Earl Grey-ish bergamot; in the second scene, iris is the soft, sweet olfactory star, before the curtain falls in a cloud of incense and musks. Encore, encore!

£185 for 75ml eau de parfum harrods.com

Part of a trio inspired by scents carried on a breeze (each named for a differing kind of wind), the traveland adventure-led house here leads us to the heart of a souk. Perfumer and founder Sonia Constant references her grandfather’s work in the leather industry with Khamsin, the smoothest and most sultry of the three. Luscious dates lavishly soaked in orange blossom water segue to a supremely supple, animalic purr as it warms. Yum. £199 for 100ml eau de parfum harveynichols.com

ELLA K Khamsin

ELIZABETH ARDEN White Tea Eau de Parfum

EXPERIMENTAL PERFUME CLUB Neroli Cobalt

GIORGIO ARMANI My Way Floral

Tapping into the trend for fragrances that deliver a sense of wellness to the wearer, this eau de parfum harnesses what Elizabeth Arden call ‘VivaScentzTM technology, to ‘harmonise the key white tea notes into perfect balance’. We know many fragrance-lovers for whom this deeper concentration will be very much their cup of (white) tea, with its rose oil and ‘upcycled’ rose water rounded out by hand-picked Venezuelan tonka bean. From £25 for 30ml eau de parfum elizabetharden.co.uk

We are beckoned to ‘an early autumnal evening, sat outside under a sky filled with stars, surrounded by a grove of bitter orange trees as the seasons noticeably change from warm to cool.’ That’s the olfactory trick pulled off by Emmanuelle Moeglin in this limited edition, which uses smoky base notes to tether the ephemeral, ethereal essence of neroli and petigrain. Bright yet earthy, green as grass or fresh leaves, but ultimately, seriously nuzzleable.

From £32 for 8ml eau de parfum experimentalperfumeclub.com

GOLDFIELD & BANK Silky Woods

Amplifying the radiant, feminine bouquet of the original, this further invitation ‘to a journey of selfdiscovery’ feels more than a holiday in a bottle (though sunshine-y exoticism is certainly apparent). It also embodies the comfort of coming home, enriched by adventures, comfortable in your own skin. Sparkling citrus, tuberose and Tunisian neroli are swirled in the Madagascan vanilla base. All sustainably sourced, in refillable bottles (see p.15). Bravo!

£83 for 50ml eau de parfum armanibeauty.co.uk

GUCCI Flora Gorgeous Jasmine

From a new, gilt-bottled duo of intense scents joining the Botanical Series from this dynamic Aussie fragrance house, this focuses around – who knew? –pure and pristine Australian lavender, from Tasmania, where ‘blossoms are crisped by the fierce heat of the sun’. A leatheriness brings to mind polished saddles, with aromatic hyssop, patchouli, civet, oakmoss and oudh in the (very) dry dry-down. Saddle up, spritz with abandon and make hay, while the sun shines.

£175 for 100ml parfum harrods.com

Autumn beckons, and along with your cashmere scarves, you might like to swathe yourself in G&B’s second new, pure perfume offering: warm as toast, spicy, woodily sensual and (like all of their creations), eminently shareable. Tobacco smoulders alongside sandalwood incense, with oudh, ylang ylang and a suede note emerging through the smoke before delectable spices – saffron and cinnamon – drift in. Wear it for day, wear it for evening – but do try it on. £175 for 100ml parfum harrods.com

Alberto Morillas offers armfuls of Grandiflorum jasmine in Gucci’s joy-filled latest, an energising fizz of happiness that seems to explode from the bottle as you spray (and what a beautiful bottle it is!) Rippled through with effervescent mandarin and a magnolia accord (sometimes likened to Champagne), some hours after the sparkle’s settled, the glossy smoothness of sandalwood is enriched by resinous benzoin for a moonlit boogie.

£60 for 30ml eau de parfum theperfumeshop.com

GOLDFIELD & BANKS Purple Suede

GUERLAIN

Aqua Allegoria ForteMandarine Basilic

Aqua Allegoria ForteRosa Rossa

Eau de Basilic Pourpre

Don’t we all adore Aqua Allegoria’s spritz-me-again freshness, which invites reapplication all day long? Well, if you long for that transparency but with a little more endurance on the skin, you’ll want to know about Guerlain’s new Aqua Allegoria Forte concentration, which boosts the intensity of favourites in the collection. Here, Delphine Jelk teases out mandarin’s fruity, succulent side with this sun-kissed, sweeter creation: a juicy, aromatic citrus which truly lingers, irresistibly.

