Author: Suzy Nightingale

Jasmine – Mythology, History & Scents…

Jasmine and rose are the two ‘foundation stones’ of perfumery. VAST numbers of scents feature a type of jasmine somewhere in their construction, and little wonder we are addicted – the smell of jasmine has enraptured and inspired human civilisation through centuries…

 

every year it seems
the jasmine
creeps back
into my life
just when I begin to worry
nothing will smell sweet
anymore

— Samantha Rae Lazar

 

Since ancient times, jasmine flowers have been prized for their antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, relaxing and even aphrodisiac qualities. The scent is certainly potent (most powerful at night) and its Jasmine gives a richness and intensity to fragrances:  a sweet floral note, but with a dead-sexy muskiness to it.  If you smell different concentrated ‘absolutes’ (the oily liquids created through macerating the jasmine flowers), they have their own characters:  some smell medicinal, some sweet, some musky, some green.

 

 

  • Jasmine has variously been referred to as both ‘the Queen of Flowers’ and ‘the King of Flowers’, and in different cultures is synonymous with love, romance, weddings, passion, seduction and beauty. It is also known to perfumers, quite simply as ‘La Fleur’ – or ‘the flower’ – such is jasmine’s importance.

 

  • Even though jasmine may not be listed in the pyramid of ingredients, chances are there’s a touch in there somewhere; it’s one of the most widely-used ingredients in perfumery.

 

  • The name itself is Persian, meaning ‘a gift from God’.

 

  • In Persia, Ancient Greece and Egypt, jasmine’s healing powers were already recognised: aromatherapists still use it for improving digestion, weight loss, accelerating the metabolism – and for its aphrodisiac effects…

 

  • There are actually over 200 species of jasmine – but two members of the beautiful white-flowered family are prized above others, by perfumers. The first is Jasminum grandiflorum – which translates as ‘big-flowered jasmine’. The other is Jasmine sambac, a.k.a. ‘Arabian jasmine’ (something of a misnomer, since it originated in southeast Asia).

 

  • Jasmine actually originated in China and India and – who knew? – is a member of the olive family.

 

 

The lifecycle of Arabian jasmine – from Wikipedia.org

 

 

The website jardineriaon.com gives a delightful recounting of some of the mythology surrounding jasmine, including this tale…

 

‘…the meaning of the jasmine flower occupies an important space within Arab mythology. In this mythology it is said that a beautiful young nomad whose name was Jasmine used large amounts of veils to protect herself from the harmful sun rays that are in the desert. A prince belonging to a North African race was fascinated by Jasmine’s beauty as people described her. In order to find out if that woman was real or not, he marched through the desert in search of her. This is when he found her walking among the desert sands and dunes and was able to observe her graceful demeanour.

The bearing was so graceful and reminded him of mythological goddesses and fell madly in love with her, even though she always kept her face covered. The prince proposed to her soon after, and the woman agreed to live in his palace and leave the desert. However, with the passage of time, he realised that he was not from and since he had lost freedom when leaving the desert. For this reason, in one night she escaped mounted on a horse and returned to the desert where she belonged. She opened her arms to the sun and released all the veils that enveloped her. It is then that the sun decided to immortalise it in the beautiful flower that is known today as jasmine.’

It’s extraordinary that a single plant can smell so different, depending on where it’s grown. The genius of perfumers is knowing just what they have to do, to blend those into perfectly constructed scents for us to wear – and on this (scented) note, we’ll be following up with the perfect jasmine fragrance suggestions in the weeks to come.

 

 

Jasmine enfleurage

 

 

For thousands of years, though, jasmine’s precious scent has been naturally extracted for perfumes through enfleurage – a lengthy and labour-intensive process whereby countless flowers are pressed into layers of fat, gradually the scent impregnating the fat with each new layer of the blooms, from which it could eventually be extracted.

 

Observe
the jasmine lightness
of the moon.

