We’ve learned all manner of tips and tricks at The Perfume Society, which we’re thrilled to share with you, here. We’ve been privileged to meet some of the world’s best perfumers and foremost fragrance experts over the last seven years we’ve been going, and want to share their advice with you, below.
If you want a fabulous new fragrance to try, need tips on how to smell it as a perfumer does or how to describe what you’re smelling, consider some of these most useful fragrant facts to help you enjoy your fragrances even more…
Your taste in fragrance changes over the years – just as in food preference – and depends on weather, what you’ve eaten recently, your mood and hormones. So, take your time to explore a new scent out of your comfort range.
Spray on a blotter first and come back to it at hourly intervals. Write down your initial thoughts, then re-try a few days (and weeks) later.
Many perfumers trained for more years than a heart surgeon, memorising ingredients by connecting their smell to personal scent memories and images that immediately spring to mind, unbidden.
Smell has no distinct language. If you’re struggling to describe a scent, try likening it to fabric (is it velvety, suede-like, cotton fresh, silken or fluffy?) Perhaps it reminds you of music (played on which instruments? Fast or slow?) Or you might picture a place – imagine the air temperature and scenery it evokes…
Your nose gets used to smelling the same things, so avoid wearing the same thing daily. Try layering to re-awaken your senses or branch out with exciting new discoveries!
Like all artists, perfumers tend to have a certain style. If you fall in love with one (we’re predicting several) of these, research them online: we bet you’ll fall for others.
Scent molecules are volatile and evaporate at differing rates. Citruses are lightest, often found in top notes and disappearing rapidly; florals tend to be in the heart while base notes are heavier, woody or resinous. Make these stages last FAR longer by using matching or unscented body lotion, spray into your hair or on clothes (after testing on tissue!)
Undecided? Spray on a scarf rather than skin: you can take it off and sniff again, later! Spraying on fabric (or your hair) also helps make it last far longer as the molecules don’t warm up so quickly (or evaporate) as on skin. As does…
Use an unscented (or matching) body lotion or oil. Fragrance doesn’t last long on dry skin (or in hot climates). It clings far longer to moisturised skin – so slather up, then spray.
Don’t know what to try next? Use our simple Find a Fragrance tool: just type the name of a fragrance you already know and love, and the so-clever algorithm suggests six new scents with similar characters to try.
Fragrance samples are THE best way to try new things, dive nose-first into a whole new house you’ve never tried or perhaps a differing perfume family than you’d normally go for.
We know that a full bottle can be a big investment and not everyone happens to live near a shop with a great selection. That’s why we put together carefully curated Discovery Boxes. Our Launches We Love Discovery Box is a stunning selection of new names, with gorgeous mini bottles and generous samples from niche and luxury houses we know you’re going to love as much as we do…
Ostens is a fragrance house celebrating the finest ingredients they could get their hands on, and ‘ripping up the rule book’ of perfumery along the way…
Friends and business partners Christopher Yu and Laurent Delafon have been in the fragrance industry for over 20 years – they’ve worked alongside such notable names as Francis Kurkdjian, Olivier Polge, Lyn Harris, Sophie Labbé and Dominique Ropion – and fortuitously enough, first met in the Liberty perfumery department.
Laurent had a role in perfume distribution for Diptyque. Chris, though a self-confessed ‘fragrance nut’, was then ‘in computers.’ They got chatting, and not long after that meeting, took the plunge to go into business together, founding United Perfumes, where Christopher took on the role as Managing Director, and Laurent became the CEO.
As part of their jobs, they regularly travelled to Grasse, and one day heard tell of name well known by industry insiders, but practically unheard of in the wider public: LMR Naturals: Laboratoire Monique Rémy.
‘We loved the sort of secrecy about them, this idea that nobody outside the perfume world knew about LMR Naturals,’ Christopher confesses.
Viiting their HQ and smelling the incredible LMR ingredients, at that moment the duo decided they must get these under the noses of perfume lovers – to celebrate the materials themselves. And so (some years later, it must be said – a fragrance house isn’t buiilt overnight!) Ostens was born – raw ingredients made magical.
