The www.perfumesociety.org scentedNO. 26 high Summer 2017 letter

HAVE A FRAGRANT FLING + MAKE A PERFUMED PILGRIMAGE + BE AMAZED BY AMBERGRIS

The nose has to travel © picsfive; Friedberg - Fotolia.com. editor’s letter

In an homage to the late Diana Vreeland (one of my style heroes), we’re calling this issue ‘The Nose Has to Travel’ – a tongue-in-cheek reference to the utterly fascinating documentary about the Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar editor, which was titled ‘The Eye Has to Travel’.

Because in our experience, travel definitely broadens the mind – and the nose. Places become inextricably linked with smells, in our memories – for me, the jasmine scrambling through an open window on the island of Lamu in Kenya, the earthiness of the spice souks of Damascus and Morocco, or that hot, slightly burned pretzel scent which to me is the smell of Manhattan’s Midtown. And of course, claiming an important place in our memory banks are the defining fragrances we wear on holiday, which transport us back there with one spritz when we’re home. So we asked some of our favourite bloggers and writers to share their ‘holiday romance perfumes’, on p.16.

For our ingredient focus in this edition, Bethan Cole looks at ambergris – definitely a much-travelled ingredient. This weird-looking whale by-product can spend decades bobbing on the ocean before turning up – entirely unpredictably – on a beach somewhere, where it’s quite often first sleuthed out by a dog being walked by its owner. Once transformed into a perfume ingredient, ambergris is prized for its astonishing warmth and richness – and as a fixative, delivering staying power. See p.10 for its fascinating salty tale.

If you’re headed to London in the next month or so, meanwhile, your nose is in for a treat. On p.34, we report from ‘Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through Contemporary Scent’, the much talked-about exhibition at Somerset House showcasing 10 iconic fragrances which shaped perfume history, 10 contemporary creations (evoked via thought-provoking ‘installations’) – plus, treat-of-treats, an actual lab as the finale, staffed by working perfumers from fragrance house Givaudan. (Do check out our recommendations for must-visit perfume museums and shows abroad, too.)

We also bring you news of two new fragrance names which are inextricably linked with places. Suzy Nightingale packed her bucket, space and tape recorder to talk to Dom Bridges of Haeckels – certainly Margate’s only perfume house (see p.28) – while on p.20 we learn from Amy Christiansen Si-Ahmed about setting up a social enterprise for the Moroccan women who harvest the ingredients which can be enjoyed in her Sana Jardin fragrances, launching imminently in Harrods.

And will you be notching up any ‘hair miles’, this summer? With hair perfumes most definitely now ‘a thing’, our run-down of the most gorgeous and fragrant mists on p.25 is – well, not to be missed.

So it just remains for me to say: wherever your nose will be travelling – even if it’s in the direction of a deckchair in the garden – may the rest of your summer be fabulously fragrant...

www.perfumesociety.org The Perfume Society @Perfume_Society ThePerfumeSociety

The scented Letter 3 contributors

around the world in 80 sprays M australia The ScenTS of pLace ‘My best friend moved to Sydney when we were in our early One of our very favourite things is to pack a new perfume for a vacation. One sniff, years twenties. When I went over to see her September 2008, I’d just been to the launch training for Guerlain Homme and was so later, and it can conjure up a view, the temperature of the air, the person we were with enamoured that I took it with me. Now, every time I smell it, I’m when we wore it… It’s one of fragrance’s magic tricks. So we asked leading perfume reminded of everything I did while in Oz. Trips to the bottle shop to buy bloggers and writers to share the fragrances they’ve fallen in love with on holiday… sparkling strawberry wine. Reading books on Bondi beach, covered in SPF50. Wandering around Taronga Zoo and falling in love with the red panda scented I held. Drinking my first (and second, third, fourth and fifth) mojito. Eating shark. Being awestruck at the Blue Mountains. Sniffing the fragrance now, I’m with my best friend and half-way around the world in an instant.’ letter Nick Gilbert You Tube/Love to Smell ‘There is one fragrance I have always had a holiday romance with, and continue ‘When I was working in America I spent some to buy on holiday - and that’s Cologne. I keep it simple: Bien-Être in the ’Naturelle’ time in Las Vegas. In the foyer of the Bellagio version. I buy it because I love its simplicity Hotel, I was introduced to a fragrance that (lemony, aromatic, cheap as chips) and became my staple for 10 years: Guerlain Vetiver. because it is steeped in holiday memories; The wonderfully dry, earthy, citrus fragrance was a super-sized bottle packed carefully in perfect against the hot and humid air of the my luggage will last me the year. I splash usa desert. Vetiver holds a wealth of memories for a little into the basin each morning; its me and always evokes the blazing hot sunshine, citrus, aromatic scent infuses my flannel margaritas, the Golden Girls, Cobb salad and and puts me in a brighter mood – because the first time that I saw the Bellagio fountains it reminds me of the carefree fortnight I performing with the night sky as their backdrop. spend in south west France with friends I still have my original bottle with the frosted every August.’ ridges, and – while the bottle has changed – the Emma Hill memories are still as strong as ever.’ emmahill.net Stephan Matthews france stephanmatthews.blogspot.co.uk

‘I was 18, on my first proper girly holiday in the South of France without parents. The mission was tanning and swimming, then drinking all evening. There were (nice, polite, hot) French boys in our complex, who we invited for dinner one night. Needing to spruce ourselves up, we hit the local ‘I grabbed Lanvin’s Arpège untried and in haste at caribbean pharmacy where I zoned in on the Roger & Gallet Duty Free on the way to the tiny Caribbean island stand and chose an enormous bottle of their Eau of Mustique. Luckily, it was love at first sniff of that de Cologne – a simple, splashy zinger full of bitter powdery, floral darkness. Mustique turned out to orange peel and refreshing lemon juice – and be surprisingly low-key; there’s nothing much to drenched myself in it. I got the boy I fancied, do and everyone (yes, including a sun-tanned and I’d like to think it was down to that delicious Mick) turns up at The Cotton House’s Tuesday Bethan Cole fragrance. I should probably remember that hot night cocktail party. To add a much- French boy’s face (or even name). But it wasn’t needed invisible layer of glamour to my him that was the @aliceduparcq holiday romance in the end.’ non-celeb wardrobe, I wore my Arpège Alice du Parcq everywhere. Its heady blur of tuberose and jasmine blended beautifully with the local exotica and left a deliciously scented trail wherever I went. It won Bethan is a widely- my heart forever.’ wewearperfume.com Amanda Carr 16 The scented LeTTer The scented LeTTer 17 published beauty, fashion, music and pop culture Editor journalist who’s written for Josephine Fairley Vogue, Red, Stella, i-D, [email protected] Agnes Costa How to Spend It, GQ and Designer Agnès is as close as it as Beauty Editor for Style. Jenny Semple gets to perfume Today, in addition to her enquiries@jenny royalty: her great- journalism, Bethan is also sempledesign.co.uk grandfather founded in demand as a copywriter. Advertising Manager Fragonard before Bethan has a particular love Lorna McKay World War I, and today of fragrance, and in 2012 [email protected] its flame is kept alive won a Jasmine Literary Senior writer by Agnès and her two Award. On p.10 she dives Suzy Nightingale sisters. Mother of three deep into the world of [email protected] growing sons, Agnès ambergris. Find her at: Amanda Carr lives on a hillside just CONTRIBUTING EDITOR bethancole.com Maggie Alderson Amanda Carr – who outside Grasse – but shares her glamorous also loves to travel the HEAD OF SOCIAL MEDIA/ ‘holiday romance world in search of EVENTS perfume’ story on p.17 inspiration in her role Carson Parkin-Fairley – is a retail trend as the creative driving [email protected] forecaster, freelance force behind the HEAD OF MARKETING journalist and perfume house and its Jodie Young co-founder of fascinating museums in [email protected] influential blog, The Paris and Grasse. She EA to the Editor Women’s Room. shares her scent Amy Eason Having long been a memories on p.32. [email protected] fragrance fan (and that Follow Fragonard’s site’s chief fragrance colourful Instagram: reviewer), she has now @fragonard Laurin Taylor Contact us set up We Wear parfumeurofficiel Born in Alabama – which [email protected] Perfume: one of our she revisits in ‘It Takes Me 3rd Floor 30 Charing Cross Road go-to sites for Right Back’ on p.46 – Laurin London WC2H 0DE down-to-earth and has made her home in 07502-258759 very readable London for the past 17 fragrance coverage, years, where she hosts the The Scented Letter is a with a big focus on Perfume Lovers London free online/downloadable magazine for subscribers real people who wear events on the third Tuesday to The Perfume Society; fragrances – and why of each month. She visit perfumesociety.org they choose them. contributes to basenotes. for more information Find her at: com and to the website of wewearperfume.com perfume author Odette Toilette, and was this year awarded a coveted Jasmine The Scented Letter is produced for The Perfume Society by Perfume Discovery Ltd. All information and prices are correct Award. We love to follow at the time of going to press and may no longer be so on the date of publication. © 2017 The Perfume Society All text, her on Instagram: graphics and illustrations in The Scented Letter are protected by UK and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission. @lafemmederien