— William Carlos Williams

 

When the solvent evaporates from the mass of petals, what’s drained off is a semi-solid mass known as a ‘concrete’:a wax-like substance with a long shelf life; and a whopping 400 kilos of flowers are needed for just one kilo of that concrete. That translates at around 8,000 hand-picked blooms to produce one millilitre (1 ml) of the ‘absolute’ – which is why it’s so extraordinarily expensive.

But jasmine can also be recreated synthetically with other aroma chemical versions of white flowers and added ingredients to create an ‘accord’ (though perfumers and connoisseurs will always explain that the real stuff is the best, as far as jasmine’s concerned, and why fragrance houses who use it are so keen to share their scented stories).

 

The smell of jasmine makes people tell their secrets.

— Jandy Nelson

 

Seducing writers, artists, poets and perfume-lovers, alike; there’s no doubt that your nose needs to get know jasmine, intimately. So, watch this space in the coming days and weeks for even more jasmine-centric scented facts, history and fragrance suggestions…

 

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Cosmoss by Kate Moss – wellbeing for soul & senses…

There can be few people who haven’t heard of Kate Moss or been aware of the extraordinary era-defining influence she’s had over the fashion and beauty industries throughout her illustrious, diverse career. Now, having launched Cosmoss – a beauty and fragrance brand incorporating ‘wellness for soul & senses’, Kate Moss invites us into her (beautifully scented) world…

Having made the decision to take a step back from the constant spotlight that’s been shone at her since day one, and to take business matters into her own hands by creating her own companies (such as the hugely successful Kate Moss Talent Agency she founded in 2016, and Cosmoss in 2022); as Cosmoss explains:

‘It all starts with Kate – the heart and soul of the brand. This is her Cosmoss.’

So-cleverly tapping into the zeitgeist of the much-needed sensorial craving for calm, Kate Moss has been busy since lockdown, working with Alchemist Victoria Young – an important figure in Kate’s own journey, being her go-to Naturopath, Shaman, and her Spiritual Guide. Using her personal experience of how life-affirming (and life-changing) this process of connecting with your senses can be, Kate made sure this was far more than merely a range of products that also happened to smell nice.

 

 

Read more about the journey of Sacred Mist – from inspiration to creation – on our page dedicated to Cosmoss.

 

 

Cosmoss by Kate Moss Sacred Mist £125 for 100ml eau de parfum (30ml bottles coming soon)
cosmossbykatemoss.com

 

Head Notes of Orange Flower and Bergamot; the lightest most fleeting ‘Muse’

Heart Notes of Jasmine, Tuberose, and geranium; the character and ‘Style’

Base Notes of oak moss, cedarwood, and tonka; the most intense & tenacious – the ‘Inner Soul’

 

A scent you can turn to every day, a reassuring hug of a fragrance that also uplifts and energises flagging spirits; you can also try a sample of  Cosmoss Sacred Spirit by Kate Moss in The Garden of Delights Discovery Box – £23 (or £19 for VIPs.)

 

 

Reset your senses with Molton Brown’s NEW Wild Mint & Lavandin

Get ready to reset your senses with Molton Brown Wild Mint & Lavandin – a totally new (and completely contemporary) take on the classic fougère fragrance…

 

Firstly, forget everything you think you know about lavender – there’s nary a trace of the dusty, somewhat old-fashioned note in Senior Perfumer Nathalie Koobus’ creation for Molton Brown. Instead, she used lavandin – a far greener, fresher, and more powerful raw ingredient that’s infinitely preferred by those noses who create fine fragrances.

Secondly, rethink all you’d assumed about the fougère – that classic character found in fragrance families since 1882, and perhaps also one of the most overlooked. The time was ripe for a revival from its ultra-trad (dare we say ‘fuddy-duddy’ perception by some?). But it took the always fashion-forward house of Molton Brown to masterfully reinvent it, with the launch of their new Wild Mint & Lavandin collection.

