Eau de Cologne has always carried a certain mystique. Crisp, bright and effortlessly wearable, it occupies a unique place in the fragrance world — one that stretches from the powdered wigs of 18th-century Europe to the minimalist bathroom shelves of today. While modern perfumery constantly reinvents itself, cologne remains timeless precisely because of its simplicity.
The story begins in the German city of Cologne, where Italian perfumer Johann Maria Farina created a revolutionary scent in 1709. Inspired by the freshness of spring mornings after rain, his fragrance was unlike the heavy animalic perfumes popular at the time. Built around sparkling citrus notes — bergamot, lemon and orange blossom — Eau de Cologne felt clean, uplifting and refined. It quickly became a sensation among European aristocracy, favoured by emperors, royals and travellers alike.
Traditionally, cologne referred to fragrances with a lighter concentration of perfume oils, often dominated by citrus, herbs and aromatic woods. Their appeal lay in their immediacy: refreshing rather than overwhelming, intimate rather than theatrical. And yet, despite centuries of changing tastes, that effortless freshness still resonates today.
Modern fragrance wardrobes are increasingly built around versatility. We no longer reserve scent for evening occasions or formal events; fragrance has become part of daily ritual and personal wellbeing. In this landscape, cologne feels more relevant than ever. A crisp neroli blend before work, a sharp citrus spritz after a shower, or a soft herbal composition on warm summer skin — these scents fit seamlessly into contemporary life.
Many of today’s most admired perfumes still borrow from the original cologne structure. Luxury houses reinterpret it with transparent musks, green tea, smoky vetiver or marine accords, proving that freshness can also possess sophistication and longevity. The appeal transcends gender too, with cologne styles now celebrated as beautifully universal.
Perhaps that is the enduring magic of cologne: it never tries too hard. In an age of excess, there is something deeply modern about fragrance that simply makes you feel clean, elegant and quietly confident.
Three centuries later, Louise Farina, ninth-generation perfumer, returns to the iconic essences that Johann Maria Farina once selected for the Original Eau de Cologne: bergamot, mandarin, neroli, jasmine, musk and amber. Each note is reinterpreted through a contemporary lens in the new Série Extrait de Cologne collection — six individual fragrance portraits that honour the heritage of cologne while embracing the richness and depth modern wearers increasingly seek. Rather than recreating the past, the collection reframes these historic ingredients with elegance and clarity, demonstrating how timeless raw materials can still feel entirely current.
The Série Extrait de Cologne collection will be available from 1st June 2026.
There have been so many launches that we can’t possibly list them all but this month’s fragrance round-up is an intoxicating array that whisk you from sun-kissed citrus groves to decadent trysts under starlight. Expect spirited florals, daring orientals and playful gourmand twists that promise to enchant the senses — each one a signature in the making for every mood and moment of the season ahead.
Versace Dylan Blush Pink sparkles open with juicy unique strawberry apple and a twist of citrus, unfolding into sweet marshmallow. Soft musk and vanilla lend a silky finish. Bright, polished and effortlessly feminine, it’s a carefree floral with a glossy, contemporary allure.
Chloé Atelier des Fleurs Sable Lavande unfurls like a sun-kissed lavender breeze over warm, sandy Mediterranean shores, with aromatic lavender and subtle floral whispers. Clean, woody-musky depth wraps the experience in serene elegance.
Liquides Imaginaires Âme de Fleur whispers petals and sunlit dew, unfolding with luminous iris and tender rose. A soft, creamy heart glows against a backdrop of warm woods and subtle musk. Elegant, serene and endlessly graceful, it’s pure floral poetry with depth.
Flower by Kenzo Le Rouge blooms with a burst of vibrant raspberry and bright citrus, leading into lush rose and delicate floral heart. Warm vanilla and musk linger softly beneath, creating a radiant, joyful scent—a modern classic with irresistible, effervescent charm.
Infiniment Coty Paris L’Amour Pourpre L’Osmium pushes the aromatic lavender heart into an intense, amber-rich embrace. Lavender and sage open with a bright but smoky allure, melting into vanilla, resinous warmth that feels bold, sensual, and enveloping.
