scented The

NO. 16 LATE SPRING 2016

PROVENCE AND
PERFUMERS
www.perfumesociety.org

letter
+
FIELDS OF
FRAGRANT DREAMS

+
LATEST
LAUNCHES

jasmine
the

issue
 editor’s letter

This edition is inspired by Provence

– still the perfume capital of the world. Spread at the
feet of the Mediterranean Alps, amid the wild herbs and
vibrant citrus of southern France, it’s been central to the
perfume world since the 16th Century when Catherine
de Medici arrived to marry King Henry with two
personal perfumers in two, and scent became the major
industry of this beautiful town. With its amazing museums, Grasse
remains a place that should be on every perfumista’s bucket list, for sure.

One of the most important ‘Provençale’ ingredients, of course, is jasmine. The harvest of this
incredibly precious ingredient – one of the pillars of perfumery – takes place from August to
October, when the air’s filled with the heady scent of this starry white flower. I visited Chanel’s
fields there – a truly narcotic experience – to trace the journey of jasmine from the field to a
flacon of No.5, and you can follow in my footsteps starting on p.18.

There’s another reason we’re a little bit in love with jasmine, actually. The flower gives its
name to the annual literary ‘Oscars’ awarded by The Fragrance Foundation, and we’re still on
a high after The Perfume Society team walked away with several beautiful Lalique trophies.
Congratulations to Suzy Nightingale, Persolaise (who won for his article for us on incense) – and
to Red Magazine’s Kim Parker, too, whose winning piece was based on a ‘How to Improve Your
Sense of Smell’ workshop. (Find upcoming dates for those in EVENTS on p.37.)

Do check out the poetry by tomorrow’s potential Jasmine winners, too. The ‘Marty the Mighty
Nose’ Awards were handed out at the same Jasmine Awards ceremony by The Fragrance
Foundation – and we know the poems on p.24-25 will put a smile on your face (even if the
smells they write about aren’t quite as beautiful as most we feature!)

Many of the world’s leading noses are still based in Grasse. There, the role of perfumer
has often been passed from Grasse-based father to son – a tradition which continues today
(although nowadays, daughters are getting in on the act). For an in-depth exploration of
Grasse’s fragrant heritage – and the perfume names who continue to work there – read Suzy
Nightingale’s report on p.10.

I’d also like to thank you for all the #smellfies you posted for National Fragrance Day. You
can see just a fraction of the entries on p.32 (and as a photomontage behind this letter): truly
creative photos posted on social media by our readers and followers, with their favourite
scents. And remember: we monitor #smellfie tags on an ongoing basis – so keep them coming!

May your spring continue to be beautifully fragrant…

© picsfive - Fotolia.com

www.perfumesociety.org The Perfume Society @Perfume_Society ThePerfumeSociety

 contributors

the master
we’ll alwaysofhave
modern
Parisfemininity

scented Guerlain
The the

time machine
letter Earlier this spring, a group of our Perfume Society VIP Subscribers enjoyed one of the
perfume world’s most exclusive experiences: smelling Guerlain’s archive collection of
‘lost’ scents. Maggie Alderson was there…

Ah, Guerlain. It’s a perfume
house which thrills at just a mention, with
the immediate associations of luxury,
exquisite elegance and fascinating cultural
connections - plus the added frisson of that
ultra-sophisticated French sensuality.
But as every perfumista knows, what
makes Guerlain so special is its heritage.
Founded in 1828, that’s nearly 200 years
of creating perfumes of the finest quality,
setting the standard. Guerlain received their
very first royal warrant – from Napoleon and
the Empress Eugénie, no less – just 25 years
in, for Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain’s Eau
de Cologne Impériale.
Since then, over four generations, with no
fewer than seven Guerlains becoming master
perfumers, the family created hundreds of
perfumes. But while some famously became
enduring bestsellers (Mitsouko, Shalimar,
Jicky, L’Heure Bleue), there is a whole legacy
of historic Guerlain fragrances which until
contained, exactly as they were when first
mixed.
Working from the perfumers’ original
books of formulas and using rigorously-
sourced authentic ingredients, Wasser
has created, in an effect, an olfactory time
machine, spanning 1840 to 1975.
It’s really quite something to know that
when you smell Pierre-Francois-Pascal
Guerlain’s Pois de Senteur – created even
before he made that Cologne for Empress
Eugenie, to put things in perspective – you
are experiencing it exactly as you would
have, as a customer in the Rue de La Paix
shop in 1840. (Except that then you would
have been wearing an excruciating corset, a
crinoline and a full bonnet.)
Adding another level of intrigue is the
knowledge that you are having highly
privileged olfactory access to a perfume
that can never be sold again in this form,
because so many of the original ingredients

recently remained only as a residue of brown
sludge in the bottom of an antique flacon.
Voilà Porquoi J’Amais Rosine. Le Jardin
de Mon Curé. Fleur Qui Meurt. Mouchoir de
Lizzie Ostrom
are now prohibited by IFRA guidelines and
EU directives.
So it’s no surprise that the very limited
number of places to attend the private

Monsieur. Après l’Ondée. The names alone
xmc nsjhd are enough to set your imagination twirling
sndfkshd,msz
db,jsz d ,fmjhs
a parasol as you stroll through the Tuileries
– so what would it be like to smell these
zdjfbs,djfjs dfjsdvj
perfumes from the previous two centuries?
Well, wonder no more. Because, inspired
by seeing those sad remains in the beautiful
old bottles on display in the ‘Hall of Mirrors’
“
drawing room at the glorious Guerlain
flagship store in Paris, for an afternoon
smelling twenty of these authentically
reproduced historic perfumes, sold out on
There is a whole
the Perfume Society events page almost legacy of historic
immediately. (See overleaf for details of a
follow-up event.)
Guerlain fragrances
When the day dawned, 10 of us arrived at which... remained

Also known as ‘Odette

on the first floor of Guerlain’s Champs-
Élysées flagship boutique, Guerlain’s resident
nose Thierry Wasser – the first non-family
member ever to hold the position – set out
68 Champs-Elysées and gathered on the first
floor, outside the door to the inner sanctum. only as a residue
A mixed group, including one established
perfume blogger, the former owner of an
of brown sludge in
the bottom of an

”
to re-make 50 of the perfumes they once elite perfume shop and a couple of

24 The scented LeTTer

antique flacon
The scented LeTTer 25 Toilette’, Lizzie is author of
Perfume: A Century of
Editor
Josephine Fairley Scents. Since 2010 she has
jo@perfumesociety.org
Carson run exciting fragrance
events under the Scratch +
Designer
Jenny Semple
Parkin-Fairley Sniff banner – among
others, exploring the
enquiries@jenny
sempledesign.co.uk Carson studied decades by bringing
Illustration at together art, literature,
Advertising Manager Camberwell and loves fashion, music and popular
Lorna McKay
to draw, write and mix perfumes of the time.
lorna@perfumesociety.org
drinks. Among her many Access her fascinating series
Senior writer roles with The Perfume of podcasts (co-hosted with
Suzy Nightingale Society, Carson is radio producer Jo Barratt),
suzy@perfumesociety.org
Maggie Alderson responsible for our via her website:
HEAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA social media, and www.odettetoilette.com
Carson Parkin-Fairley Maggie is a best-selling collated all the #smellfie
carson@perfumesociety.org
Covers: Front - © silverspiralarts. Fotolia.com. Back cover: © Martina1802 | Dreamstime.com

novelist and newspaper photos for this edition.

columnist. Her most Short-listed for this
JUNIOR BUYING
assistant recent novel is Secret- year’s ‘Rising Star’
Penny Sheard Keeping For Beginners category in The Jasmine
editorialperfumesociety@ – her eighth. Before Awards for her
gmail.com becoming a full-time illustrated feature in our
EA to the Editor author she was a December edition on
Amy Eason magazine editor, at fragrant cocktails,
amy@josephinefairley.com ELLE and ES, for which Carson has passions for
she was awarded Editor art, boats (one of which
of the Year by the she lives on) and
Contact us
info@perfumesociety.org
BSME. She also worked
as a writer and editor
jasmine (which, aptly for
this edition, she veils
Amanda Burton
Liberty House
222 Regent Street on the Evening herself in). Born in Northern Ireland,
London W1B 5TR Standard and The Amanda is an award-winning
Tel: 07502-258759 Sydney Morning Herald, actress who is well-known as
covering the designer Professor Sam Ryan in the
fashion shows for many BBC’s acclaimed drama
The Scented Letter is a years. In this edition, Silent Witness and for
free online/downloadable Maggie writes about long-running roles in
magazine for subscribers her Paris trip to Brookside and Peak
to The Perfume Society;
Guerlain. Visit her Practice. What you may not
visit www.perfumesociety.
org for more information
website for her latest know is that Amanda’s also
blog posts and more: passionate about fragrance
maggiealderson.com and aromas, a keen
gardener who today lives
between Sussex and
The Scented Letter is produced for The Perfume Society by Perfume Discovery Ltd. All information and prices are correct Provence, where she loves
at the time of going to press and may no longer be so on the date of publication. © 2016 The Perfume Society All text,
graphics and illustrations in The Scented Letter are protected by UK and International Copyright Laws, and may not be
to surround herself with
copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission. scented plants and flowers.

4 The scented Letter

 contents

perfumery’s heartland the scented garden from field to flacon

PROVENCE AND
PERFUMERS
Suzy Nightingale explores why Grasse
became the epicentre of fragrance
alchemy – and the role it still plays
HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
L’OCCITANE
For their 40th anniversary, L’Occitane
will be in bloom at The Chelsea Flower
Show – and you could be there
JASMINE: PERFUME’S
LITTLE STAR
Jasmine is one of fragrance’s pillars
– and the most precious is sourced
from a few square acres of France

10 16 18

an aromatic life

memories, dreams,
amanda’s
reflections scents of
ProVence
For our Provence issue, we invited award-winning actress
1 Cypress trees ‘they
Amanda Burton – who has a home in the Lubéron – to share her scented shout “Hello, welcome back!”
thoughts and recollections. (Turns out, the Silent Witness/Waterloo Road star the minute I smell them at
Marseilles Airport’.
is as obsessed with aromas as we are…)
2 Lavender ‘Especially

at harvest time when great

What’s the very first thing you remember
smelling?
I grew up near a farm and I remember being taken
to see a sow and her new piglets. It was the most
unusual smell: warm and sharp at the same time,
but such a distinctive earthiness. There were so
many of them, all basking under a heating lamp. I
was probably about six at the time.
When did you realise that scent was
really important to you?
bundles are carted away from
the fields near my home. I have
the best sleeps of my life then.’
all happier in. The smell of a new start to the year after all
the hunkering down through winter. Have you had different fragrances for different times in The hot pink Kaffe
your life? Fassett rose; Albertine
rose; Santa Maria
What’s your favourite scented flower? Definitely. In the hard, partying phase of my life I loved
Novella Cologne
Tricky, as I have so many to choose from. The indoor smell Chanel N05, Fracas, Joy: the finishing touch to a great night and an ad for Kaffe’s
would have to be hyacinth, because I associate it with ahead. When I was pregnant and became a mother I just mother’s favourite
family gatherings and special times. Outdoor would have to loved soft, clean smells; I wanted my daughters to know my scent
be walking through a sweet pea tunnel. scent and have comfort in that. As an actress I’ll often use
scent to help me with a character I’m playing; it can change
What was the first fragrance you were given? the way you feel about yourself very rapidly. Today, my off-
My eldest sister spent time working as an air hostess as duty ‘signature’ scent is Armani Sì. 3 WIld THyME ‘One of my

Back in the day when spring cleaning took
about a week… Blankets washed in a bath
tub: I used to love treading
them in all that warm
soapiness. Carpets beaten
on the lawn to get rid of
the dust. The scent of
a way to see the world back in the late 1960s. When she great joys is hiking; I go with
walked through the door at home, back from one of her The smell that always makes me feel happy is… a group of friends and my
transatlantic trips, she always wore Estée Lauder Youth … the smell of a fire. To me, it’s one of the most primeval sister, who lives nearby. The
Dew; I loved it and could smell it before she even got to the pleasures: wood smoke wrapping around a few pats of turf. smell of the thyme and box is
garden gate: such a grown-up, exotic smell and so new to Warm, comfortable, sheltered, safe. unbelievably beautiful.’
me. I remember her putting some behind my ears – I think I
felt I’d suddenly grown-up that day. The smell that always makes me feel a bit sad is... 4 the markets Bright

freshness from the whole … apples, in the autumn. My father always had a big box yellow mimosa, wreaths of
family working together And the first fragrance you bought for yourself? of apples from the garden for us to eat and bake with. I myrtle and rosemary, all the
and afterwards a In my early teens I bought some patchouli oil – and loved it. remember that smell so well; it reminds me of harvest time fantastic smells of the seasonal
house that we were It made me feel exotic and sexy, like a walking joss stick! and makes me sad because I miss those times as a child fruits and vegetables: sharp
sometimes. citrus, piquant olives, luscious
cherries – and I haven’t even
The fragrance from the past that I’ve always wanted to started on the cheeses…
The hot pink smell is…
Kaffe Fassett rose;
… the cacophony of smells at a medieval banquet; I can 5 Oak wOOd smOke ‘It
Albertine rose;
Santa Maria Novella only imagine the pungent aromas: people, animals live and signifies a drawing-in after the
Cologne and an ad cooked, musty clothing, wood smoke, ales and spirits. A summer madness, heading
for Kaffe’s mother’s complete olfactory feast. towards evenings of reflection
favourite scent by the fire. My happiest place
on earth.’
© grafikplusfoto; lilechka75 - Fotolia.com