Koobus explains she wanted to ‘…capture the forest walks in my home of Provence, where nature’s invigorating air of verdant herbaceous shrubs is edged by purple fields of lavandin.’ Think bright but lightly frost-tinged air, the silvered ripples of a crystal-clear stream, the sense of nature surrounding and emboldening you to take an off-grid adventure in the heart of the forest. And the fragrance takes further surprising twists depending on your choice of Wild Mint & Lavandin Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parfum.

 

 

The EDT revives flagging spirits via wild mint, the vivid verdancy of freshly torn basil leaves grounded by a caress of orris, silky sandalwood and rounded by tonka bean.

Molton Brown Wild Mint & Lavandin eau de toilette: £85 for 100ml

 

 

 

For the EDP, meanwhile, Koobus balanced the coolness of mint with a touch of nutmeg as the counterpart amidst the supporting notes – the resulting tingle of warmth its distinctive signature.

Molton Brown Wild Mint & Lavandin eau de parfum: £120 for 100ml 

Molton Brown’s first foray into fougère a rugged coastline, bottled, via the marine-tinged Coastal Cypress & Sea Fennel collection. Wild Mint & Lavandin ventures further off the beaten path by beckoning us to explore the further inland. Whichever format you plump for [and here’s a fabulously soul-reviving Bath & Shower Gel [£25 for 300ml) as part of the collection, too]; Wild Mint & Lavandin is an utterly unisex, fragrant invitation to get back to nature, with Molton Brown’s finger firmly on the fragrant pulse.

 

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Step into Les Jardin Français with Officine Universelle Buly’s vegetable-inspired scents

As we predicted last year in the (now Jasmine award-winning!) article for The Scented Letter Magazine, How to Spray your Five-a-Day, vegetable plots have been a place of much inspiration for perfumers. Now, there’s a whole new bumper crop of L’Officine Universelle Buly Les Jardins Français fragrances to explore and enjoy – and we promise, you’ll really dig them…!

‘The French Garden’ is a new collection of six fragrances from L’Officine Universelle Buly that garland vegetable notes with flowers and musks, all giving off a morning dew freshness. The launch happily coincided with the publication of our own garden themed latest edition of the magazine, The Perfumer’s Garden – because really, ever since the pandemic, it has all been about how much we get from our gardens and green spaces we can access for our mental health; how they inspire us all.

‘A garden is like a perfect universe,’ agrees Buly’s co-founder, Victoire de Taillac (pictured in her own garden, below). ‘A paradise. A haven… Gardening means being outside in all weathers, with all your sense awakened. The smells come together and surprise you…’ Also taking the senses by surprise are combinations like Indian Cucumber and Syrian mint, offering ‘crazy minty joy’, in a cloak of musk, and Iraqi Beetroot and Egyptian Rhubarb, tethered to the earthiness of patchouli. Or enjoy that note du jour, geranium, adding an extra dash of green to Oriental Watercress & Sardinian Parsley.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the notes (like rhubarb, carrot and cucumber) have been used for many years by noses in their creations, while others seem more peculiar at first: sweet potato? It seemed incongruous, but oh it works amazingly well! They all do, having been expertly blended to achieve an almost photo-realistic encounter at first sniff, which then melds with your skin to become the fine fragrances they truly are. Basically put, no matter which you plump for, we promise you will NOT end up smelling like a soup or bowl of salad!

The project began when Buly co-founder Ramdane Touhami bid on an antique seed box in an auction. Having won it, he wondered if these precious seeds collected over hundreds of years could still be planted. Sadly that experiment didn’t flourish, but it did plant the seed of an idea: what if their next fragrances could reflect the love we all had for our gardens and green spaces during lockdown? A scented escapism in every spritz?

 

“Les Jardins Français” brings back to life an intoxicating and unique palette of garden fragrances. They all seem to be seized by the morning dew during a morning stroll through the vegetable garden and orchard, between rows of plants coming from the farthest ends of the world, acclimatised since Antiquity by patient monks, meticulous collectors and erudite healers, all genius gardeners and gatherers. Like a miraculous harvest in a universal garden, with freshly raked paths adorned with rare flowers, these armfuls of familiar vegetables and simple herbs, these aromatic and sunny delicious bouquets delight the senses and the heart.