Those fragrances are found in two forms: for each hero ingredient, there is a fragrance ‘Preparation Oil’ and an eaux de parfum ‘Impression.’ Ostens use the term ‘Impressions’, because each fragrance takes an LMR ‘hero ingredient’ as the creative jumping off point – cedarwood, patchouli heart, rose Isparta, jasmine absolute and Cashmeran Velvet. And while sometimes that ingredient is the central focus, in others ‘it is more akin to a spice, used sparingly yet dramatically,’ explains Chris.
You can read their full story in our page dedicated to Ostens; but we are now so thrilled to be able to bring these fabulous fragrances directly to your noses, via their exquisite Ostens Discovery Set.
Inside the beautifully bound (and very book-like) slip case, you’ll find a whole library of olfactory wonders to explore…
Cashmeran Velvet – Cashmeran Velvet is a synthetic molecule which mimics the scent of warm, comforting woods with a slightly charred and smoky quality.
Cedarwood Heart – Cedarwood Heart leaves a dry, almost pencil-shavings scent on the skin that’s then softened by an unexpected, slightly creamy and almost vanilla like quality.
Jasmine Absolute – Ostens selected jasminum grandiflora grown in Egypt, for its fresh, natural, almost stem-like scent.
Patchouli Heart No.I – Patchouli Heart from Indonesia softer, warmer, and a more modern interpretation of the classic patchouli.
Patchouli Heart No.II – Patchouli Heart from Indonesia is a softer, warmer, and more modern interpretation of the classic patchouli – another spin on the highly versatile ingredient.
Rose Oil Isparta – A rose is a rose…or so we thought until we smelt the unique scent of the Rosa Damascena from Turkey.
Kept for yourself or sent to a scent-loving friend, ‘We realised that if we loved those smells, then there were surely other people who’d feel the same way’ Ostens told us.
Well, we fell head over heels for them, and feel sure you will, too…
When we were curating the Limited Edition Niche Discovery Box, we wanted to include the most exciting niche fragrances we’ve come across lately. It can be really difficult to find these houses if you don’t happen to live in London or near an independent perfumery – and even if you do, it would take ages to seek out all these scents – FOURTEEN in all! – so we’ve saved your legs and done all the pre-sniffing to find the hottest niche brands right now…
Have a look here to read all about the fragraces, with three huge luxury size samples and the entire contents worth over £75, but costing you only £23 (or just £19 forVIP Club members ); but right now let’s focus on why we think you should be excited about exploring these niche houses, now.
One of the things that truly sets a ‘niche’ house apart is their founders hands-on approach – and the unique personalities they bring to their brand’s creation. At The Perfume Society, we truly believe perfume lovers want to know more than merely ‘this is new’ – it’s one of the reasons we started! – and that’s why we dedicate entire pages to houses’ histories, from tracing heritage and discovering why they’ve embraced niche, to finding out what makes their founders tick, and what drives their perfume passions…
Anima Vinci
Showcasing fragrances created by some of the world’s most renowned perfumers, Anima Vinci is the creative expression of one woman’s strong belief in the power of fragrance and the positive effect it can have on your heart, mind and spirit. With a background at the very first ‘niche’ perfumery house – and years at the creative helm of one of the UK’s most historic fragrance names – Nathalie Vinciguerra brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. But it’s her passion for authenticity and sustainability within the world of fragrance that finally drove her to create Anima Vinci.
Atkinsons
Oh, what a wonderful fragrant story this is: a traditional British perfume house, restored to its glory in the 21st Century – with the 2013 niche-focused relaunch of Atkinsons fragrances. A sleeping beauty of a tale, actually, interwoven with the names of heroes and heroines, princes and dandies. And as if that wasn’t enough, a rags-to-riches story, too.In spring 1799, an enterprising young man named James Atkinson set forth from the wilds of Cumberland for London. In his suit pocket were recipes for fine fragrances and toiletries he’d created himself. And next to him sat a generous amount of rose-scented bear grease balm. (Yes, really.) Even more extraordinarily, next to the balm sat a real, live bear who – so the tale goes – was utterly devoted to James…
BDK Parfums
One of the city’s newest niche perfume house, BDK has its roots firmly in Paris’s perfumed history, while its design is even inspired by an iconic Parisian building. Unlike the names Guerlain, Creed or Dior, Benedek isn’t one you’d immediately associate with perfume. But in its own way, 29-year-old David Benedek‘s family has also played a pivotal role in sharing the love of French fragrance within France and beyond its shores.
