The Far East has long influenced perfumers through the ages, with the unique scenery and culture, and the ingredients it’s famed for providing a rich scented seam of inspiration. Given the sadly uninspiring British summer weather at the moment, we thought a fragrant adventure to the Far East via our noses would be just the thing. With classic scents as well as new niche houses evoking these destinations, the Far East is just a spritz away when you try these…
Guerlain Mitsouko
Inspired by the eponymous Japanese heroine of Claude Farrčre’s novel ‘La bataille’, and the passionate love triangle therein, this complex unfurling of cinnamon infused, milk-lapped plump peach skin, nuzzles into a beguiling oakmoss trail that beguiles for hours. A classic that deserves to be in every perfumista’s collection, it’s a truly enduring romance.
£102 for 75ml eau de toilette guerlain.com
Chanel Les Exclusifs Coromandel
Coco Chanel adorned the walls of her Parisian apartment with precious Coromandel screens, intricately carved with Asian flowers. Inspired by the time she ‘…almost fainted with happiness the first time I saw a Coromandel in a Chinese shop,’ this enchanting fragrance is a voluptuous embrace of warm woods soaked in patchouli, frankincense and benzoin.
£200 for 75ml eau de parfum chanel.com
Cochine Vietnamese Rose & Delentii Candle
Founder Kate Crofton-Atkins fell madly for Saigon when she moved there, and Cochine’s perfumes and home fragrances followed. Capturing the delightful freshness of newly cut flowers, this candle is imbued with beautifully delicate touches, combining top notes of rose and bergamot with hints of violet, rosewood and a deliciously scented native orchid.
£45 for 230g In Our Shop
Kenzo Homme Intense
Capturing the unique scent of bamboo, and tinged with the salty serenity of a sea breeze, ripe fig and sandalwood bloom on warm skin to evoke a day exploring the shores of a faraway land, the smoothly blended notes carrying you to memories of a perfect day, watching fishing boats bob on the waves as the sun sets. Your skin sun-kissed, mood: blissful.
Try a sample in the Scented Gent Discovery Box, £23 / £19 for VIP members
A La Lune Santal Extreme
For A La Lune, traditional Chinese symbolism entwines within their fragrances, and this one transports us to the dynastic palaces of the Far East via angelica and saffron-infused sandalwood, and a rich oudh that’s been ‘…crowned by the mist of woody, oriental incense of frankincense, myrrh, and benzoin tears.’
£89 for 30ml eau de parfum alalune.co.uk
Written by Suzy Nightingale