 

 

 

 

Les Jardin Français is available online at www.buly1803.com and at their Selfridges counter: £145 for 75ml. La Sizaine collection of six x 9ml travel perfumes is also available for £108. The perfect way to sample the while collection (because you will need to smell them all!)

Since the launch of the fragrances, there’s been another crop of newness with Savon Superfin soaps and the divinely moisturising Lait Virginal to complement. One thing’s for certain – this growing L’Officine Buly Les Jardins Français collection is un-beet-able. [Apologies]

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Fragrant Reading for Holidays (& Long Weekends): Secrets of the Lavender Girls

For the Bank Holiday (or any travelling you might be doing in the next few weeks) we’d love to suggest you browse our brilliant Fragrant Reads shelf of scent-themed tomes. There’s truly something for every taste! But this weekend we’re sitting back and relaxing with a novel: Secrets of the Lavender Girls.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the fascinating fragrant backstory behind its creation (and the true story that inspired it…)

 

In the book, author Kate Thompson tells the tale of the women who worked at the Yardley factory during the war. But it turns out some of the stories she discovered during her research were even more incredible…

 

 

‘I love archives and libraries,’ Kate Thompson shares on her Facebook page. ‘Carefully untying the cream ribbon of an old file and catching the scent of 80-year-old dust motes is a thrill. More than once I’ve found hours can slip away leafing through yellowed newspaper reports and witness accounts from the Second World War in the silence of a reading room…’

Revealing her passion for research, and the extraordinary stories she found during her time writing The Secrets of the Lavender Girls, Kate says that ‘nothing beats what historians calls ‘Primary Sources’ and what I prefer instead to call ‘Magnificent Women’.’

 

 

The utterly charming novel follows the fragrant history of Yardley, and the remarkable stories of the women who worked there. Though a fictional account, Kate’s genuine fondness for the real life women she found (and who shared their tales with her) truly shines through.

Unravelling the stories of the real-life women who worked at Yardley during the war, she received ‘a beautiful handwritten letter in the post.’

‘I was a wartime lavender girl, I read about your book in a magazine,’ wrote Joan Osborne. ‘Yardley was the most wonderful years of my life. I am now 91.’

The letter was from Joan, who’d desperately wanted to work at Yardley, telling Kate: ‘It must have been the glamour. I remember travelling from Stratford to Ilford on the bus and the conductor opening the window so everyone could smell the lavender blowing from Yardley. Carpenters Road, or Stink Bomb Alley was famous for its smells. Seven different types of air flowed down there depending on which way the air was blowing. I can still smell the lavender,’

 

 

 

Kate learned Joan was sent to work in the top floor perfumery department where she was given a broom to sweep the floor. ‘I thought, “I haven’t come here to sweep floors” so they moved me to bottle-filling where I was putting the skin and caps on bottles. They were losing so many girls to the services I don’t think they wanted to lose anymore, so they kept me sweet. I earned eighteen shillings and something a week and my clocking in number was 157. I’ve still got the card.’

 

‘They were dangerous times, especially when the flying bombs started up, but being young I didn’t think that much about it. I was more upset by how cold it was in the factory, the heating was rarely on and we were always freezing. They used to give us cups of Oxo to warm us up. Least the room always smelt lovely from the lavender, freesia and April violets perfume.’

 

 

You can read more of the remarkable back-story of Joan and her fellow Yardley girls in Kate Thompson’s touching reflections on researching the book. But we cannot urge you enough to go and buy the book itself – and even better, read it while wearing one of Yardley’s classic fragrances (still proudly in production!) for an extra fragrant waft of history.

 

 

P.S: There’s a stunning FULL SIZE Yardley scent of English Rose included in our recently launched Discovery Box, The Garden of Delights. A blooming marvellous collection for only £23 / £19 for VIPs, which we know you’ll also love exploring to make the most of these last days of summer, too…

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Fragrances For… Carnival!

