Atkinsons Mint & Tonic is the perfect celebration scent for the months of festivity ahead, and we have a very special GIVEAWAY of not one but TWO bottles – one for you, and one to give to a friend. See below for details of how to enter…
Capturing an English country potager garden of herbaceous greenness, Atkinsons Mint & Tonic might remind you of idyllic summer days, but we urge you to try it in cooler weather too, when the leaves seem sprinkled with frost, the spiced mandarin and tingle of ginger warm to the woody base of cedar, musk and vetiver. Altogether, at this time of year the scent seems to conjure a Mojito (or three), enjoyed in excellent and flirtatious company. Cheers!
We love Mint & Tonic so much, we made sure to include a sample in our Niche VII Discovery Box, along with nine other fabulous fragrances and two pampering treats. Try them all here for only £23, or £19 for VIP Club Members.
✨GIVEAWAY! ✨ We are delighted to be giving you AND a friend a full-size bottle of Atkinsons Mint & Tonic each!
PRIZE INCLUDES: 2 x Atkinsons Mint & Tonic 100ml Worth over £200!! To enter, all you have to do is…
The competition closes at midnight Friday 29th October GMT. One winner and their tagged friend will be chosen at random and contacted via our The Perfume Society account only. We will not contact winners before the closing date via any external accounts. Please do not accept accounts claiming to be us. The competition is for UK residents only.
Enter our GIVEAWAY to be in with a chance of getting a full-size bottle of Jean Paul Gaultier Scandal Pour Homme – scroll down to watch the stunning ad campaign and find out how to get your hands (and nose) on this fabulous new fragrance, worth over £70!
The new Jean Paul Gaultier Scandal Pour Homme scent certainly packs a punch – in more ways than one. First, there’s the fresh breeze of herbacious sage, with handfuls of ripe mandarin (skin, flesh, pulp, seeds – the whole fruit squeezed into the bottle). Then, toasty tonka bean leans in closer for an addictive, skin-like caress, with the vibrant woodiness of vetiver vibrating sensually in the base. Of course, the house of Jean Paul Gaultier is known for the utterly mesmirising and quirkily glam advertising campaigns, and the one for Scandal Pour Homme certainly thinks outside the box(ing ring)…
To enter this giveaway, here’s what you need to do:
Tag 3 friends in the comments on that post, who you think would also love this fragrance
The competition closes midnight Friday 24th September 2021 GMT. One winner will be chosen at random and contacted via our @theperfumesociety account. We will not contact winners before the closing date via any external accounts. Please do not accept accounts claiming to be us. The competition is for U.K. residents only. Good luck!
We’ll be discussing the launch of TWO new Moresque fragrances on the Instagram Live event, but meanwhile, here’s a little bit more about this wonderful house…
Moresque Parfum was born from a sheer love of the intricacy of Moorish art and the passion for elegant but opulent perfumes by founder, Cindy Guillemant.
Right from the start, she says, her work has been driven by this desire to bring together Italian taste and Arabic charm. ‘I completed my MBA in International Business in Florida and built my career between Monte Carlo, Paris, Miami and Milan. I always used perfumes, but my grandmother instilled in me a real love for fragrances and provided me with knowledge that motivated me to delve into this industry.’
That familial connection resounds still in Cindy’s work, and she finds that ‘I still rediscover my grandmother’s knowledge even today with all the scents I collect from around the world through their volatile notes, essences and the most mysterious and profound flavours.’
So, what questions would YOU like to ask Cindy – about Moresque Parfum, the stunning bottles, their inspiration, her favourite ingredients…?
Moresque Instagram Live Questions
We so look forward to you joining us on Instagram at 5pm on Wednesday July 14th at 5pm U.K. time for this exciting event. Until then, we’ll be spritzing the scents and dreaming we could travel to all the places they’re inspired by…
Colourful fragrance feeds on Instagram are lighting up our life right now – most especially as we’ve just published the latest edition of The Scented Letter magazine with the theme of ‘Perfume’s Bright Future.’