Gritti Chantilly Extrait dawns like a sun-drenched bowl of summer fruits — juicy strawberry and melon gleam with playful freshness. Coconut and apple meld with floral whispers, while vanilla and musk deepen the trail. Youthful yet indulgent, it’s a radiant delight with creamy sophistication.
L’Artisan Parfumeur L’Amant darkly traces ink on skin with sparky highlights of pimento leaf and spices igniting the senses. Patchouli and smouldering woods add depth, creating an intimate scent — sensual and refined, with beguiling mystery and allure.
Creed Wild Vetiver opens with crisp citrus and piquant timur, kissed by blackcurrant. Rose and earthy vetiver weave with warm woods, creating a clean, refined scent. Casually chic, it’s a versatile vetiver with uplifting presence.
Strictly season is hotting up, and we’re scenting all the major dances with fragrances we feel best compliment their unique characters. Don’t forget to read Part One for all the background context of these features, but briefly put, music and fragrance have myriad connections. What’s more, we love mixing cultural references, as it adds to our understanding of scent as an emotive medium!
So, simply decide which dance best sum up your personality, or would match your mood today, and then seek out the perfume we’ve picked to accompany it…
American Smooth – BDKVanille Leather
The magic of seeing couples glide over the dance floor in this so-sophisticated number never gets old, and we know you’ll be won over by the rich smoothness of the glorious vanilla in this scent, too. But if you avoid gourmands, fear not! Get set to banish all thoughts of it being sickly: this has great depth but glides on skin like a silky caress. Rich, yes, but so, SO chic. Shot through with Indian tuberose, Egyptian jasmine and orange flower, there’s a fizzing sense of excitement from pink peppercorns and a swoony violet to infuse the trail, along with that creamy, dreamy vanilla.
A classic dance style often depicted in romantic films, the sweepingly graceful moves are reflected in this regally arrayed fragrance. Enrobed in purple, the majesty of this Chopard scent is apparent even before the first spritz. Echoing both the colour of the iris flower and the robes associated with royalty, this fit-for-a-Queen fragrance billows wild berries and warm spices borne aloft on a feather-light, powdery cloud of that exceptional orris concrete, garlanded either side by jasmine and ylang ylang. Further spices infuse opulently silky balms and woodiness in the base. One to fall madly in love with, for sure.
Overtly feminine in style, this is a blur of boobs, hips and feet sashaying with intent (and filled with happiness!) You’d not be able to do it in the actual corset, but you can definitely feel the vibe wearing this fragrance. Gilded breast cones? Of COURSE it’s a JPG – referencing one of his iconic fashion pieces in fragrant form, it’s sparkly, yet has a satisfying gourmand hit. Envisage sun-warmed skin, now add opulent wafts of white flowers, and a scented surprise where the addictive sweet creaminess of whipped meringue is suddenly shot through with a lip-smacking hint of the salty sea. Breezy yet buxom, it’s an invitation to be the very best, fragrantly fabulous version of yourself.
Surely the most passionate dance of all, this drama-filled spectacle needs a scent that can balance the sheer sexiness with restraint. Teetering betwixt the hip-swivelling sensuality of tuberose and the softness of a rose’s velvet blush, this surprising dive into untamed eroticism is held at bay by the cashmere fluffiness of musk, a warm hug of amber and a dusting of iris. Calmed by these, the orange blossom and jasmine join the white flowers in a more controlled dance than if left to cavort, while camphor’s on hand with the smelling salts for the final dip.
Need an instant shot of energy? You will with this breathlessly entertaining dance, and wearing this gloriously uplifting scent – infused with ‘a supercharged Herkimer diamond crystal for clarity and to boost energy levels’ – the brilliant Lyn Harris has created her own magic from a ZING! POP! FIZZ! of citrus explosions that feel like you’re being beamed above the clouds with every spritz. Turn on the scented spotlight for a sizzle of turmeric and black pepper, adding ruffled layers of welcome warmth, while bergamot, lemon, and aqueous ginger sparkle like bottled sunshine throughout.
Couple’s Choices: (a category introduced in 2018 – celebs and their professional dancer partners have a choice of performing either a contemporary dance, a street/commercial dance or theatre and jazz. We’ve chosen a scent for each..)