With the Notting Hill Carnival on the summer event horizon, and the weather (touch wood and crossing fingers) currently glorious, we are feeling rather overcome by a need for sultry, sassy scents which echo the Carnival spirit. So many ways we could go with this, but let’s plump for perfumes which are built around a ravishing rum note.

Now, slip on those spangled and feather-bedecked costumes and sashay your way to sniffing some of these…

 

An unexpected mix of piquant, spice-infused bergamot and plum with a ‘your-skin-but-so-much-better’, creamy leather dry-down, the warmth of the rum gets jiggy with a tingle of amber, then simmers for hours. The roller-ball bottle makes this especially useful for travelling (if you’re lucky enough) or touching up your scent, even if you’re shaking those hips in a Carnival parade!

Malin & Goetz Dark Rum Perfume Oil £29 for 9ml malinandgoetz.co.uk

 

 

An irresistible combination of rum, leather and tobacco is sprinkled with a sweet frisson of vanilla and a tingle of warming cinnamon – the effect quite spellbinding. The rum-enriched woodiness is both reassuring and playfully addictive while the rich spiciness instills confidence and daring. The overall impression? Those who follow your (feathered) fragrant trail will be left enchanted…

Initio Parfums Privé Side Effect £230 for 90ml eau de parfum harrods.com

 

 

 

 

‘Defined by an exhilarate rum distilled from sugarcane and aged in oak barrels’ the party really gets going when that silky smooth booziness is joined by the exotic glam of passionfruit. A vivaciously sparkling scent, the rum heart is additionally glammed up with gardenia, all resting on an amber wood base that melds with the heat of your skin, and making this a veritable cocktail party in a glass to samba with.

Carolina Herrera 212 VIP £53 for 30ml eau de parfum carolinaherrera.com

 

 

 

 

Paying homage to English gentleman and pirate Sir Francis Drake, Pirates’ Grand Reserve puts an intoxicating spin on an Atkinsons fragrance with accord of fine cask rum. Paired with cocoa bean and cedarwood, this one practically swaggers out with every spritz. Topped with a perfect posy of floral notes and rounded off with a deep, dark vanilla pod and patchouli, it’s never too heavy yet totally character-filled.

Atkinsons Pirates Grand Reserve £158 for 100ml eau de parfum atkinsons1779.com

 

 

The vibrant allure of an illicit after-party in a wood-panelled club is evoked here via a fizz of pink pepper, the brightness of neroli and lemon slinking to the rum-infused fun of the rich heart. There’s a shadowy coolness of vetiver oil from Java, a sense of refinement from the tobacco, and a sensually resinous vanilla base; but it’s the kind of night that will linger long in your memory, and your secret smiles…

Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club £115 for 100ml eau de toilette maisonmargiela.com

 

Written by Suzy Nighingale

 

Blooming marvellous! A flower garden extravaganza of scents & scintillating reads

During the recent torrential summer downpours in the U.K. a phrase oft’ repeated was “…well, it’s good for the gardens!” Which may have been less than welcome to hear while staring forlornly out of the window, but IS true nonetheless.

 

A bit of sun these last few days has perked us all up no end, and now finally we might wear the summer dress we’d been saving and sit in our own gardens, if we’re lucky enough to have them – sans raincoat and brolly. The thrill! All of this has us appreciating our gardens all the more, and despite the weather, all things garden-centric really has been the trend of the year thus far…

Coinciding with the opening of an extraordinary new outdoor space at the Palace of Versailles, we themed our Summer issue of multi-award-winning magazine, The Scented Letter, around ‘The Perfumer’s Garden’. Talking to green-fingered perfumers, sharing recommendations for scented plants for your garden and showcasing a round-up of glorious modern florals (for the home and for the skin) that evoke gardens or greenhouses – bringing the outdoors in and savouring a garden’s verdancy on your skin, too, is all we want to do right now.