Because fragrance truly has been brightening the darkness of the last year for so many of us – both literally and metaphorically – and we now know that colour, emotions and scent are not only metaphorically linked, but scientifically proven. Changing the colour of the bottle, packaging or juice inside can drastically alter our perception of how a perfume smells to us. And, as you will discover in this biggest ever issue: fragrance designers have mapped out your mood, sometimes long before the first drop of an ingredient has been added to the composition.
But really it all comes down to that immediate uplifting appeal that bright colours and the right fragrance can have – a whizz, bang, pop! of rainbows bursting forth from our phone screens just make everything seem jollier, somehow. And how we’ve needed that of late.
Here are some of our favourite multi-hued, must-follow fragrance feeds on Instagram, for whenever you need to smell in full colour...
dr.elle.perfume
A perfume collector based in the U.K., Dr. Elle’s account is a brilliantly curated glimpse at her incredible collection – displayed in a rainbow of colours. Fascinating to see the colours en-masse, to spot rare bottles and be entranced by her impeccably arranged flatlays!
anillustratednose
In her ‘spare time ‘from working in science, Nafia is a talented artist who renders some favourite fragrances in hand-drawn illustrations. Often surrounded not only by their literal colours, but those the scent evokes for her, adding another sense to seeing them on screen.
yura_perfume_collection
A perfume collection of dreams, we wonder how many bottles Yura has in total, with snippets such as ‘Photos of a few months ago. And have collected 300 bottles more after that…’ Exquisite flacons, usually arrayed by house, showing their full scent spectrum.
suzys__niche_fragrance_reviews
No not my collection (I wish!) but this Suzy shows her ‘passion for fine fragrance expressed through reviews and photos.’ Wonderfully evocative and so-colourful backdrops give another vibe to her really great descriptions of how the particular perfumes make her feel.
markus.ebrahim
Anyone who keeps fragrance bottles in a cocktail cabinet is right up our street, and Markus describes himself as a ‘perfume extremist’, whose Instagram also serves as a scent diary. A rapid response nurse for the NHS, his feed is full of color, wit and personal reflections.
fragrance.obsession
Exploring both niche and more mainstream designer houses, colourful flowers and themed layouts are often employed to accompany her lovely reviews (sometimes even matched with nail polish too!) We love her trays of monthly scent sellections as well: so organised!
alltheperfume
Sarah has an extraordinary collection we’ve previously shared in The Scented Letter magazine’s #ShareMyStash feature, having visited her home and seen the beautiful bottles for ourselves! Gorgeous photos and thoughtful reviews of often more affordable houses.
We were absolutely thrilled to recently host the creative duo behind Goutal fragrances – Camille Goutal and Isabelle Doyen – in what was the most recent in our series of Instagram Lives. One of the only up-sides to all this *gestures broadly* has been the way people have reached out over the internet – disparate communities creating moments of togetherness online – and if you weren’t able to join us for the event live, we’re now so happy to share the video with you!
This truly was a wonderful conversation with two such talented women – we heard the pair talk about post-pandemic perfume, working as a team, and keeping alive the flame of creativity that first inspired Annick Goutal, Camille’s mother, when she founded the fragrance house. And of course, we invited YOUR questions, just some of the topics we explored being…
• What is the creative process for the pair, working together – and how did that work during lockdown?
• What is the spirit behind Goutal, and is it still easy to tap into that in the perfume house’s fourth decade?
• What exciting plans does Goutal have for 2021 – a new year, with (we’re hoping) lots of scented excitement?
This was latest in a series of Instagram Live interviews we’ve had over the last year, with some of the world’s leading fragrance names – check out previous interviews on our YouTube channel, here…
Floral Instagrammers are on the rise – and no wonder, with all of us desperately seeking solace in gardens (if we’re lucky enough to have them) and open spaces, of late. Scroll down for some of the *most* exquisite flower-filled feeds we love to follow, and think you will, too…
Once upon a time, Instagram seemed full of pictures of avocado toast and cats, but it’s the floral Instagrammers really making it their own, right now. If you search for the hashtag #garden, it currently has over 56.4m posts attributed to it, while #flowers has 190m. And there are so many more, similarly floral-themed hashtags, each with several million posts (and counting).
