With the Notting Hill Carnival on the summer event horizon, and the weather (touch wood and crossing fingers) currently glorious, we are feeling rather overcome by a need for sultry, sassy scents which echo the Carnival spirit. So many ways we could go with this, but let’s plump for perfumes which are built around a ravishing rum note.
Now, slip on those spangled and feather-bedecked costumes and sashay your way to sniffing some of these…
An unexpected mix of piquant, spice-infused bergamot and plum with a ‘your-skin-but-so-much-better’, creamy leather dry-down, the warmth of the rum gets jiggy with a tingle of amber, then simmers for hours. The roller-ball bottle makes this especially useful for travelling (if you’re lucky enough) or touching up your scent, even if you’re shaking those hips in a Carnival parade!
Malin & Goetz Dark Rum Perfume Oil £29 for 9ml malinandgoetz.co.uk
An irresistible combination of rum, leather and tobacco is sprinkled with a sweet frisson of vanilla and a tingle of warming cinnamon – the effect quite spellbinding. The rum-enriched woodiness is both reassuring and playfully addictive while the rich spiciness instills confidence and daring. The overall impression? Those who follow your (feathered) fragrant trail will be left enchanted…
Initio Parfums Privé Side Effect £230 for 90ml eau de parfum harrods.com
‘Defined by an exhilarate rum distilled from sugarcane and aged in oak barrels’ the party really gets going when that silky smooth booziness is joined by the exotic glam of passionfruit. A vivaciously sparkling scent, the rum heart is additionally glammed up with gardenia, all resting on an amber wood base that melds with the heat of your skin, and making this a veritable cocktail party in a glass to samba with.
Carolina Herrera 212 VIP £53 for 30ml eau de parfum carolinaherrera.com
Paying homage to English gentleman and pirate Sir Francis Drake, Pirates’ Grand Reserve puts an intoxicating spin on an Atkinsons fragrance with accord of fine cask rum. Paired with cocoa bean and cedarwood, this one practically swaggers out with every spritz. Topped with a perfect posy of floral notes and rounded off with a deep, dark vanilla pod and patchouli, it’s never too heavy yet totally character-filled.
Atkinsons Pirates Grand Reserve £158 for 100ml eau de parfum atkinsons1779.com
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…
Maison Margiela Replica Jazz Club £115 for 100ml eau de toilette maisonmargiela.com
Written by Suzy Nighingale
Peach schnapps with lychee and crystalised rose petals? Lalique‘s Rêve d’Infini sees us sipping iced martinis in a fabulous Art-Nouveau hotel. Love a drop of rum? Swashbuckler’s should head for the exotic Atkinsons Pirates Grand Reserve, while those more clasically inclined may wish to wear a Chambord and Champagne-like mix in Vince Camuto‘s Amore. Explore all of these (and many more) in this unashamedly decadent Discovery Box…
Many perfume-lovers seem to share a love for gin – perhaps it’s the wonderful array of botanicals that are now being used to infuse various small-batch brands, so reminiscent of the way fragrances are made? For fellow gin-lovers, this is now an absolute classic – a crisply refined cocktail on a pleasingly debauched base of black cherry, soft leather, crytalised brown sugar and exotic amber. To be splashed with abandon and relished at leisure.
Visiting the Kilchoman distillery on their beautiful remote island inspired a scent that captures not only the rich flavours of the golden liquor, but hints of hedgerows and the windswept, rugged mosslands for which they’re famed. Galbanum brings to mind bright yellow gorse flowers, bergamot and orris mirror the citrus-floral notes found in the whiskey itself, while a cade oil and patchouli create a peaty accord that’s reassuringly (and literally) grounding.
Thirst-qunching Watermelons with the freshness of green mandarin, notes of green tea and cooling vetiver; Blood Oranges bursting with vibrant, long-lasting citrus, and Framboise Noire succulent with black raspberries and ripe forest berries with a deep undertone like that of an ultra-smooth red wine… Fruit punch, claret, gourmand liqours, watermelon martinis? Allow yourself to be utterly transported by all in this deliciously curated collection.