From £95 for 75ml eau de parfum guerlain.com

JIMMY CHOO

I Want Choo Forever

Roses, roses, roses – but with true staying power. Delphine Jelk serves up a rosy masterpiece with a soft, almost Turkish delight sweetness, commenting: ‘I liked the idea of a rose that reddened, kissed by the rays of the setting sun, fruitier, more petalled and more sensual than ever.’ Also notable: Aqua Allegoria Forte’s bottles are created from recycled glass, are refillable, and feature 95% naturally derived ingredients. Longer-lasting, but treading that bit more lightly.

From £95 for 75ml eau de parfum guerlain.com

Christine Nagel adds to The Colognes Hermès collection with this fresh-fromthe-herb-garden spritzer, tapping into the trend for vegetal and herbal notes that we explore on p.30. Her favourite herb, Nagel has long dreamed of capturing basil in a bottle – here, gorgeous green glass – because, to her, it offers ‘a burst of pleasure and freshness, with an instantly recognisable herbal signature.’ It’ll have us dreaming of al fresco lunches, long after the weather’s turned.

From £53 for 50ml Cologne hermes.com

We’re loving the trend of a dark shade of cherry fruitiness that is rippling its way through quite a few fragrances right now. Encased in the mossy softness of the base notes, here cherry offers a juicy juxtaposition with rose – a glamorous garnish to the cocktail of the composition, the initial hit of which is a boozy, black cherry liquor. Sinuously slinky as it warms on the skin, this ‘fearless, seductive and a bit unexpected’ scent delivers, utterly deliciously.

£68 for 60ml eau de parfum debenhams.com

Defying your fruity gourmand preconceptions, this scent glimmers beguilingly with luminescent chinks of Italian bergamot spotlighting the velvety rose, spiced jasmine, and powdered heliotrope of the heart. Sweet praline irresistibly sashays to the smouldering, woody smokiness of sacred Palo Santo and earthy guaiac wood in the base, alongside amberrich Peru balsam and dark patchouli in the trail. All in all, a hip-swivelling fest of fragrant sensuality.

£91 for 100ml eau de parfum selfridges.com

Multi-tasking as scent-creator, CEO & founder of the house, Mona Maine de Biran is the ‘nose’ behind this scent, a follow-up to their smoothly joyous Santal Sky. This ‘artfully crafted scent collage’ (as she puts it) layers a signature woodiness with the leathery warmth of saffron and the sense of green leaves verdantly unfurling granted by oak moss. Glints of creamy gardenia lighten the vibe, meanwhile, making the trail texturally intriguing.

£65 for 50ml eau de parfum fragrancehouse.co.uk

GUERLAIN

KAYALI

Lovefest Burning Cherry | 48

KIERIN NYC Santal Park

L’OCCITANE Lavande Blanche

MAISON CRIVELLI Ambre Chromatique

MAISON FRANCIS KURKDJIAN 724

If you love burying your nose in fresh white linens flapping on a washing line, you’ll adore this. Presently a limited edition within L’Occitane’s lavender line-up – that aromatic plant is a fragrant focus for this Provence-based brand – this wraps the aromatic flower in blackcurrant and white rose, after a fresh, citrus introduction. Blue and white lavender oils both feature, but this breezy floral is given surprising staying power via sandalwood, cedarwood and white musk.

£54 for 50ml eau de toilette uk.loccitane.com

Confounding the expected with their scents, Quentin Bisch conjures for Maison Crivelli the element of surprise from notes we thought we knew well. Here, the traditional amber accord is shot through with a sheerness; it drapes rather than clings. Transparent wisps of incense are dotted with pink peppercorn and davana, the fuzzy apricot skin of osmanthus is licked by vanilla Bourbon; while perfect for this time of year, it would work at any time without overpowering.

£200 for 50ml extrait de parfum selfridges.com

MARC JACOBS

Daisy Ever So Fresh

Francis K’s work at his own perfume house continues with a crystalline creation referencing the energy of cities, which resonate at a 724-beatper-minute tempo. Floral and musky, it’s bursting with light, via a ‘fresh urban accord’, powered by aldehydes and bergamot, before white flowers – jasmine, sweet pea, mock orange –unfurl. Pulsing on the skin, lastingly, are sandalwood and white musk. The concrete jungle drums are saying: guaranteed success.

