Tag: Floris

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 newly 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 and retains the title: Perfumers to HM The Queen Elizabeth II and Manufacturers of Toilet Preparations to HRH The Prince of Wales.

 

 

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 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!

Floris celebrate Florence Nightingale’s White Rose history

Did you know that Floris has a long standing relationship with the founder of modern nursing: Florence Nightingale? And now, with Floris donating 15% of sales from her favourite fragance to the White Rose Appeal, fronted by Helena Bonham Carter, and having been recently featured in the drama series Killing Eve, it seems timely to nose further into this intriguing historical snippet…

Floris explain that this direct connection to perhaps the world’s most famlous nurse, can be found in a personal letter she wrote them.

‘Floris’ White Rose fragrance was a favourite perfume of Florence Nightingale, and in our Jermyn Street shop we display a treasured letter written by Nightingale in 1863 to “Mr Floris” thanking him for his “beautiful sweet smelling nosegays”.

 

 

Alongside the White Rose Campaign, Floris have committed to donating 15% of all sales of White Rose Eau de Toilette to the foundation for a 12 month period.’

And oh! White Rose is a simply beautiful scent to wear, so what a wonderful way to celebrate Florence – and all nurses and midwives – most especially during this crisis. The fragrance itself is a couquet of velvety roses dusted with soft iris, swathed in warm amber and grounded with earthy musk. At once strikingly elegant and wonderfully confident, it’s something we shall be reaching now more than ever…

Floris White Rose £80 for 100ml eau de toilette
florislondon.com

Floris continue: ‘The Florence Nightingale Foundation does amazing work supporting nurses and midwifes through its scholarships and has done so since its formation in 1929. This year marked a big year for the foundation, particularly today on the bicentenary of her birth.’

Sadly, due to the current situation, Floris say that ‘…Westminster Abbey was due to be filled with nurses for an annual service to mark Florence Nightingale’s birthday but was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the current circumstances, the foundation launched a special programme to equip nurses and midwives with the skills to support the emotional well being of those working directly with Covid-19 patients and the owners of Floris have made the decision to team up with the charity to support their fundraising efforts.

 

 

And so, in partnership with actress Helena Bonham Carter, the foundation have launched the White Rose Appeal, a symbol of hope and re-birth. You can support the Florence Nightingale White Rose Appeal by buying a special anniversary e-white rose in honour of a nurse or midwife who has helped you or a loved one at any point in your lives. Every white rose bought will go on to form part of an actual floral display to be created at Westminster Abbey when lock down comes to an end, marking and honouring the contribution of nurses and midwives everywhere.’

‘Buying a white rose is a simple way to honour our nurses and midwives. We must never forget the sacrifice they make on an everyday basis during this time.’

– Helena Bonham Carter

Fragrant fans currently glued to the latest season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Killing Eve Netflix series have been treated to a peek inside lead character Villanelle’s favourite perfumery… which just happens to be the 89 Jermyn Street HQ of Floris!

‘I want to smell powerful. I want to make people gag with it,’ Villanelle tells the Floris perfumer dring her visit. ‘Can you do that for me?’

 

‘…I want to smell like a Roman Centurion who’s coming across an old foe, who in battle once hurt him greatly,’ she continues. ‘But since then, the Roman Centurion has become emperor, and is now powerful beyond measure.’ The perfumer pauses, before tactfully suggesting: ‘Maybe something more… woody?’

I’m sure Floris’ perfumers receive all sorts of interesting bespoke comissions, but perhaps not quite so… unusual as this request!

You can read all about the time I was lucky enough to have my own personal perfume made by Floris in-house Perfumer Penny Ellis, here. But long story short: I didn’t mention Roman Centurion’s (or making people want to gag) in my brief…

From Florence Nightingale (and their myriad famous customers from their archives) through to Helena Bonham Carter and now, Villanelle – Floris certainly has a diverse heritage and continues to thrive as London’s oldest surviving perfumery: something of which we can all be proud and will continue to support.

Now, Roman Centurians aside, what brief would you like to set a Floris perfumer for a bespoke fragrance when we can step inside those hallowed doors once more…?

By Suzy Nightingale

Floris River Dawn – hand-poured, By Request

Floris have released River Dawn, a limited edition fragrance of only 200 hand-poured bottles. Invoking shady streams and woodland walks, it’s definitely making us spring-ready…

Venturing out to explore the River Avon for their inspiration, the Floris perfumery team followed its meandering course as it begins in the beautiful, golden-stoned Cotswolds and as various tributaries merge, finalling flowing through Wiltshire on its way to the sea.