30 the scented letter the scented letter 31

the sweet smell of success
EVERY ONE A WINNER
Read the results of 2016’s Jasmine
Awards (we’re still glowing!) and the
Marty the Mighty Nose Awards (for
smelly poems)
we’ll always have Paris
GUERLAIN’S TIME
MACHINE
Maggie Alderson reports on one of
the world’s most exclusive scent
experiences: the Guerlain ‘archive’
an aromatic life
MEMORIES, DREAMS,
REFLECTIONS
Actress Amanda Burton’s as obsessed
with smells as we are – and you can
discover her favourites, here

23 26 30

3 6 32

EDITOR’S NOSING #SMELLFIES

LETTER AROUND
37 38 46

EVENTS latest launches IT TAKES ME BACK

The scented Letter 5

on the scent of news

nosing around
Alongside our round-up of scent news - about people, places (and clever
packaging) - our series about legendary ‘noses’ continues overleaf

Time for (more) tea

Tapping into the tea trend we reported on in the last edition of The
Scented Letter, Jo Malone London launch their most luxe collection
of fragrances yet. Rare Teas – created by Serge Majouillier – evoke six
different precious infusions, from Silver Needle and
Golden Needle to Darjeeling via Jade Leaf,
Oolong and Midnight Black Tea, in ravishing
new black-capped bottles.
£250 for 175ml Cologne
jomalonelondon.com

Petal power
If you haven’t already noticed, this
entire edition is dedicated to jasmine.
But did you know that in research
published in The Journal of Biological
Chemistry, it was found that a
jasmine-scented fragrance relieved
anxiety and promoted sleep just as
well as sedatives, but with way fewer
side-effects…?

Bonjour, Provence
As we prepared this edition, Petit
Rituels’ beautiful aromatherapeutic
Provence candle has been
fragrancing our office, transporting us
to the south of France with a breeze
of balancing rose geranium, tonic
ylang ylang and calming lavender.
Created from 100% natural waxes, this
Zen-like candle has a burn time of 40
hours. Visit the SUBSCRIBER section
of our website, log in to enter and
you could win one of three candles
(normally £35 at petitsrituels.com).

6 The scented Letter

 Roll with it…
One of the cleverest bottles
we’ve ever seen: heritage
fragrance house E. Coudray
(whose fascinating history you
can read on our website) offer
their vintage-inspired scents
in a double-ended vial which
spritzes on at one end, glides
onto skin at the other. Genius.
Scented scribbles
Love stationery? Love
fragrance? Then you’ll adore
these scented pencils from
British stationer Imogen Owen.
Hand-made by a 100-year-
old Portuguese pencil factory,
they’ll lightly scent your
writing paper in a choice of lily
of the valley, jasmine or peony.
£11.50 for six
quillondon.com £19 for 12ml eau de toilette
roullierwhite.com

The couple that sprays together, stays together…

Choosing a scent for any special occasion is hard enough
for fragrance-lovers, but a wedding day – already fraught
with choice – adds that extra level of perfume pressure.
Step forward Floris, the heritage British brand who now
offering a luxurious ‘Together Bespoke Perfumery
Service’ for couples looking to mark the big day
(or any momentous occasion) with their
very own bespoke pair of eaux de
parfum. During an intensive three-
hour private appointment,
couples will be greeted by
a member of the Floris
family, while sipping Champagne and being introduced to their
in-house perfumer. Floris will then create two completely
© chorchfoto; BillionPhotos.com - Fotolia.com

unique fragrances, presented in bottles engraved with your

initials and with a certificate of authenticity to keep long
after the last drop has been spritzed. We can’t think of a
better way to celebrate...

Floris Together Bespoke Perfumery Service/£800 for

two people at 89 Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6JH/
0330-134 0180, and the Floris Belgravia Boutique
at 147 Ebury Street, London SW1W 9QN/
020-7730 0304.

The scented Letter 7

 +
on the scent of news

“
Perfume is like
a new dress.
It makes you
quite simply
A breath of fresh hair
marvellous.
Whether you’re covering up a less-than-fresh-smelling ‘do’, or want to
Estée Lauder

”
enjoy scented locks with every swish, you’ll no doubt be as pleased as we
are to discover that BYREDO’s adding four new scents to its Hair Perfume
Collection with La Tulipe, Mojave Ghost, Black Saffron and Flowerhead – all
specially formulated with a unique silicone and polymer formula to leave hair
nourished, luminous and gorgeously fragrant. £40 for 75ml/byredo.com

That Hungry Chef

Michelin-trained Pratap Chalal is in
the vanguard of chefs emphasising
food’s fragrant side. Inspired by
Mandy Aftel’s inspirational book
Perfume: An Edible Scent, the
delectable menu will have your
mouth watering well in advance of
his five-course ‘supper club’ dinners.
Think: sweet myrrh and labdanum
scented-beef. Think: jasmine and A real ‘bouquet’
tuberose creamy pudding. Think: Magnificent Muguet Would you rather have roses
white chocolate, neroli and rosemary Another year, another swoonworthy that smelled glorious – or lasted
truffles, which melt in your mouth bottle: to celebrate 1st May (the longer in a vase…? It’s a trade-
© Natalia Klenova - Fotolia.com

like tiny pieces of heaven. Keep an
eye out for Pratap’s Edible Scent
soirées on grubclub.com (he’s called
‘That Hungry Chef’) and on our own
EVENTS section: this autumn, he’ll
hosting a gourmet scented supper for
our VIP Subscribers.
grubclub.com/that-hungry-chef
French holiday when it’s a custom to
offer lily of the valley to those you
love), Guerlain’s sublime Muguet
Eau de Toilette bottle is this year
all dressed up in chased silver
metalwork by Parisian jewellery
house Ambre & Louise. Truly a
collector’s dream…
off, acknowledge experts, but
we’re definitely in the ‘scented’
camp, and delighted to hear
that Waitrose Florist now offer
roses bred for perfume – both
on-line and in-store, from £30.
waitroseflorist.com

8 The scented Letter


Lives of the great noses:
François Coty (1874-1934)
The man who ‘popularised’
perfume, François Coty was
born François Marie Joseph
Spoturno in Ajaccio, then capital
of French Corsica. His family
were descendants, by marriage,
of Napoleon’s cousin Isabelle
Bonaparte, and Coty (whose
adopted name was a variation on his
mother’s maiden name, ‘Coti’) had
an early obsession with the great
French leader.
After the premature death of
his parents, François was sent
to live with his grandmother in
Marseilles, and at the age of 19
began his military service. Via a
chance meeting in 1900 with a
chemist called Raymond Goery
when he was 26, Coty discovered
he had a talent for identifying the
notes in a fragrance. Not a fan
of Goery’s packaging or perfume
creations, Coty vowed he could do
better himself, landing a position
with Chiris, in Grasse, the centre of
French and international perfumery.
There, Coty formulated the
fragrance which would make his
name: La Rose Jacqueminot (1903).
As legend has it, Coty scored his
first of many marketing coups when
he took it to Les Grands Magasins
du Louvre, a Parisian department
store, seeking to persuade them
to stock his fragrance. In a well-
planned move, he smashed his
Lalique and Baccarat bottles
made Coty’s scents ultra-special
bottle on either the counter or the
floor (history’s not clear exactly
which!). The store was filled with
the aroma of the fragrance, women
clamoured to buy it – and Coty had
his first order, for 12 bottles.
In 1904, Coty founded his own
perfume house, setting out to
revolutionise an industry which had
barely changed during the previous
century. He bought a residential
villa outside Paris and transformed it
into a giant complex which became
known as ‘Perfume City’, with Coty
controlling and overseeing every
last detail of his business from
the flower fields to the packaging
factories, the delivery vans – and of
a whiff of history
course, the fragrances themselves.
He was the master of savvy
marketing, working with Baccarat
and René Lalique to create the most
stunning flacons – for fragrances
like L’Effleur, Au Couer des Calices
and L’Idylle (some of which you
can see below), while at the same
time pricing his fragrances to make
them accessible to a wide audience.
He had enormous successes with
fragrances including L’Origan,
which claimed the No. 1 spot for 25
years after its launch, while Ambre
Antique paved the way for great
Orientals such as Shalimar and YSL
Opium. By 1931 it is estimated that
Coty was the richest man in France,
with a fortune of $50 million dollars,
having expanded into America as
well as across Europe.
Coty died on 25th July 1934 of
pneumonia and complications, aged
just 60. ‘One thing eluded me,’ Coty
confessed, in the year of his death. I
never managed to capture the smell
of honeysuckle…’
But with his ‘Coty’ name still in
proud use today by the company
behind some of the world’s most
successful fragrances – brands
like MiuMiu, Calvin Klein, Bottega
Veneta and Davidoff, among many
others – François Coty’s is quite
some scented legacy.
By Bethan Cole
The scented Letter 9
the capital of scent

Provence
its perfumed past and
fragrant future

“Although perfumers can now train in establishments

all over the world, Grasse is still a cradle of excellence”

Does the smell of rose,
mimosa and lavender waft
across the fields of Grasse
to permeate the noses of
babes in their cribs, sowing
the seeds of perfumers-to-be?
Suzy Nightingale investigates
why Grasse – and the rest of
Provence – remain so vital to
the fragrance world and the
famous noses born and/or
working there today
As soon as you step foot in Grasse, you’re left
in little doubt that it basks not only in sunshine and its
unusually temperate climate, but also in the title ‘perfume
capital of the world’. Huge signs beckon visitors toward
Galimard, Fragonard and Molinard – three of the oldest
perfumeries, which are still producing beautiful fragrances
and drawing over a million tourists a year, noses a-quiver,
for their organised tours.
With more than 60 active perfume-related companies
in the little town, including world-renowned names like
Robertet, IFF and Firmenich, together they employ more
than 13,500 people with an annual turnover of more than
€600 million. Many perfumers proudly cite their Provençale
heritage – perhaps the most famous of whom is Jean-
Claude Ellena, Grasse-born and bred, with his Hermès
workshop tucked away in the hills there. He’s brother to
perfumer Bernard Ellena and the father of Céline Ellena,
who now creates fragrances for The Different Company,
alongside working on Hermès’s home fragrance line.
Today, Grasse’s future is bright as – well, a burst of
grapefruit or neroli essence. But let’s sniff out the history
of this fabled fragrant town. In 1533, aged just fourteen,
Caterina de Medici travelled to France to marry Henry,
second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France.
the capital of scent

Lyn Harris
Original founder and perfumer of
Miller Harris and now based at her
fabulous new perfume house,
Perfumer H London, Lyn was trained
in Grasse at Robertet and spent
many years learning and returning
to the very best ingredients
harvested there. We asked Lyn why
she felt the region was still so
important today: ‘Heritage never
truly dies. Grasse has been
established as the centre of
perfumery for over 150 years,
and for perfumers it’s
still a magical place.
‘It hasn’t consistently been so -
when I was training there about 20
years ago Grasse had became quite
depressed, with fragrance houses
being sold off for real estate. Now
big companies have pumped loads
of money back into the industry – it’s
booming again – and are creating
lots of new jobs. Once again, i’s all
about provenance and quality
ingredients, as true fragrance
appreciation grows. I’m so pleased
It’s looking good for Provence and
Grasse once more: history is
repeating itself in the best way…’

Left: Fragonard’s
must-visit
museum
Right: May rose
and lavender
are still grown
around Grasse

