Author: Alison Pitcher

Fragrance launches we are loving!

Welcome to your weekly rundown of some of the new fragrance launches that we are loving this week. With a range in prices and scents, there will be something here that may take your fancy. Get yourself to your nearest counter pronto!

CAROLINA HERRERA
CH L’EAU
Conjuring feelings of holiday romances with bright, carefree summer days, CH L’Eau is set to place a contented smile on your face. Mouthwatering, pulpy, blood oranges are squeezed, with other bright citruses, over red tea, for an elegant comforting finish. Less saccharine juiciness, more vibrant freshness – and all soothed by the calming, aqueous red tea, sitting on a richer bed of cedarwood and patchouli. A floaty fragrance that feels light, radiant – and just easy.
£58 for 50ml eau de toilette
harrods.com

LANCÔME 
LA VIE EST BELLE L’ÉCLAT
Everything about this new eau de toilette incarnation of bestselling La Vie Est Belle sparkles, from the cut glass faceted bottle and its shimmering ‘scarf’ to the brightness of the scent itself, with luminous elements of mandarin, bergamot, tea, neroli, sambac jasmine and orange blossom absolutes soften to iris concrete, Ambroxan and iris concrete. But with Dominique Ropion and Anne Flipo as its perfumers, we’d have expected nothing less than full-on dazzle.
£56 for 50ml eau de toilette
lancome.co.uk

MAP OF THE HEART
WHITE HEART v.7
Map of the Heart have consistently surprised and delighted us with their striking compositions – and White Heart has our own hearts pulsing. Lavender, aldehydes and cardamom combine for a bracing, ethereal, enlivening top. Salted plums are then laid atop a bed of creamy gardenia and whispers of the honeyed, resinous scent of olibanum, while their signature Australian sandalwood can be found dancing in the dark with rich, natural oudh and vetiver. Truly, a scent to mesmerise.
£150 for 90ml eau de parfum
harrods.com

MISSGUIDED
BOSS BABE
Bergamot, pear and pistachio revive flagging spirits, almond milk, orange blossom and magnolia soothe frayed nerves and creamy, patchouli and tonka beans settle to a solid, sandalwood base. In a flacon resembling an energy drink, crack open a can of whoop-ass with this girl-power inspired scent that will, they say, ‘leave you ready to face anything the day throws at you.’ With Babe Dreams and Babe Oud also just unveiled, why not make yours a triple?
£28 for 80ml eau de parfum
The Fragrance Shop

AMOUROUD
OUD TABAC
Nervous of the word ‘oudh’? Fall in love with this notoriously potent ingredient, for Amouroud blend Middle Eastern aesthetics with refined classic perfumery techniques. Seriously smooth and loaded with spicy smokiness, coriander, ginger and saffron melt seamlessly into a swathe of silken heliotrope. An unctious (yet somehow still aerated) base of oudh, olibanum, amberwood and vanilla is reminiscent of eating a crème caramel in the wood-panelled room of a private members club. Luxuriously moreish!
£166 for 100ml eau de parfum
harrods.com

The latest launches to get your nose into!

It’s a new week here at The Perfume Society HQ and these are some of the new fragrances we are loving at the moment! Read our capsule reviews and get yourself to a perfume counter fast… MICHAEL KORS
WANDERLUST EAU FRESH
Setting out to satisfy our inner nomads is this airy, outdoorsy eau de toilette – just crying out to be worn to a riverside picnic, a summer party, your best friend’s wedding in an Italian castello… In a bottle of reminiscent of the prettiest seaglass, explore Italian bergamot, pink grapefruit, Granny Smith apples, muguet, white peony and jasmine sambac, enfolded in sheer musks and sandalwood – definitely your perfume passport to summer. Try it in our Day & Night Discovery Box now, too! From £44 for 30ml eau de toilette At John Lewis YSL
BLACK OPIUM SOUND ILLUSION
Part good-enough-to-eat gourmand, part va-va-voom floral, Black Opium Sound Illusion is all 100% rock chick glam, powered by black coffee, armfuls of white flowers, cedar, patchouli, and the Ambrée warmth of vanilla. Aside from the scents themselves, what attracts perfumistas to the Black Opium collection is a succession of show-stopping bottles – here, that famous ‘window’ surrounded by a glittering music ‘equaliser’, through which the rosy pink juice can be glimpsed.