So why are we seeing such a floral show on Instagram (and oither social media) right now? Well, it’s been proven that even looking at pictures of nature and open spaces can dramatically lower your blood pressure and improve your mental health. But more than that, we think people are just craving nice things to focus on for a while each day. We certainly are!
That’s why we devoted our latest issue of The Scented Letter magazine to all things bright and beautiful, inviting you to Step In To the Garden and explore with us, which you can do for free online if you’re a VIP, or in print if you want a glossy, gorgeous magazine to sit in your own garden with.
Meanwhile, here are just a handful of the brilliant floral Instagrammers we follow, and if you scroll through their feeds you’ll see exactly why we’re so in love…
@cultivatedbychristin Christin Geall is enormously talented and here shares her beguiling ideas on design, nature, culture, horticulture. The kind of floral feed that makes you want to immediately dance barefoot into a meadow and turns floral arrangements into a pure art form.
@cnliziqi
These stunning (and so relaxing) IGTV films follow Li Ziqi’s adventures as she strolls through flower-filled meadows, picking blossoms to cook with, to arrange into stunning, so-simple floral arrangements, and even make her own floral hydrolates with a copper still in her garden.
@honeysuckle_and_hilda
A florist, writer and brilliant teacher based in Oxfordshire, Claire Victoria Bowen taught our own Co-Founder, Jo Fairley, how to create the most beautiful (yet seemingly effortless) bouquets. Truly inspirational, you’ll never look at your plants in the same way: here, everything in the garden is beautiful.
@goldfinchelson
Looking for all the world as though you’ve stumbled across some undiscovered Vermeer paintings, the work of artist and photographer Tracy Goldfinch Elson is filled with ethereal light, love and touches of great humour. We’re regularly stopped in our tracks by their other-worldly beauty.
@kristengvy
Head judge on the Netflix series, The Big Flower Fight (which we’ve binge-watched with joy), named one of the world’s top florists by Harpers Bazzar; Kristen Griffith VanderYacht’s feed is filled with the exuberance and artistry he’s become (rightly) famed for.
@swallowsanddamsons
A patchwork quilt of quintessence, Sheffield-based florist Anna Potter’s account is a glory of colour and style, featuring just the kind of artfully rumpled and ‘undone’ arrangements we favour, and providing a wealth of inspiration to brighten up your every day. How we revel in it.
@her_dark_materials
Cotswold-based Ros is one of those photographers who conjures magic from every subject she turns her camera to. From gorgeously swooning bouquets to simply capturing the cracking of an egg or pasta drying, draped nonchalantly over the back of a chair: flowers seem to glow in the gloom for her.
@tangleandthyme
A floral design studio, eco-florist (with gift subscriptions available) and cutting garden in North Essex, we marvel at the skill of show here – and how much fun they seem to be having! Also, absolutely any feed showing donkeys (and humans) wearing floral crowns gets our vote. Instantly smile-inducing!
@jamjar_flowers
A riot of colour and creativity, Jam Jar Flowers create the most jaw-dropping floral instillations, seasonal floral arran gements and dress gorgeously glam events. We dream of re-creating their coloured glass bottle-filled window (though kind of dread the dusting, so might just gaze in wonder, instead…)
@my_botanical_heart
Dianna Jazwinski is a professional garden photographer based in Sussex, and oh my gosh, her work is laden with the kind of imagery that makes our faces turn into the heart-eyed emoji. Ravishingly laid out and perfectly captured, flowers look so perfect in her hands you’d swear they were crafted by angels.
@everdandysilverfox
Alex Musgrave combines two of our favourite things – lovely reviews of fragrances, often thoughtfully themed around poetry and art, and simply beautiful pictures of flowers in various settings. Our favouites are those captured as they become blowsily over-bloomed. Always a treat to read and see.
@commonfarmflowers
Delivering across the U.K. – ‘Our dream is that everybody should assume that they can buy exceptional quality, British grown flowers year round, that ‘grown not flown flowers’ should be the norm,’ say husband and wife team, flower farmer and author Georgie Newbery, and artist Fabrizio Bocca. Bravo!