Couple’s Choice Contemporary – Bruno Cucinelli Pour Homme
A poetically lyrical style of dance that often incorporates balletic moves and lifts, this dance truly expresses the emotion of the music. The fragrance for this match is just as expressive, while masterfully understated. Paying tribute to the Italian design house’s home of Solomeo with every sophisticated, spice-infused spritz, Olivier Cresp evokes rolling Umbrian hills, an aromatic landscape brought to life via cypress, juniper, clary sage and Nigerian ginger flecked with flinty black pepper. Known for his masterful textures and superb fabrics, Cucinelli’s aesthetic and his homeland are so brilliantly nuanced within the blend: a sense of overlapping complexity that simultaneously feels effortless.
Often introducing a retro dance style to appropriately nostalgic tunes, this dance always puts smiles on the audience’s faces. Similarly, this scent joyously revels in revery, harking back to the 90s as its perfumed point of reference. We’re imagining it worn while dancing to MC Hammer’s ‘U Can’t Touch This’ for extra fun. And this really is fun to wear. It has us pining for the optimism and carefree attitude of that era, which is cleverly evoked here with a boozy Negroni accord, a breeze of spearmint, tuberose naughtily swirled with wormwood, earthy patchouli and a mossy dry-down. It’s ‘da bomb’ (as we liked to say, back then).
Couple’s Choice Jazz – Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club
The vibrant allure of an illicit after-party in a wood-panelled club is evoked here via a fizz of pink pepper, the brightness of neroli and lemon slinking to the rum-infused fun of the rich heart. There’s a shadowy coolness of vetiver oil from Java, a sense of refinement from the tobacco, and a sensually resinous vanilla base; but it’s the kind of night that will linger long in your memory, and your secret smiles…
We’re excited to announce the latest issue of our multiple award-winning magazine, The Scented Letter: Fashion, Fragrance & the Future is now LIVE!
Each autumn/winter, our award-winning magazine, The Scented Letter, celebrates the links between fashion and fragrance. But this season, the 64-page magazine has a futuristic edge, as we explore ways that Artificial Intelligence is impacting the world of perfumery.
We wanted to bring you some ideas of fragrances to wear when you should be kind to yourself, most especially on this day when ‘love is in the air’, but we often put ourselves at the bottom of a long list of people we need to show how much we care. Valentines Day can be difficult for many, so we say grab a cuppa (and a box of chocolates), and treat yourself to trying one of these recently launched, and all so-beautiful fragrances…
AEMIUM Rouge Confidence
Swathing ourselves in amber-rich, beautifully-balanced scents is exactly what we want to be doing right now. This suffuses a buoyant, gilded warmth with, notes of supple leather (think freshly polished new boots, joyously kicking through leaves), phosphorescent citrus beaming through cheering freesia and violet. Here’s a new-to-us French house which equates luxury with eco-kind credentials, too – everything sourced, manufactured, and packaged in France to reduce their carbon footprint, and zero petrochemicals. £125 for 100ml eau de parfum selfridges.com
DIOR LA COLLECTION PRIVÉE La Collection Privée Vanilla Diorama
Here is Dior perfumer-creator François Demachy’s ‘ode to vanilla’, which from the initial sparkle of orange to the swoon of that sticky, dark pod’s scent, does not disappoint. Like wearing an amber cloak of silk velvet, texturally cosy with a glamorous, golden sheen, with undulating seams of rum, cocoa and patchouli throughout. Apparently inspired by an off-menu dessert created for Demachy by Parisian restaurant Maxim’s, we’re going to need a bigger spoon… From £99 for 40ml eau de parfum dior.com
VERONIQUE GABAI
Le Point G
This swooningly sensual fragrance ‘draws inspiration from the G spot’ (chaps: if you can’t find it in Liberty’s, just ask!), which ‘grows on skin until it reaches a full completion in an exhale of pleasure.’ Gosh. Softly sexy, not brashly obvious, spicy pepper, silky vanilla and soft white musk drape the skin for hours. Don’t think of this as a pulling perfume – more an invitation to wear fragrance for self-pleasure. £245 for 85ml eau de parfum libertylondon.com