E. Coudray
There are few fragrance houses still as ‘relevant’ after almost 200 years as the wonderful Paris-based house of E. Coudray – which can trace its roots back to the reign of Louis XVIII, no less, and the year 1822. The Paris-born founder was a doctor-chemist, Edmond Coudray (the ‘E’ in E. Coudray), who went on to enjoy a spectacular career, creating eaux de Cologne, pomades, creams and soaps for the crowned heads of France, Italy and England – including Queen Victoria, for whom the perfume ‘Reine Victoria’ was made. Now enjoyed by niche fragrance-lovers who appreciate their unerring quality and dressing-table worthy bottles, no wonder this heritage house is proudly thriving.
Fragrance du Bois
With their headquarters in Paris and a number of privately owned sustainable plantations in Asia, Fragrance Du Bois are world experts in the protection and harvesting of oudh – sometimes known as ‘liquid gold’. And they have mastered the blending of this fabled ingredient, using some of the best ‘noses’ in the world. Fragrance Du Bois are, quite unashamedly, so oudh-obsessed. And are we surprised? Derived from the dark resinous wood of the Aquilaria tree, oudh (often spelled ‘oud’) is an utterly fascinating material – a resin that occurs in less than 7% of trees, in the wild. Which explains why the material is so precious – and, sought-after. And not all oudh, it transpires, is harvested with the focus on sustainability that Fragrance Du Bois are renowned for.
Juliette Has a Gun Romano Ricci has perfume in his DNA. His great-grandmother was the legendary couturier Nina Ricci and his grandfather Robert was creator of the equally iconic L’Air du Temps. He launched Juliette Has A Gun in December 2006: a brand devoted to women, offering a new type of elegance within niche perfumery: ‘The innocent Juliet of Shakespeare is transposed to the 21st Century with a gun… Metaphor for the perfume, weapon of seduction, or simple accessory of bluff. “Gun” essentially symbolises the liberation of women towards men… And sometimes with an aftertaste of revenge.’
Kingdom Scotland Imogen Russon-Taylor has created the very first Scottish fragrance house – capturing the history and majestic landscapes of her home country in a portfolio of utterly contemporary fragrances…The worlds of whisky and fragrance have much in common, believes Imogen Russon-Taylor. And she should know: after a distinguished career in the aromatic world of Scotch whisky, Imogen has now gone on to create her own fragrance house – the very first to be based north of the border. ‘Both whisky and perfume are produced by traditional distillation methods,’ she explains. Both evoke a complex sensory experience and both rely upon the innovative use of ingredients or flavours to distinguish themselves from competitors.’
Merchant of Venice
When the princess Teodora Ducas – daughter of the Emperor of Byzantium – married the Doge Domenico Selvo in 1060, it can be said the grand Venetian tradition of perfumery (and the accompanying products with which the royal court liked to adorn themselves) truly began. Later centuries would come to see Venice as a centre for the art of European perfumery – a vibrant city that never shied away from revelling in the finer things life has to offer. Surrounded by such beauty, it seems only natural the aristocrats would wish to look – and smell – just as fabulous. Skip forward several centuries to 2011, and the Vidal family – already renowned in the world of perfumery for more than a century – decided to pay homage to this glorious cultural tradition.
Modernist Perfume
It’s easy to look back and think the timing was spot on,’ says John Evans, founder of Modernist Fragrance and (perhaps somewhat surprisingly) former financier. ‘That was true to a degree,’ he admits, ‘but the rest was like anything you’re passionate about: hard work, perseverance, some setbacks, a bit of luck.’ Through books, involvement with industry organisations, meetings with perfumers, as well as a research to Grasse – global epicentre of perfume creation – he immersed himself in the techniques of fine perfumery, painstakingly experimenting with building his own compositions. ‘Time and space change once compounding begins,’ John explains, ‘like being enthralled by something you’re writing or reading.’