4 The scented Letter

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit Bethan Cole explores ambergris, perfumery’s most amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean unpredictable ingredient – following its trail from beach to commodo ligula dense and deshabillé. ‘Ambergris displays a wonderful intimacy, as when you pull aside a scarf to kiss a lover’s soft, warm neck,’ says Roja Dove of its charms. ‘It is not merely sexual, but sensual. The woman who wears it has expensive taste and true class, without being predatory.’ Lyn Harris, now working at her new Out of the blue Perfumer H venture, dissects its function in a perfume: ‘It’s both dry and sweet – and that’s what’s interesting about it – there’s a velvetiness, coated with a little bit of sweetness, and a dry undertone.’ Natural ambergris is converted into a functional ingredient for fragrances via the creation of a tincture from ground ambergris, which is agitated for a week or so. As perfumer often referred to as ‘vegetable musk’, Chris Bartlett of Pell Wall Perfumes observes: because of its sexiness. If you’re lucky – very, very lucky – you ‘The longer you keep it, the better it will But where confusion often reigns Around thee shall glisten the might just stumble across a lump of ambergris become: patience is vital with ambergris.’ is that the word ‘amber’ is not just used to loveliest amber, That ever the on a beach. It happens (not very often), but can According to Azzi Glasser (a perfumer truly in describe ambergris, Ambroxan, ambrette “ be akin to a small lottery win for the finders. In love with this natural material), ‘real ambergris is or ambrein. It can also refer to a soft, sorrowing sea-bird hath wept. 2012, an eight-year-old British schoolboy found one of the most long-lasting notes of all time in sweet balsamic Oriental type of fragrance a mass weighing over half a kilo in the sand, fragrance; single drop on a piece of paper can construction. Roja Dove cites Coty’s Ambre which turned out to be worth over £40,000. lasting up to 40 years!’ Antique (1905) as a game-changing example of ...This couplet from Thomas Moore’s” The Fire Another slab, found on an Anglesey beach, However, comment Lyn Harris: ‘Ambergris this: ‘Francois Coty found a cost-effective blend Worshippers, published in 1817, includes one fetched only £7,000 for a kilo – but still, not bad is a delicacy. And as such, it isn’t widely used at of labdanum, resinous benzoin and vanilla of the commonly held misconceptions about for an afternoon’s dog walking. (With their keen all today, in perfumery.’ Because of its relative to create this new “amber’ accord.’ Another amber: that it was formed by bird’s tears. noses, dogs often sniff out the ambergris.) scarcity, then, a synthetic odour material called icon based on ambergris was Miss Dior (1947), That was just one of the many myths Quite who first had the idea that an Ambroxan is often used in its place. Invented created by Paul Vacher and Jean Carles – which about ambergris – one of perfumery’s most unalluring grey lump would smell great when by the perfume company Henkel in 1955, subsequently had to be reformulated to use extraordinary and precious ingredients. One made into a tincture and blended into a ‘Ambroxan the interpretation of the ambergris synthetics, instead. that can’t be planned for, or harvested – and as complex perfume, heaven alone knows. But it note in a modern way,’ notes Lyn. (Perfumer Amber perfumes’ heyday was a result, fetches seriously high prices. Because does. According to Kemp, ‘Ambergris feels a Romano Ricci based an entire fragrance – probably the 1970s and mid-1980s, ambergris only finds its way into the hands little waxy – and smells very complex: a mixture ironically titled Not A Perfume – on this single when these dense, rich warm of perfumers after washing up on a beach, of dung and the ocean, and old wood, and ingredient.) A note called ambrein – extracted fragrances rose in popularity somewhere – almost anywhere – on the planet. tobacco, and moist earth, and ozone…’ A from purified labdanum – also offers perfumers again: Yves St Laurent’s This dingy grey substance is excreted superb fixative, ambre gris translates as grey the chance to create an ambergris-like odour, Opium, followed by y

by the sperm whale. It’s often described as amber – but don’t for a moment confuse this as does ambrette, from the hibiscus plant – Chanel’s era- r

e whale vomit – but according to Christopher with the clear, orange-hued fossilised resin used l l Kent, author of Floating Gold: A Natural (and for jewellery and interior decoration, which is Unnatural) History of Ambergris, ‘it’s more like entirely scentless. ewe

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poop – and it comes from the same place as Its use goes back centuries. Ambergris poop. But it’s only made by a small percentage has been prized since the time of the Ancient r o f of sperm whales, as a result of indigestion.’ Egyptians, who would burn it as incense. d It’s thought that large cephalopods According to scent grandee Roja Dove, ‘In e (like cuttlefish and squid) are involved in its 1573 Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, brought s u formation inside the whale’s digestive tract; ambergris perfumed gloves from Italy which in their beaks damage the lining of the intestine, Queen Elizabeth I loved. She also used it to s e which subsequently produces this paste-like scent the Hampton Court dining room.’ The r d secretion. (Dig into a lump of ambergris, and Chinese have traditionally used ambergris as e the undigested squid beaks are often visible.) an aphrodisiac, while Casanova mixed it with is il It then floats on the oceans – sometimes for chocolate mousse to seduce his women. (In s os decades – being transformed via the oxidation Iran, it is still eaten to stimulate sexual power in f from the sun’s rays, along with the salt water of men, and cure infertility in women.) ed hu the sea. Fresh ambergris starts as a black lump, What ambergris brings to a fragrance ge- and slowly bleaches over as many as three appears to be the holy grail of perfumery: ran lear, o decades before being washed ashore. something that is at once lingering and by lush, Don’t for a moment confuse ambergris with the c

10 The scented LeTTer The scented LeTTer 11

floating gold the nose has to travel scent’s social conscience THE TRUTH ABOUT SCENTS THE BLONDE AND AMBERGRIS OF PLACE THE BERBERS Bethan Cole follows the trail of Leading bloggers and writers share How a dynamic former social worker perfumery’s most unpredictable the ‘holiday romance’ perfumes is setting out to change the world, ingredient from beach to bottle they’ve fallen for, over the years one bottle of fragrance at a time

10 16 20

eaux de cheveux once more unto the beach perfumes at an exhibition HEADY SCENTS MADE OF MARGATE SCENTS ON SHOW The new generation hair Suzy Nightingale heads We visit London’s hot ticket perfumes are the perfect, long- for the seaside to meet exhibition – and share other lasting way to wear scent on Haeckels, Kent’s ‘rising star’ must-see shows and museums for even the sultriest of days perfume name perfumistas 25 28 34

3 4 6 EDITOR’S LETTER CONTRIBUTORS NOSING AROUND

32 39 46 MEMORIES, DREAMS, REFLECTIONS latest launches TAKES ME RIGHT BACK

The scented Letter 5 on the scent of news nosing around Do you smell in colour...? We think you will, with all these bright and beautiful scented things – brought to you in our summer round-up of fragrance news

Scents of La Serenissima Venice once completely dominated you might find their new Merchant learned tome about Venice’s role the world of perfumery – the centre of Venice amenities in your hotel in the history of perfumery is a of trade for precious ingredients. room, somewhere in the world. must for a serious scent-lover’s Now The Merchant of Venice, the These stunning Murano glass bookshelf. All of which makes us city’s own perfume house, seem set votives (and diffuser vases), below, long for a visit to La Serenissima… on world domination themselves. have definitely gone on our wishlist. The Merchant of Venice Scented Among new scented delights on (How beautiful would the whole Lanterns/£190 each at Harrods, offer are fragrant treatments at a collection look…?) refills £20 for four votives stunning spa at the San Clemente And last but not least, TMoV’S themerchantofvenice.net Kempinski Hotel, located on that private island. If you’re lucky, perhaps

Merchant of Venice’s votives come in four stunning fragrances – refills for a choice of 12 stunning Murano glass vessels

6 The scented Letter +The joy of Jovoy London’s retail scent scene just got even more exciting with the opening of Jovoy – a glamorous Conduit Street outpost of the Paris boutique which has become a magnet for perfume- loving visitors there. Across two spacious floors, the knowledgeable staff can lead you by the nose to discoveries ranging from Aedes de Venustus to Volnay (over 40 names, in all), with plenty of London – and Initial thoughts occasionally world – exclusives. Watch our EVENTS pages for some very At their Covent Garden flagship in The Market special perfumer appearances over the Building, Atelier Cologne don’t just stock holiday- coming months. jovoyparis.com perfect 30ml sizes of their Cologne Absolues – they invite you to have your monogram embossed onto a protective leather case. This is definitely our kind of rainbow… £28.65 for 30ml Cologne Absolue/£20 for leather sleeves

Spray and sashay!