From £110 for 35ml eau de parfum johnlewis.com

MATIERE PREMIERE French Flower

The name ‘MEØEXIS’ (Methexis) derives from ancient Greek, roughly translating as ‘the communication between the divine and the human’. A feast for the senses, cocoa and honey luxuriously swathe fig, while blackcurrant ensures the perfect balance of sweetness, swirled into the reassuring woodiness of cedar. A sprinkle of cinnamon ensures this so-sophisticated, intoxicating indulgence of a scent is seasoned to perfection. Divine, indeed! £150 for 100ml eau de parfum shymimosa.com

If you thought Daisy already embodied olfactory refreshment – well, this (as the name implies) is even fresher, another holding-onto-summer scent, shot through with citrus elements, offering a dazzling solar vibrancy. Mandarin, mango and pineapple squeeze their juiciness over rosewater, orange blossom and lingering notes of cashmere woods. It’s girly, it’s pretty, it’s a summer frock in a bottle – and should be wallowed in, before we reach for the opaques again. From £56 for 30ml eau de parfum lookfantastic.com

Perfumer/founder Aurélien Guichard showcases classic ingredients in the most exciting, contemporary ways. Even tuberose naysayers will fall for this luminous take on the infamously narcotic flower (so sexy, unmarried ladies weren’t allowed to walk through tuberose fields in France lest they were ‘overcome with emotion’, he told us!)

Tingled with fresh ginger, touched by ripe pear, this sparkling seducer inspires us to conduct licentious assignations from the chaise longue £195 for 100ml eau de parfum selfridges.com

MANOS GERAKINIS Methexis

ORMONDE JAYNE Babylonia

PACO RABANNE Fame

PENHALIGON’S Highgrove Gardens XPenhaligon’s

A heady plunge into the world of romance, a fairy-tale walk through a woodland glade of bluebells and violets, with a misty wisp of iris dusting the flowers as you follow the path to even sweeter treats ahead. Gourmand notes of vanilla, praline and sticky resins tempt you onwards, a perfect harmony balanced by the piquancy of sharp blackcurrant and the pillowy embrace of powdered musk. A fragrance for falling in love.

£135 for 50ml eau de parfum ormondejayne.com

PENHALIGON’S The Legacy of Petra

In quite the most extraordinarily wonderful bottle, Paco Rabanne continue their playful exploration of ‘avant garde luxury’ and ‘a new era of femininity.’ Melding succulent mango to creamy incense, the narcotic note of jasmine bridges the path between those notes. Ingredients are 90% of natural origin, sustainably sourced, made in Grasse and 100% vegan – so this creation will especially appeal to Gen Z-ers making their first forays into fragrance, we feel.

From £60 for 30ml eau de parfum pacorabanne.com

PERFUMER H Bergamot

Collaborations like this don’t come along every day: an elegant, aromatic floral inspired by the gardens of HM The King’s Gloucestershire home, a tribute to fragrant summers and an exciting way to raise money in support of The Prince’s Foundation. At its core, the sweet scent of weeping silver lime, drifting through windows to enfold tuberose, orris, mimosa, coming gently to rest on a bed of cedarwood.

£152 for 100ml eau de parfum penhaligons.com

PRADA Paradoxe

New to the Trade Routes collection, celebrating the historic places where the art of perfumery was born, spiriting us to the ‘desert winds and golden amber sands’ of the ancient ‘lost city’ of Petra, Penhaligon’s entice adventurers to continue their fragrant explorations via this vivaciously nostalgic, mystically beguiling composition. Sweet fennel fronds brush bright bergamot, an incense-infused trail of green tea refreshes, while rivulets of liquid myrrh purr in the base.

£190 for 100ml eau de parfum penhaligons.com

Perfumer Lyn Harris has moved on from launching twice-yearly fragrance collections to releasing compositions as and when – and thus, we welcome Bergamot, her play on that citrusy note, but as always more complex than the simplicity of the name implies. Clean, ultra-fresh, a freshly-ironed white shirt of a scent, it zings with aldehydes, petitgrain and lemon, shimmering on a bed of juniper and lavender, ultimately mellowed by tonka, clove and frankincense.

From £120 for 50ml eau de parfum perfumerh.com

Prada’s biggest launch in years, we’ll start by heaping praise on the tilted bottle design, cleverly echoing the so-recognisable logo. A stellar trio of Nadège Le Garlantezec, Shyamala Maisondieu and Antoine Maisondieu combined to deliver this exercise in olfactory contrasts, a white floral bouquet juxtaposed with musks and woody-ambergris Ambrofix, a note more usually enjoyed in masculine scents, here delivering an intimate and lasting trail. So chic and so smoochy!