Prosody
Rising star fragrance house Prosody London believe that plants are more than just useful ingredients on which we rely, saying ‘they are the basis of human wellbeing, the silent friends without which our planet would be bare and our lives unthinkable…’ With a green ethos that flows through every fragrance, Prosody London take equal delight in their scents being so beautifully composed, so harmoniously sophisticated, that many people don’t even realise they are – gloriously, unashamedly – all natural and organic… Taking the beauty of plants – their stems, leaves, petals, and even the their cycle of growth and maturing beauty – as their guiding inspiration, Prosody London talk passionately about how ‘some of the earliest cultures saw plants as a grammar, a code and a cosmology.’
Parterre
When David and Julia Bridger decided to combine the ruling passions of their lives – art, gardens, travel and perfume – and gather a team of experts (literally) in their field, they set in motion a series of events that is poised to change the face of British fragrance forever. And put Parterre on the map… Embracing the concept of ‘from seed to bottle’, David and Julia not only set out to to grow, harvest and distil many of their own ingredients – but they also had a longing to try growing crops that had never before been grown on British soil. (Even including – astonishingly – vetiver.) The fragrances, made by world-renowned perfumer Jacques Chabert, evoke the idyllic setting and, in strictly limited, hand-numbered bottles, are truly ‘niche’.
Parle Moi De Parfum Michel Almairac has created award-winning, world-renowned blockbusters for just about every perfume house you’ve ever heard of. And now, to the delight of perfume-lovers, he has launched his own fragrance house (with his family) – and opened a boutique in Paris’s Le Marais. His astounding CV encompassing a literal A-Z of perfumes from Dior Fahrenheit to Le Labo Ambrette 9, via Gucci Rush, Chloe Eau de Parfum (2007), Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum (2011), Burberry for Woman and Burberry for Men – and so the list of hundreds goes on. But Michel found that he was having literally to shelve his most treasured creations because they didn’t quite work for the corporate briefs. He could never forget about them, however – and sometimes would take a scent home for his family to smell. Now these ‘lost’ fragrances have been completed, and are available for you…
Serge Lutens
Enigmatic, talented and exceptionally creative – it’s no exaggeration to say that Serge Lutens helped pioneer ‘niche’ perfumery. He once told an interviewer that ‘Morocco gave me the taste of perfume. It is very difficult to detach the olfactory sense from the other senses; however, I can say that before my arrival in Morocco in 1968, this fifth sense was largely fallow for me… The aroma of Morocco is linked to a form of life that allows you to be an individual in a dense crowd. The crowd here is a movement, a sound, a laugh, a game. By the end, smell was united with the other senses…’ Today, he lives in Marrakech, Morocco: a city of colour, exotic fragrances and mystery – the place where he discovered the creative potential of the world of scents. And the rest of the world waits eagerly, always, for his next olfactory vision, his next scent ‘dream’.
Tom Daxon
I grew up in fragrant surroundings,’ Tom Daxon recalls. That’s something of an understatement, for Tom began sniffing around the business as a child, when his mother – creative director for a leading fragrance and cosmetics name for over 30 years – ‘would often give me new shower gels to try, fragrances to sniff.’ Where Tom’s story may diverge from most is that he was lucky enough to accompany his mother on many of her working trips to Grasse, the epicentre of perfumery – aged just four, on that first visit. Truly modern, other-worldly, imbued with texture, beautiful ingredients and a wealth of creativity, they’re modern luxury redifined.
Whichever of these fragrances you most enjoy exploring in your Limited Edition Niche Discovery Box, we defy you not to fall madly for at least one, and begin a life-long love affair with these niche houses that we feel everyone deserves to try…
‘Same note, two identities…’ So says perfumer Francis Kurkdjian – (pronounced coor-shone, by the way) at the end of the mesmerising film for his new fragrance duo of Gentle Fluidity. Scroll down to watch it, here, and find out how you can get samples of BOTH to try at home…
The idea was to create two fragrances that smell very different – using exactly the same notes but crafting them in such a way, the scents evolve their own distinct characters.