Music Matters is an homage to sound, scent and style, taking place at Selfridges London, Manchester and Birmingham until 18th October. And Jusbox are launching two exclusive fragrances for this unique celebration, both composed by the brilliant Dominique Ropion. Live ‘n’ Loud evokes disco and hip-hop, featuring citrus twisting with delectable flowers, spices resins and woods, while Feel ‘n’ Chill gets mellow with cool aquatic to elicit the calm of reggae, blues and soul. We’ll definitely be getting into the groove with these. Each £140 for 78ml eau de parfum

Paper petals ‘Paper artist and maker of pretty things’ states Susie Baird’s Instagram description – and the intricate paper flowers she creates are indeed impossibly pretty, from the crumpled texture of narcissi to the delicate petals of peonies. Graceful items to have in the home, we also love to use them in our shoots as props. Follow @bysusiebaird on Instagram

The scented Letter 7 on the scent of news +

Dubai comes to Knightsbridge A little piece of the Middle East just landed in SW1. Just opposite Harrods, the marble-clad interior of The Spirit of Dubai’s store wafts heavenly clouds of the finest bakhoor (incense) and showcases Middle Eastern perfumery to tempt all tastes, inspired by the thriving Travelling light? metropolis of Dubai. You can also The Travel Edition is your entire holiday fragrance wardrobe in one take advantage of an ultra-luxurious Discovery Box, showcasing our edit of packable perfumes from Issey private lounge for consultations and Miyake, État Libre d’Orange, Annick Goutal, a fab Moschino Fresh mini dreamy sniffing sessions. 36 Hans Crescent, Knightsbridge, (and many more). It’s just £12.50 for our Perfume Society VIPs (£17.50 to everyone else). Happy (scent) trails. SW1X 0LZ thespiritofdubai.com perfumesociety.org/shop

Perfume is music for people’s“ souls Sofia Grosjman ” Buzz off… Our favourite way to keep mosquitoes at The experiment’s working bay: the brilliant Mrs. White’s Perfumer Emanuelle Moeglin trained at ISIPCA, gaining 10 years of Unstung Hero is experience before starting up The Experimental Perfume Club to offer an a Cologne that open-studio experience to all. With workshops from Apprentice to Expert humans love – and level (priced from £95), Emmanuelle also offers bespoke perfume-making mozzies hate. sessions for those craving the truly unique at her East London location. £20 for 250ml We can definitely scent success. experimentalperfumeclub.com roullier white

8 The scented Letter Candle power l For 2017, Jo Malone London’s annual charity candle is the fabulously fresh-powdery Iris & Lady Moore. Who needs an excuse to indulge in a new scented candle? Not us. But nice to know it will help light up the life of someone experiencing mental health challenges, enabling them to enjoy the benefits of horticultural therapy at a new London project opened in partnership with St. Mungo’s. £46 jomalone.co.uk

l Clearly a note du jour for home fragrance, iris also pulses softly in Bella Freud’s fabulous Night Music candle, alongside amber, whispers of elemi and smouldering musks. £45 bellafreud.com bespoke brilliance

It’s the dream: having a perfume personally created for you by Alberto Morillas, one of the world’s leading noses. But at Penhaligon’s boutique in Harrods Salon de Parfums, dreams can come true – if you’ve £35,000 to spare, that is. Feeling more frugal? There are many other exclusive delights on offer at this new sixth floor outpost, including ‘customisable’ fragrances. May we suggest you waft Harrods-wards for a swoon? penhaligons.com

A Riviera read The sumptuous Christian Dior in the South of France (Rizzoli), by Laurence Benaïm, chronicles Dior’s life at his Chateau de la Colle Noire – where the designer holidayed, entertained and grew flowers for his fragrances (in a garden that’s now been restored). The coffee table book’s part-history, part- illustration, part-travel guide – and all-gorgeous. £65

The scented Letter 9 Bethan Cole explores ambergris, perfumery’s most unpredictable ingredient – following its trail from beach to bottle Out of the blue

decades before being washed ashore. Around thee shall glisten the If you’re lucky – very, very lucky – you might loveliest amber, That ever the just stumble across a lump of ambergris on a “ beach. It happens – not very often, but can be sorrowing sea-bird hath wept. akin to a small lottery win for the finders. In 2012, an eight-year-old British schoolboy found a mass weighing over half a kilo in the sand, ...This couplet from Thomas Moore’s” ‘The Fire which turned out to be worth over £40,000. Worshippers’, published in 1817, includes one Another slab, found on an Anglesey beach, of the commonly held misconceptions about fetched only £7,000 for a kilo – but still, not bad amber: that it was formed by bird’s tears. for an afternoon’s dog walking. (With their keen That was just one of the many myths noses, dogs often sniff out the ambergris.) attached to one of perfumery’s most Quite who first had the idea that an extraordinary and precious ingredients. unalluring grey lump would smell great when An ingredient that can’t be planned for, or made into a tincture and blended into a harvested – and as a result, fetches seriously complex perfume, heaven alone knows. But high prices. Because ambergris only finds its it does. According to Christopher Kemp, way into the hands of perfumers after washing ‘Ambergris feels a little waxy – and smells very up on a beach, somewhere – and it could be complex: a mixture of dung and the ocean, almost anywhere – on the planet. and old wood, and tobacco, and moist earth, This dingy grey substance is excreted and ozone…’ A superb fixative, ambre gris by the sperm whale. It’s often described as translates as grey amber – but don’t for a whale vomit – but according to Christopher moment confuse this with the clear, orange- Kemp, author of Floating Gold: A Natural (and hued fossilised resin used for jewellery and Unnatural) History of Ambergris, ‘it’s more like interior decoration, which is entirely scentless. poop – and it comes from the same place as Its use goes back centuries. Ambergris has poop. But it’s only made by a small percentage been prized since the time of the Ancient of sperm whales, as a result of indigestion.’ Egyptians, who would burn it as incense. It’s thought that large cephalopods (like According to scent grandee Roja Dove, ‘In cuttlefish and squid) are involved in its 1573 Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, brought formation inside the whale’s digestive tract; ambergris perfumed gloves from Italy which their beaks damage the lining of the intestine, Queen Elizabeth I loved. She also used it to which subsequently produces this paste-like scent the Hampton Court dining room.’ The secretion. (Dig into a lump of ambergris, and Chinese have traditionally used ambergris as the undigested squid beaks are often visible.) It an aphrodisiac, while Casanova mixed it with then floats on the oceans – generally for years chocolate mousse to seduce his women. (In and years – being transformed via the oxidation Iran, it is still eaten to stimulate sexual power in from the sun’s rays, along with the salt water of men, and cure infertility in women.) the sea. Fresh ambergris starts as a black lump, What ambergris brings to a fragrance and slowly bleaches over as many as three appears to be the holy grail of perfumery:

