We’re always ready to try new fragrances and these fab five are hitting the spot. From fougères to florals via Mutiny (the first fragrance John Galliano’s been involved with at Martin Margiela), we think you’ll agree that these latest launches make an intriguing start to a fragrant year…
ATKINSONS
WHITE ROSE DE ALIX
Queen Victoria’s favourite grandchild, Princess Alix, was so fond of Atkinson’s White Rose that she apparently ordered a bottle every six weeks. Now, 108 years later, Atkinsons have reinvented the classic scent for a modern world. The exquisite Chypre floral focuses on a bright, fresh white rose, with lychee and raspberry adding flourishes of fruitiness. A base of soft musks, labdanum, vanilla and patchouli make it exceedingly moreish – the perfect way to tap into your inner princess.
£130 for 100ml eau de toilette
selfridges.com
DIOR
ROSE KABUKI
Honestly, François Demachy sums up his scents as note-perfectly as anyone can. So here, he explains, ‘I wanted to create a delicate rose swatched in powdery, cottony musks, bringing to mind the immaculate faces of traditional Japanese Kabuki theatre. A rose that is pink at heart, enveloped in a white that haloes its petals. Its caressing softness is pricked with vivid, dew-pearled greens.’ And this utterly fresh, cool rose has us dreaming of far-off summer and rose bowers.
From £200 for 125 ml eau de parfum
dior.com
GUERLAIN
LA CUVÉE SECRÈTE
Napoleon – an early customer of Guerlain’s – apparently used to splash on Colognes by the bottleful. Were money no object, we’d be doing the same with this: an utterly invigorating, spirit-lifting Cologne, created to a secret recipe that has, we’re told, been handed down over generations in Guerlain’s workshop, including a ‘mysterious dilution and intricate maceration process’. What we do know: this blend of bergamot, lavender and petitgrain is quite simply note perfect.
£135 for 250ml eau de Cologne
harrods.com
MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA
MUTINY
Marking the long-overdue return of John Galliano to the fragrant universe, four years after he joined Margiela, this was worth the wait. Dominique Ropion puts tuberose front and centre in Mutiny, deploying three different qualities of the heady white flower. ‘It took me six years and over a thousand tries before succeeding… I kept its structure and took out all the rest – exactly what Mr. Galliano does at Maison Margiela,’ he says. Quite so.
From £83 for 50ml eau de parfum
johnlewis.com
PERFUMER H
GREY
Lyn Harris shakes up the fougère category, reinventing it for a new generation, attracting women to this longstanding male fragrance category along the way. We’d certainly be happy to swathe ourselves in this blend of bergamot, lemon, grapefruit and neroli, breezily aromatic juniper, lavender and rosemary, transitioning to pepper, angelica seed and cool, transparent musks on the skin. (And we’ve a dedicated piggy bank for the version in the £400 blown glass Michael Ruh flacon.)
From £190 for 100ml eau de parfum
At Perfumer H