12 The scented Letter

 Living in a new country with a new husband, even the
spelling of her name was forcibly changed forever, and
under the Gallicised version of ‘Catherine de Medici’ she
became Queen consort of France, ruling with King Henry II
from 1547 to 1559.
Catherine was used to luxuriating in fragrance, and
wasn’t about to give up that indulgence along with her
former name. Her extensive entourage included two skilled
perfumers who travelled with her: Francesco Tombarelli and
Renato Bianco, described in The Chemistry of Fragrances:
From Perfumer to Consumer, by Charles Sell, as being
‘skilled in the art of perfumes and poisons, since court
intrigue mixed affairs of the heart with affairs of the sword.’
The young Queen couldn’t have landed in a better place
Photographs - previous spread: © andrzej2012 - Fotolia.com. This spread: taiftin - Fotolia.com; IFF; Wewearperfume; Fragonard.
for the sourcing of precious petals with which to scent
herself, for the Provençale shores of the Mediterranean
– known to us as the French Riviera – provide a uniquely
temperate micro-climate that perfectly nurtures all manner
of fragrant blooms: rose, jasmine, mimosa, lavender, iris,
violet, orange blossom and tuberose, to name but a few
of the flowers grown in the area for their perfume. At that
time, Grasse already excelled at producing scent, which was
used to mask the terrible stench of the tanning process for
the exquisite leather gloves produced there. (Something
you can read about in more detail in the ‘Wake Up and
Smell the Leather’ feature in our ‘Fashion & Fragrance’
edition of The Scented Letter; see the SHOP section of our
website for how to purchase back issues in print).
Catherine de Medici may not have been the first woman
to have bespoke fragrances made for her, but perhaps we
can think of her as the first ‘perfumista’ – a true champion
of both the French and Italian artisans who dominated
the scented world with their skills in perfumery. It led to
extensive, affluent trade routes between the two countries,
with Grasse and Florence still fighting it out today as the
true ‘birthplace of perfumery’.
Catherine, however, had a rival in her love for perfumery
and for the heart of the King himself. The dastardly Diane
de Poitiers was already his favourite mistress, an influential
woman on whom King Henry bestowed lavish favours and
therefore great power in the court itself, at the same time
excluding his own wife from participating in affairs of the
state. Diane was ‘said to dabble herself in philtres, potions,
perfumes and poisons’, while Nostradamus, Catherine’s
personal astrologer, ‘was known to inhale smoke and
incense as part of his preparations for prophesying.’ With
such intense rivalries and murky intrigue surrounding
these two women, it’s surely not too fanciful to imagine
Mathieu Nardin
Perfumer at Robertet
‘Growing up in Grasse and in a
perfumers’ family helped me to pay
attention to the world of smells at a
very young age.
The iconic raw materials which
flourish here, such as rose, jasmine
and tuberose, are of incredible
quality and have helped perfumers
to invent unique olfactive signatures
for many fragrances which now are
part of the history of perfumery.
My grandmother, who still lives
in Grasse, grows and harvests rose
and jasmine of the best quality.
As a child I helped her picking the
jasmine and rose flowers in the
fields. This act alone is of great
significance to me as it passed to
me the love, passion and respect for
beautiful materials.
I was trained as a perfumer in
Grasse, at Robertet – the same
factory where I used to take freshly-
harvested flowers as a child, and
had a chance to see the extraction
process. While training there, I had
the extremely rare opportunity to
smell essentials oils and absolutes in
the lab, and at the same time smell
the flowers in the fields. I was able
to witness all stages of the life of a
At the Fragonard flower - from seed to scent.
Museum, below, Most recently I’ve been working
you’ll not only
with Miller Harris, and my inspiration
see historic
equipment but
for every fragrance for them always
watch perfumes stems from my emotions, my
being made memories and the desire to bring
beauty and uniqueness in a modern
way, relevant to who we are today,
to the world at large.
I really like using beautiful
floral notes - an evocation of my
childhood. I add some to all the
new olfactive signatures I create for
Miller Harris. For example, for Rose
Silence, I had in mind the unique
smell of my hand after harvesting
roses in Grasse: powerful, fresh,
dewy. I said to myself: “I want to
share this moment with the world.”
That’s what I hope I’ve achieved.’
The scented Letter 13
the capital of scent
Alexis Dadier
Senior Perfumer at IFF
‘I was initiated into perfume in
Grasse, the very cradle of perfumery,
a place which is a constant reminder
that originally, perfume was born
from natural ingredients. Here, you
truly feel like you’re in the middle of
where perfume is being made - in
the very heart of the scent universe.
In Grasse, you’re surrounded by
the beauty of nature. You can smell
the actual materials everywhere,
like mimosa, rose or cypress, which
inspire true love for their scent.
The ability to walk in lavender or
rose fields is a genuine source of
inspiration - you get to understand
the subtlety of nature much
better. But you also learn about
transformation techniques for raw
materials - distillation, extraction
and enfleurage - ancient techniques
and very modern ones. Today, these
naturals are very familiar to me – and
I use them constantly, as I believe
they deliver mystery and elegance.’
14 The scented Letter
Catherine deciding that if she couldn’t have the love of
the King, or the full stately powers of a Regent Queen,
she would damned well have the very best perfume in the
world, thank you.
Fast-forward several centuries and today, France still
produces approximately two thirds of all the raw materials
used to scent perfumes and flavour food. Alongside the
shiny new glass and steel factories busily processing
perfumery ingredients remain the tall chimneys of historic
factories, peeking above the streets of Grasse – the old
and new rubbing shoulders there as they have done for
centuries in this ‘capital of perfume’.
Although perfumers can now train in establishments
all over the world, Grasse is still seen as a cradle of
excellence, with noses undergoing painstaking training
at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery course. Here, a
mere 12 places are available, with students ‘chosen for
their creativity and olfactory talent’ – learning by heart
the properties of each raw ingredient, both natural and
synthetic, and memorising each unique smell by ‘fixing’
them in their minds with descriptions personal to them – a
technique we explore in our ‘How to Improve Your Sense
of Smell Workshops’ [see EVENTS on our website for
details of your nearest session].
Even now, many of the world’s most famous perfumers
hail from historic Grasse families, with generations of
noses inheriting precious ledgers containing their priceless
formulas. And when visiting Grasse you can tour three of
the original perfumeries there: Galimard, established in
1747; Molinard (1849) and Fragonard (1926). Field trips are
also possible, but only during flowering months (usually
May to September) when spectacular acres of blooms
stretch like scented carpets in glorious sunshine.
Grasse celebrates its heritage all year round, but most
particularly with a Rose Festival in May and Jasmine
Festival in August - floats promenading laden with the
flowers, rather skimpily dressed young ladies throwing
garlands and the local fire department reportedly even
joining in by filling a truck with jasmine-scented water to
soak the cheering crowds.
Drenched (literally!) in its fragrant history, the region
veritably reeks of its perfumed past. It’s a place where
Below: lavender science truly meets nature – and ever since the days of
and orange Catherine’s ‘perfumed court’, Grasse’s fragrance industry
blossom, flanked
has worked toward even higher levels of excellence. The
by historic
copper vats from region’s past was soaked in scent. But the future’s certainly
Fragronard’s looking fragrant, for Provençale materials – and for the
museum perfumers who so love to work with them…
 Clement Gavarry
Senior Perfumer at IFF

‘In Provence, we wake up, live

and go to bed with perfumes and
Perfumery tours of Grasse scents - literally breathing them
This truly is a place that should be on every perfume-
Photographs - © spanish_ikebana; ClaraNila - Fotolia.com; IFF; Fragonard.

in and out all day long! I actually

lover’s ‘bucket’ list – not least for the behind-the-scenes spent much of my childhood
access that these offer… in the area, mostly the 80s and
90s. My family was involved
Fragonard: Free guided tours take place daily from in perfumes and natural raw
9am to 6pm all year. For group visits, e-mail tourisme@ materials [his great-grandfather
fragonard.com to be sure they can accommodate you. For farmed and processed lavender
more information, see fragonard.com there; his grandfather was
a gardener for Chanel, and
Galimard: Guided tours (also free of charge) take place Clement’s father, Max Gavarry,
throughout the day with English-speaking guides available was a perfumer in his own right.]
every 10/15 minutes. It is however necessary to book ahead Nowadays, as soon as I arrive
for their perfume creation workshops, either in groups or back at Nice International Airport,
with a private lesson from a parfumeur. galimard.com I smell the eucalyptus trees and
Below: mimosa
I feel right at home. The best
- in season in
Molinard: During the free tour, visitors can watch February - is just time of year, though, is February
films showing traditional techniques and take part in an one of many when the mimosa’s out. Hiking
interactive test on their knowledge of the world of perfume. ingredients in La Colline de Tanneron with
They also offer perfume-creating workshops, e-mail processed the mimosa in bloom is an utterly
locally
ateliers@molinard.fr for further information. molinard.com breathtaking experience.’

“In Grasse, you’re surrounded by nature. You can smell

the actual materials everywhere – mimosa, rose or cypress”

The scented Letter 15

a scented celebration
L’OCCITANE
GOES BACK
TO ITS ROOTS
To celebrate their 40th birthday, L’Occitane are recreating the landscape of Provence at
The Chelsea Flower Show, reports Jo Fairley – and you could be there
40 years ago, a young man called Olivier Bausson
began distilling fragrant rosemary essential oil, selling it
in a market near his home town, in Manosque, in haute
Provence. Olivier could surely never have imagined that
four decades later, his fledgling business would have
grown into what’s said to be a billion-dollar fragrance and
beauty name, which is loved around the world.
From 24th-28th May, we have the chance be ‘virtually’
whisked to Olivier’s beloved Provence by a Chelsea
garden: a corner of Provence, reimagined and recreated
by talented garden designer James Basson, whose ‘A
Perfumer’s Garden in Grasse’ project landed L’Occitane its
second, treasured RHS Gold Medal, last year. (The first was
for their 2012 ‘Immortelle Garden’, by Peter Dowle.)
Excitingly, this year, L’Occitane will have a site on
Chelsea’s Main Avenue – the most coveted location,
for garden designers, lined with the high-profile ‘show’
gardens. Explains James: ‘I wanted to make a landscape
which evokes a part of someone’s garden in Provence
– but not the well-tended part around the house and
terrace. Instead, this garden brings to life the edge of
the garden, where it meets the wild landscape behind a
hedgerow. As the main feature, it will have a traditional
dry stone building called a ‘bori’ (these were once used
as shepherd’s huts), where the garden’s imaginary owner
might have placed a table, to sit in and stare at the view –
and a carpet of 50 different types of plant.’
There’ll be wild thyme and winter savory, lavender
and almond trees. And unusually for Chelsea, the design
will be hung together by the use of a weed: the humble
dandelion. ‘Well, in reality, not actual dandelions,’ James
explains (thereby saving the Chelsea’s discerning judges
from a collective dose of the vapours), ‘but dandelion-like
flowers which conjure up the perfect yellow we associate
with L’Occitane, and which feature so strongly in the
landscape. It’s definitely a garden which respects nature,’
“ This garden brings to life the edge of the garden,
where it meets the wild landscape behind a hedgerow
16 The scented Letter
the Provence-based designer continues, ‘and it’s entirely
made up of native plants: a tribute to the place where
Olivier grew up.’ The one factor no garden designer can
control, of course, is the weather – but just add sunshine,
and visitors should be able to smell the lavender and the
aromatic herbs wafting down the Avenue towards them.
James has come to specialise in dry, sustainable gardens
since he moved to a hilltop village in the south of France,
just outside Grasse, getting on for 20 years ago. With
his wife Helen, James soon established a business called
Scape Design (scapedesign.com). Since then, ‘I’ve become
completely obsessed with plants that have a hard life,’ he
explains. ‘The impoverished, often harsh climate and the
winds keep plants from realising their full potential, so the
growth is often stunted: you’ll see an oak tree sprouting
seemingly impossibly from a crack in the rocks, for
instance. The tenacity of these plants is amazing.’
As projects go, it’s going to be quite some challenge
– not least because of dream of a third Gold Medal for
L’Occitane hanging in the air. (It’s pretty hard to garden
with fingers crossed, but we reckon that’s what the crew
will be doing.) The rocks for the bori and the landscaping
will start as a giant pile, ready to be pieced together on
site, the fragrant plants tucked between them.
Amidst this yellow and mauve tapestry – bringing to life
the signature colours of L’Occitane – there’ll be gnarly oak
trees, taking pride of place. There can surely be no more
fitting symbols of L’Occitane’s growth from a tiny acorn
of an essential oil distiller’s dream in a Provence farmer’s
market, to an ‘oak tree’: this global beauty name.
It’s a brand which, for so many, transports us to the
sun-baked, rocky south of France with just a spritz of scent,
a slooosh of bath gel, a dab of immortelle-scented anti-
ageing cream. In effect, a magic carpet, in a L’Occitane
jar or a bottle. So here’s wishing them a Chelsea Gold. (To
match the dandelions.) uk.loccitane.com
”
 WIN TICKETS TO CHELSEA
L’Occitane is kindly offering a pair of tickets to the RHS
Chelsea Flower Show for one lucky VIP Subscriber to win,
to take a friend on Wednesday 25th May. What’s more,
there are three fabulous runners-up prizes of a 75ml
bottle of L’Occitane Collection de Grasse Violette Rose de
Mai fragrance, each worth £52.

L’Occitane Collection de Grasse Violette Rose de Mai

fragrance is launched as a limited edition this spring: a
sublime floral by Violaine Collas, which prefectly captures
the essence of Provence, opening with bright notes
of bergamot and rhubarb, accented by citrus orange.
Violet’s powderiness embraces May rose and geranium,
in the heart, before it develops a sublime, sensual woody
trail of sandalwood and musk.