From £59 for 30ml eau de parfum lookfantastic.com

PRADA Infusion de Mimosa

Mimosa’s golden, powdery fluffiness, fragrantly filtered through the so-chic Prada gaze, becomes even more precious. This floral bouquet resonates with the woody warmth of anise from the base, the top notes, meanwhile, being shot through with gilded sunshine thanks to mandarin. Poured into the iconic vintage bottle – first designed by Mario Prada in 1913 – if ‘Instant Classic’ could be bottled, this is it. An effortless wardrobe addition for any season.

£118 for 100ml eau de parfum selfridges.com

SANA JARDIN Venus of Verbena

Gaia, Ruth tells us, ‘roams the moors of the Norfolk Broads in Zen-like tranquillity. In carefree contentment, Gaia enjoys the moment, sipping on the calming nectar of chamomile.’ To wit, at the heart of the fragrance is a chamomile oil sourced from a farming family in Norfolk, its inclusion lending a sense of peace and stillness to one of three fresh-inevery-way eau de toilettes proudly showcasing essential oils grown and distilled in the UK.

£65 for 30ml eau de toilette ruthmastenbroek.com

If you’re not ready to let summer’s fresh feeling go just yet (we’re certainly not), let clean, crisp Zephyr lead you through a Hampshire forest. Along the way, ‘floating on a breeze’, encounter English peppermint, mint stem, grapefruit, galbanum, blackcurrant, clove leaf, oakmoss, sandalwood and musk, each note more refreshing than the last. Another scented snapshot of the English landscape, this explores the many facets of peppermint, grown on a farm in Hampshire.

£65 for 30ml eau de toilette ruthmastenbroek.com

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Venetian Jade

We step into the shade from piercing sunshine with this leafy, green and sustainably-composed creation. Bright orange flower, clary sage, neroli, smooth musks and heliotrope are cooled by vetiver, but at the fragrance’s heart is that verbena note, associated with healing, creativity, contentment and even protection against evil. We have the notion of wearing this as an olfactory shield against the stress of modern life. From £28 for 10ml eau de parfum rollerball sanajardin.com

We always admire the creative spark that fragrance houses display when creating a Harrods exclusive – and we really love this marbled flacon that the Venetian name has designed, to showcase a deeply sensual, androgynous fusion of amber and woody notes. Serving up candied cardamom, quince and pecan nut atop rose, suede, carnation and smoky vetiver, we’re ultimately ravenous for the base of tonka, sweet amber and musk. So, so moreish – and so, so stylish. £265 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com

Embracing the ethos ‘Art makes tangible the matter of which dreams are made,’ The House of Oud (a.k.a. THoO) go beyond their exploration of hearing and taste, to that most sensual of sensations: touch. Collaborating with Italian artist and ‘paper poetess’ Domitilla Biondi, perfumer Cristian Calabrò carves lavender’s texture into the white space of iris; bitter orange and angelica soak petals lovingly pressed between pages, pale woods offering soothing escapism.

£220 for 75ml eau de parfum harveynichols.com

THOO Sacred Groove

RUTH MASTENBROEK Gaia

RUTH MASTENBROEK Zephyr

TO THE FAIREST Aubine

VERONIQUE GABAI Ready for Rosé

VIKTOR & ROLF Good Fortune

A glorious celebration of honeyed light, in which gardenia, frangipani and orange blossom feel positively gilded.

Founder Rebecca Rose was inspired here by bright colours, warm sunsets and people embracing new beginnings. This stunning bouquet of brightness blossoms into something altogether soft, assured and humming with sensuality, with the frankincense and woods in the dry-down offering a hug of reassurance that says: you’ve got this, keep going!

£85 for 50ml eau de parfum tothefairest.com

Not ready to let summer memories go? Indulging in ‘bright blue waters, sunset romance and a glass of wine by the beach’, Ready for Rosé exquisitely evokes the excitement of long, sultry days when skin is golden, sun-kissed, salt-tinged and anything seems possible. Using an ultra-expensive, surprisingly aqueous magnolia extract with jasmine, orange blossom, and a touch of rhubarb’s tartness, it finally envelops with amber, cedarwood and musk. Totally transcendent!