Such elegant playfulness can be said to be something of a signature for Kurkdjian throughout his lustrous career; begining straight out of perfumery school and slap bang into composing his first commercial scent, then aged just 25: Le Mâle for Jean Paul Gaultier.
An instant success and still a best-seller, fragrance fans and perfume industry peers could already see this was a special ‘nose’, setting out to do something different, with an insouciant dry humour and ultimate sophistication. From there, young Francis set about creating Iris Nobile for Acqua di Parma, Lanvin Rumeur, multi-award-winning Elie Saab Le Parfum, and a duo of fragrances for the newly-revived Carven perfume house, among many others. Finally, in 2009, he got to found his very own house, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, near the Place Vendóme in Paris; and his subsequent creations have wowed the fragrance world ever since.
Talking of what creative freedom owning his own Maison affords him, Francis told us ‘…it is my way to express what I think about the world of fragrances, it is my take on luxury. It is nurtured from my background as a perfumer and a composer, my artistic sensibility and sensitivity.’
Put quite simply: the man’s a genius. And we don’t say that lightly.
You can read much more about his upwardly-mobile career and other fragrances on our page dedicated to Maison Francis Kurkdjian, but in the meantime, let us introduce you to his two newest fragrant launches – the Gentle Fluidity duo…
The inspiration: ”Working the ingredient to express its full potential and meeting the challenge of composing two different eaux de parfum with the same notes: juniper berries, nutmeg, coriander, musks, ambery woods and vanilla. The Gentle Fluidity duo was born of the perfumer’s imagination to offer two distinct olfactory silhouettes, for her or for him.’
gentle Fluidity Gold Edition £150 for 70ml eau de parfum selfridges.com
‘In gentle Fluidity’s (gold) generous, enveloping trail, we can find coriander seed essence and an overdose of musks and vanilla. The floral, spicy note of coriander seeds brings, just like musks, ethereal volume and a lingering trail. In the base notes, the gourmand, reassuring notes of the vanilla accord enhanced by the ambery woods reveal a radiant, bright silhouette.’
Gentle fluidity Silver Edition £150 for 70ml eau de parfum selfridges.com
‘In Gentle fluidity (silver), nutmeg and ambery woods are dominant and release a vibrant, comfortable trail. As for juniper berry essence, it leads to an ascending, ultra-fresh, aromatic note, similar to a “gin frappé” effect, balanced by the dry, slightly balmy, spicy notes of nutmeg. The base notes reveal ambery wood facets ranging from sweet and enveloping to powerful and dry.’
It’s really quite remarkable how unique they both smell – the Gold version warmer, a more snuggle-up-and-nuzzle-me type scent, perhaps, which is sure to be a hit for anyone who adores a more decadent, sensual side of perfumes. For the Silver edition, we find an unexpected freshness, a luminescence that shivers beguilingly and feels like wearing a lace shawl spun from dew-speckled spiderwebs. And yet, we must remind ourselves, these are the same ingredients…
It’s a useful reminder that we should never merely glance at a list of perfume notes and assume we know what something will smell like – it depends entirely on how and where the perfumer has used them in the composition; how they react to the other notes around them, the rate they evaporate on the skin depending if they’re used dominantly in the top, heart or base notes. So many factors can utterly transform how a perfume smells on your skin.
And so then – how to choose between them? Well we’re thrilled to offer you the opportunity to try samples of BOTH the gentle Fluidity Gold AND the Gentle fluidity Silver in our Launches We Love Discovery Box – among over a dozen new fragrances we’ve curated for you to explore at home!
We’re pretty sure whichever of the Maison Francis Kurkdjian fragrances you fall for, it will be just the start of your love affair with this always-exciting niche house… and we cannot wait to see (and smell) what comes next.
Miller Harris are one of our most-beloved British niche fragrance houses, and they continue to breathe colour and life into the classic perfumer’s art – complex fragrances ‘designed to tell vivid urban stories.’