To enter, you need to log in to our website and visit

the SUBSCRIBER AREA (mauve box just under the
From top left:
bottle logo). We will choose the winners at random on lavender;
Wednesday 11th May 2015. Please note: the first prize dandelions; wild
does not include travel to Chelsea and has no alternative thyme; rosemary;
cash value, and is valid only for Wednesday 25th May. almond blossom
Subbotina Anna; Olaf Speier - Fotolia.com.
© laszlolorik; staskovalenko; helenedevun;

James Basson has

woven L’Occitane’s
signature yellow
and purple shades
in a plant tapestry

The scented Letter 17

 PERFUME’S
LITTLE STAR
Along with rose, jasmine is one of perfume’s ‘pillars’: from a
drop to a generous dose, you’ll find it in almost every fragrance
created. And the most precious jasmine of all is sourced from
a few square acres of Provence, explains Jo Fairley

24 The scented Letter


In perfumery, control freakery isn’t a bad thing.
Especially when the name on the label is Chanel and
millions of women destined to unstopper each bottle of the
world’s most famous parfum have an expectation that it’s
going to smell exactly like the final, treasured drop of their
previous flacon.
From the moment Chanel No.5 was born, in 1921, the
fragile-looking jasmine flower has been key to the scent’s
success. Indeed, to quote Jacques Polge, the longstanding
in-house Chanel perfumer (who has now been joined by
his rising star son Olivier Polge), ‘At Chanel, jasmine is to
perfume what diamonds are to fine jewellery.’
Indeed, so important is the annual jasmine harvest that
their own highly experienced and trained representative
will be present, to observe. And – most importantly – to
smell. Which is why, on a sweltering morning, I happened
to find myself standing with Christopher Sheldrake –
Chanel’s Director of Research and Development – in a sun-
baked field on the outskirts of Grasse, watching the day’s
harvest being painstakingly picked, blossom-by-blossom,
on its journey to becoming No.5.
Walk into these free-draining, sun-baked, organically-
cultivated fields and the exotic white floral scent from the
flowers hits you like a wall. Around 70 eccentrically-attired
pickers (many from Morocco, and wearing an extraordinary
array of headgear to protect them from Provence’s burning
sun) have been out in the fields since before sunrise.
Timing is everything. Blooming overnight – the flowers
open after dark, when the sun sets and the temperature
drops – a constellation of teensy star-shaped flowers dots
the dark green bushes with a fresh crop, by the
time the platoon of pickers turns up for work.
By lunchtime, the harvest’s over, till the
next day, and the flowers are en
route to becoming pure
jasmine absolute, one
of the perfume
Wide-brimmed
hats are essential
sun protection
from field to flacon
world’s priciest ingredients. (Today, jasmine commands a
staggering 60,000+ euros for a kilo of absolute.)
Each worker has their own wicker basket to fill from the
waist-height ‘hedges’ of Jasminum grandiflorum, placing
a damp towel over the just-picked blooms to keep them
fresh before the so-important ‘weighing-in’. On top of their
hourly wage, there are ‘performance bonuses’ for each
extra kilo that these pickers – mostly women – succeed in
harvesting. It’s competitive: the fields are silent, with 70
pairs of eyes focused on seeking out every last star-shaped
blossom from the plant. In all, the crew will work a total of
40,000 picking hours per season. Earlier in the summer, they
spend a couple of months harvesting the other essential
ingredient that swirls sexily alongside jasmine at the very
heart of No.5, the May rose (Rosa centifolia).
Towards midday, the pickers make their way to the cool
of the weighing room, where it’s nice to see they’re greeted
almost fondly by name. (The same pickers tend to return
season after season.) The vast baskets look heavy, but the
fluffed-up petals – tipped into big metal boxes on the
scales - amount to anything between just 1400 grams and
2.1 kilos, for a morning’s labour. As the petal-pickers make
for home, the day’s harvest is then swiftly tractor-ed a few
hundred yards to a factory that looks pretty antiquated,
but clearly does the job: the jasmine’s poured into giant,
layered vats where the fragrance is extracted over 24 hours.
These fields and factory are managed by the Mul family,
whose successive generations have worked with Chanel.
And just why is the jasmine that grows here so special?
As fifth-generation farmer Joseph Mul explained in an
interview, ‘We live in a privileged micro-climate on the Côte
d’Azur, where it’s not too hot in summer, which means our
jasmine is of an exceptional quality. The optimum is for the
temperature at night to remain above 18˚C, and never to
rise above 28˚C degrees in the sun.’
On acres adjacent to the jasmine, the Muls grow those
famous May roses. And in recent years, Chanel has
 The day’s fresh constellation of blooms

Done the traditional way:

the lunchtime weigh-in

Jasmine petals after processing Fragile blooms waiting to

give up their exotic scent

24 The scented Letter

 from field to flacon

begun trials with other floral mainstays:
tuberose, rose geranium, and the noble,
sweet-scented iris. By growing more and
more of their own flowers, Chanel ensure
sustainability, with the best chance of
maintaining a steady supply of the pivotal
ingredients for their beloved fragrances.
(Even so, global warming may be making
things dicier: as Sheldrake explained to
me, Provence nights have in recent years
– ironically – become colder, which could
one day impact on the supply.)
For century upon century, jasmine’s
scent was extracted through a painstaking,
labour-intensive process known as
enfleurage: the flowers were hand-pressed
into layers of fat, and gradually the scent
migrated to that fat, from which it could
be extracted. Today, it’s more high-tech
(and practical), relying instead on highly
flammable solvents. (The big ‘Ne Fumez
Pas’ signs everywhere are taken very
seriously, as a result.)
generous quantity of jasmine in No.5 THE KING & QUEEN
which has in part helped to ensure the OF FLOWERS
fragrance’s enduring luxe status.
Why is jasmine particularly loved, by ✼ Jasmine actually
perfumers? It gives a richness and intensity originated in China and
to fragrances: a sweet floral note, but with India and – who knew? –
a dead-sexy muskiness to it. If you smell is a member of the
different concentrated jasmine ‘absolutes’, olive family.
each has its own character: some are
medicinal, some sweet, some musky, some ✼ The name itself is
green; it’s extraordinary how a single plant Persian, meaning ‘a gift
can smell so very different, depending from God’.
on where it’s grown. Breathing from a
vial of Chanel’s Provence jasmine, there’s ✼ There are actually over
an unexpected sweetness, an almost 200 species of jasmine
strawberry jamminess, so that you know, – but two members of the
you just know: this is the good stuff. beautiful white-flowered
The genius of perfumers like Chanel’s family are prized above
is knowing just how to blend the varying others, by perfumers. The
qualities into perfectly consistent scents first is Jasminum
so that every time we buy a fresh bottle of grandiflorum – which
Chanel No.5, we get the exact same smell translates as ‘big-
we first fell in love with. flowered jasmine’. The

“
The fresh petals are first dunked in giant other is Jasmine sambac,
vats of solvent. When it evaporates from a.k.a. ‘Arabian jasmine’
the mass of petals, what’s drained off is (something of a misnomer,
a semi-solid mass called (unglamorously) since sambac originated

At Chanel,
a ‘concrète’: a wax-like substance with a in southeast Asia).
long shelf life. It basically puts the jasmine
scent into a state of ‘suspended animation’ ✼ In Persia, Ancient
– and a staggering 400 kilos of flowers are
needed for just one kilo of concrète.
jasmine is to Greece and Egypt,
jasmine’s healing powers
At various points in the year following
the harvest, a call will come from Chanel,
perfume what were already recognised:
aromatherapists still use it
in Paris. The Mul family and their team
then kickstart a further three-day process diamonds are to for improving digestion,
weight loss, accelerating

fine jewellery
using alcohol, steam and chilling phases the metabolism – and for
to transform the concrète into jasmine its aphrodisiac effects

absolute - the flower’s final stage before it’s
blended with neroli, a touch of peach, May
rose, vanilla, ylang ylang, oakmoss, amber,
patchouli and those famous aldehydes.
(Which give No.5 its almost Arctic-cool
overture, before the sensual flowers and
shimmering base notes unfold.)
While today’s solvent extraction
methods may lack their former artisan
romance, it still takes kilo upon kilo of
flowers to produce that precious jasmine
absolute – around 8,000 hand-picked
blooms for one millilitre (1ml), explaining
the hefty price-tag. (NB Chanel reserve
the Provence jasmine for No.5’s parfum
concentration, sourcing from Egypt for the
eau de parfum and eau de toilette.)
Photographs: © Chanel
”
✼ Jasmine has variously
been referred to as both
‘the Queen of Flowers’
Alongside global warming, what and ‘the King of Flowers’,
endangers the future of the harvest is and in different cultures is
finding the workers willing to pick it, with synonymous with love,
few youngsters joining their ranks. (You’d romance, weddings,
think there’d be no shortage of Chanel passion, seduction and
No.5 fans who’d like nothing better than beauty. It is also known to
volunteer for the harvest – but in reality, perfumers, quite simply
most of us would wilt even faster than a as ‘La Fleur’ – or ‘the
jasmine flower...) But Chanel will surely flower’ – alluding to
find a solution to the problem – thus jasmine’s importance.
ensuring that they remain virtually the only
perfume house in the world to control their ✼ Even though jasmine
production every single step of the way. may not be listed in the

‘Gabrielle Chanel wanted a fragrance
that smelled not of flowers, but of a
woman,’ Sheldrake explained to me, about
No.5’s history. ‘She also told Beaux: “I
want you to make it so expensive that it
can’t be imitated.”’ And it is the incredibly
And with her take-no-prisoners pyramid of ingredients,
personality, her exacting standards – not chances are there’s a
to mention her love for the fragrance that touch in there
made her globally famous (and fabulously somewhere; it’s the most
wealthy) – you just know that’s exactly the widely-used ingredient in
way Coco Chanel would have wanted it... perfumery.

The scented Letter 21

 new
VIOLETTE & ROSE DE MAI
Limited Edition

A new fine fragrance celebrating

the L’OCCITANE garden at
the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
bringing the scents and colours of
Provence to the heart of London

loccitane.co.uk
 the sweet smell of success

EVERY ONE A
wınner
The annual Jasmine Awards ceremony is a highlight in the fragrance calendar –
when creativity and perfume-writing talent are publicly recognised by The Fragrance
Foundation. It’s also a moment for emerging talent, with the Marty the Mighty Nose
Awards for smelly poetry. And we were there. (Squealing with delight.)

Forget The Oscars and The This year’s judging panel for
Golden Globes: the awards The Jasmine Awards was made
ceremony which has fragrance up of industry expert Joanna
writers over-excited happens Norman (Chairman of the judging
once a year (at BAFTA) – and for panel) alongside Paula Hawkins
anyone who’s been up for one of (author), Gill Hudson (editor and
these beautiful Lalique trophies, author), Natasha Kaplinsky (TV
the morning of The Jasmine Presenter), Millie Mackintosh
Awards is a time for holding your (fashion designer and blogger),
breath, crossing your fingers Sanjay Vadera (CEO of The
and wishing well for your fellow Fragrance Shop) and Daphne
nominees (while also really, really Wright (author).
rather hoping to win). The real VIPs at the event,
Well, win we did, in 2016: Our Award-winning team: Jo Fairley, Suzy however, are the young winners
two awards for The Scented Nightingale and Carson Parkin-Fairley and runners-up for the ‘Marty the
Letter – for Senior Writer Suzy Mighty Nose’ poetry competition,
Nightingale and contributor Persolaise – and a win for our now in its third year. A 10-year-old’s view of the aromatic
Editor, Jo Fairley, for her fortnightly Perfume Notes column landscape, as you can see from the winners (and some
for Telegraph Online. We were hugely proud, too, that runners-up) whose poems we feature overleaf, doesn’t
Editorial Assistant Carson Parkin-Fairley was shortlisted for quite chime with an adult’s – but this brilliant primary
the new Rising Star Award. (And can’t help agreeing with school initiative is all about using the sense of smell to
the caption Persolaise put on social media of the photo he ‘bring the classroom alive’. Richard E. Grant again led the
took of our team, featured above: ‘Two Jasmine winners – judging panel, alongside children’s author Josh Lacey and
and one future winner…’) First News editor Nicky Cox MBE.

The scented Letter 23

 Read the winning poems from The Fragrance Foundation’s
And the winners Are…
Marty the Mighty Nose Awards 2016 – part of a terrific
scheme to get schoolchildren thinking about smells...
H Best Article in a Customer
Magazine: ‘Birth of a
Fragrance’ by Deborah Bee and
Jan Masters, Harrods Magazine
alk
Smells of a Summer W
H Best Digital Article on
Fragrance: ‘Perfume Notes:
Smoke and Fire Fragrances’, by Jo I lift up my furry snout,
er air,
Fairley, telegraph.co.uk Take in the fresh Summ
I prance out of the car,
.
And observe where I am
H Best Digital Fragrance
Experience: ‘The Niche,
Lesser-Known Fragrance Brands The distant sound of wa
ter,
shl y cut gra ss,
You’re About to Fall in Love With’ The smell of fre
Too wonderful to res ist,
by Anna Hunter, getthegloss.com ming walk.
Are the smells of a welco

H The Jasmine Independent

Literary Award: ‘What Does The wonderful pong of
And the stink of a dir ty
a muddy bog,
reservoir,
Wednesday Smell Like?’ by Suzy the n rus h to my doggy friend,
I leap for joy and
Nightingale, The Scented Letter than a smelly wet dog.
There’s nothing better

H The Jasmine Independent

Soundbite Award: ‘Closer
to Heaven’ by Persolaise, The
I mourn as my owner dra
But it’s all forgotten at the
gs me away,
sight of a stream;
in the currents,
Tumbling down, I splash
Scented Letter sm ells of a Summer walk.
Oh, the wonderful

H Jasmine Soundbite (News

Press): ‘A Better Bottle’
by Edwina Ings-Chambers, The
Then the smell drifts rig
The smell of a dog or a
ht up my nose,
bir d – who knows?
set off on the trail,
I lower my head and
Sunday Times Style Magazine h my fluffy bear paws.
Treading on my tail wit