£245 for 85ml eau de parfum libertylondon.com

Notwithstanding the mystical ad campaign starring FKA Twigs, V&R insist: ‘Destiny is not chance. Destiny is choice.’ So, you might well choose to veil yourself in this hypnotic creation, which offers ‘the secret alchemy of flower and gentian flower’ surrounding a bewitching solar floral heart of Jasmine Superinfusion, with addictive, good-enough-to-eat Bourbon vanilla swirling almost lickably in the base. We don’t need a crystal ball to predict its success, however.

£83 for 50ml eau de parfum boots.com

YSL Libre le Parfum

A continuation of the fragrant fantasies in Widian’s Velvet Collection, perfumer Jordi Fernandez beckons us towards what feels like a shimmering oasis of beauty amidst shifting desert sands.

The peppery pop of cool lavender is cloaked in a geranium blossom’s embrace, the green leafiness and woody depths of the plant embellished with the tea-like note of armoise.

Beneath, oudh swirls smokily, alongside, drifting through the supreme smoothness of sandalwood and vetiver.

£242 for 50ml harveynichols.com

Dominique Ropion’s perfume makes you purr with delight…but be careful, because kitty has claws. Sheathed within the smoothness of vanilla and the most buttery soft suede, hot pops of pepper pierce the calm, the simmering sensuality of saffron burns a trail to the darker, almost leather-y aspect of the eternally moreish vanilla pod. Resting on unctuous rivers of olibanum, juxtaposed by lemon-like, resinous elemi, it’s one to snuggle in, then snog, while wearing.

£215 for 125 ml selfridges.com

Proclaiming ‘Freedom doesn’t wait, and neither should you!’, master perfumers Carlos Benaïm and Anne Flipo further the fragrant cause via banners of flaming saffron, burnished bergamot and a ginger-sizzled slice of mandarin. We feel this latest Libre incarnation truly embraces the always fashion-forward thinking of the YSL woman – but never fear; if passions threaten to run away with you, there’s always vanilla Bourbon, honey and vetiver to wrap you in a gentle embrace.

From £62 for 30ml parfum lookfantastic.com

WIDIAN Baniyas

YSL

Les Vestiare des Parfums Babycat

AESOP Eidesis

BENTLEY For Men Intense

BOSS Boss Bottled Parfum

Bohemian perfumer Barnabé Fillion explores the Greek myth of Narcissus, evoking ‘the imaginary worlds beyond the surface of the mirror.’ Petitgrain floods the senses with pale sunlight, clearing to a woody glade punctuated by black pepper, swirled with addictive hedione, spiced incense and a crackle of dry cedar. Explains Fillion, ‘It is a window into nature, so to speak, one that invites a dialogue with surroundings that we inhabit but often overlook.’

£140 for 50ml eau de parfum aesop.com

BURBERRY Hero Eau de Parfum

Emboldening the leather, spices and patchouli of the original (a modern classic among ‘fragheads’ online), the inclusion of incense and leafy geranium provides an extra layer of richness that ramps up the woody addictiveness while losing nothing of the sublime smoothness which we previously fell head over heels for. With a definite snuggle-me-closer factor, think of spritzing this as adding a cashmere coat atop a perfectly tailored suit, for ultimate luxury. £70 for 100ml eau de parfum bentley-fragrances.com

We’re seeing more and more masculine fragrances being launched as parfums, the strongest concentration – and the longestlasting, on skin. Charismatic and intense, this woody-ambery creation revs up with mandarin and spicy incense notes, before suede-like orris and a fig tree root accord power forth. The destination? A lingering base of vegetal leather and cedarwood essence: bold, rich, intense. (And we’re loving the lacquered black flacon.)

From £64 for 50ml parfum boots.com

CALVIN KLEIN Defy Eau de Parfum

CARTIER Pasha Parfum Gold

This intensified Hero offering, we’re told, ‘explores a new side of heroism: the courage to embrace who you truly are.’ (In a woodyspicy, scented way, that is.) We get whispers of sharpened pencils from the trio of cedarwood oils in the base. A sense of a dark, shaded forest, via pine needle. Ultimately, we experience the smoochy side, through resinous benzoin and incense. A hero to swoon over, for sure.

From £65 for 50ml eau de parfum johnlewis.com

Building on the reassuring woodiness of the debut Defy, Calvin Klein offers olfactory escapism with the addition of an unexpectedly darker and warmer twist. A bright zing begins the EDP journey, juicy mandarin and a pop of black pepper smoothed by the hero ingredient of vetiver. Responsibly sourced from Haiti, the addictive ‘let’s get to know each other better, baby’ earthiness it brings to the blend gives the feeling of a rugged landscape, tamed. £54 for 50ml eau de parfum boots.com

In preparation for the upcoming festive season – boom-time for fragrance sales – we’re already seeing familiar flacons dipped in gold, including this limited edition of the iconic Pasha bottle. As it celebrates its 30th birthday, Pasha’s also been reimagined by Mathilde Laurent, with a new layer of warmth bestowed upon it, via a heart of sandalwood and patchouli. Looking – and smelling –pretty darned fine for its age, it’s pure gold, in every way.