They start with nature, with distinct greens and woods, with carefully sourced floral notes, iris from Florence, French violet leaf, jasmine from Egypt, Tunisian orange flower – but frame these precious botanicals in complex and unconventional ways, often inspired by artists, or more recently, urban foraging escapades and ever-cool, cult novels.
As Miller Harris puts it: ‘We honour nature by sourcing the finest raw materials and preserving the delicacy of our ingredients, then curate, combine and harmonise them to create perfumes that combine Parisian elegance with London’s eclectic street styles.’
We wanted to celebrate the fantastically diverse and always-exciting scents Miller Harris are producing, and so as part of our curated selection of Launches We Love Discovery Box, are thrilled to include samples of not one but TWO Miller Harris fragrances we think you’re going to love… Lost and Violet Ida.
Inspired by urban foraging, Miller Harris’s trio turned city greens into scents of dreams. Lost (in the city) is a celebration of that sharp pink ingredient, rhubarb, splashing fruity blackcurrants across a bed of wild rhubarb, rose and geranium. Earl Grey tea, crisp amber and musk settle in –but not before you’ve had your fill of bright fruits. It’s tart, fizzy and moreish – do prepare to have your inner child brought out by this one.
Brighton Rock’s big-hearted Ida Arnold is the muse for this proper-handbag, lipstick-kissed, buxom embrace of a scent. Think glamorously disordered dressing tables and delightfully déshabillé dames up to no good (but with best of intentions) amidst a powdery orris, carrot oil and heliotrope affair. The amber-rich and vanilla-infused dry down is something to snuggle up to and savour for simply hours, and we predict this will be a huge hit… Violet Ida £75 for 50ml eau de parfum millerharris.com
Before deciding which (we predict BOTH) of the Miller Harris fragrances you’ll be indulging in a full-size flaçon of, and exploring their delights in your own time – why not try them out at home in sample-size, in our Launches We Love Discovery Box – along with thirteen other scents, two scented shower gels and a full-size Nails Inc. nail polish (our extra gift to you), that’s worth £15 on its own?
How to buy fragrance at Christmas? Where do you even begin? Well, right here with The Perfume Society‘s everything-one-click-away guide! From nervous noses to designer divas and scented gents, we’ve even got the perfect gift for overseas friends. Start (and finish!) your shopping right now…
When you’re not sure exactly what scent to get, or are sick of giving loved ones the same old thing, our overwhelming feedback from happy customers suggests a Discovery Box is definitely the way forward. Bursting with luxurious and often hard-to-find mini, try-me size scents and decadents beauty extras, each box is specially curated around a theme or with a particular kind of perfume-lover in mind.
At The Perfume Society, we’ve something to suit pretty much everyone, no matter how picky about perfume they are! From designer name divas to scented gents about town, millenials desperate to discover what suits them best and those keen to branch out with something different – get those pens ready and see how many gifts you can tick off your shopping list in one fell swoop (and all from the comfort of your sofa/desk/bed!)
Packed with even more new niche scents, there’s an incredible 13 fragrances curated, including a stunning 7.5ml of Anima Vinci Neroli Wisdom. Alongside treasured houses such as Amouage and Atkinsons we’ve included exciting newness from Parterre, fragrantly evocative Stories by Eliza Grace, Memoize, perfumed provacteurs The Modernist, and the brilliant UK niche house of Tom Daxon. But it doesn’t stop there… Keep their complexions glowing (no matter how many nights were spent partying) with the recent GOLD AWARD winning skinSense ANTI-AGING Overnight Leave on Mask (WORTH £8.50) – and ensure their hands smell and feel wonderful with the bestselling Balance MeSuper Moisturising Hand Cream (WORTH £10). If you don’t know these names, we’re betting you AND your fragrance loving friends would love to discover them…
If you’re not sure what fragrances are currently in their collection, plump for some perfumes that only came out recently. With that in mind, we curated a selection of the newest and most exciting fragrances we’ve seen and smelled this year. It includes sunlit AERINHibiscus Palm, whisk-you-to-the-Riviera Tory Burch Bel Azur, and so-pretty Philosophy Amazing Grace Ballet Rose. If they prefer their scents darker and with more intrigue, they’ll love the Clive Christian duo – Chypre ‘L’ for Women and Ambrée-woody ‘L’ for Men. And they can also enjoy the sophisticated Lalique Noir Premier Illusion Captive, Shay & Blue Black Tulip, together with the new KENZO WORLD.