H Jasmine Soundbite
(Magazines): ‘It’s Backbone Picking up a stick, my wa
One last romp in the wa
lk is nearly complete,
ter – sniffing up its con
tents,
ell,
in a Bottle’ by Sali Hughes, Stylist ck – what a lovely sm
Sprawling in horse mu e to go.
my doggy friend, it’s tim
After saying farewell to
H Best Practical Guide to
Fragrance: ‘How I Learned
I plod to the car – dripp
ing with smells,
to Think Through My Nose’ by , smothered in filth,
My once silky black fur
Kim Parker, Red Magazine that I smell revolting,
My owner complaining ing!
I think it’s quite charm
I really don’t see why –
H Most Creative Visual
Award: ‘The Forever
Fragrances’, words by Emma By Anya Hemingway,
Year 6 Sheffield High
Schoo l,

5&6
Joint Runner-up, Year
Robertson, creative by Karen
Davidson for Marks & Spencer
online/marksandspencer.com
In My Dream
s
H Jasmine Visual
Award: ‘Birth of a
Fragrance’ by Deborah Bee and
The comfortin
g scent of my
cuddly bunny
Dry dusty sm as I drift off
ell of the crum to sleep
Jan Masters, Harrods Magazine Salty tang of bl ing African ro
the Barbado ads
Crisp, rich sc s se a, sh immering in
ent of the Fren
H Jasmine Literary
Award: ‘What Does Pleasure
Smell Like?’ by Lucy Pavia, InStyle
the oven
The sweet ar
oma of the fr
ch pain au ch
the sunset
ocolat creepi
ng from
the streets esh Brazilian
fruits drifting
Pungent smel along

H The Rising Star Award: a

new award to recognise
up-and-coming talent within the
Fragrance of
The comfortin
l of mustard
Mexican taco
g scent of my
on American
s coming from
hotdogs
a store near
morning suns cuddly bunny by
industry, given to Shannon Peter hine as I rise to the
for ‘A Perfumer’s Business Card’,
in Stylist By Emily Wat
es, Year 4, C
Joint Runner ranleigh Prep
-up, Year 3 & aratory Scho
4 ol

24 The scented Letter

 from nose to prose

Best Article in a Customer Magazine

For more info

about this fantastic
schools scheme visit
martythemightynose.org

The Smell Olympics

S SHOW
the SMELL OLYMPIC
Welcome to the final of e and have a go
m round the world com
Where stinky pongs fro
lvania and TEA fro Tim m buktu… Now we’re My Brother’s
There ’s PO O fro m Pen nsy Room
ner could be YOU...
in the final stages the win The smells in
side my brothe
core r’s room,
EESE, he’s rotten to the Just like his pa
First up MOULDY CH e”
nts are deadly
.
, the girls say “Je t’ador They lead m
Dribbling in from France A very whiff
e to my utter
do om :
TOE y medley!
is SMELLY SWEATY
Hobbling along behind VE A GO!
a chance but likes to HA His slippers sm
He doesn’t really stand ell of nasty ch
And the tang eese
e FARMYARD STINK of onions (pic
What’s that stench? Th Inside, his to
es my nose di
kl ed ).
and MUCKY splease
SQUELCHY, BROWN Especially w
hen they’re ti
n the yard ckled!
All the beasts from dow
ky
Are hoping they’ll get luc floating proud His bum smel
SIC K ha s com e this far his sweetcorn ls like a rotten
drum,
But LUMPY ill the crowd. Full of ugly fl
ssic whiff will really thr eas.
He’s certain that his cla It’s worse than
getting badly
BURNT TOAST By a swarm stung
rd and cold, it must be of bees.
BLACK and CRISPY, ha the most?
ing, does this one stink
The smell is quite revolt e to cho ose a WINNER His armpits sm
m all, it’s tim ell like cabbag
Now we’ve introduced the off your dinner! Rotting at th e leaves
HOME: It will put you e dump.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT wrinkly TOE Their pong yo
s to hairy, stinky, sweaty, u simply won
So, THIRD PLACE goe has to go. It’s like an ev ’t believe
ells so rank but now he il trump.
He’s come so far and sm
CONGRATULATIONS
NG takes second place, Underneath
THE FARMYARD PO thorough clean???
his bed there
lurks
all go home and have a A very hissy
team! Can we suggest you dragon
Who eats my
tell you all who’s won. brother’s hair
SE, the time has come to And smells en y shirts
SO DRUMROLL PLEA is NUMBER ONE?
ough to gag
on!
ELLY CHEESE, which
TOAST or SICK or SM
. So don’t go in
...ready………………. that smellsom
…....the winner is……… If you value e site
We’re proud to say…… s the SM EL L your nose.
INKY SLIMY SICK win
here we go: This year ST Your nostrils
will be harm
His pongs ar ed for life.
OLYMPIC SHOW!! e your greate
st foes!
nner, Year 5 & 6
6 Be dford Girls School. Wi
By Tess Garrett, Year Isaac Littlew
ood, Year 3
Primary Scho St Mary’s CE
ol, Ascot. W
inner, Year 3
&4

The scented Letter 25

we’ll always have Paris
Guerlain
the
time machine
Earlier this spring, a group of our Perfume Society VIP Subscribers enjoyed one of the
perfume world’s most exclusive experiences: smelling Guerlain’s archive collection of
‘lost’ scents, at their Champs Élysées boutique. Maggie Alderson was there…
Ah, Guerlain. It’s a perfume
house which thrills at just a mention, with
the immediate associations of luxury,
exquisite elegance and fascinating cultural
connections – plus the added frisson of that
ultra-sophisticated French sensuality.
But as every perfumista knows, what
makes Guerlain so special is its heritage.
Founded in 1828, that’s nearly 200 years
of creating perfumes of the finest quality.
Guerlain received their very first royal warrant
– from Napoleon and the Empress Eugénie,
no less – just 25 years in, for Pierre-François
Pascal Guerlain’s Eau de Cologne Impériale.
Since then, over four generations, with no
fewer than seven Guerlains becoming master
perfumers, the family has created hundreds
of perfumes. But while some famously
became enduring bestsellers (Mitsouko,
Shalimar, Jicky, L’Heure Bleue), there is a
whole legacy of historic Guerlain fragrances
which remained only as a residue of brown
sludge in the bottom of an antique flacon.
Voilà Porquoi J’Amais Rosine. Le Jardin
de Mon Curé. Fleur Qui Meurt. Mouchoir de
Monsieur. Après l’Ondée. The names alone
are enough to set your imagination twirling
Top: a vintage a parasol as you stroll through the Tuileries
Guerlain – so what would it be like to smell these
advertisement
perfumes from the previous two centuries?
(reproduction
postcards on sale at Well, wonder no more. Because, inspired
the boutique) by seeing those sad remains in the beautiful
Below: just some old bottles on display in the ‘Hall of Mirrors’
of the historic on the first floor of Guerlain’s Champs-
fragrances smelled
Élysées boutique, resident nose Thierry
at our session
Wasser – the first non-family member ever to
hold the position – set out to re-make 50 of
the perfumes they once contained, exactly as
they were when first mixed.
26 The scented Letter
Working from the perfumers’ original
books of formulas and using rigorously-
sourced authentic ingredients, Wasser
has created, in an effect, an olfactory time
machine, spanning 1840 to 1975. It’s really
quite something to know that when you smell
Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain’s Pois de
Senteur – confected even before he made
that Cologne for Empress Eugenie, to put
things in perspective – you are experiencing
it exactly as you would have, as a customer
in the Rue de La Paix shop in 1840. (Except
then you would have been wearing an
excruciating corset, crinoline and bonnet.)
Adding another level of intrigue is the
knowledge that when you smell these re-
creations, you are having highly privileged
olfactory access to perfumes that can never
be sold again in this form, because so many
of the original ingredients are now prohibited
by IFRA guidelines and EU directives.
So it’s no surprise that the very limited
number of places to attend the private
drawing room at the glorious Guerlain
flagship, for an afternoon smelling twenty
of these authentically reproduced historic
perfumes, sold out on the Perfume Society
events page almost immediately.
When the day dawned, 10 of us arrived
in the inner sanctum at 68 Champs-Elysées.
A mixed group, including one established
perfume blogger, the former owner of
an elite perfume shop and a couple of
academics researching very different aspects
of smell, we were united by two things: a
passion for perfume and our eagerness to
get nostril to blotter.
Guerlain’s Françoise Chagny, immaculate
in red lipstick and a Little Black Dress
“ There is a whole
legacy of historic
Guerlain fragrances
which remained
only as a residue
of brown sludge in
the bottom of an
antique flacon
The scented
Letter 25
 Scenes from the Guerlain
boutique, and the
blotters for smelling
which could have inspired Thierry Wasser’s
What we smelled…
La Petite Robe Noire, welcomed us through
l Pois de Senteur 1840
the double doors, offering glasses of water
Pierre-François Pascal
Guerlain with a delicacy only a Parisienne could
muster. (Her British equivalent would have
l Iris Blanc 1889 Aimé
Guerlain plonked a bottle of Highland Spring on the
table and left us to get on with it.)
l Le Jardin de Mon Curé
1895 Jacques Guerlain (as Comfortably installed in the limed-oak
are all from here on) panelled room, Françoise began by making
sure we understood that because of the EU
l À Travers Champs 1898
restrictions it would be blotter-smelling only
l Tsao Ko 1898
– nothing on the skin – and then presented
l Voilà Pourquoi J’Aimais
each of us with an elegant Guerlain
Rosine 1900
notebook and a pile of waxed paper
l Fleur Qui Meurt 1901
sleeves to label and preserve each precious
l Mouchoir de Monsieur scented-paper souvenir.
1904 Then, with a knowledge and passion
l Voilette de Madame which bespeaks her thirty years working for
1904 the house – literally living and breathing it –
l Champs Elysée 1904 she began our journey back in time.
l Après l’Ondée 1906 First up: that Pois de Senteur from
l Sillage 1907 1840: a rendering of the sweet pea,
l Muguet 1908 seeming somehow to smell more of that
l Chypre de Paris 1908 classic summer flower than the real thing,
l Fôl Arome 1912 achieved using only natural florals – which
was, Françoise explained, the standard for
l Mi-Mai 1914
perfumes at the time, before the power of
l Guerlinade 1921
smell molecules had been fully harnessed.
l Bouquet de Faunes 1922
With that and each subsequent round
l Djedi 1926 of blotters came a helpful map of the
l Sous le Vent 1933 perfume’s notes, in the form of the Guerlain
l Cuir de Russie 1935 signature bee, with the top note at the head,
l Coque d’Or 1937 the middle notes in the body and wings,
28 The scented Letter
the base notes in the tail. In each case,
though, Françoise first encouraged us to
make our own suggestions, with everyone
having at least one YASSSS! moment when
we correctly identified a less obvious note.
Mine was the anise in the first ever fragrance
by the legendary Jacques Guerlain (who
created all the perfumes we tried from
that point on). Unlike his later time-defying
creations (Mitsouko and Shalimar), Le Jardin
de Mon Curé (1895) – which translates as
‘the garden of my priest’ – smelled quite
alien to the modern nose. And that’s how it
went: some we loved. Some we didn’t. But
all were utterly fascinating.
As well as giving us the basic gen of when
and by whom on each perfume, Françoise
(whose soft-spoken English was really very
good) brought them all wonderfully to life,
showing photographs of the people who
inspired each one, the bottle it came in and
its advertising materials, alongside artworks,
buildings and events which placed it in a
socio-cultural context.
A lovely example of this was Voilà
Pourquoi J’Aimais Rosine (‘that’s why I loved
Rosine’), created by Jacques in 1900, for his
pal, the actress Sarah Bernhardt, known to
her friends by her original first name, Rosine.
Photographs of Ms. Bernhardt, referred
to in her time as ‘the most famous actress
the world has ever known’, in theatrical
costume as Hamlet, were the perfect

complement to the bright mix of leather and
lemon, bergamot, lavender and marjoram.
The smell is as spirited and engaging as
Bernhardt clearly was herself.
Mouchoir de Monsieur (‘gentleman’s
handkerchief’) from 1904, was, Françoise
told us, the first scent created specifically for
men, part of a his ‘n’ hers perfumed present
for two friends who were getting married.
(The bride got the lovely floral Voilette de
Femme, with its play on words between veil
and the top note of violet.)
Up until then men and women wore
whatever their personal preferences drew
them to: everything was ‘shared’. (Françoise
told us a lot of chaps chose Jicky.) And
while Mouchoir de Monsieur has a lavish
floral flourish at its heart, with rose, jasmine
and tuberose (following a cheeky absinthe
opening), it later develops into something
extremely, almost confrontingly, male.
The brilliantly-named Sillage (1907) shone
a light on how the ideal of women in society
was then starting to shift. Inspired by strong
and unapologetically sensual women, such
as Mata Hari and Louise Brooks, it’s a mix of
rich citrus, spicy aromatics and bold florals,
with a hint of leather and musk. It packs
a powerful punch, reminiscent of 1980s
perfume muggings and almost shockingly
different from the natural florals we had
smelled at the start, inspiring one Perfume
Society wag to comment: ‘That ain’t no
we’ll always have Paris
Centre: one
of the historic
bottles.
Left: our
assembled
group of
perfumistas.
Below; Thierry
Wasser and his
re-creations
sweet pea, baby…’ YOUR
As we proceeded through the years
everyone had their turn to fall under the
CHANCE
spell of particular perfumes. Starred in my TO VISIT
notebook, I have 1914’s glorious floral Mi- THE ARCHIVE
Mai (mid-May, so you get the idea…), and Later this autumn we will
the Josephine-Baker-and-air-travel-inspired be hosting another
Sous le Vent of 1933, a stunning green Guerlain archive workshop
Chypre with a hint of pineapple. I found in Paris, exploring scents in
them both exquisitely lovely, but the blotter the collection that we
which made me swoon dead away was Cuir didn’t get to smell first time
de Russie, of 1935. round. Places will go fast,
By the mid-30s, ‘Russian Leather’ was a so we encourage you to
perfume genre, based on the idea of the visit the EVENTS page at
fragrant birch wood tar Russian cavalry perfumesociety.org or
officers rubbed on their boots, with this e-mail info@
Guerlain interpretation featuring leather at perfumesociety.org if
all three levels. But who cares that it wasn’t you’re interested in being
first of its kind, when one sniff put Tolstoy’s first to hear about the new
Prince Andrei ( the most devastatingly dates. You’ll need to get
romantic figure in literature) in the room, yourself to Paris, and
standing next to me…? Sigh. tickets for the two-and-a-
With that and everything else we half hour session will be
experienced, it was an afternoon never to £135 per person.
be forgotten: a money-can’t-buy experience
which, unusually, money can actually buy.
And aided by the remarkable preservative
effect of those wax paper blotter sleeves, all
22 of the perfumes we sampled are clearly
distinguishable weeks and weeks later.
They really know how to do things at
Guerlain. If only I had a royal warrant to
bestow...
The scented Letter 29
an aromatic life

memories, dreams,
reflections
For our Provence issue, we invited award-winning actress
Amanda Burton – who has a home in the Lubéron – to share her
scented thoughts and recollections. (Turns out, the Silent Witness/
Waterloo Road star is as obsessed with aromas as we are…)