10 The scented Letter floating gold

Fresh ambergris starts as a black lump and bleaches over decades bobbing on the sea

something that is at once lingering and lush, ‘Ambergris displays a wonderful intimacy, as when you pull aside a scarf to kiss a lover’s soft, warm neck,’ says Roja Dove of its charms. ‘It is not merely sexual, but sensual. The woman who wears it has expensive taste and true class, without being predatory.’ Lyn Harris, whose lab is based underneath her new Perfumer H boutique, further dissects ambergris’s function in a perfume: ‘It’s both dry and sweet – and that’s what’s interesting about it. There’s a velvetiness, coated with a little bit of sweetness, and a dry undertone.’ Natural ambergris is converted into a functional ingredient for fragrances via the perfumers the chance to create an creation of a tincture from ground ambergris, ambergris-like odour, as does ambrette, which is agitated for a week or so. As perfumer from the hibiscus plant – often referred to Chris Bartlett of Pell Wall Perfumes observes: as ‘vegetable musk’, because of its sexiness. ‘The longer you keep it, the better it will But where confusion often reigns is that become: patience is vital with ambergris.’ the word ‘amber’ isn’t only used to denote According to Azzi Glasser (a perfume ‘designer’ the use of ambergris, Ambroxan, ambrette or truly in love with this natural material), ‘real ambrein in a perfume. ‘Amber’ can also refer ambergris is one of the most long-lasting notes to an actual style of fragrance construction: a of all time in fragrance. A single drop on a piece soft, sweet, resisnous Oriental. Roja Dove cites of paper can last up to 40 years.’ Coty’s Ambre Antique as the game-changing Nevertheless, comments Lyn Harris: first example of this: ‘Francois Coty found a ‘Ambergris is a delicacy. And as such, it isn’t cost-effective blend of labdanum, resinous widely used at all today, in perfumery.’ Because benzoin and vanilla to create this new of its relative scarcity, then, a synthetic odour “amber” accord, in 1905.’ material called Ambroxan is often used in The heyday of amber perfumes was its place. Invented by the perfume company probably the 1970s and 1980s when Henkel in 1955, ‘Ambroxan is the interpretation dense, rich warm fragrances rose of the ambergris note in a modern way,’ notes in popularity – notably Yves Lyn. (Perfumer Romano Ricci based an entire Saint Laurent’s Opium (1977), fragrance – ironically titled Not A Perfume – on followed by Chanel’s this single ingredient.) A note called ambrein – Coco (1984) and the extracted from purified labdanum – also offers blockbuster y

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d e s u in s e r d e is il ss fo ed -hu nge , ora he clear By Syrytsyna Tetiana - shutterstock By Syrytsyna Tetiana Don’t for a moment confuse ambergris with t

The scented Letter 11 floating gold

Calvin Klein Obsession in 1985. But today, Middle Eastern customers, who are after the we’re seeing that amber is back in style, big Orientals. Although I think it’s the new, big-time. Modern fragrances where amber sheer ambers that are the most interesting.’ is most definitely the star include The James Craven, Jasmine Award-winning Perfumer’s Story Amber Molecule (from historian and archivist for perfumery Les Azzi Glasser’s range), Bella Freud 1970 (also Senteurs, agrees that the passion for ambers designed by Azzi), Serge Lutens Ambre is a logical progression from the love affair Sultan, By Kilian Amber Oud, Tom Ford with oudh – but he also believes it’s part of Amber Absolute, Dior Bois d’Argent and pendulum swing away from bubblegum fruity- Ambre d’Alexandrie, from Boucheron’s florals. ‘I think that the wheel has once more stunning new ingredient-focused Collection. turned so that people admire the idea of But part of amber’s allure, explains Linda legendary/iconic/impossibly glamorous scent. Pilkington, founder of luxury fragrance house The sort of scent that gives guaranteed poise Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (below), was Ormonde Jayne, is that ‘you can go in any and style.’ The perfume cognoscenti agree on inspired by the whaling direction with it. You can go down an Oriental one thing: that there does exist some kind of industry; in 1846, the path, with a touch of Madagascan vanilla. But sensorially aroused ‘amber woman’, someone US ran 640 whaling it’s good if you’ve a sharpness in the edges whose very existence seems to chime with ships. Oil for lamps and of your perfume, and you want to round this warm, soft and most luxuriant of notes. bone-like baleen, from the jaw (for umbrellas), them off. And if you’ve got a very uplifting One thing is for certain: in the alchemy of were the principal white flower formulation you can add one perfume, ambergris really does deliver a type bounty; ambergris was part in-a-thousand-amber to give it some of magic. As James Craven concludes: ‘It a bonus, when found in lasting power.’ For Linda, ‘an amber perfume lends to a scent a tenacious depth, richness, the carcass embodies the fur coat-wearing, cashmere- opulence, smoothness, ambiguity – and an swathed, long dark haired femme fatale,’ unsettling “do I love it, or hate it?” quality. imagining a typical amber wearer as ‘quite a Ultimately, it prompts the intriguing thought: sensual woman – someone who enjoys eating ‘I am divinely scented and delicious – but am and drinking and has a certain lust for life.’ I entirely clean…?’ Right now, amber’s star is in the ascendant Which is quite something for an ingredient again. But why? ‘It’s a follow on from oudh,’ that may have spent 30 years bobbing around notes Lyn Harris. ‘People want intrigue in in an ocean, before being washed up on a their fragrance and amber gives that. The deserted beach… old fashioned ambers – epitomised by Roja Dove’s perfumes – are very popular with What to do if you think you’ve struck ‘floating gold’

If you find a lump of what you believe to be A whale of a read… ambergris, the first step is to do the needle In Melville’s Moby Dick, Stubb – one of the mates on board the test. Poke it with a hot needle (use a candle ship Perquod – fools the whaler Rose-Bud into abandoning the flame to heat the metal) and a liquid should corpse of a sperm whale found floating in the sea. His plan is ooze out. That’s not a guarantee that it’s to the recover the corpse himself in the hope that it contains ambergris, but it’s a key clue. You could ambergris – and his cunning is rewarded. (In reality, however, then contact one of the specialist dealers only around one in 100 whales – and it’s always large males – in ambergris internationally, including are thought to have some ambergris inside them.) Melville also ambergris.fr and buyandsellambergris.com points out how ironic it is ‘that fine ladies and gentlemen should (the latter invite you to upload pictures of regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels your find for a quick assessment); be aware of a sick whale…?’ If you truly want to dive deep into the world that although it’s a benign waste product of ambergris, meanwhile, get your and doesn’t impact whale numbers or hands on a copy of Christopher safety, trade in ambergris has been banned Kemp’s Floating Gold: A Natural in Australia and the USA. All too often, alas, (and Unnatural) History of ambergris ‘finds’ turn out instead to be Ambergris (University of Chicago residues from petroleum mining, vegetable Press), of which hardcover and oil refining or even drain waste, which can secondhand copies are available find their way to our beaches. (Our advice: on Amazon. don’t book your vacation or that new kitchen until you’ve banked the cheque.)

12 The scented Letter Ambergris comes in myriad shapes and sizes, its edges smoothed by their ocean journey (though very occasionally with squid The woman who beaks visible). It is one of “ perfumery’s magic tricks that wears ambergris this unlikeliest of materials can then be processed to deliver quite astonishing softness and has expensive sexiness to perfumes – such as those by Serge Lutens (above), taste and true Tom Ford (right), Dior and Boucheron (below) class, is seductive without being predatory ”

The scented Letter 25 perfumed promotion

The nose has to travel

Thierry Wasser’s role as Guerlain Perfumer takes him to the far-flung corners of the earth, seeking out the very finest ingredients that the botanical world has to offer – and then weaving them into sublime perfumes...

Every Guerlain fragrance Perfumer, and the first non- the prunings of the bitter orange has always told a story – from the family member to carry that title tree. But I want to be there at the Eau de Cologne created by Pierre – to oversee that sourcing, as his right moment, to be sure that we François-Pascal Guerlain (and Guerlain predecessors have done. have only the leaves, not the wood splashed so liberally by Napoleon And yes, this ‘nose’ literally has to – and that’s why our petitgrain is so III) through to Jean-Paul Guerlain’s travel, notching up thousands of wonderful…’ Samsara, dreamed up as a love airmiles every year, being driven For Mon Guerlain alone, he must token for his beloved wife. Beyond down bumpy tracks and into jungles make at least three trips a year. To that, though, there is a whole world or deserts to meet with the farmers, the Drôme, for the specific Carla in every bottle – natural ingredients growers and distillers whose lavender that grows at high altitude sourced from far and wide. flowers, leaves and woods bestow in Haute Provence, ‘sometime Today, it is the role of Thierry on Guerlain’s many fragrances their around the end of July or beginning Wasser – Guerlain Exclusive distinctive signatures. of August, when it’s no longer ‘My job is truly unique in picturesque blue, but a little grey – perfumery,’ explains Thierry, perfect for the aromatic softness I who joined Guerlain in 2008 as a want,’ explains Thierry. perfumer after working in Paris The jasmine sambac, meanwhile, and New York, having already is sourced in Tamil Nadu – ‘near a created Iris Ganache and Quand very spiritual town called Madurai. Vient la Pluie for the house. ‘Not It’s processed daily, over a long only am I in charge of creating period – so I’ll time my visit so that new fragrances, but almost a third I can inspect our vetiver project, of my time is spent travelling – to as well as look at the mimosa and oversee the harvests, to meet with tuberose harvests in South India.’ farmers, and to ensure that the In place of the endangered quality of everything we buy is Indian variety, the sandalwood the very best. Let’s look at Tunisia, which pulses in the base of Mon where our orange blossom and Guerlain is obtained from a project petitgrain come from the same in New Calendonia. The trees were Jasmine (here), vetiver, tuberose and mimosa trees. Petitgrain – with its wonderful planted 20 years ago, and are are all sourced by Thierry in Southern India green, citrus tone – is obtained from only now giving up their fragrant