Know someone who’s stressed, had a horrible year or just deserves some scented pampering? Invite them to take some time and indulge their senses with the glorious scents in this box. The perfume houses range from Amouage to Sana Jardin, Estée Lauder to Fragonard, together with duos from an exciting niche house called The Beautiful Mind Series and the ever-fabulous Miller Harris. We have also included some indulgent little extras to help them really unwind: a sumptuous Heathcote & Ivory Lavender Fields Hand Cream and from Aromatherapy Associates, Deep Relax and Support Breathe Bath & Shower Oils.
Is there a male in your life who’s stuck in a rut, and really needs to get their fragrance game together? Give them our most generous men’s collection to date, with sensational scents including Creed Viking (winner of The Fragrance Foundation‘s Best Male Fragrance 2018!), niche offerings from Nejma, Floris and Jack (Richard E. Grant’s fragrance line) and the new Shay & Blue King’s Wood, among this divine selection. Plus as a special treat, we are throwing in a FULL-SIZEEscentric Molecules 03 Body Wash (worth £20 alone!). With so many incredible fragrances to choose from, anyone will feel like a new man…
Alas, due to postal restrictions (don’t get us started) we can’t ship our boxes overseas – and we’re as gutted as you are about it. BUT that doesn’t mean fragrance loving friends and family living outside the UK should miss out. We can now offer International Subscriptions to our multi-award-winning digital downloadable magazine, The Scented Letter.
We take full advantage of our privileged access to all the leading ‘noses’, perfume houses, latest launches, news, exclusive interviews and more to ensure The Scented Letter is your finger on the pulse-point of everything that’s happening in the scented world!
If they’re obsessed by fragrance and very possibly will need new shelving units from Santa, just to hold the scents they already own, why not welcome them to our world?! As a member of The Perfume Society VIP Club, they’ll receive the following exclusive benefits…
• Six issues a year of our online/downloadable digital magazineThe Scented Letter – (virtually) the only publication in the world devoted to all things fragrant…
• Exclusivecompetitions with fab fragrant prizes – including bottles signed by perfumers.
• An exclusive monthly ‘insider offer’ – special offers from top-name fragrance houses, and ONLY for our VIPs.
• Early access to tickets for all our events – meet with leading ‘noses’ and key figures from the perfume world, attend in-store events, workshops, etc. (Our VIPs are first to hear about these.)
• A special member’s discount on our Perfume Society Discovery Boxes (normally £19 – but £15 to our VIPs)
• Plus, choose them a FREE Discovery Box when you sign them up, from a number of options…
It’s the fragrant gift that keeps on giving for an entire year!
Still don’t know what to get them? Well, if you happen to know a fragrance they already like, type that name into our Fragrance Finder and you’ll be given suggestions of six other scents we think they’ll absolutely adore, with something for every budget… It’s sheer (almost spooky) genius!
The stress of What To Pack for your holidays is higher than ever, with many airline regulations restricting the size of liquids you can carry on-board, now adding to the exisiting dilema of how many scents we can squeeze into an already bulging suitcase.