What’s the very first thing you remember
smelling?
I grew up near a farm and I remember being taken
to see a sow and her new piglets. It was the most
unusual smell: warm and sharp at the same time,
but with such a distinctive earthiness. There were
so many of them, all basking under a heating
lamp. I was probably about six at the time.
happier in. The smell of a new start to the year after all the
hunkering down through winter.
What’s your favourite scented flower?
Tricky, as I have so many to choose from. The indoor smell
would have to be hyacinth, because I associate it with
family gatherings and special times. Outdoor would have to
be walking through a sweet pea tunnel.

When did you realise that scent was really
important to you?
Back in the day when spring cleaning took
about a week… Blankets washed in a bath
tub: I used to love treading
them in all that warm
soapiness. Carpets beaten
on the lawn to get rid of
the dust. The scent of
freshness from the whole
family working together
and afterwards a house
that we were all
What was the first fragrance you were given?
My eldest sister spent time working as an air hostess as
a way to see the world back in the late 1960s. When she
walked through the door at home, back from one of her
transatlantic trips, she always wore Estée Lauder Youth
Dew; I loved it and could smell it before she even got to the
garden gate: such a grown-up, exotic smell and so new to
me. I remember her putting some behind my ears – I think I
felt I’d suddenly grown-up that day.
And the first fragrance you bought for yourself?
In my early teens I bought some patchouli oil – and loved it.
It made me feel exotic and sexy, like a walking joss stick!

Youth Dew and

patchouli were
early scent
loves; today,
it’s the scents
of Provence
with transport
Amanda

30 The scented Letter

 AMANDA’S
SCENTS OF
PROVENCE
1 Cypress trees ‘They

shout “Hello, welcome back!”

the minute I smell them at
Marseilles Airport.’

2 Lavender ‘Especially

at harvest time when great

bundles are carted away from
the fields near my home. I have
the best sleeps of my life then.’

Have you had different fragrances for different times in Laundry (above)
your life? and apples
(below) are
Definitely. In the hard-partying phase of my life I loved
among Amanda’s
Chanel No.5, Fracas, Joy: the finishing touch to a great evocative smells
night ahead. When I was pregnant and became a mother I
just loved soft, clean smells; I wanted my daughters to know
my scent and have comfort in that. As an actress I’ll often
use scent to help me with a character I’m playing; it can
change the way you feel about yourself very rapidly. Today,
my off-duty ‘signature’ scent is Armani Sì. 3 Wild thyme ‘One of my
© spline_x; Tilio & Paolo; ermess; Michael Pettigrew; cioncabogdana; Dmitriy Syechin; dvoevnore; blindfire - Fotolia.com

great joys is hiking; I go with

The smell that always makes me feel happy is… a group of friends and my
… the smell of a fire. To me, it’s one of the most primeval sister, who lives nearby. The
pleasures: wood smoke wrapping around a few pats of turf. smell of the thyme and box is
Warm, comfortable, sheltered, safe. unbelievably beautiful.’

The smell that always makes me feel a bit sad is... 4 The markets ‘Bright

… apples, in the autumn. My father always had a big box yellow mimosa, wreaths of
of apples from the garden for us to eat and bake with. I myrtle and rosemary, all the
remember that smell so well; it reminds me of harvest time fantastic smells of the seasonal
and makes me sad because I miss those times as a child fruits and vegetables: sharp
sometimes. citrus, piquant olives, luscious
cherries – and I haven’t even
The fragrance from the past that I’ve always wanted to started on the cheeses…’
smell is…
… the cacophony of smells at a medieval banquet; I can 5 Oak wood smoke ‘It

only imagine the pungent aromas: people, animals live and signifies a drawing-in after the
cooked, musty clothing, wood smoke, ales and spirits. A summer madness, heading
complete olfactory feast. towards evenings of reflection
by the fire. My happiest place
on earth.’

The scented Letter 31

scent’s social side

Flash, bang, wallop,

what a #smellfie!

21st March 2016 marked

our second celebration
of National Fragrance
Day via the #smellfie!
We were overwhelmed
with the response:
hundreds of entries on
social media. (In the
end, we picked seven
– as opposed to the
five promised prizes!)
Alongside the winning
snaps here, you’ll enjoy
a selection of the other
#smellfies, overleaf

32 The scented Letter

✷ our
winn
ers

The scented Letter 33

✷ n n
ru up
r
ou ers-

34 The scented Letter

 scent’s social side

Snap a scented
#smellfie!
We absolutely
loved looking
at the Tweets
and Instagram
pix our VIP
Subscribers and
other friends
in the perfume
world posted
to celebrate
this landmark date in the fragrance
calendar. Winners (chosen by a
discerning panel of judges – well, us!)
each received a signed copy of The
Perfume Bible.
On an ongoing basis, we continue
to look out for #smellfies – so don’t
limit your photographic fun with
fragrance to one day of the year:
we’ll be awarding a #Smellfie of the
Month prize, with a signed copy of
The Perfume Bible.
All you have to do to catch our eye
and make sure to enter correctly is
to post a #smellfie of yourself with
a much-loved perfume – or more
than one, perhaps. Tag it #smellfie
– and on Instagram, please be sure
to mention @theperfumesociety.
If you’re using Twitter, again tag it
#smellfie, and also tag @perfume_
Society. (If you don’t use both tags,
we may not spot your entries.)
Get snapping…

The scented Letter 35

 RSVP

events Our EVENTS section is now a noticeboard for all sorts of

fragrant happenings around the country – so do explore

✷
(and find out more about any of these events there)

Meet the Creator:

Neela Vermeire in Conversation How to
Improve
Your Sense
&
Co u r
worksh
ses
ops

DATE: Thursday 26th May 2016, 6.30-8.30 p.m. of Smell

(presentation at 7 p.m.) Workshop
VENUE: Roullier White, 125 Lordship Lane, London
SE22 9HU Brighton
You’re invited to an interactive evening at this popular south London scent
destination with Neela Vermeire. Neela’s is a fascinating story: as a perfume DATE: Sunday 21st August
connoisseur, she embarked on a creative journey with maverick ‘nose’ Bertrand 2016, 11.30 a.m. – 1 p.m. or
Duchaufour, giving him free rein to use a costly palette of attars and resins that 2.30 p.m. – 4 p.m.
would do justice to the sensual splendours of India; since then, Ashoka – one VENUE: 35 North Gallery,
of five creations – has won a coveted Art & Olfaction Award. We’ll be exploring North Road, Brighton BN1 1YB
all this and more with Neela
over South Indian canapés, It seems only right that in
a special Bombay Bling August we’ll be headed to
cocktail and Neela’s mother’s the seaside to host a How To
delicious jal jeera soft drink Improve Your Sense of Smell
recipe. You’ll walk away with Workshop in Brighton. You’ll
a goody bag, will enjoy a 10% learn techniques that will
discount across the store on vastly improve your sense of
the night and be entered into smell and have you enjoying
a draw for one of Neela’s new perfumes in a new and
Take Two (two-bottle) travel wonderful way. The sessions
sizes of her Bombay Bling are free to existing VIP
fragrance. It’s going to be a Subscribers – choose from a
fabulous night. morning or afternoon session
- but you might also like to
bring a guest for an additional
£15. You’ll each receive a little
From flower to flacon: a fragrant day perfumed goodie bag – and
with Liz Earle and The Perfume Society of course, you’ll get to meet
fellow perfume-lovers, too…
DATE: Thursday 23rd June 2016
TIME: 9.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. NB For other ‘Sense of
VENUE: Chelsea Physic Garden, Swan Walk, London, SW3 4HS Smell’ workshops around the
country – including Knutsford,
We’re very excited to invite you to join us and confirmed for September, visit
Liz Earle at the Chelsea Physic Garden for a our EVENTS section.
full day of exploration of natural ingredients
and plants, to celebrate her newest scent. Liz
will be talking about the botanicals she uses
in her blends; there’ll be a guided tour around
the beautiful gardens – and The Perfume
Society’s Lorna McKay will be sharing her
© Dmitry Naumov - Fotolia.com

insights into the art of creating the perfect

balance in scent. Tickets are £95 for the day
and there is a fabulous goody bag including a
full size bottle of Liz Earle fragrance.

NB At time of going to press, there was availability for all the events above. We apologise if all spaces have been filled since then, and
encourage you to revisit the EVENTS page for updates. We also send bulletins to Perfume Society subscribers announcing new events.

The scented Letter 37

 first whiffs

latest launches
We’re often asked: how can anyone keep their finger on the pulse of all that’s
happening on the perfume launch front? And we answer: keep up to speed
with this regular, comprehensive run-down, collated from the many launches
we attend and our ‘insider’ contacts in the fragrance world...

EAUX LA LA!
Our just-launched Perfume Discovery
Box (priced just £12.50 to our VIP
Subscribers) brings to you a ‘wardrobe’
of seasonal scents showcasing the
perfumers, the ingredients and the
fragrance houses of France – notably
Provence. Enjoy offerings from
L’Occitane en Provence, Fragonard,
Lalique, Balmain – and among the
delights, you’ll get to try the brand
new Atelier Cologne Bergamote
Soleil, which you can read about
opposite, as well as a beautiful
age-defying facial oil (using Grasse
roses), from Judith Williams. Find it in
the SHOP on our site.

THE FRAGRANCE FAMILIES

As scentophiles know, fragrances fall into different ‘families’. So we’ve used the same classification system for launches as on
our www.perfumesociety.org website. Just look for the coloured strip above the name of the perfume, which is your visual
clue to the families. (These are listed below.) Most of us are drawn to a specific family/families: once you know which you fall
into, that colour can act as a cue – and help you take a short-cut to the ones you may want to try first…
PRE
ORIE