£72 for 50ml eau de parfum theperfumeshop.com ROOS & ROOS IN THE WOOD FOR LOVE
If you’re a fragrant force, with L’Eau d’Issey, YSL Kouros and Jean Paul Gaultier Classique under your creative belt, why wouldn’t you use your name for your own perfume house…? So: Chantal Roos’s brand Dear Rose will know be known as Roos & Roos (she’s in partnership with daughter Alex), adding this mossy, woodsy, rain-drenched creation, which beckons us into the forest with notes of iris, violet, cedarwood, patchouli and earthy vetiver to their perfumed portfolio. £170 for 100 ml eau de parfum At Roos & Roos    NINA RICCI
BELLA EAU DE TOILETTE
What does a modern-day princess smell like? Musk and apple like Cinderella and Snow White? Well yes – but think less ‘demure damsel’ and much more ‘independent It Girl’. With Barbara Palvin as the muse – model and Instagram star (8 million+ followers), it’s a ‘reimagined princess’ perfume – vibrant acidic floral, blazing with the mouthwatering quirkiness of rhubarb softened with sparkly rose jelly and fresh freesia, with a magical aura of sensuality from musk and vanilla. From £38 for 30ml eau de toilette feelunique.com LOUIS VUITTON ORAGE
Two years after the launch of a complete collection of women’s scents for Louis Vuitton by Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud, the master turns his attention to a men’s fragrance wardrobe of five breathtaking creations. We find ourselves magnetically drawn to Orage, in which somehow, this genius perfumer recreates the heady, heavy air before a thunderstorm via earthy patchouli, vetiver and iris, with a lightning flash of iris and bergamot in a juice itself the exact colour of a storm. £185 for 100ml eau de parfum louisvuitton.com

Try the Floral Street Discovery Set!

If you think floral fragrances are a bit fuddy-duddy, think again! With creations by one of the world’s leading perfumers, the new perfume house Floral Street is going to shake up your opinions about florals with their contemporary spin.

Floral Street’s are as far from your granny’s florals as it’s possible to get – each created by the star perfumer Jérôme Épinette, who is known for his mastery of natural ingredients. As Floral Street put it: ‘These are bunches – not bouquets. Ingredients, not notes. And it’s about ease, modernity and joy.’

Smelling is believing, right? So we cannot urge you enough to get on board the floral revolution by wearing them on your own skin. Each scent takes a single flower as its theme – (sourced by the legendary fragrance house Robertet) – but each creation brings an unexpected twist, treated in a way that brilliantly ignites the senses, and builds an intriguing new chapter to the story. We guarantee these are quite unlike anything your nose will have discovered thus far…

Try all eight fragrances for yourself, with this must-have Discovery Set! (At just £12, we think it’s a total steal, by the way).

Which one will best suit your own scent style? Read the descriptions, below, for a glimpse of the fragrant journey you’re about to travel… and remember – you get to try them all!

Wonderland Peony This not only features armfuls of that flower, but pink berries and violets, Anything but cutesy, it’s given a woody-balsamic warmth by cedarwood, alongside vetiver.

Chypre Sublime An utterly modern take on this sophisticated fragrance family, blending incense with Damask rose absolute, midnight violet, pink pepper and geranium, on a stunning base of benzoin, labdanum and olibanum.

Black Lotus The classic English-Rose dressed in a black leather jacket. Intoxicating, spirited, bohemian and alive. Complex and multi-faceted, the sweet honeyed scent of centifolia rose adds depth to lighter, spicy nuances by way of red peppercorn and saffron.

Iris Goddess There’s nothing shy about these violets. An explosion of powdery petals collide with ripe red fruits. Black vanilla, warm musks and earthy carrot seed bring exoticisim and depth, sparkling lemon zest and red chilli pepper add a jolt of life.

London Poppy A love letter to London: a city as tough as ever-lasting poppies. The scent that opens with a bright beam of light. Sicilian Lemon and Florida Orange bring the zing. A salt-spray marine note adds an unexpected sea-facing view.

Neon Rose You will never have smelt flowers like these. Freshly chopped jasmine draped around your neck. Roses around your wrist. And yet no roses were harmed in the making of this showpiece – these buds were cooked up in a lab for extra punch. Crisp, green Angelica leaves bring a botanical dimension, while fresh Bergamot floats overhead.

Wild Vanilla Orchid It’s vanilla, but not as you know it. A raw-edged confection of creamy vanilla beans, blossom, cassis and citrus, dressed in a bunch of just-plucked jasmine. Offsetting the lingering sweetness; bamboo and sandalwood bend and fold underneath.

Ylang Ylang Espresso  A strikingly modern blend of red rose, ylang ylang and jasmine cross paths with a soothing cloud of just-brewed coffee, fresh cream and Sichuan pepper – sustainably harvested from the foothills of the Himalayas. A fragrance to get lost in.

PS: It it isn’t just the fragrances which are strikingly innovative, but the packaging. Each of Floral Street’s full-size bottles showcases a stunning, decadent flower artwork by renowned fashion photographer Matthew Donaldson – whose flower-powered photography also adorns this Discovery Box.