14 The scented Letter (and sustainable) bounty, delivering blossom as it unfurls… mystery and strength with every drop. But what excites Thierry, above Beyond that, for Thierry there all – more than the vivid landscapes are trips to Bulgaria (for roses), the or the astonishing smells which fill Comoros Islands (ylang ylang), and the air – are his encounters with the Calabria, on the trail of bergamot producers themselves. ‘I have always – where the Guerlain Perfumer will had a passion for people,’ he smiles. oversee the blending of this citrus ‘And when I meet people who are note from perhaps 100 different as passionate as I am – as these producers. ‘It’s just like a wine maker, producers all are – it raises the level

“ What gets me excited isn’t just the ingredients themselves – it is the wonderful producers I meet, on my travels” producing Champagne: you have to of excitement. Meeting a jasmine balance many different productions farmer or smelling a particular quality to ensure the quality is absolutely of ylang ylang may give me an idea perfect every year – no matter for a perfume… But mostly, it’s about what the weather, and the different the energy I get from travelling, and From top left: Carla lavender in challenges of that season.’ Thierry the people I encounter. That’s what Provence. Vanilla Tahitensis drying keeps – literally – a weather eye on gives me the love of what I do, and in Papua New Guinea. Indian different websites daily, which inform the drive to create perfumes that tell jasmine – and the Mon Guerlain it stars in. A landscape typical of him of rainfall that might damage new stories…’ Thierry’s travels. Meeting one of fields of roses, or the winds which can And we say: long may this nose Guerlain’s passionate suppliers. ravage the delicate petals of orange continue to travel… Sandalwood selection.

The scented Letter 15 around the world in 80 sprays

Scents of place One of our very favourite things is to pack a new perfume for a vacation. One sniff, years later, and it can conjure up a view, the temperature of the air, the person we were with when we wore it… It’s one of fragrance’s magic tricks. So we asked leading perfume bloggers and writers to share the fragrances they’ve fallen in love with on holiday…

‘There is one fragrance I have always had a holiday romance with, and continue to buy on holiday - and that’s Cologne. I keep it simple: Bien-Être in the ’Naturelle’ version. I buy it because I love its simplicity (lemony, aromatic, cheap as chips) and because it is steeped in holiday memories; a super-sized bottle packed carefully in my luggage will last me the year. I splash a little into the basin each morning; its citrus, aromatic scent infuses my flannel and puts me in a brighter mood – because it reminds me of the carefree fortnight I spend in south west France with friends every August.’ Emma Hill france emmahill.net

‘I was 18, on my first proper girly holiday in the South of France without parents. The mission was tanning and swimming, then drinking all evening. There were (nice, polite, hot) French boys in our complex, who we invited for dinner one night. Needing to spruce ourselves up, we hit the local pharmacy where I zoned in on the Roger & Gallet stand and chose an enormous bottle of their Eau de Cologne – a simple, splashy zinger full of bitter orange peel and refreshing lemon juice – and drenched myself in it. I got the boy I fancied, and I’d like to think it was down to that delicious fragrance. I should probably remember that hot French boy’s face (or even name). But it wasn’t him that was the@aliceduparcq holiday romance in the end.’ Alice du Parcq

16 The scented Letter M australia

‘My best friend moved to Sydney when we were in our early twenties. When I went over to see her September 2008, I’d just been to the launch training for Guerlain Homme and was so enamoured that I took it with me. Now, every time I smell it, I’m reminded of everything I did while in Oz. Trips to the bottle shop to buy sparkling strawberry wine. Reading books on Bondi beach, covered in SPF50. Wandering around Taronga Zoo and falling in love with the red panda I held. Drinking my first (and second, third, fourth and fifth) mojito. Eating shark. Being awestruck at the Blue Mountains. Sniffing the fragrance now, I’m with my best friend and half-way around the world in an instant.’ Nick Gilbert You Tube/Love to Smell

‘When I was working in America I spent some time in Las Vegas. In the foyer of the Bellagio Hotel, I was introduced to a fragrance that became my staple for 10 years: Guerlain Vetiver. The wonderfully dry, earthy, citrus fragrance was perfect against the hot and humid air of the usa desert. Vetiver holds a wealth of memories for me and always evokes the blazing hot sunshine, margaritas, the Golden Girls, Cobb salad and the first time that I saw the Bellagio fountains performing with the night sky as their backdrop. I still have my original bottle with the frosted ridges, and – while the bottle has changed – the memories are still as strong as ever.’ Stephan Matthews stephanmatthews.blogspot.co.uk

‘I grabbed Lanvin’s Arpège untried and in haste at caribbean Duty Free on the way to the tiny Caribbean island of Mustique. Luckily, it was love at first sniff of that powdery, floral darkness. Mustique turned out to be surprisingly low-key; there’s nothing much to do and everyone (yes, including a sun-tanned Mick) turns up at The Cotton House’s Tuesday night cocktail party. To add a much- needed invisible layer of glamour to my non-celeb wardrobe, I wore my Arpège everywhere. Its heady blur of tuberose and jasmine blended beautifully with the local exotica and left a deliciously scented trail wherever I went. It won

my heart forever.’ wewearperfume.com Amanda Carr

The scented Letter 17 around the world in 80 sprays

‘I headed to Tokyo for my honeymoon, arriving on a cloud of happiness. I had read that it’s not the done thing to wear strong perfume there – there’s even a word for it: ‘sumeru-harasumento’, which japan means ‘smell harassment’. So I packed newly-launched Acqua di Parma Rosa Nobile; its opalescent pink roses seemed the perfect thing for Japan. Little did I know it would become the scented soundtrack to my favourite city in the world. The moment I fell in love was when I caught a soft breeze of dewy rose petals while strolling through the gardens that surround the Meiji Jingu Shrine. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more at peace and I regularly revisit that moment every time I spritz Rosa Nobile.’ thecandyperfumeboy.com Thomas Dunckley

‘When I’m on holiday, my normal understated citrus scents get shoved aside for something with a little more oomph. Plus, I hate the smell of suncream – so a good punchy fragrance is portugal essential when jetting off somewhere hot. I recently took Atelier des Ors Rose Omeyyade on a trip to sunny Porto in Portugal. It’s a dazzling concoction of rose, pink pepper, amber and sandalwood, but to me always felt a little too dressy for day-to-day wear. However, spritzing on this intoxicating stuff abroad instantly put me in “holiday mode”. Now whenever I sniff it, I’m back on the terrace of The Yeatman Hotel, sipping a glass of port and gazing out over the Douro River.’ Viola Levy scentsandthecitylondon.com

‘There was Fracas at Luxor. Lauder’s White Linen guernsey in Tunis at the Temple of Baal. Une Rose Chyprée reflecting the Southwold June roses – and Tabu as a regular Guernsey date for a decade. Bought locally for a song, Tabu’s stifling Oriental exoticism suited my languid island evenings perfectly. After an outdoor day walking the cliffs, swimming in the emerald waters of Fermain Bay, by 6pm one was ready for a few bracers. Fresh clothes, then an ample cloud of sweet dark musky woody Tabu and downstairs to a fish dinner. Total escapism. Tabu was madly out of place, wildly inappropriate but crazily comforting and surprisingly soothing: the herald of early bed and a new book. Happy days!’ James Craven lessenteurs.com © neirfy; gb27photo; littleny; sandycrea; dragoncello; SeanPavonePhoto; Jan Schuler; bobiphil; Oliver Taylor; zenobillis - Fotolia.com dragoncello; SeanPavonePhoto; Jan Schuler; bobiphil; Oliver Taylor; © neirfy; gb27photo; littleny; sandycrea;