 

 

 

Here’s what you can enjoy in this 60-page PRINT issue celebrating the garden’s ability to inspire and delight…

  • The Perfumer’s Garden – inspired by a fragrant garden just opened at Versailles, our 10-page florabundant extravaganza celebrates gardens, florists and flower scents
  • #Smellfie 2023 – to mark International Fragrance Day 2023, our fans and followers got snapping to share their love of perfume
  • A Working Nose – natural perfumer Delphine Thierry
  • Gelat-eaux! How to wear one of the ultra-cool new gourmand scents – without smelling like Mr. Whippy
  • Memories, Dreams, Reflections – British supermodel turned scent and skincare creator Kate Moss shares favourite perfumes and blooms
  • When Your Back Garden is a Tuberose Field – we join Aurélien Guichard at the harvest-time of this heady flower

Plus, as always, discover ALL the Latest Launches – in home fragrance, as well as perfumes to wear – and get a whiff of news, in Nosing Around

And don’t forget: you can now take out a yearly Print Subscription to The Scented Letter, the world’s only magazine for fragrance-lovers, here.

 

Master Perfumer Alberto Morillas enjoying his own ‘Perfumer’s Garden’ in The Scented Letter magazine.

 

Meanwhile, can we encourage those of you who THINK you don’t like ‘floral scents’ to explore the contemporary delights of Floral Street’s Discovery Set for only £16? This groundbreaking, hugely sustainable and so-likeable British house has wowed the world with their modern take on a floral – using this family as inspiration rather than slavishly following old-fashioned notions of how such fragrances should smell. Get ready to have your pulse race with these blooming wonderful perfumes…

 

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.

 

 

Finally, those of you who haven’t yet grabbed out latest Garden of Delights Discovery Box [£23 /£19 for V.I.Ps] should sprinkle the seeds of your new scent addictions via this perfectly curated outdoors-inspired selection. Highgrove Bouquet by Penhaligon’s, created with HRH the Prince Of Wales, now King Charles, draws on his own garden at Highgrove. We’d also love to introduce you to new brands Adscenture, EAU.MG and COSMOSSbyKateMoss and Granado is new to the UK. More newness is provided by Floral Street Sweet Almond Blossom. There are also fragrances from Versace, Molton Brown, Mizensir, Juliette has a gun and Shay&Blue all highlighting various flowers and herbs. We’ve also added SBC Arnica Moisturising Gel for other restorative powers from the garden…

Might we suggest a scent appreciation session is in order, where you can sit and relax, perhaps sip a chilled glass of something lovely, and appreciate sniffing each of these garden-centric scents in turn, while browsing through The Scented Letter magazine? How much more salubrious that sounds than battling the throngs of school-holiday crowds – getting to try a whole new wardrobe of fragrances in your own home (or garden!), and in your own time. Bliss!

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Fragrances For… a Mediterranean Cruise

With so many beloved fragrances taking their inspiration from places around the Mediterranean, we thought it the ideal time to take a cruise through some truly stunning scents based on locations we dearly wish we were in right now. Looking for a perfume to bring back specific scent memories of Mediterranean locations? Or perhaps you can’t get away this year and are longing for olfactory escapism? Explore some of these and spritz on the sunshine…

 

Eight & Bob Cap D’Antibes (France)

‘Albert Fouquet enjoyed long holidays, that extended from spring until the last days of summer, in Antibes. Unforgettable mornings were spent sailing in the Grande Bleue, golden sunsets were enjoyed, and balmy evenings were enlivened with exclusive celebrities and charming parties. Albert dreamt about these summers during cold Parisian winters. Like any artist who strives for perfection, he spent many weeks delicately crafting a fragrance that captured the essence of his memories of those long summer days. The result was Cap D’Antibes…’

Try a sample of Eight & Bob Cap D’Antibes in the Scintillating Scents Discovery Box, or in the Eight & Bob Discovery Set £20 for 6 samples

 

 

 

 

 

Ferragamo Signorina Libera (Italy)

Taking its cue from the spirit of having ‘the courage to be yourself, to spread your energy with no fear and the confidence to be free’ – embodied in the Italian word for freedom – this is an easy-to-wear hug of happiness. Sun-warmed Calabrian bergamot segues to buttery orris and rose absolute all drizzled with delicious plum nectar, then wrapped in the fluffy comfort of cashmere woods and flecked with pink pepper. It’s one of those you’ll reach for time and again, a scent that feels invigorating yet reassuring. Viva Libera!