We feel your pain, perfumistas, and have scoured the scent world for the latest travel and mini-me sizes for on-the-go spritzing wherever you happen to be. Because we’re not all jetting off to the Bahamas, thanks very much, and we happen to like having a bottle handy every single day! Perfectly sized, these 30ml bottles of beautifully fresh Bergamotto di Calabria, Arancia di Capri and Fico di Amalfi will whisk your senses away to the azure seas of the Mediterranean, even if you can’t be there in person, or just want to prolong the glorious sunshine in scent… Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo La Collezione £99 for 3 x 30ml eau de toilette
Buy them at Selfridges
Super long-lasting extrait strength parfum in totally portable form? Yes please! With five scents to choose from, each fragrance is crafted around an enticingly musky base, Origino opening with bergamot, pink pepper, juniper and nutmeg before trailing a deliciously creamy sandalwood and white musk base… Jeroboam Origino £90 for 30ml parfum extrait
Buy them at Jovoy With intriguing hints of blood orange, hazelnut, pink peppercorn, clary sage, malt and an amber accord, it’s mixed in memory of the firey Jacobite women who earned this nickname. Warmly inviting and totally wearable, we love the idea of telling people exactly what we’re wearing when they ask (and they will)…
REEK Perfume Damn Rebel Bitches £25 for 7.5ml eau de parfum
A new house dedicated to ‘urban explorers’, get ready for a fragrant journey from London to Tel Aviv, Istanbul and beyond. Savvy scent-lovers could also opt for this citrus fizz, with a delicious dry-down of incense, cardamom and ozonic notes, a soft floral heart and musky base of white woods, benzoin and amber… Gallivant Brooklyn £65 for 30ml eau de parfum or
Buy them at Roullier White For a more intense get-away for your senses, Light Blue lovers will adore this ramped-up but dinky-sized plunge into floral meets fruity. Crisp apple and lemon dive down to a flurry of marigold and jasmine petals before gentle amber base reminds us of sun-kissed skin… Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Eau Intense £47 for 25ml eau de parfum
Buy it at Boots
An iconic scent just got even cuter in this darling bottle, fun and flirtacious the rose here doesn’t take itself too seriously, partying with peony and lychee, chicly confident with white flowers and cosying up to warm amber and cedarwood…
When the words ‘luxury gelato’ and ‘Acqua di Parma’ are combined in an email’s subject line, you can be sure we’re clicking on that within a nanosecond – and of course we couldn’t wait to share the news with you…
At Harvey Nichols, a brand new pop-up space is being created in order to celebrate the launch of the Acqua di Parma La Collezione travel set. Surely one of the fragrance houses we most associate with summer, Acqua di Parma have gone full-steam ahead with the sunshine vibes by commissioning luxury gelato brand Snowflake to invent three unique flavours –Bergamotto di Calabria, Arancia di Capri & Fico di Amalfi – all of which have been inspired by their Blu Mediterraneo range of easy-breezy scents to see you through the sultriest of days in the city.
As if the ice-cream wasn’t enough of a draw, On 2nd & 8th June Acqua di Parma’s in-house artist will also be on hand for on-site bottle painting and personalisation, and customers will be offered complementary customisation of their bottle with any Blu Mediterraneo purchase. What’s more, all customers purchasing Blu Meditteraneo between 2nd & 8th June will receive a Majolica tile of their choice scented with their favourite fragrance.
We’re just in love with these beautifully evocative drawings by Michalis Christodoulou, also specially commissioned for their pop-up shop, and we don’t know about you, but we’ve definitely been inspired to hot-foot it down the Harvey Nichols to cool off in style…
Acqua di Parma La Collezione travel set: Bergamotto di Calabria, Arancia di Capri & Fico di Amalfi £99 for 3 x 30ml
Perfectly sized, these 30ml bottles of beautifully fresh Bergamotto di Calabria, Arancia di Capri and Fico di Amalfi will whisk your senses away to the azure seas of the Mediterranean, even if you can’t be there in person, or just want to prolong the glorious sunshine in scent…
With intriguing h
A new house dedicated to ‘urban explorers’, get ready for a fragrant journey from London to Tel Aviv, Istanbul and beyond. Savvy scent-lovers could also opt for this citrus fizz, with a delicious dry-down of incense, cardamom and ozonic notes, a soft floral heart and musky base of white woods, benzoin and amber…
For a more intense get-away for your senses, Light Blue lovers will adore this ramped-up but dinky-sized plunge into floral meets fruity. Crisp apple and lemon dive down to a flurry of marigold and jasmine petals before gentle amber base reminds us of sun-kissed skin…
