Fragrances For… The Winter Solstice

While selecting fragrances for the Winter Solstice, why not let it snow in the scents you wear? Perfumers have been inspired by frosted leaves, frozen lakes, mystical, white-tipped mountains, and all manner of wintry scenes.

Recently, we were blanketed by snow in the U.K. and the countryside was like a Christmas card come to life, while London looked for all the world like a real-life Rom Com. For a while, anyway. Though beautiful, snow and ice sadly cause travel chaos, and that pristine perfection turns to grey slush before long. But with the Winter Solstice, we want to keep the thrill of snowy scenes alive in the scents we choose…

 

 

4160 Tuesdays Doe in the Snow
A crystalline breeze brushes snowflakes on eyelashes, a world tinged white while eating peach sorbet in the midst of a magical forest’s wedding feast.
From £32 for 15ml eau de parfum 4160tuesdays.com

 

 

 

Moncler Pour Femme
In the chicest ski resort, powdered snow flecks cold metal, a crisp morning breeze of bringing the mountains closer with drifts of icy flowers’ frozen petals.
£113 for 100ml eau de parfum harveynichols.com

 

 

 

Lorenzo Villoresi Teint de Neige
Now available in sparkling scented body gel form, this crackles like a frost fairy’s mirror coated in face powder, coaxed from its ice layer by a flicker of candlelight.
£95 for 100ml sparkling body gel lessenteurs.com

 

 

 

Frederic Malle L’Eau d’Hiver
Soothing whispers of endless comfort swirl in exquisite minimalism, a blanket of iris covering frosted hawthorns, radiant hedione glistening through melting icicles.
£210 for 100ml eau de toilette libertylondon.com

 

 

 

Creed Silver Mountain Water
Cascading alpine streams conjured via chilled cassis, sparkling citrus, iced tea and the mercurial illusiveness of ambergris: purity providing welcome breathing space.
£185 for 50ml eau de parfum creedfragrances.co.uk

 

 

 

Kingdom Scotland Albaura
An icy gasp of air, the magnificence of a mountain conquered by a woman ahead of her time, marvelling at fresh snow, wild berries and botanicals, her own bravery.
£120 for 50ml eau de parfum kingdomscotland.com

The House of Oud Wonderly
Snow in the desert? Picture this: warm copper bowls of apricots, almond blossoms blooming, plumes of smoke curling skywards, snowflakes falling on sand dunes.
From £30 for 7ml eau de parfum ab-presents.co.uk

 

 

 

Roos & Roos Mentha Religiosa
An interplay of shadow and light, a crackle of mint awakens the fizz of bright bergamot, mellowed by powdery iris, threads of patchouli, and cold, clear incense.
£175 for 100ml eau de parfum roosandroos.fr

 

 

 

Zoologist Snowy Owl
Silvery snow hides life, but in the beat of a white feathered wing the owl swoops, furry voles snuggled in mossy tunnels oblivious as the world sleeps and glistens.
£210 for 60ml extrait de parfum bloomperfume.co.uk

 

Skandinavisk SNÖ Candle
A fragrant light to guide you through the darkest winter nights (and days), it fills the room with frosted berries, frozen timberwood and pushes stubborn walls back.
Now £19.20 for 90g osmology.co

 

 

L’Atelier Parfum Rose Coupe de Foudre
‘Somewhere between a shiver and a heartbeat,’ they say, ‘an intoxicating passion.’ Frosted magnolia unfurls, buxom buds bursting free; roses, berries, no regrets.
£95 for 100ml eau de parfum uk.latelierparfum.com

 

 

 

Cloon Keen Atelier Frosted Moon
Ethereal moonlight kisses frosted grass, sparkles of ice shards piercing beneath winter’s mantle to vetiver’s welcoming earthiness: spring’s bulbs warmly cocooned.
£120 for 100ml eau de parfum lessenteurs.com

 

 

 

Agonist Blue North
Spearmint-tinged botanicals, ginger-tingled herbs and cardamom-kissed woods pay scented tribute to the startling beauty of remote landscapes plunged in darkness.
£135 for 50ml eau de parfum averyperfumegallery.co.uk

 

 

 

Diptyque Neige Candle
Once upon a winter’s midnight, in the depths of a blue velvet sky, phosphorescent shapes are traced in sparkling heliotrope, a cosmic shimmer of cold white musk.
£38 for 70g selfridges.com

 

 

 

 

For further reading on the fascinating ways perfumers can conjure a sense of ‘cold’ in their compositions, and how we can actually use our sense of smell to predict an oncoming snowstorm before a single flake has fallen, read our lead feature in the winter edition of The Scented Letter Magazine – this multi-award-winning publication is FREE to read in a digital, flickable format, and to get yours, simply sign up, here.

 

Written by Suzy Nightingale

Scenting The (Snow) Globe: Olfiction perfumer creates the smell of Christmas

Get your snow shoes on and experience a fabulously scented, festive performance, as the world famous Globe Theatre is transformed into ‘The (Snow) Globe’ with fragrant help from Olfiction and perfumer, Pia Long

Pia is the co-founder of Olfiction – a UK-based fragrance consultancy that work with suppliers, contract manufacturers, brands, retailers and fragrance industry organisations. As well as creating fragrances and scented products, and aiding existing fragrance houses to shape and better define themselves in the marketplace, Olfiction can also help evoke specific moods (or seasons) by scenting spaces – and this one couldn’t be more festively fragrant!