Try a sample of Ferragamo Signorina Libera in the Launches to Love Discovery Box £23 (£19 for VIP Members)

 

 

 

 

Manos Gerakinis (Greece)

Quite incredibly the first Greek luxury niche perfume house, Gerakins’ collection showcases fragrances inspired by the history, art and mythology of the country, each radiating the poetry and passion of their founder. Quintessence is a refined woody ambrée fragrance, with sizzling saffron, clove and black pepper; Sillage Royal was originally created for Manos himself – a hug of woody ambrée via smoke, cardamon, saffron and curcuma. Rose Poetique dramatically combines damask rose and labdanum to create a floral ambrée as addictive as it sensual, while Pivoine references Paeon, the physician of Greek gods, with crisp red apple slicing through the blossomy softness. Immortelle pays homage to the iconic yellow flower whose story dates back to the Trojan war; gently spiced with clove and cinnamon; and Omen is a fruity-spicy-ambrée fragrance that’s sweet and juicy, lusciously alluring yet bags of fun to wear.

Each full-size fragrance is priced between £165 and £260 for 100ml eau de parfum, or try them all in the Manos Gerakinis Discovery Set – £35 for all 6 samples

 

 

 

Nishane Hacivat (Turkey)

Although Istanbul has been on the trade map for thousands of years – famed for spices, silk and flowers (particularly roses), it’s extraordinary to realise this is their first fine fragrance house. Hurrah for that, we say, with scents like this honouring Turkish cultural traditions in contemporary style. As the house so beautifully puts it: ‘…this eau chypre will help you live in your best dreams by the everlasting sparkles of its joyful structure made of the stimulating notes of pineapple and bergamot backed with the genuinely woody notes. Enjoy being loved with this blissful scent…’ And, oh, how you will!

Try a sample Nishane Hacivat in our Seasonal Subscriptions Summer Box – £18 every three months, for perfectly curated fragrances.

 

 

 

Written by Suzy Nightingale

The Grand Tradition of Granado Pharmácias

Though rightly famed in Brazil, it’s only recently we’ve been able to get our hands on the Granado Pharmácias fabulous collection of scented products here in the U.K. And we’re rejoicing that this heritage-rich house can now become beloved by British perfumistas, too…

 

The Granado Pharmácias story begins in the 1800s with the enterprising José Antonio Coxito Granado started selling his own natural remedies – which were all created from the plants, herbs and flowers José found growing in his home of Teresópolis, a stunning, mountainous region of Rio. From these humble beginnings, a whole business flourished, and it wasn’t long before the very first Granado retail establishment was secured in 1870.

 

 

 

 

Set amidst one of the most bustling, successful streets in Rio de Janeiro, it wonderfully remains their flagship store to this day (we love that connection to living history – so many similar buildings have been lost to be developed into flats, or simply knocked down). In addition to the medicinal remedies they’d begun supplying, the now blooming Granado Pharmácias started importing other products from Europe, ‘adapting their formulas to the standards and needs of Brazilians.

 

 

The quality and effectiveness of their offering soon made Granado one of the official pharmaceutical suppliers to the Royal Court. Through this connection, in 1880, Dom Pedro Il granted it the title of Official Pharmacy of the Brazilian Royal Family.’ With a royal seal of approval, the Pharmácias flourished even further – expanding their range while remaining true to their heritage – doubtless helped along by the fact this treasured house remained within the original family for three generations of their growth.