CHY

DY
FL

NTA
O

O
RI

O
L
EN

W
TA
L

FLO
RA A ND
L RM
U
GO

FRESH FOUGERE

38 The scented Letter

 AEDES DE VENUSTAS
CIERGE DE LUNE
Inspired by the night-blooming cereus
flower loved by Marie Antoinette, its
name translates as ‘moon altar candle’
– a hint at the exotic fascination this
offers. Perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin
dabbles moonlight into darkness,
weaving airy wisps of incense through
deeply resinous Madagascan vanilla
absolute, alongside transparent swirls
of hedione and buxom ylang ylang.
Pink pepper and hints of dark
chocolate rest on the soft suede base
– a fleeting beauty captured.
£185 for 100ml eau de parfum
roullierwhite.com
ATKINSONS
MY FAIR LILY
Atkinson’s this month offer up three
superb new additions to their
Contemporary Collection. First up, My
Fair Lily gilds Casablanca lily with wild
chamomile, adding a fashionable twist
of tart rhubarb alongside a deliciously-
named ‘summer rain accord’ which
counterbalances the usual lily
headiness. The dewy, fresh and radiant
white floralcy mellows beautifully on
the skin, gaining depth from vetiver
and patchouli. A floral to seduce even
non-floral-wearers.
£120 for 100ml eau de parfum
At Harrods
ARMANI
SI ROSE SIGNATURE
Armani Sì has become a modern
classic – introducing the so-so-
sophisticated Chypre family to a new
generation. Here’s a delicate, limited
edition floral-Chypre reinterpretation
of original Sì, with a pair of roses –
Rosa Centifolia and Rosa Damascena
– blossoming alongside freesia,
blackcurrant and pure vanilla essence
in the heart. It wouldn’t be a Chypre
without patchouli in the finale,
meanwhile, delivering an exquisite
earthiness to soft, powdery iris.
£69.50 for 50ml eau de parfum
armanibeauty.co.uk
ATKINSONS
SCILLY NEROLI
We love how Atkinson’s describe this:
‘A resolutely Mediterranean fragrance
transplanted most beguilingly to the
Scilly Isles: a lush, misty archipelago,
warmed by the currents and breezes
of the Gulf Stream.’ Scilly Neroli is
certainly bathed in sea-spray notes,
with mineral touches contrasting with
the bright neroli and orange flower
absolute. Patchouli and ambergris
slowly sweep in, adding warmth over
time – but till then, it’s all green cut
stems and cool limestone, to us.
£120 for 100ml eau de parfum
At Harrods
ATELIER COLOGNE
BERGAMOTE SOLEIL
Ripe and luscious, succulent and zesty:
Bergamote Soleil conjures up sun-
ripened fruits bursting through their
skins with juiciness. Calabrian
bergamot is blended with bitter
orange and ambrette seed to evoke
beams of sunshine striking the citrus
orchards of warm climates. The heart
is eased with lavender, jasmine and
the light spice of cardamom, while the
base settles down with a touch of
smoky vetiver, earthy oak moss and a
warming amber. Liquid sunshine.
£90 for 100ml Cologne Absolute
johnlewis.com
BRITNEY SPEARS
MAUI FANTASY
Now reigning queen of Las Vegas,
Britney Spears is going to need her
downtime in Maui more than ever: the
island inspiration for this latest spin on
her bestselling Fantasy fragrance, and
(so the goss goes) her favourite
holiday spot. Sun-drenched passion
fruit and pink grapefruit feature
alongside cyclamen, orange blossom,
monoi, hibiscus, blue musk, white
amber and blonde woods, with
coconut completing the cocktail.
Another sure-fire hit, we predict.
£35 for 100ml eau de parfum
superdrug.com
The scented Letter 39
 BRONNLEY
WILD GREEN
That first day bravely stepping outside
without opaque tights (maybe even
without a coat, can we even dare to
dream?) is a moment to treasure. Wild
Green encompasses that sense of
freedom, to us: a really quite
beautifully-done shady violet and
orange flower scent to lift the spirits,
revealing a cool woodland vibe thanks
to the green-leafy heart that unfurls
after a warming on the skin, with wisps
of incense, amber and leather
beckoning the dry-down.
£35 for 50ml eau de toilette
bronnley.co.uk
DANIELLE PEAZER
for YOUNG & GIFTED
It’s fitting that Danielle Peazer would
team up with affordable beauty
company Young & Gifted to launch a
trio of fragrances, Peace, Love &
Happiness. (Which happen to be
words tattooed on her wrist, by the
way.) Peazer’s young and gifted
herself: at just 27, she’s enjoyed
success in modelling, dancing and as a
blogger. Each of her signature scents
features key notes of jasmine, vanilla
and musk; wear them individually or
layered together harmoniously.
From £12 for 45ml eau de parfum
thefragranceshop.co.uk
40 The scented Letter
BULGARI
OMNIA PARAIBA
Bulgari are building quite the precious
casket with this sixth addition to the
jewel-inspired collection, based on the
original Omnia fragrance. Named for
the Brazilian state of Paraiba where the
tourmaline is found, we have here a
nod to native ingredients like sugar
cane, cacao beans, passion fruit (and
flowers), and Lahara orange, with a
luscious halo radiating around the
omnipresent thrum of the gardenia
heart. Fruity yet fresh enough to tingle
– a sparkling gem.
£35 for 25ml eau de parfum
houseoffraser.co.uk
COMME DES GARCONS
DOT
This latest from Comme des Garçons
is housed in a pleasingly textural,
abstract modernist bottle covered in
polka dots. (Lay it flat – it’s not
designed to stand up!) The scent itself
captures the osmanthus flowers that
adorn parks and roadsides in Japan
during Autumn, contrasted with bitter
orange. In the core, a leafy green note
is juxtaposed with the sweet and
peachy osmanthus absolute, while
frankincense softens to amber woods
at the base.
£85 for 100ml eau de parfum
doverstreetmarket.com
CALVIN KLEIN
CK ONE SUMMER
If grey days have left you pining for
sun, then CK One Summer will be just
the ticket: a unisex/’shared’ limited
edition that bundles sea, sun and
beachside Margaritas into one. A
refreshing top note of frozen lime
makes for a zesty, Cologne-esque
start. The soft sweetness of white
freesia, blended with cypress and an
unusual tequila note, envelops the
heart, while the base sails off with a
trail of coconut water, crushed sugar
and cedarwood. Summer, bottled.
£33 for 100ml eau de toilette
debenhams.com
GHOST
GIRLCRUSH
Flash back to a youth spent singing
into hairbrushes with Ghost’s
GirlCrush. An olfactory celebration of
girl power and femininity, the
fragrance opens to a fruity cocktail of
pomegranate, soft peach and
sparkling raspberry. Playful notes of
rose, peony and almond flowers
bloom in the heart while the base of
musk, vanilla and cedarwood will
subtly return you to present day where
(hallelujah!) there is no curfew or
threat of homework.
from £25 for 30ml eau de toilette
superdrug.co.uk
 GUERLAIN
LES PARISIENNES
PROMENADE DES ANGLAIS
Les Parisiennes bring out the feminine
side in even the toughest of us, in their
be-ribboned classic Guerlain bee
bottles. This pale turquoise ‘juice’ is
Thierry Wasser’s homage to the Belle
Époque Parisians who’d flock to the
Côte d’Azur in winter: a fruity-woody-
floral with a gourmand twist from
luscious, milky fig, paired with Iris
pallida, further softened by delicate,
Parma-esque violet. Vanilla and vetiver
are masterfully merged as the sun
goes down on his creation.
£175 for 125ml eau de parfum
At Selfridges
JUICY COUTURE
VIVA LA JUICY ROSÉ
Each new Juicy bottle seems to outdo
the last: here, frosted with pink ombré
glitter, finished with a pink chiffon
bow. Honorine Blanc set out to create
‘a burst of femininity… Like the tiny
bubbles in Champagne, it is an
elegant celebration’. Inside the flacon,
enjoy Italian mandarin, William pear,
jasmine petals, Rosa Centifolia, white
peony and jasmine – but the party
truly gets started with the pulsing
base of amber, benzoin, orris absolute
and Ambrox.
£69 for 100ml eau de parfum
debenhams.com
HEATHCOTE & IVORY
BLUSH ROSE
An oh-so-affordable rose – but
that’s certainly not all this eau de
toilette has going for it, with the
central rose note livened up by
cassis and yuzu (a citrus note we’re
seeing more and more), deliciously
warmed by cedarwood, musk and
amber in a very wearable fusion.
Heathcote & Ivory are widely loved
for their scented bodycare – and if
you like to layer, you’ll want to know
there’s a wide range of blushing
rosy treats to match the fragrance.
£9 for 50ml eau de toilette
heathcote-ivory.com
JULIETTE HAS A GUN
WHITE SPIRIT
JHAG’s Romano Ricci is a man with
the word ‘mischief’ running
through him like a stick of rock.
This time, he’s breaking the rules
with a ‘juice’ that’s milky-looking,
rather than clear: an addictive floral
bouquet of tuberose absolute and
Jasmine sambac, on an under-
storey of sensual woodiness, with
sandalwood, Ambrocenide and
Ambroxan. And while it may be
white in colour, we’d say this has a
dark, naughty soul.
£200 for 75ml eau de parfum
selfridges.com
IDEO PARFUMEURS
MALIKA’S TEMPTATION
Ideo is another of perfume’s love
stories: Antoine and Ludmila Bitar,
L’Oréal perfumer (her) and fragrance
fanatic (him) met 15 years ago, and
have launched their collection for
home, laundry, body and boudoir from
his native Beirut. Among the debut
fragrance quartet, this is the richest
and (yes) most tempting, with praline-
coated roses dancing alongside ylang
ylang, patchouli, cedar and sweet
amber. (Get thee to exclusive stockist
Liberty pronto, we advise.)
£145 for 100ml eau de parfum
At Liberty
KILIAN
MOONLIGHT IN HEAVEN
An electric blue fragrance with an
electrifying effect: Calice Becker has
woven an olfactive spell via coconut
and milky rice, juiced up by mango,
grapefruit and a bright squirt of
lemon, spiced by pink pepper and
with the sweetness of tonka bean
bringing out vetiver’s hay-like essence
in the dry-down. It marks the debut,
too, of a new shape for the Kilian
flacon: inspired by the Cognac carafe
– aptly, bearing in mind Kilian
Hennessy’s brandy family heritage.
£215 for 50ml refillable spray
bykilian.com
The scented Letter 41
 MARC JACOBS
PEAR
One of a quartet of much-loved, long-
lost Marc Jacobs fragrances revived
for summer 2016, this is biting into
ripe pears with juices falling onto
sun-kissed skin. It’s cocktails at sunset
on the porch. It’s jumping off the jetty
into cool water. Lemon peel,
bergamot and pear begin the holiday,
while juniper, freesia and a gin accord
place ice-cold glasses into your hand.
Trailing off into musk, soft amber and
teakwood, it’s every vacation you’ve
ever wanted, actually.
£38 for 100ml eau de toilette
debenhams.com
MICHAEL KORS
CORAL
We’ve been delighted by the fragrant
tailoring of the Michael Kors perfumes
thus far, and Coral is a suitably tropical,
‘resort-wear’ addition to anyone’s
scented wardrobe. Grapefruit with
twists of crushed raspberry on a
smooth base of sandalwood make you
dream of chic, five-star island getaways
with sunshine and cocktails on-tap.
One spray and we can practically hear
the clink of the ice cubes and the
deeply satisfied sighs as sun-warmed
bodies stretch and relax…
£39 for 30ml eau de parfum
boots.com
42 The scented Letter
MARC JACOBS
RAIN
Leave your umbrellas at home: Marc
Jacobs’ watery floral is back. Clean
and pure, Rain begins with cut grass
(and who doesn’t love that smell?) plus
a touch of strawberry and clementine.
The middle captures tropical rain and
passion flower, while the finale is
splashed with beech amber, tree moss
and musk – all captured (like the rest
of the collection) in a wonderfully
simple, chunky glass flacon. Adore wet
grass after spring showers? You’ll want
to drench yourself in this.
£38 for 100ml eau de toilette
debenhams.com
NARCISO RODRIGUEZ
ROSE MUSC INTENSE
The phrase ‘modern classic’ is
overused (and we’re sometimes
guilty!) – but most definitely applies to
Rodriguez’s original For Her fragrance.
Variations on its theme have yet to
disappoint, and Rose Musc Intense
continues the pleasure, ticking all our
boxes with the warmth of saffron and
black pepper glowing from the deeply
velvety rose heart and rounded, musky
base. The stunning flacon literally
glows, dipped in gold, the perfume
itself radiating intense naughtiness.
£125 for 100ml eau de parfum
harrods.com
MELVITA
WILD ROSES
If you’re wild about wild roses, you’ll
be crazy for this Ecocert-certified
scent, from French organic beauty
name Melvita. Rosa Canina, Rosa
Gallica and Rosa Mosqueta offer up
the freshness of their petals and the
powderiness of their hearts on a
crushed-stem base which thrums with
woodsiness. (And if you do swoon for
the scent, you’ll want to know about
the Nectar de Roses layering options
for top-to-toe rosiness, including a
shower gel and Hydrating Body Veil.)
£36 for 50ml eau de toilette
melvita.com
OSCAR DE LA RENTA
VELVET NOIR
We predicted that more complex,
grown-up, ladylike perfumes would be
stepping centre-stage once again and
are delighted to be proved right!
Here’s a richer version of Oscar
Signature, offering ginger, orange and
jasmine infused with rose, a
surprisingly tender violet and peach-
like osmanthus caressing the heart.
Amber, musk and the decidedly
refined oudh accord in the base make
for a fragrant cloak of mystery in which
to luxuriate.
£90 for 100ml eau de parfum
At Harrods
 PARFUMS DE MARLY
ATHALIA
The black glass bottle tied with silken
tassels makes it immediately apparent
this perfume is something special.
Inspired by the court of King Louis
XVth and his perfumer, Jean Fargeon,
this is an unashamedly capricious
blend of orange blossom tempered by
white musk and sophisticated iris with
a lasting warm-skin conclusion of
amber. Feminine, refined with a
fluttering suggestion of scandal, it’s a
bundle of passionate love-letters
pressed close to a heaving bosom.
£140 for 75ml eau de parfum
At Harrods
ROJA DOVE
INNUENDO EAU DE PARFUM