18 The scented Letter morocco M

‘I must be a complete holiday tart because I’ve been pairing scents with different destinations for years. Earlier this year I was lucky enough to go to Marrakech for a few days and was given a bottle of Tom Ford Bois Marocain just before my departure. It went straight into my luggage and when I smell the perfume now – that smoked, tangy, woody combination – I find myself emerging from the shadows of the souk into the Djemaa el Fna marketplace, as the snake-charmers try to attract the tourists, the food stalls sell their kebabs and the Koutoubia mosque calls the faithful to prayer. A joyous olfactory conjuring trick.’ Persolaise persolaise.com

greece

‘There’s something about fragrance that can really bring back the magic of being away from home, preferably in an exotic location by the sea. My holiday romance perfume is Marc Jacobs Oh, Lola!, bought back in the days before I got really into fragrance. Even now it still transports me back to being in Zante. Oh, Lola! is fun, youthful Instagram us your and uncomplicated; its fruity floral holiday romance cocktail of strawberry, raspberry, pear fragrances and and peony just screams of summer. It we’ll repost our reminds me of a time when I was simply favourites – hashtag loving life – and who doesn’t want to be #scentsofplace reminded of that?” and tag us Kirstie Melville behindthescent.co.uk @theperfumesociety © neirfy; gb27photo; littleny; sandycrea; dragoncello; SeanPavonePhoto; Jan Schuler; bobiphil; Oliver Taylor; zenobillis - Fotolia.com dragoncello; SeanPavonePhoto; Jan Schuler; bobiphil; Oliver Taylor; © neirfy; gb27photo; littleny; sandycrea;

The scented Letter 19 scent’s new social conscience

The blonde and the Berbers In an age where we hear a lot about conscious consumerism, a dynamic former social worker is seeking to change the world – one bottle of perfume at a time, writes Jo Fairley…

What an exotic figure Amy Christiansen (as she and fill her teenage bedroom with a miasma of Crabtree then was) must have cut as a teenager, wafting a sillage & Evelyn Moroccan Room Spray, ‘which I thought was the of patchouli in her wake wherever she went in La Grange, most celestial 1960s scent...’ the suburb of Chicago where she grew up. Amy still cuts Whether nature or nurture, meanwhile, her Minnesota- a pretty exotic figure today, in London’s Soho Hotel – in a born grandmother’s emphasis on the importance of giving traffic-stopping, pompom-ed yellow sundress accessorised back influenced Amy to become a social worker. Even by Grecian sandals snaking up long, tanned legs. And as a young teenager, she was volunteering to work with yes, there’s definitely still a whiff of patchouli in the air – a low-income, developmentally disabled youngsters from pulsing base note from Tiger By Her Side, one of the four Chicago. And after a Bachelor’s and a Masters in social Sana Jardin fragrances (created by the legendary Carlos work, Amy found herself working in a domestic violence Benaïm, no less) that Amy is about to shelter, doing countless assessments in launch into Harrods. school and hospital settings with families If we have anyone to thank for Amy’s in Chicago’s roughest area, the West Side. passion for exotic perfumes – and I was on this ‘At the end of the day, I realised that what her social conscience, of which more these people needed most was access to in a moment – it is her grandmother. magic “carpet ride economic opportunities and jobs.’ ‘Grammy’ (real name Mary Pomeroy) was A move to New York beckoned – with Amy’s travelling companion as she grew with a woman a brief and unhappy stint at a PR agency, up, whisking her away from the ages of ‘which I think I took because I thought nine to 20 to the Middle East and North who I felt could do it would impress my boyfriend.’ The job Africa, from Morocco to Abu Dhabi via didn’t last – instead, she went on to work Egypt. In the 1950s, her grandmother had almost anything as a volunteer development advisor for the started the US Delegation for Friendship Bill Clinton Foundation and for the Robin Among Women, its goal to increase Hood Foundation – but the relationship communication between American did. Amy married lawyer and Karim women and those in developing countries. ‘She tucked me Si-Ahmed – part Algerian Berber, part Syrian, part Saudi in her suitcase, took me around the world – and created a Arabian – when she was 30. The couple now have two sons, blueprint for how I would live my life,’ says Amy now. ”9-year-old Aden (‘it means Eden in Arabic’) and 5-year-old Sometimes, travel was dusty and difficult. Other times, Zade (‘which translates as growth and abundance’). they basked in luxurious surroundings; her grandmother After their wedding, Karim and Amy adopted a nomadic had connections with royal families, where they would be lifestyle for his work – heading to Bahrain and Dubai, where guests of the sheikhas. ‘I was on a magic carpet ride with Amy advised local charities on fund-raising. Here in London a woman who I felt could do almost anything,’ smiles Amy. (now the couple’s home), she worked for NGOs including ‘My love of smell was also instilled in me then, via the souks the Arab Forum for Social Innovation, and for three years – and by my grandmother, who wore a cloud of Opium (and with Cherie Blair’s Foundation for Women. still does) as she traversed the world.’ Back home in her ‘But running alongside all of this,’ she smiles, ‘there was suburban bedroom, Amy would dab on a drop of patchouli my love of perfume… The scents I’d encountered on

20 The scented Letter Amy Christiansen Si-Ahmed with the colourfully- dressed Berber women who harvest ingredients for her new Sana Jardin fragrance collection in Morocco (and above, Amy off-duty in her favourite city of Marrakech) Amy with the women of the Berber cooperative who not only pick flowers for her Sana Jardin fragrances (left), but ‘repurpose’ waste from the process, retaining 100% of the profits from the sales of floral waters, compost and candles themselves

24 The scented Letter scent’s new social conscience

my travels were enchanting to me: the pure and golden Flowerbomb, Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds, Dunhil Icon, shimmer of orange blossom, the mystical, enveloping Frédéric Malle Eau de Magnolia, Boucheron Jaipur Bracelet, depth of sandalwood, the seduction of jasmine blooming Ralph Lauren Polo and more. When Amy explained her at night.’ Right after Aden was born, a friend gave Amy a concept over Skype, ‘He said something I’ll never forget: “I copy of Celia Lyttleton’s fascinating book The Scent Trail, in don’t know why, but something in my heart is telling me to which the author embarks on a journey that takes her from do this…” And Carlos was so enthused, he ended up giving the rose-growing region of Isparta in Turkey to the Tuscan me the first four submissions just four weeks later.’ hills (where iris grows wild), via Sri Lanka and Yemen, with The debut quartet is strikingly beautiful – and most its frankincense trail. ‘That amazing book has been on my definitely offers a magic carpet ride in every bottle. Savage bedside ever since.’ Jasmine swirls with – yes – night-blooming jasmine, Not long afterwards, Amy found herself on a girly wrapped around intoxicating musk. Sandalwood Temple weekend with a dynamic group of old friends in Miami. ‘We takes Moroccan neroli oil (from that orange blossom), were drinking our wine, sitting and talking, as you do, and I enveloping it in Atlas cedarwood, Haitian vetiver, creamy was wondering out loud what I was going to do with my life, vanilla and East Indian sandalwood. The fragrances Amy now that I was a mother. They’d also heard me lamenting finds herself wearing most often, however, are the velvety that I couldn’t find a perfume that truly ticked the boxes for amber Tiger By Her Side (which showcases Moroccan rose me: beautiful, exotic – but also as natural as possible, and alongside Somalian incense and Indonesian patchouli) on making some kind of social impact. One of my friends said: her body, and in her hair a veil of Berber Blonde, which “Amy, why don’t you start your own brand?” My first instinct is filled with the light of Sana Jardin’s signature orange was to say, “I couldn’t possibly do that…”’ blossom, alongside Moroccan neroli oil and musk. (Its name But one of her friends happened to know someone was inspired by Amy and Karim’s ‘Berber blond’ sons.) whose mother was a ‘nose’. A call was made. And a series ‘For me, Berber Blonde is the true scent and vibrancy of of serendipitous events and introductions ultimately led Morocco, that country I love so deeply, in a bottle.’ Amy to the door in Morocco of Les Arômes de Maroc, a And that bottle…? It was created by Pierre Dinand, key supplier of orange blossom, jasmine and rose to the foremost designer in the flacon world – innovatively, entirely perfume world, and a meeting with CEO Jalal Charaf. from recycled glass, with a recycled cap, in line with Sana ‘I told him I wanted to start a perfume brand – but that Jardin’s ‘sustainable luxury’ ethos. ‘I’ve tried to make as I wanted to do something to help the women (because many touchpoints as ethical as possible,’ she says. What it is always women) who harvest the flowers. I thought he Amy hopes, through her venture, ‘is that it starts a dialogue was going to laugh at me. To my astonishment, instead about how the fragrance world can be more environmentally he explained that he used to work for the World Bank [the responsible. We have become conscious consumers in so international financial institution which provides loans to many areas, why not perfume? And my plan is definitely to countries around the world for development programmes] expand the programme outside Morocco.’ – and that he absolutely supported the idea.’ In August 2017, those four initial fragrances will launch Amy’s dream was to create a luxury fragrance brand into Harrods – followed later by another trio (created this with an innovative business model that could also offer the time by Pascal Gaurin, who works alongside Carlos Benaïm). opportunity of a social enterprise for the flower harvesters. Ironically, building up to the launch – managing every And she’s made it happen. To empower them economically, aspect of the business herself, from liaising with suppliers a small co-operative has been set up – with 13 women to making the sales calls to fragrance buyers, taking care (headed up by a president elected by the flower-pickers of social media (hashtag #flowerrevolution) and more – has themselves) now creating products repurposed from waste temporarily clipped this nomad’s wings; this summer, Amy created during flower harvest and distillation. won’t even be making her usual trip home to Chicago to see They market orange flower water, candles made from her family – including, of course, the inspirational Grammy. flower wax, and compost made from the waste flowers The bottom line, believes this strong woman – who discarded by the factory. Formerly, Les Arômes de Maroc clearly hails from a whole line of strong women like Grammy sent these by-products to landfill – but via a clever – is that ‘a bottle of perfume can change lives and change arrangement Amy made with Jamal Charaf, they are the way business is done. For me, Sana Jardin is all about ‘upcycled’ by the women, with 100% of the profits earned female empowerment. Because aside from anything else, if retained by these female Berber perfume harvesters. women had more of the power, you can bet there’d be more Initially, the products were sold at local markets, ‘but perfume in the world, and fewer guns…’ they’re now in talks with a supermarket which is Morocco’s With that, Amy Christiansen Si-Ahmed strides back equivalent to Waitrose,’ explains Amy excitedly. out into the concrete jungle. Trailing – as ever – a whisper The late Anita Roddick used to talk about ‘business of patchouli, in her wake. And most definitely set fair to karma’ – the idea that when you’re trying to do good change the world, one bottle of perfume at a time. through business, good things happen. Certainly, the heavens were aligned when Jalal introduced her to Carlos Sana Jardin Eaux de Parfum are priced £180 for 100ml Benaïm – truly a legend in the perfume world, whose list of each, launching in August exclusively in Harrods. For more creations would stretch to pages but includes Viktor & Rolf information and updates, visit sanajardin.com