BURBERRY SIGNATURES Windsor Tonic
This collection, ‘inspired by British heritage, artistry, and eccentricities’, really showcases the Burberry DNA. Evoking the royal town it’s named for, expect a certain insouciant grandeur to overcome you as the Cologne-like freshness of piercing petitgrain, bergamot and mandarin sweep to the cool green cardamom and orange blossom heart. Buoyed with wafts of green cypress to the refined woody dry-down, it feels like nothing bad can happen when you wear this. £190 for 90ml eau de parfum harrods.com
MONT BLANC LEGEND
At once familiar and yet excitingly different to the original, Mont Blanc invite you to push the boundaries of your life but in the most reassuringly comforting way. Here, the addition of green violet leaves harmonises with the addictively creamy (almost waxy) floral note of magnolia and a warm, woody, burnished leather as it deliciously dries down. A new signature scent, perhaps, if you need a gentle push out of your comfort zone. £48.50 for 50ml eau de toilette johnlewis.com
Fragrances for celebrations have a certain pizzazz about them – a sparkle that sets them apart from the ordinary. Whether you’re celebrating a summer sporting win, seeing your loved ones again or simply getting through the 2020 / 2021 thus far; these scents will add the POP of Champagne corks in perfume form…
GIORGIO ARMANI SÌ EAU DE PARFUM INTENSE
It isn’t every afternoon you get to hang out with Cate Blanchett on Zoom, but for the launch of this intense, super-sophisticated incarnation of Sì, the Academy Award-winning actress was joined by perfumer Julie Massé to introduce this stunning Chypre-Ambrée-fruity masterpiece. Sì’s signature blackcurrant nectar is paired here with armfuls of Ispartra rose and velvety davana, imparting serious va-va-voom, before your senses are enveloped by patchouli, benzoin and sustainably-sourced vanilla. Fabulissimo! From £60 for 30ml eau de parfum intense armanibeauty.co.uk
GUERLAIN MON GUERLAIN SPARKLING BOUQUET
A jewel-like bottle, a shimmering scent: in this latest addition to the Mon Guerlain family (which is expanding fast), a pear accord in the overture has been magnified to juicy, fruity, joyful effect, to sparkle ‘like a mischievously irresistible smile’, Guerlain promise. But the resonances of the original Mon Guerlain are apparent throughout – the floral heart, with its aromatic lavender flourishes, the jasmine scampering everywhere, the vanilla and sandalwood in the so-feminine base. £70 for 50ml eau de parfum guerlain.com
JIMMY CHOO I WANT CHOO
Juicy succulence explodes in a whoosh of mandarin and velvety peach, while jasmine gets twisted with red spider lily in the heart – a flirtatious pairing that sashays all the way to a scrumptiously warm, sweet benzoin-soaked vanilla base. It’s vivacious enough to boost your spirits, and effortless enough to grant you a cloak of ‘I just woke up like this’ glam. Think of it as your fragrant filter: everything’s better with it on! £45 for 40ml eau de parfum theperfumeshop.com
LANCÔME LA VIE EST BELLE SOLEIL CRISTAL
How we love seeing soleil in the name of a fragrance: a glimmer of sunlit hope and promises of outdoor living (without the blankets and hot chocolate). A solar brightness gives a new twist to the bestseller, here, via radiant mandarin, extravagant white flowers and a trail of Madagascan vanilla and patchouli, from Bali. And oh, the bottle’s spectacular, with a shimmering, almost holographic finish that echoes the luminosity of the scent inside. From £29 for 15ml eau de parfum lancome.co.uk
VALENTINO BORN IN ROMA YELLOW DREAM FOR HIM
And we think lovely for anyone! This feels like wearing the scent of yellow for sure – a zip of zest radiating sunshine as Italian mandarin and pineapple accord awaken the senses. Lusciously juicy – actual mouth-watering will occur – a surprising gingerbread accord captures your interest in the heart, the whole composition irresistibly smoothed by creamy, black speckled vanilla bean swirled through your coffee as you saunter through Rome’s streets, perhaps? From the Italian architectural bottle inspiration to the scent: we’re so there. (PSST! You might like to get your hands (and nose) on the Seasonal Scent Subscription Box…) £75 for 100ml eau de toilette boots.com