Edward Bodenham, Perfumery Director at Floris, spoke about their fragrant journey:
‘Historically we always launch our hand poured collection in late January, when winter is setting in but nature provides a few early signs of spring, particularly on our river banks. I love this time of year and whilst working on the ‘River Dawn’ scent with our team, it became clear that I wasn’t alone. Our rivers drive us on, providing tranquillity and uplifting our spirits, even in the harshest coldest winter, as the sun rises on a new day, they continue to shape our land, our geology, our industry and trade. They are a constant source of inspiration.

I recently walked along the banks of the Avon near Bradford Upon Avon. It’s a part of the world that for me encapsulates a huge amount of the beauty of our country. Interestingly our perfumer, Penny Ellis, who worked with me in creating this fragrance is a keen river swimmer who has swam sections of the Avon during these colder months which gave her huge inspiration when composing the scent.

We wanted to reflect the vibrant yet reflective tranquillity of flowing, shimmering water. How it feels to be in that raw environment. The natural beauty of the cold river bank, signs that spring is on its way as tea olives force through the cold, and snow drops appear in the shade of wooded forests, never far from the water. Most of all, we wanted to portray that emotion felt when rising before the dawn to see these landscapes completely unspoilt, before the world awakes. The river dwellers, fishermen, swimmers, rowers and those who still earn a living, working in harmony with its flow.’

Love at first sniff?
From the first spray, you’ll be transported to those gurgling tributaries with a crisp, galbanum freshness that speaks of green shoots bravely poking their heads above ground. Think fats buds just about to blossom, spiderwebs bejewelled with dewdrops, the cheering sight of snowdrops and hyacinths and a drift of spring’s first apple blossom in the air. Grounded with soothing sandalwood and delicately dusted with orris, this is the perect thing to wear when you want to celebrate that subtle shift in the seasons – not quite the end of winter, but good lord it’s almost in sight. A lightening of days and spirits, then, that make this a must-have (and a beautiful choice for any spring brides, we say).

Read more about the historic heritage of Floris in our page dedicated to their story…

Floris River Dawn £180 for 100ml eau de parfum
Only available at 89 Jermyn Street and florislondon.com

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Floris, fashion & fragrance with Alex Schulman & Amber Butchart

For the launch earlier this year of their so-sophisticated 1927 fragrance, Floris gathered together a curated group of guests to 89 Jermyn Street to celebrate the inspiration for the latest in their Fragrance Journal series, with two very special women discussing the rich and intertwined histories of fashion and fragrance… and we were thrilled to be present!

Scroll down to watch part of their fascinating conversation, and read our review of this stunning scent…

Dissecting nearly 100 years of social history in London, fashion historian, TV presenter and author Amber Butchart, former Vogue editor, author and journalist Alexandra Shulman, Floris Perfumery Director Edward Bodenham and Head of Marketing Alex Oprey explored how to bottle a moment in time. And now, Floris have released a video so you can watch along.

As part of their Fragrance Journals series, Floris created a very special time capsule, but exlained they wanted to make sure it smelled current and totally wearable for today – these are no museum pieces, but living homages to eras that have changed our world forever. The end of the 1920’s marked revolutionary new fashion movements, especially for women – cutting their hair short, smoking, dancing, partying all night and wearing loose-fitting, calf-length or shorter dresses that flirted with scandal.

Floris say: ‘The Fragrance Journals are a series of unique Eau de Parfums, capturing the heart and soul of London throughout the decades of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and most recently the 1920s.

Each fragrance weaves and knits its way through the fabric of a key moment, district, and culture of the time, bringing out a true reflection of a city which has the ability to both adapt to change, yet remain rooted in its identity. A love letter to London, its social fabric and its people.’

Read on for our fragrant review…

Floris 1927
1927 kicks off with a swing as aldehydes burst like champagne bubbles into bergamot, and we can almost hear the giggles as cocktails are carried to the drawing room. Bright Young Things in barely-there bias-cut silks swing their pearls, violet, ylang ylang, narcissus and mimosa sashay their way to dancing on the tables – and an oakmoss-like, vanilla-musk base adds to sophisticated high-jinks.
£140 for 100ml eau de parfum
florislondon.com

Written by Suzy Nightingale