The scented Letter 23

eaux de cheveux

HeadyThe ancientscents Egyptians wore slowly-melting cones of fragrant oils and waxes on top of their heads to scent their hair. But thanks to this new generation of hair perfumes, there’s definitely a more glamorous way, writes Suzy Nightingale © peony - fotolia The scented Letter 25 Craving heavenly-scented hair 1 Freshly-pressed, pristine white climates, of course.

isn’t new. There is a long tradition linen hanging on a washing line, Thierry Mugler Angel Perfuming – from those aforementioned the smell of clean sheets and soft Hair Mist Egyptians through to Madame de skin straight from a sudsy shower – £22 for 30ml houseoffraser.co.uk Pompadour and the ladies of the just perfect to waft when the heat’s French royal court, who applied otherwise unbearable. pomades to their outrageously Byredo Blanche Hair Perfume 4 Like spraying your hair with

ostentatious wigs. And with £42 for 100ml libertylondon.com bottled sunshine, the fresh cotton good reason: hair’s a fantastic nectar accord and tender jasmine ‘carrier’ for fragrance, providing blossom combine for lusciously a huge surface area to cling to. 2 Juicy, fruity rose sparkles like scented, shiny locks you’ll want to

The late Estée Lauder always raindrops on petals – an ultra-fresh, smell and smile about all day. counselled spritzing hair, as well floral way to fragrance your coiffure Dior J’adore Hair Mist as skin – and it’s a great idea on that brings to mind an early-morning £34 for 30ml dior.com holiday, when interaction between liaison in the just-watered garden of perfume on the skin and UV light a stately home. is unpredictable, at best. Over Maison Francis Kurkdjian À la rose 5 The opulent overdose of natural

the past months, we’ve seen Hair Mist tuberose in Dominique Ropion’s an explosion in hair perfumes, £55 for 70ml harveynichols.com Carnal Flower can now exude its with protective ingredients and fabulosity with every flick of your ’do! weightless formulations ensuring Great news for the legions of fans glossily gorgeous tresses – many 3 Fans of the iconic Angel who’ve already succumbed – and an

in bottles as glam as any fine will be thrilled with this layering open invite for those yet to sniff. fragrance for skin. The ideal, long- option, which is pure gourmand Frederic Malle Carnal Flower lasting way to wear scent on even sensuality. Also a lovely way to wear Hair Perfume the sultriest of days… the scent on its own in steamy £112 for 100ml selfridges.com

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26 The scented Letter eaux de cheveux

6 Exuding both class and sass, the lighter, brighter version of Mademoiselle works perfectly as a Spray it again, Sam perfumed hair mist. Orange, rose and Leading hairdressers are also working patchouli entwine for a weightless veil closely with perfumers to add truly of pure Parisian chic. exquisite scents to their signature haircare Chanel Coco Mademoiselle lines – from Percy & Reed’s delicate green Fresh Hair Mist floral fragrance through to the rose and £34 for 35ml harveynichols.com geranium of Ogario London’s natural range. But Sam McKnight – whose styling collection recently debuted at Liberty – has 7 The timeless elegance of lily of the gone one stage further, acknowledging Lyn valley is given a contemporary twist Harris (founder of Miller Harris and now based at her with the rich, smooth woodiness of Marylebone Perfumer H boutique) as its ‘nose’. Akigalawood® – for modern misses As Lyn told us: ‘Sam is passionate about his who crave chic tresses to match their garden and wanted to create something that was immaculate yet nonchalant style. really close to that – and ultimately, a smell that can Miu Miu Perfumed Hair Mist beautifully linger. The fragrance is all about a wet and £34 for 30ml johnlewis.com green garden with green leaf, herbs, watery flowers, clean pepper with a backdrop of incense and woods.’ To create that effect, Lyn fused angelica, galbanum, 8 Crisp green apples, rose, green stem, waterlily, black pepper, frankincense, cedarwood and musk transport you cedarwood and juniperwood. Adds Lyn: ‘It was Perfumer Lyn to a happy place while the cocktail a really pleasurable challenge, as fragrance is so Harris, above, of reparative ingredients infuse the important to Sam.’ But ultimately, Lyn modestly created the hair with an airy veil of nutrients that insists, ‘I was the icing on the cake. The detail that has head-turning fragrance for protects against the colour-fading gone into this range on every level is breathtaking. Hair by Sam effects of the sun. It’s taken a few years – but it was worth it.’ And we McKnight Sachajuan Protective Hair Perfume couldn’t agree more. £40 for 50ml escentual.com Hair by Sam McKnight £19-15 liberty.co.uk

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The scented Letter 27 the master of modern femininity

Made of Margate

Senior Writer Suzy Nightingale packed her Kiss Me Quick hat and travelled to the Kentish seaside town of Margate to find out more about a British fragrance house founded by a filmmaker turned volunteer beach- warden with an obsession for seaweed…

24 The scented Letter shore things

Clockwise from top left: Haeckels’ unique packaging. Founders Dom Bridges and Alex Verier. Haeckels’ restored Victorian bathing machine. Haeckels also make home fragrance – including this unique chalk room diffuser and (to its left) tins of incense cones.