£117 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com

COACH Open Road

Most of us dream of going on a road trip one day – waving goodbye to spreadsheets and Zooms of doom, jumping in a car and going wherever our hearts (and the tarmac) take us. Perfectly encapsulating that spirit of freedom, Coach invites us to crunch juicy red apples shot through with sparkling lemon, energising Sichuan pepper, sizzling a trail to aromatic lavender and clary sage, patchouli and vetiver. Vroom, vroom!

£38 for 60ml eau de toilette thefragranceshop.co.uk

ÉDITIONS DE PARFUMS FRÉDÉRIC MALLE Uncut Gem

DIESEL D by Diesel

We adore it when perfumers are tempted – in this case by our friend, Monsieur Malle – to share the scents they’ve secretly kept for themselves, until now. Creator of EDPFM’s positively erotic Musc Ravageur, Maurice Roucel unleashes a ruggedly sexy, ‘in-your-face Cologne’, as it’s described, a study in contrasts that is spiced with ginger, nutmeg, fresh with mandarin and bergamot, then set aflame by leather, vetiver, frankincense, amber and positively purring musks.

£188 for 50ml eau de parfum fredericmalle.co.uk

DIOR La Collection Privée Dior Eau Noire

Described as a ‘3-D textured fragrance’, three leading perfumers –Nisrine Grillié, Shyamala Maisondieu and Louise Turner – proffer three key notes in this woody-aromatic fougère offering. First: dynamic, fresh ginger, paired with breezy lavender. At the heart, a ‘denim cotton accord’, composed to ‘settle on your skin like your favourite pair of jeans.’ Finally, a smooth vanilla warmth enfolds. ‘As universal as a pair of jeans,’ Diesel promise – and also very shareable.

From £36 for 30ml eau de toilette johnlewis.com

ELLA K Harmattan

Now we get to smell what our friend Francis Kurkdjian has been up to since he became Dior’s Perfume Creation Director. Nothing brand new, yet – it’s a bit quick for that (Francis only landed in October 2021) – but for now he offers us a re-edit of much-loved Cologne Blanche and Eau Noire (above), which swirls with resins, a trio of lavender absolutes, a gourmand liquorice accord, and is drizzled with honey. Dandyish, yet très modern. £225 for 125ml eau de parfum dior.com

FLORIS No.007

The name Harmattan relates to a particular quality of air, and this marriage of geranium with verdant Texan cedar leaf delivers a lasting freshness that comes in gusts. Here, perfumer/founder Sonia Constant caresses skin with the aromatic notes before swathing you in a deeper, leathery dive, until finally, ‘saturated with my perfume, the wind continues its travels in Africa’s immensity, guiding mankind in its search for voyages unfettered by boundaries.’ £199 for 100ml eau de parfum harveynichols.com

You might care to imagine us humming the familiar James Bond theme while sharing this launch, because we just can’t help ourselves. Specifically created to celebrate the films, ‘it was our desire to create a fragrance with strong character and style, but with an uncompromising edge,’ explains Floris’s Edward Bodenham. The sophisticated fusion of citrus, juniper, lavender and geranium, smoothed by oakmoss, musk and sandalwood, leaves us both shaken and stirred. £200 for 100ml eau de parfum floris.co.uk

GIORGIO ARMANI Code Parfum

HERMÈS Terre d’Hermés Eau Givrée

‘Rewriting the codes of masculinity’, this modern spin on 2014’s fragrant icon addresses the harmony of tradition -v- contemporary sensibilities by infusing the heart with ‘an amplified sensitivity.’ Antoine Maisondieu reimagines the top notes – still classically fresh, but the bergamot here is vert de bergamote, prolonging the note’s brightness. Soothing clary sage is then wrapped around a duo of iris –resinoid natural and aldehydic synthetic – basking in balance.

