Surely one of the most iconic British stores, Liberty now boast the newly redesigned and very swanky BYREDO counter, offering the full collection of fragrances and beauty products (including the new hair fragrances we fell in love with, and chose as one of our edits for this emerging trend of perfuming your hair).
Prominently featured in the Beauty Hall, founder and creative director, Ben Gorham, worked closely with innovative Swedish architect and designer Christian Halleröd to emulate the swish surroundings of their New York flagship store.
As the first retail partner for the brand in the UK, Liberty have long supported BYREDO (since 2009, in fact) – they enjoy working directly with the founders of hard-to-find, and helping develop up-and-coming brands. As such, Ben Gorham chose to exclusively preview their latest frgrance there, in-store, for one month…
Rose of No Man’s Land is a tribute to the unknown heroines of WWI – nurses who saved many thousands of lives on the front lines, working in the most terrible conditions and risking their own lives to help others. Their nickname became the ‘roses of no-man’s land’ for their selfless dedication and bravery amidst such chaos.
Top notes: pink peppercorn, Turkish rose petals
Heart notes: raspberry blossom, Turkish rose absolute
Base notes: papyrus, white amber
BYREDO say: ‘The perfume is like a soothing balm; sophisticated elegance envelops the skin and strengthens the backbone. The pink peppercorn provides the delicate flower with the momentum needed to break through the earth. Turkish rose petals open optimistically one by one, and the perfect rose heart combines with a radiant chord of raspberry. Finally, the base of papyrus wood and white amber gives the rose an eternal and sophisticated aura; a bud of immense purity.’
The imagery of the advertising does that whole cool-as-heck but never style over substance thing that BYREDO do so well – Danish model Freja Beha Erichsen was so moved by their fragrant tribute that she really wanted to be part of their campaign, partnering with photographer Craig McDean and M/M (Paris) to work on the simple, singular and memorable image.
We say: Rose of No Man’s Land is a truly modern with no hint of dustiness, and definitely one that previous rose-haters should let their noses loose on! It’s the warm fizziness of the pink pepper that zings through the freshness of the dew-speckled roses that go our noses tingling at first – this is a lush, wet rose at dawn, not the cloying ‘velvet’ heaviness that can so often put off people who think they don’t like rose.
Rose of No Man’s Land £88 for 50ml eau de parfum
At Liberty
Written by Suzy Nightingale