 

 

 

From selling natural remedies in the 1800s to a whole collection of fabulous fragrances and home scents, this proudly Portuguese house, so long adored in Brazil. Now, we’re thrilled their fragrant wares are available in the U.K. too…Sissi Freeman, Marketing Director of Granado, echoed our excitement, commenting:

 

‘After years of success in Paris, we are excited with the opportunity to launch in the UK market. Granado is a very traditional brand founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1870. Partnering with an iconic store such as Liberty for this next step in our international expansion,  is a dream come true!  After a period of lockdowns, we are thrilled to offer British consumers with our fresh take on fragrance and colorful creations, inspired by our heritage, Brazilian culture and ingredients.’

 

You can read more about the history of Grandao Pharmácias on our page dedicated to them, where you can also click on individual fragrances and learn about their ingredients, and the mood they were created to evoke. Your only problem then, of course, is to decide which one to try first…

 

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Floris – Royalty, Churchill & Marilyn Monroe loved them: here’s why YOU should, too…

Floris have scented everyone from royalty, Florence Nightingale, prime ministers and even Marilyn Monroe, but now you can dip into their incredible history (and try some their more contemporary fragrances) in their beautifully curated Floris Discovery Collections…

 

The long-distinguished history of Floris first began in the dreams of one Juan Famenias Floris, who in 1730 sailed from his native Minorca to set up in London. Marrying an English girl, he settled in business as a barber on Jermyn Street within the fashionable St. James’s area, first making hair combs and then assuaging his homesickness by blending fragrant oils he’d transported from Europe. Customers soon took to ordering bespoke blends, all recorded in leather-bound ledgers, enabling Floris to re-create them should further supplies be required in the future – and thus a fragrant dynasty was born.

 

Many of those original ledgers, order forms and letters of thanks are still in existence, preserved by successive generations of the Floris family, and offering a uniquely fascinating glimpse of British fragrant taste through the ages. Their books boast orders from Admirals serving under Lord Nelson, Florence Nightingale, George IV, through to Winston Churchill. In 1820, Floris received the first of 16 Royal Warrants, the most recent being the title: Perfumers to HM The Queen Elizabeth II and Manufacturers of Toilet Preparations to HRH The Prince of Wales. (Now, of course, King Charles!)

 

 

And then there was Marilyn Monroe. The scent the world’s biggest sex-symbol always made sure to stock up on? In their extraordinary archive (some of which is on display in the rear of their Jermyn Street boutique), Floris happen to have an original form detailing Marilyn’s order for their surprisingly unisex and greenly fresh Rose Geranium. Indeed, she loved it so much she requested SIX bottles at a time be delivered to her in Beverley Hills! (NB: A far more contemporary rose is their fragrance A Rose For… in The Private Collection – an intriguingly smoky gossamer embrace).

 

 

 

 

The original Floris shop still stands on Jermyn Street. (A couple of generations ago, fragrances were actually manufactured two floors below street level, in a basement known as ‘the mine’.) Now beautifully refurbished, the boutique many other intriguing artefacts to discover on display, along with a wide wardrobe of perfumes to explore. Edward Bodenham – an ancestor of Juan Famenias Floris himself – is the current Perfumery Director at Floris, with fragrance clearly in his blood.

Floris Classic Collection Set £35

As he explains: ‘I feel immensely proud to be part of the family business and to have the opportunity to help introduce our perfume house to a new generation. I have such fond memories of visiting the shop from a young age, and it is very nostalgic for me to be around the fragrances that I have grown up with my whole life. They really are like old friends to me.’

 

No matter how fascinating or notable their past, however, no perfume house could merely trade off their history. So as Edward notes – and more recent creations like sun-drenched Neroli Voyage in the Classic Collection and utterly addictive Honey Oud in Private Collection, prove – Floris are ‘always evolving. We have to be experimental and explorative when working on new fragrances – in just the same way my forefathers were in their day.’ Adding: ‘I hope that they would be proud of our creations today.’

Floris Private Collection Set £35

No question about it, in our minds. And we say: here’s to the next 300 years or so, Floris!

Written by Suzy Nightingale