£75 for 50ml parfum armanibeauty.com

As with all of L’Orchestre’s creations, a musical piece has been composed to accompany this, and we counsel you to listen to it, to bring the scent further alive. Mirroring its melancholy twang, which transports us to the Mississippi Delta, our senses are bathed in luminous bergamot, geranium and the grassiness of a vetiver accord. But the performance doesn’t end there: Ambroxan and musk tether Vetiver Overdrive to skin, till long, long, long after sundown. €175 for 100ml eau de parfum lorchestreparfum.com

Playing with metaphorical fire and ice in this glacial reinterpretation of what is one of the best-loved masculine fragrances, Hermès perfumer Christine Nagel excels, it seems to us, in the juxtaposition of seemingly extraordinary olfactory bedfellows. Bracing citron brightly embraces the vibrant piquancy of juniper, then sizzling Timut pepper guides us through a frosted breeze until we’re safe in the arms of the sophisticated, spicier woodiness we know so well. £72 for 50ml eau de parfum hermes.com

Indian Mysore sandalwood obsessives will definitely be stocking up on this homage to that long-worshipped wood which, they remind us, ‘is so rare it is now forbidden in perfumery, reserved for religious temples.’ With perfumer Calice Becker, Kilian Hennessy blended a recreation of this sacred ingredient via cedar, ambrette and carrot seed for sweet, earthy spiciness; amyris and copaiba balsam (animalic yet apricot-y in nature), for a malted, milky, incense-infused idyll. £195 for 50ml eau de parfum bykilian.co.uk

Inviting the wearer to ‘find meaning in life and the inner force’, the name for this latest offering from Turkey’s first niche fragrance house translates, simply, as ‘meaning’. A richly resinous woody-leather combination, it thrums with spices, ginger, saffron, black pepper and cardamom pulsing to a supremely opulent heart of oudh and rose, while darkly purring castoreum and suede add to its powerful appeal. Philosophy and perfume? Sign us up to that class right away, please. €525 for 50ml extrait de parfum nishane.com

Inspired by perfumer and founder Pissara Umavijani’s father, the office he wrote in, the materials he used, this radiates a sense of his poetic soul. A refined and ultra-smooth blend of sophisticated spices are seamlessly stirred through orris butter, rose and oudh. An elegantly comforting, papery, inky, soft scent that feels immediately timeless, how perfect to honour her literary father in this way – and what a privilege for us to share it.

€150 for 50ml eau de parfum parfumsdusita.com

PARFUMS DUSITA Montri

KILIAN Sacred Wood

NISHANE Mana

L’ORCHESTRE PARFUM Vetiver Overdrive

RICHARD JAMES

Aqua Aromatica Écorced’Épices

RUTH MASTENBROEK Marlin

The Savile Row tailor is known for his A-list clientele (everyone from Bryan Ferry to Daniel Craig), but we think scentophiles would do well to make the acquaintance of the Richard James fragrance wardrobe, now relaunched with a splash (and a spritz). We’re spoiled for choice with the eau de toilettes, but are plumping for this spicy, fruity-aromatic fusion of rosemary, mint, citrus, pimento, rose and patchouli. A perfect choice for a dashing man of mystery, we think.

£85 for 100ml eau de Cologne richardjamesfragrances.com

THOMAS CLIPPER Polaris

Its ‘sub-title’ – Lavender Dune – is a clue to the breezy freshness of this third in Ruth Mastenbroek’s collection of eau de toilettes (see p.48 for more). This time, the star ingredient is a lavender oil grown and harvested in Kent; balancing that outdoorsy, almost wave-powered aromatic freshness is a woody-amber accord. The olfactory equivalent of a walk through wind-whipped dunes, then a dash indoors to snuggle up by a roaring fire.

£65 for 30ml eau de toilette ruthmastenbroek.com

Ferragamo’s exploration of fragrance’s leather aspects, referencing their heritage, continues with an eau de parfum that belongs in the wardrobe of any gentleman who polishes his brogues. Or who simply enjoys the boldness of a leather accord, come to that; here, it is buffed by sandalwood and patchouli, rendered glistening by spicy elements of black pepper, nutmeg and aromatic clary sage, and dressed in a spiffy statement flacon. So smart – but dead sexy, with it.