Olfiction says: This Christmas, world renowned performing arts venue, cultural attraction and education centre Shakespeare’s Globe will show Christmas at the (Snow) Globe. As part of their dedication to making performance accessible, the production will have an audio described performance with a set touch tour for visually impaired visitors. To enhance this aspect of the production, Shakespeare’s Globe commissioned Olfiction to create fragrances which evoke all of the sensations and scents of Christmas.

The team at Olfiction created accords of Snow, Christmas Tree, and Pomanders as well as a finished fragrance which combines all of these elements.

Talking about the experience, Olfiction Perfumer, Pia Long, said: ‘A Finnish person being asked to make the smell of a Nordic Christmas? Absolutely!

The challenge of doing things that are very well known by people is harder than it seems, because if you don’t get it right, it is as though you have ruined something that is personally important to them. It’s a fun challenge to make something that if you give the scent to someone, they will smell it and say ‘that’s Christmas!’.

I particularly enjoyed making snow because it is so abstract, more like a sensation than a smell – and it’s not until you think about it that you realise there is a smell. I’ve always felt that some aldehydes smelled like snow. That was the most fun to do as a perfumer – it’s something that you know and you don’t, because it isn’t as though there is a snow essential oil!’

Snow Globe

A sensation of cold crisp air and frozen earth.
‘As though you are walking into a snowy landscape and take a big lungful of snowy air, it’s got the snow but also the frozen ground under the snow. I wanted you to sense that there are trees in the background. It’s very much a Nordic landscape on a crisp winter morning when it’s well below zero.
Notes: Aldehydes, Juniper, Cyclamen, Black Pepper, Cold Effects

Yule Tree

A picture-perfect Christmas tree.
‘I wanted to do a spruce as it’s growing, ready to be your Christmas tree – so here are the fresh young shoots as well as the smell of the Christmas tree when you bring it into your house for Christmas. So, it’s Nordic spruce, not a typical pine – the smell is more delicate and leafy, there’s almost a fruitiness to it and it’s absolutely the smell of Christmas for me. It’s not Christmas until you have the real live tree in the house. The tradition was that you would go and physically fetch your tree on Christmas Eve, and you’d go to cut it down from the forest as a family.’
Notes: Fir Balsam abs, Cypress, Elemi, Labdanum, Amber, Oakmoss, Pine

Pomander

A traditional orange pomander dotted in spices.
‘For this accord, I wanted to capture an orange pomander with cloves, but I’ve also thought of the Christmas stockings stuffed with clementines and gingerbread – the whole idea is combining citrus and spices. There’s a bit of floralcy in this as well – I added carnations and orange blossom – to make it a bit more sophisticated.’
Notes: Cinnamon, Clove, Nutmeg, Orange, Orange Flower, Clementine, Mandarin, Carnation, Patchouli, Amber

Danish Christmas

This fragrance captures all of the sensations of the individual accords, in a wearable perfume that can be used by the actors and ushers as well as to scent the decorations and space.

‘I wanted to take slices of each of the accords. Up top you’ve got the aldehydes from Snow Globe, and the spice and citrus from Pomander. From the Yule Tree, I’ve taken the resins and balsams and the ambery side, with some of the woodiness, so the complete fragrance is this warming and cosy Christmas hug. I’ve added a slight gingerbread note in there as well, to evoke the feeling of baking Christmas treats and festive cosiness.’
Notes: Aldehydes, Orange, Clementine, Mandarin, Jasmine Absolute, Cedarwood Atlas, Carnation, Cinnamon, Orange Flower Absolute, Clove, Nutmeg, Benzoin, Incense, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Fir Balsam, Labdanum, Oakmoss

 

 

About the Show:

‘The Globe Theatre stands empty, the stage bare, the Christmas tree undecorated and we need your help.

Someone has stolen the magic of Christmas from Snowdrop, the fairy who stands watch over our wooden ‘O’ during the winter months. Comedian Sandi Toksvig and her merry gang need your help to find it and bring it back to the Globe.

Sing along to classic Christmas songs with the tremendous Fourth Choir, prepare to make paper chains to decorate the theatre and get ready to harness your belief in the spirit of the season to help restore some festive cheer.

This is a show for the entire family so tell everyone you know to put on their favourite Christmas jumpers and join us for the most heart-warming of gatherings.

Help us spread the cheer further. In the spirit of storytelling and gift giving, we’re inviting audiences to bring along a brand-new children’s book as a present to put under the Christmas at the (Snow) Globe tree, which we’ll donate to local charities that support children and young people.

Created and directed by Sandi Toksvig and Jenifer Toksvig, Christmas at the (Snow) Globe will have integrated BSL for every performance.

There will be captioned performances on Sunday 22 December at 2.00PM and 6.00PM, and the audio described performance will be on Saturday 21 December at 2.00PM, with a touch and scent tour on the stage at 12 noon.