With Father’s Day fast-approaching, our thoughts turn to finding a special treat for our dads – and father-figures or special men in our lives. And we have TWO bundles of fragrances worth over £300 to giveaway!
Each of these fragrances effortlessly evokes the balmy air and blue seas of much-loved destinations we’re desperately missing right now. Oh we can practically feel the sun on our skin and the sand beneath our toes just imagining smelling these – fragrance truly is the most incredible way to travel with your nose…
‘Versace Dylan Blue is a highly distinctive fougere with a fragrant woody aroma based on the unique olfactory properties of precious natural ingredients and the latest generation of molecules. Natural citrus notes of bergamot and grapefruit combine with modern hints of fig leaf to give an incisive Mediterranean freshness while aquatic notes lend depth and round off the citrus tang. Woody notes of ambrox, papyrus and organic patchouli form the perfume’s powerful, pulsating heart.’
‘For a thoroughly modern take on the Mediterranean theme DSquared2 Wood For Him, opens with the freshness of Calabrian bergamot, mandarin and lemon from Sicily, enriched with ginger, violet and cardamom. Ambrox and a modern blend of white woods intensify the elegance of vetiver, resulting in a scent that is strong, sturdy, unique and inimitable!’
‘Our fathers are our heroes and Versace Eros is the stuff of legend! So take a journey to ancient Greece with the intense and vibrant freshness of mint leaves, lemon zest and green apple. Enveloping notes of tonka bean,
Ambroxan (Amber), geranium flower and Vanilla open into a medley of woods including cedarwood from Atlas and Virginia,vetiver and oak moss. Intense and unforgettable!’
‘For a warmer, spicier alternative the delightfully vivacious Versace Eros Flameis full of fresh, juicy Italian hesperidic fruits such as lemon, tangerine and bitter orange warmed with notes of black pepper from Madagascar and enveloped in aromatic wild rosemary. The base resonates with notes of precious woods such as Texas cedar, patchouli coeur, Haitian vetiver, mountain oak moss accord and sandalwood subtly blended with the tonka bean and vanilla.’
How to enter: All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning ALL of these fragrances, is head to our Instagram account and tag TWO people who you think deserve this wonderful scented surprise. Imagine how thrilled they’ll be when you tell them! And even if we can’t travel with loved ones somewhere wonderful, at least we can plan for the future and send them a fragrant reminder of Mediterranean dreaming…
Prize draw closes on Sunday 21st June 2020 T&Cs: Due to shipping restrictions we are only able to accept entries on the UK mainland and in Northern Ireland.
You can practically feel your blood-pressure drop as you watch these short but so-exquisite flower-filled films on Instagram – but can looking at pretty pictures of nature ACTUALLY (scientifically, not merely anecdotally) lower your stress levels? Apparently so…
A dear friend of mine recently posted on Facebook to say she’d been suffering panic attacks, but that watching these films had really helped her relax, to focus on something lovely for a while and just help her to breathe out again.
I’d been feeling similarly wobbly, to tell the truth, so immediately clicked and scrolled, and actually found myself sighing out-loud with how beautiful they are.
Available to watch on Li Ziqi’s Instagram, the IGTV films follow her adventures as she strolles through flower-filled meadows, picking blossoms to cook with, to arrange into stunning, so-simple floral arrangements, and even make her own floral hydrolates with a copper still in her garden. A Chinese food and country-life vlogger from Pingwu in Mianyang, Sichuan, Li has become something of an Internet celebrity within China, and is fast gaining popularity around the world as stressed-out viewers tune in to drop out for a while.
And oh! That garden! Filled with rambling roses, herbs and vegetables of all description, kittens and puppies frolic and her grandmother chuckles in what are almost overwhelmingly charming and bucolic scenes, as Li Ziqi wanders further into the forest and welcomes spring by picking magnolia flowers, celebrates ‘peach blossom day’ and makes all manner of utterly delicious (and sometimes bewildering, if you don’t happen to be familiar with them) floral-themed dishes.