£83.50 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com

TO THE FAIREST Élan Vital

TOM FORD Noir Extreme Parfum

Evoking the ancient beacon for adventurers, the North Star, this latest from the British niche house has been specifically ‘designed to help you feel more centred.’ Encouraging moments of self-reflection while gazing upwards at the bigger picture, lemon and pink pepper punctuate a subtle sip of rum, creamy almond swirling aromatic clary sage for a salt-tinged foray into the marine-like heart. Reassuringly mossy, imbued with addictive tonka and amber, it’s simply inspirational. £110 for 50ml Cologne thomasclipper.com

A scented reminder that sometimes it’s best to literally ground oneself by planting our (perhaps bare) feet on firmer ground. Here, founder Rebecca Rose was inspired by capturing ‘the sensation of going “off grid” – embracing nature in its wildest form.’ From first spritz, the forest greets you afresh, a mossy nest of greens, the grounding note of vetiver and a rich, truly earthy patchouli that feels like a velvet comfort blanket.

£85 for 50ml eau de parfum tothefairest.com

We’re always in the mood for love, thanks to Tom Ford, who certainly knows how to dial up scented sexiness, here with an extreme concentration of amber, cardamom, guaiac wood and tonka bean, pulsing within this gilded flacon. Technically masculine, this is fabulous on a woman’s skin – or why not wear it with your partner, and experience how it expresses, on each of your bodies? We won’t be responsible for the consequences, however.

From £120 for 50ml parfum tomford.co.uk

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO Spicy Leather

Hot springs

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I SPENT two years teaching English in Japan in the mid-90s. I was 21, fresh out of university and didn’t know it at the time – because you never do – but it was one of the happiest and most formative periods of my life. A time to seize opportunities, learn a new language, make new friends, travel, party and soak up the riches of a vastly different culture.

One of the features of Japanese life that I particularly fell in love with was the hot springs. There are local public indoor bath houses called sento as well as more picturesque outdoor baths known as onsen, in Japanese. Japan is volcanically active and makes up part of the ‘Ring of Fire’ – a string of volcanoes and seismic sites around the Pacific Ocean. This leads to the phenomenon of naturally heated hot springs scattered all over the country, from remote forest rock pools through to luxury hotel spas.

I enjoyed the convivial nature of communal bathing. It became a way to socialise with colleagues after work, or conversely a place for some reflective ‘alone time.’ (I think it’s called ‘selfcare’ these days!) Onsens were also an integral part of occasional skiing weekends in the Japanese Alps, which were a short drive from my apartment in Nagoya, half-way between Tokyo and Kyoto.

There’s something about natural hot springs in a snowy environment that messes with your mind. The hot with the cold is all wrong. It’s also counterintuitive to head from the comfortable indoors to the freezing temperatures outside with merely a small towel to hide your modesty and your goose-bumped skin. It’s so cold you can see your breath as you tiptoe gingerly towards the pool. Then the blissful relief of entering the steaming, bubbling water, hotter than you would normally tolerate, but you get in anyway as blessed relief from the icy cold.

There are certain rules and rituals associated with communal bathing that needed pointing out to a novice

foreigner like me ahead of my first trip to a hot spring, meanwhile. The Japanese take bathing seriously and the actual baths are purely for relaxing and soaking. There is a separate area with plastic stools, wooden buckets, shower attachments and toiletries for the more prosaic business of washing the body. The baths are generally separated into single sex areas and if it’s a small one with limited space, there will be different times assigned for men and women. The etiquette is that you don’t wear any clothes in the pools, the sole item allowed being the infamous small white towel, which has the dual purpose of helping retain a tiny amount of dignity as you walk around the bathing areas and then cools your forehead as you soak.

Depending on the region, or what is added, there are different minerals that vary the colour, health benefits and the smell of the water. There’s a unique scent that hits you as you emerge outdoors from the changing room. Many of the hot springs are sulphurous, so the first thing to reach your nose is the stale egg odour of hydrogen sulfide. It’s a smell unlike anything I’d ever encountered at home: deep, gaseous and earthy, but diluted and softened somehow by the blanketing bite of the snow, the cool mountain air and the surrounding flora. I will forever associate it with the serenity, stunning vistas and the sheer novelty of ‘an outdoor bath with a view’.

There is, however, so much more wrapped up in my love of the true smell of the hot springs. It’s all the things I describe, but was as much about the time as it was about the specifics of the place. If I try to conjure it up now it’s wrapped up in hazy sensorial recollections of a unique period in my life. A time of no real responsibilities, experiencing life in a different culture, learning more about who I was as a young adult – and who I wanted to be. All shot through with the – to me – sweet smell of sulphur.

This year’s Jasmine Awards ‘Rising Star’ HAYDN WILLIAMS is whisked to Japan by a whiff of sulphur

“There are mineralsdifferentthat vary the colour,health benefitsand the smell of the water”

Haydn soakingin a onsenJapanese in the mountains