A tribute to all things feminine,
Roja Dove’s latest speaks to us of
lipsticks, gilded powder compacts
and big bouffant hairdos. Close
your eyes: it’s the scent of a
glamorous woman’s dressing room,
in which a dewy rose is paired with
a downright carnal jasmine.
Bergamot and orange lighten the
affair, while sandalwood, orris,
labdanum and tonka make for a
sultry base. A bewitching
ensemble, on any woman.
£225 for 50ml eau de parfum
rojadove.com
PHILOSOPHY
PURE SUMMER GRACE
Wave goodbye to winter: limited
edition Pure Summer Grace is here,
putting sunshine into your life with
every spritz. Fresh bergamot in the
top is soon eclipsed by the sunshine
yellow dune rose, earthy
sandalwood and solar musk. Later,
cool down with a refreshing base of
coconut water and creamy vanilla,
embodying the carefree spirit that a
blissful summer day has to offer.
(Just add ice cream and a stroll on
the beach, we suggest.)
From £33 for 50ml eau de toilette
johnlewis.com
SARAH JESSICA PARKER
LOVELY SHEER
The original Lovely has been
acclaimed as one of the greatest
‘celebrity’ scents of all time. (It’s even
the subject of a Chandler Burr book,
The Perfect Scent.) With this follow-up,
‘noses’ Clement Gavarry and Laurent
de Guernec follow that hard act
masterfully: airy with mandarin,
bergamot and orange flower absolute,
radiant with gardenia water, pink
pepper and blonde woods, it offers
whispers of vetiver, musk and amber to
complete the transparent veil.
£46 for 100ml eau de parfum
superdrug.co.uk
REPLAY
STONE FOR HER
The ultra-cool fashion brand Replay
effortlessly blend signature denim
looks with key trend pieces for
laid-back divas, and follow this
through to their fragrances, too. A
classic opening of bergamot, orange
and mandarin is sweetened by the
unusual fruity notes of Indian davana,
developing into a heart of orchid
studded with almond blossom. The
base is smooth as a silk lining, with a
trail of rich woodiness, amber and
powdered vanilla musk.
£20 for 30ml eau de toilette
theperfumeshop.com
VINCE CAMUTO
CAPRI
A sophisticated sister to the previous
Fiori, Amore and Bella perfumes,
Richard Herpin of Firmenich this time
imagined ‘her dress dancing in the
breeze...’ Soft petals of frangipani,
violet and peach blossom flutter in
that gloriously warm air, with a
huggable dry-down of creamy woods,
gauzy musk and delicious vanilla.
Stunning bottle, as ever: a dressing
table-worthy silver-topped flacon tied
with a grosgrain ribbon echoing the
perfect blue of the Mediterranean sea.
£55 for 100ml eau de parfum
debenhams.com
The scented Letter 43
the men’s room
ATKINSON’S
BIG BAD CEDAR
Cedarwoodsiness abounds in men’s
perfumery right now – and here’s a
noble interpretation from renowned
‘nose’ Maurice Roucel, opening with
‘cold, aromatic Highland breezes’
perfumed with cardamom and lemon.
It isn’t long, though, before The Big
Bad Cedar’s woody heart makes itself
known: resinous sap from Virginian
cedar, its toughness mellowed by
Cashmeran and a deliciously
enveloping sandalwood note. This is
definitely one we’ll be borrowing...
£120 for 10ml eau de parfum
At Harrods
Cartier
Pasha Edition NoIre Sport
Designed to conjure up ‘the thrill of
the seas’, this aromatic-woody
addition to Pasha’s popular portfolio is
an ‘energised’ version of the original,
lively with ‘exhilarating sea air, for a
gust of pure adrenaline’. Its fougère
construction marks a further revival for
the fragrance family, opening with
citrus and marine notes. In the heart,
honeydew melon adds a fruity splash
– but as ever with Pasha, it’s the base
notes which deliver its masculine
allure: amber and smooth cedarwood.
£53 for 50ml eau de toilette
johnlewis.com
44 The scented Letter
BENTLEY
INFINITE RUSH
The name of Bentley is synonymous
with style, while their fragrant offerings
underpin their mystique. Infinite Rush
is the latest: dedicated to the type of
man who rushes headlong into
high-risk adventures, always looking
for the next hit of adrenaline (though
only in luxurious locations, naturally). If
all that sounds rather exhausting,
spritz on the pink peppery, rosemary-
infused juice and you’ll find the elemi
heart and vetiver base are sooothingly
well-handled.
£46 for 60ml eau de parfum
At Harrods
DAVIDOFF
HORIZON
A scented meeting of land and sky:
picture yourself perched on a rock
surveying the desert below and
watching eagles soar. A merging of
rugged earthiness (vetiver, patchouli)
with breezy exhilaration (citrus,
ginger). Davidoff excel at fragrances
for men who refuse to be defined – a
suit worn with cowboy boots,
perhaps? But there’s a deliciously dark
heart, here, with cocoa absolute
showing a snuggleable softness
beneath the brooding bristles.
£34 for 40ml eau de toilette
theperfumeshop.com
DAVID BECKHAM
AQUA CLASSIC
‘The classics can always be reinvented
with a modern twist’, explains David
Beckham of this limited edition spin
on his bestselling Classic fragrance. As
on the football pitch, Beckham’s rarely
put a foot wrong, fragrance-wise, and
this Alienor Massenet creation scores
with a blast of lemon, cardamom and
cool violet leaves, opening to an
aromatic heart of sage, artemisia and
geranium, before the patchouli,
vetiver and suede accord beckon you
towards the end-game.
£19.95 for 40ml eau de toilette
boots.com
FERRARI
MAN IN RED
Vroom, vroom: the double-lacquer
finish in Rosso-Corso red with sleekly
curving lines is a clue to the brand
behind the scent; there can surely be
no mistaking Ferrari design from any
distance. The bottle houses a
fragrance that’s mouthwatering with
bergamot and ripe red apple in the
top notes, full-on fruit with golden
plum alongside cardamom in the
heart, drying down to a sophisticated
back-to-front Cologne vibe in the
lavandin-cedar-labdanum base.
£39 for 50ml eau de toilette
At House of Fraser
 JAGUAR
PACE
When perfumers were tasked with
creating Jaguar’s newest scent, they
dreamed of warm damp asphalt after
a light summer rain. A fresh and
aromatic blend, Pace mixes apple,
rosemary and a soft black pepper.
Cashmeran, lavender and orris lead
onwards, while patchouli and rich
woods finish the race in some style.
Designed to echo the radiator of the
new Jaguar F-Pace car, the legendary
cat roars proudly from the face of the
sleek blue bottle.
£29 for 60ml eau de toilette
debenhams.com
LIQUIDES IMAGINAIRES
PEAU DE BÊTE
Good lord this is filthy - in a very
good way! Laden with cumin, black
pepper and parsley seeds on the
top and double-doses of cedar
(Atlas/Texan), patchouli
(Indonesian/absolute) on a styrax
and civet base, it was never going
to be a tame beast. The brief was
the scent of a galloping horse, and
we think sniffing this will lead to
energetic encounters in the stables
all-round. Polish our boots and pass
us a riding crop…
£230 for 100ml eau de parfum
At Harrods Salon de Parfums
JO LEVIN
ODEJO
You know you’re at the right party
when standing shoulder-to-shoulder
with Tom Ford, David Furnish and
Burberry’s Christopher Bailey. The style
guns were out in force for the launch
of OdeJo, from former GQ Creative
Fashion Director Jo Levin, who
collaborated with Jeff Lounds (one of
the names behind the famous
Escentric Molecules) on this signature,
shareable eau de toilette. It’s fresh
with cucumber and sea kelp, and
offers flashes of lily and Tahitian rose.
From £28 for 10ml rollerball EDT
harveynichols.com
MONT BLANC
LEGEND SPIRIT
Inspired by all things white, Legend
Spirit is the newest from gentleman’s
accessories brand Mont Blanc. Fresh
and punchy in the top, pink
peppercorn, grapefruit and bergamot
quickly warm into a wild aromatic
heart of lavender and cardamom
alongside invigorating aquatic
elements. White woods, musks and
oakmoss are blended seamlessly for a
provocative yet refined dry-down.
Cool and sensual, it’s one to seize the
day – and the night.
From £26 for 30ml eau de toilette
theperfume shop.com
JOHN VARVATOS
ARTISAN BLU
There’s a truly artisan feel to the
packaging for this, with a crocheted
raffia sleeve over the usual hip-flask-
shaped Varvatos bottle. Setting out to
evoke a Mediterranean summer, the
scent itself refreshes from first splash,
with lavender, bergamot, basil, bitter
orange, geranium and clary sage,
before a bracing breeze gusts in
bringing tamarisk, parasol pine and
pistachio tree resin with it. A perfect
accessory to a fresh-scent-lover’s
summer wardrobe.
£69 for 125ml eau de toilette
debenhams.com
RAMON MONEGAL
MON PATCHOULY
Patchouli, as we predicted, is again in
the ascendancy – partly due to its
infinite versatility. Here, Barcelona
perfumer Ramon Monegal teases out
its chocolate-y side, accented with
vanilla, oak moss absolute, Bourbon
geranium, nutmeg and a smoochy
amber. Jasmine is laced throughout,
perfectly balancing the natural
earthiness of this ingredient, which is
at last throwing off its Afghan coat of
hippieness and allowing us to wallow
in patchouli’s kaleidoscopic glory.
£130 for 50ml eau de parfum
At Harrods
The scented Letter 45
it takes me right back
Ra b b i t h u t c h
For Odette Toilette (right) – author of Perfume: A
Century of Scents – her ‘Tardis’ smell is the aroma
of her beloved childhood pets’ quarters
“ I was a rabbit girl as a child – in that my sister and
I had them as pets. First came Lucy, dove-grey and good-
natured, and Matilda who was mine, and a bit dopey. Lucy
was found dead in the garden one afternoon, with a prone,
squashed bee under her body. We had our Hercule Poirot
moment piecing together the incident through our tears.
Then we replaced her with Daisy who used to watch TV
with us, sitting in one of my Dad’s slippers. Yet try to pick
her up and she’d scratch till your forearm looked like a
ravaged Etch-a-Sketch board, she being this curious mix
of domesticated and feral. Daisy loved running round the
garden, and we let her because we knew she couldn’t be
contained in her run, but one afternoon a fox got her in
broad daylight. We were torn, being obsessed at the time
with Fantastic Mr. Fox. How could he do that to this sweet,
if naughty creature? Matilda went a
few months later after a protracted,
embarrassing health condition.
Owing to their wildness, we never
“ Owing to their
really got close enough to our rabbits
to properly inhale their fur. And
wildness, we never
they ate everything in the garden,
including all the lavender bushes, so really got close
you could say they decimated our
domestic scentscape.
But what we did have was the
enough to our
smell of the hutch. When our little
bunnies first came home, part of the
rabbits to inhale
joy was procuring the kit. We just
loved that first trip to the pet shop, their fur”
running around the aisles as the
goldfish watched us, and grabbing all
that we needed: water bottles, ceramic bowls, great plastic
sacks of hay and sawdust that looked like flood defences,
and dried food, a round of bullets in the bowl. That first bit
of home-making in the hutch was utter joy. Create a nice,
loose deep mound of hay in the bedroom for them to nuzzle
in. Lay down newspaper and sprinkle over sawdust in the
living room. And attach the wheel of salt lick on the bars.
When done there was a smell that I can best describe
as scorching. The rough, savoury, scratchy odour of the
sawdust, blended with sweet, caramel hay. Almost malted,
like Ovaltine. And then something slightly seaweedy in that
dried food. Then the planed, hot wood scent of the hutch
itself with just a hint of turps. It was all so unusual, and not
‘nice’, but for a child intensely interesting. It wasn’t herbal
like anything we’d grow here, but imagine if herbs could
46 The scented Letter
grow on the moon. That is what I think the hutch was like.
All was well and ordered, except for the fact that a few
days later the effect was layered with the ammonia of wee
and droppings (which actually smelt pretty much the same
as the food). In it went as brown pellets… out it came as
brown pellets. Horrified by the thought of our beloved
bunnies gallivanting in their own
excrescence, we were diligent, militant
in cleaning out their homes.
At first. Then it was raining. Then it
was a bit cold. ‘One more day, surely?
They’ll be fine!’ Our mum, pleading
with us to sort it out. Sometimes, giving
up, going down herself to sort out the
mess. I still feel guilty about that.
The rabbits are still buried in the
garden somewhere. We can’t remember
the exact spot. I think about them now
and then, missing them somehow. Then
recently, I sampled a fragrance. I must
say, I never thought a perfume would
remind me of Matilda, Lucy and Daisy,
but this one did. It’s called Elephant
and Roses, from the Italian fragrance house Maria Candida
Gentile (available from the US scent emporium Twisted Lily).
The notion behind this fragrance, wonderfully bizarre, is to
harness together two unexpected elements: the thick-hided
animal with the rose.
What I think I got from it (I’m not sure if technically this
is included in the composition) was the overriding smell of
dried chamomile, and that in turn hurtled me towards that
odour of a hutch, maybe a day or two after being cleaned
out. Coumarin may be the smell of hay, but this was much
© z10e - Fotolia.com
more than that. I wouldn’t wear Elephant and Roses as
I’m not sure I want to channel our pets. But it evokes for
”
me the odour of that hutch, which helps me to remember
two rabbits sitting on the lawn, bottom to bottom.
Chomping their way through the last of our grass…
The next issue of
The Scented Letter is...
SCENT OF A MAN
MY FATHER’S FRAGRANCE

+
BUILDING A MALE
FRAGRANCE WARDROBE

+
LATEST LAUNCHES
(FOR HIM AND HER)

Downloadable from early June 2016