Sometimes we all need the help of a fragrance to feel stronger – something that does more than simply smell lovely, but can lift our spirits and almost act like a pair of shoulder pads in scented form. These are fragrances that we feel go beyond comfort – evoking adventurous journeys, friendship and inner strength via hemp leaf, smouldering amber, silky smooths woods and bison grass…
BYREDO
Open Sky
‘While being stuck in one place, our memories have become particularly vivid,’ muses founder Ben Gorham. Capturing our collective desire to travel, the scent segues from the pepper-flecked freshness of pomelo to the mind-expanding hemp leaf and spiritual palo santo hushed by vetiver in the base. ‘Beyond the physicality of spaces,’ Gorham explains, this celebrates ‘that idea of movement – of journeys, being on your way somewhere…’ Plane tickets and a plan, bottled.
£178 for 100ml eau de parfum
libertylondon.com
COMME DES GARÇONS
Rouge
A warm, ambered base grounds this wonderfully weird (and very wearable) concoction. CDG never do anything humdrum, so our eyes were immediately drawn to the beetroot note listed. Of course, we’re used to it combined with chocolate in cookery, and it blends just as well here with the Egyptian geranium to create an almost-rose. Pink pepper simmers through the layers to the smouldering incense and refined patchouli base. Clever and intriguing.
£120 for 100ml eau de parfum
Exclusive to selfridges.com
BENTLEY
Momentum Unbreakable
Master Perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin teams with up-and-coming talent Ane Ayo, to take the dual steering wheels of this scent. Dreamwood© is a key ingredient – the supremely smooth woody note being a 100% natural ingredient used in place of Mysore sandalwood (now a highly protected species), obtained through carbon-neutral biotechnology. Cool violet (another of our floral trend predictions) shimmers through verdant greenery to liquorice-y dried fruits and immortelle fluffed amber. Another instant classic.
£69.50 for 100ml eau de parfum
harrods.com
DIESEL
Sound of the Brave
Employing the talents of Fabrice Pellegrin – one of the world’s top perfumers – Sound of the Brave resonates with a unique heart of Bison grass accord. A reminder, says Pellegrin, of good times with friends. The sizzle of bold spices vibrate through vibrant lemon as a powerful base (or should that be ‘bassline’?) throbs with amber wood and musk. Electric blue juice inside the clenched-fist flacon and hip-hop legend Skepta as ambassador ensure it’s a hit.
£69 for 125ml eau de toilette
boots.com
PACO RABANNE
Invictus Victory
The latest incarnation of the heroically themed fragrances ‘seizes with its power and seduces with its freshness.’ Freshly squeezed lemons offer the juicy bite here while the woody notes of incense wrap tendrils of soft smoke around a purr of vanilla in the base. Spiced tonka bean is the delicious finale for this scent inspired by ‘subtly celebrating modern masculinity.’ Give this to someone you consider your personal hero – beats a golfing trophy, any day!
£56 for 50ml eau de parfum
pacorabanne.com