Satisfyingly, every single part of the plants seems to be used, in meals, for homemade fabric dyes or in glorious floral arrangements in huge vases. There’s something very ASMR about it all – Auto Sensory Meridian Response: a tingling, relaxing sensation some people feel while watching or listening to pleasing audio – with the wind rustling the rose bushes as she meticulously chops and prepares the food, windchimes tinkling in the background.
If you’re stuck indoors and feel trapped, as I do (self-isolating while looking after two elderly, at-risk parents) watching these short films feels almost as good as running through the forests in gauzy gowns yourself… And you know, the calm that washes over you isn’t just make-believe. Scientists have proved that even just looking at pictures of trees and greenery for a few minutes a day can actually help reduce stress and depression.
Dubious? Have a read of this fascinating article in Psychology Today, which asserts that ‘the sight of trees allows the parasympathetic nervous system to gain an edge, calming the entire body and making us more relaxed. That’s a good thing given how many of us live in concrete, urban environments. A recent NIH study [2] found that in urban surroundings, “contact with real or simulated green settings as opposed to [manmade] settings has positive effects on mood, self-esteem and self-reported feelings of stress and depression.” The Japanese have longed practiced Shirin-yoku, taking in the forest atmosphere or “forest bathing,” to alleviate stress, aggression, fatigue, and feelings of depression.’
So there you have it: if we can’t find freedom for now, or if you don’t have access to a garden of your own (let alone a flower-filled forest to frolic in), you can at least tune in and switch down your stress levels awhile.
Wishing you safe and well, until we meet again fragrant friends…
Having taken a virtual trip to the flower fields with self-hypnosis and meditated with a Love-Alchemist, for the next session on Tuesday 5th May sees (and hears) sound-healer Charlotte Hastings will teach you how to ‘experience your being through the language of sound.’ All with the fragrant backdrop of the stunning scents themselves.
And we’re rather fascinated with fragrance and music, currently, as you will find in our soon-to-be-published next edition of The Scented Letter Magazine. Watch (and listen to!) this space…
Founder Amy Christiansen Si-Ahmed has created a stunning portfolio of perfumes that reflect her life-long love of fragrance – nurtured on travels through the Middle East with her inspirational grandmother. As she told The Perfume Society: ‘The scents I’d encountered on my travels over the years were enchanting to me: the pure and golden shimmer of orange blossom, the mystical, enveloping depth of sandalwood, the seduction of jasmine blooming at night. I felt I could never find that captured anywhere on a department store shelf.’
The scents in the Sana Jardin collection really are strikingly beautiful – a magic carpet ride in every bottle. And – enhancing their feel-good factor – this socially-conscious, luxury fragrance house offers flacons created entirely from recycled glass, along with a sustainability program to help the Moroccan women who pick the orange blossoms used in several of perfumer Carlos Benaïm‘s stunning creations for Sana Jardin.
But don’t just take our word for it, why not explore the collection yourself, from the comfort of your home? Allow yourself to experience the bliss of a scented sanctuary…
National Fragrance Day is on March 21st every year, and we want you to all join in by putting your best face – and fragrance – forward for a #smellfie tomorrow…
National Fragrance Day is a wonderful day in the perfume calendar, entirely devoted to revelling in fragrance’s glories.
Four years ago, we came up with the idea of the #smellfie – a selfie with a scent you love. Little did we know it would lead to thousands of fragrance fans all over the world sharing their photos, with celebrities (including all of Little Mix) joining in!
The Perfume Society is inviting everyone to upload a #smellfie – holding an all-time favourite fragrance, or simply to share the scent you’ve chosen to wear that day.
Once you’ve selected your scent (and believe us, we feel your pain in choosing!) simply take a picture of you holding it and upload to Instagram, using the hashtag #smellfie and mentioning@theperfumesociety, so we can spot your photos.
We’ll be keeping an eye on our feeds all day long, and we’ll repost as many as possible that really tickle our fancy. (Creativity is encouraged!)
What’s more, we’re offering five signed copies of The Perfume Bible (which we’ll also send internationally!), with a year’s print subscription to The Scented Letter in addition for the #smellfie we love the most.
Happy snapping – we cannot WAIT to see what you come up with this year!