The scented Letter 25 shore things

The relationship between smell and your surroundings is a devastatingly powerful yet intimate connection we still barely understand the basics of, built on millennia of subtle evolutionary survival tactics. Is this safe to eat? Was that a whiff of sabre-toothed tiger on the breeze? If I mate with you, will our offspring be healthy? (Which would bring a whole new level of complexity to your average Tinder date, that’s for sure.) Happily for the majority of us, we’re not often hotly pursued by slavering predators (aside from online dating apps), and Waitrose et al have kindly selected infinite options of edibles requiring no sniff-tests for safety. So orientating ourselves around an environment using our sense of smell is now more of a cultural pin in the sensory map – an evocative reminder of favourite holidays, perhaps, or the street you grew up in. The unique smell of a place is a scented snapshot to about. And – along with the galleries, musicians and funky, be revisited with every spritz. But one particular niche independent shops – these winds of change happen to be fragrance and beauty name, Haeckels, seeks to take this Haeckels-scented. further, capturing the very essence(s) of the places they hark Originally from Exeter, Haeckels founder Dom Bridges from – not merely being inspired by the area, but bottling it and his wife, Jo, had been living in London. Describing a heart and soul. feeling of ‘…something calling,’ and ‘...feeling discontent Margate, Haeckels’ home town, has the chequered past with city life’, the couple sometimes found themselves of an eccentrically roguish uncle. For decades the Kentish drawn to Margate. ‘We’d be driving there, without quite seaside town embodied the sadly faded former glory of realising where we were going,’ Dom smiles, dazed even British holidays past. Years of cheap package deals had describing the experience. Ending up on the beach, they diverted tourists to rather more exotic locations, while the watched a man putting together an old wooden rowing town’s young locals moved away. Add to that decades boat. Dom had recently returned from Havana, making a of sustained neglect, and Margate had faded, like an old mobile phone commercial there in his previous life as a photograph capturing those family-friendly, sunlit memories filmmaker and ad creative, and said he ‘wandered around scented with candyfloss and salty air. looking at the weirdness, the beauty, the neglect, thinking And yet this Kentish resort staggered on with a twinkle in its eye, like the forgotten outpost of some dystopian film set, all graffiti-sprayed shop fronts and peeling posters The unique smell of a place proclaiming entertainments once enjoyed. For locals, there was a kind of nobility in carrying on with dignity despite the – or the perfume we wore on our surroundings. But then – part of the astonishing ongoing “ honeymoon – is a scented snapshot renaissance of British seaside towns – the tide gladly turned again for Margate with the opening of the prestigious to be revisited with every spritz Turner Contemporary gallery in 2011, followed in 2015 by the complete refurbishment of the long-abandoned 1920s amusement park, Dreamland. oh my God, this is kind of like being in Cuba!’ These heralded of a new wave of further investment and Finding a sense of much-needed peace on that ” development projects in the area – cementing the über-cool beach, he signed up as a volunteer warden and became swagger of underground creativity Margate always had, ‘somewhat obsessed with seaweed’ – earning a license and but which the rest of the country is now getting to hear the right to harvest it and coming up with an idea to use it, initially, in beauty treatments. From humble beginnings a brand was born, with Haeckels expanding into skincare Once more unto the beach, and, eventually, into fragrances. dear friends… Haeckels takes its name from the 19th Century German botanist and artist Ernst Haeckel, whose detailed drawings Dom Bridges has ideas coming out of his ears. One of nature had been long admired by the founder of this of his most treasured projects, however, has been fascinating British venture. ‘He was the first person to the renovation of a Victorian bathing machine which document all the varieties of seaweed, so the name is a he successfully crowdfunded to become the world’s nod to him.’ Everything, Dom continues, ‘is locally sourced, first seabathing sauna. Offering treatments created within reason. Obviously we can’t harvest on the scale that from seaweed wild-harvested in Margate and some other perfumeries do, so we’re also using techniques scented with local fragrances, the bathing machine including Headspace Technology. But as a source, as an will ultimately be sited on a nearby shore. Check out inspiration, Haeckels is born out of a love affair with this the website for updates on the launch. place that people sort of forgot about.’

Uniquely, the fragrances have no names – but instead © eteri - Fotolia.com

30 The scented Letter Haeckels bottles Margate…

Read on for Haeckels’ own descriptions of the particular places in Margate they feel an affinity with, which provided inspirations for some of their best-loved fragrances. Then close your eyes – and if you’re anything like us, you’re half- way there…

GPS 23’ 34”N Picked on 25th March 2014, a sunny day. ‘This location is one that is close to our hearts, an uninhabited bay with remnants of beach From left: Alex gets up and close with scented plants. Grenson + used in times gone by and only a raw natural Haeckels collaboration. Aeriel view of cliffs on the Kent coast – beauty left behind to enjoy. A man-made one of the geographical inspirations for a Haeckels fragrance. bathing pool bridges the gap between the sea bear the GPS reference of the local spot which inspired and land, an iconic reminder of a past popularity them. They are also identified (see BOX right) by the day and a link between man and his effect on the the Haeckels perfumers first went there, and the weather. nature of the landscape. Walk along the sandy Dom enjoys the thought of people looking up the GPS beach with sand and salt on your skin and take coordinates of a fragrance they have fallen in love with, in the aromas of fresh seaweed, the chalk reef only to discover it’s based on – for example – a particular and seawater. Listen to the sound of the wind cemetery in Margate, or an abandoned, burned-out theme blowing through the long clifftop grasses, black park. Candles, seaweed-infused bath salts and other body lovage and distinctive white flowers.’ products have now joined the line-up, as well as a range of innovative home fragrances; an innovative, carved chalk GPS 23’ 5”N Picked on 9th February 2014, room diffuser features alongside potent incense cones. a cloudy day. Dom and his business partner Alex Verier are the ‘Originally a 19th Century amusement park resident Haeckels perfumers. To ensure compliance with with ceremonial gardens, this place is the the strict IFRA regulations, however, they work with another historic centre of the town with many people company which also helps scale up production to the sharing fond memories of being on the now- volumes now required; Haeckels currently exports to the disappeared rides. The most prominent memory USA, Italy, Ukraine, Canada, China and Japan, among other that is widely shared is riding the large wooden markets. ‘But we formulate all the fragrances for our own scenic railway style rollercoaster which once line – as well as those we collaborate on for other projects, had over half a million people use it every like Grenson,’ Dom explains. year… With the scent of burnt wood and He’s referring, in this case, to the bespoke duo Haeckels charred leather surrounding you, you’ll then find created for the heritage shoe brand. In keeping with yourself at the back of the site where there were their philosophy, these too are very much ‘scents of once the ornamental gardens; the fragrance of place’. Travelling to Queen Street, Northampton – the the burnt ride gives way instead to the Victorian original shoe factory’s site – they took inspiration from the roses that are still growing where they were surrounding countryside, using herbaceous top notes of originally planted…’ local grasses and plants combined with the leather, cork and even glue from the factory itself. GPS 19’ 51”E Picked on 6th August For the second in the pair, Elizabeth Street, Dom a rainy day. and Alex ventured further afield to Grenson’s New ‘A winding country path, overlooked by a single York location, capturing the florists, coffee houses and apple tree and a large bush of elder, leads restaurants of the neighbourhood with lime, coriander up to the crumbling walls and grass-fringed coffee, chilli and cardamom uniquely infused with concrete, ditches of an old Roman fort. The scent of this shoe leather and clean woods. secluded lane is blown up by the wind from the Thus Haeckels is moving beyond the relative security of rolling farmland beyond; the scent of poppies, sniffing and bottling their own seaside town to capturing spearmint, bindweed and wild parsley is met the scents of London, New York and beyond. And if the with elderflower, apple and grass to create one current buzz surrounding Haeckels and their many exciting of our most intrinsically English fragrances and olfactory plans is anything to go by, they could soon be locations.’ flying the fragrant flag for Margate, all over the world. Haeckels fragrances, £160 for 100ml eau de Grenson + Haeckels Queen Street and Elizabeth parfum haeckels.co.uk Street/£160 for 100ml eau de parfum grenson.com

The scented Letter 31 an aromatic life

memories, dreams, reflections

Monaco has the Grimaldis. Cape Cod has the Kennedys. And Grasse has the Costa family: a dynasty now in its fourth generation, being powered forward by a trio of talented sisters including Agnès Costa, whose creative role regularly sees her circumnavigate the globe – amassing scent memories, as she travels…

What’s the very first thing you remember The smell that always makes me feel smelling? happy is … My mother’s neck, pillow and drawers ...the aroma of fresh bread, and natural were all fragranced with Nina Ricci L’Air du flowers from the garden. Temps. I can’t smell this fragrance without thinking of her. The smell that always makes me feel a bit sad is... When did you realise that scent was really …actually, I’m never very sad or nostalgic. important to you? Since forever. I was born into a family of The scent that I love on a man is… perfumers in Grasse, so we were always …Fragonard Vetyver. talking smell, flowers, fragrances at home. And as I grew older, I truly started to The scent I love to smell on a woman is… become obsessed by perfumes. ...Fleur d’Oranger Intense, again from Fragonard. As I say, orange blossom is an What’s your favourite scented flower? incredibly important smell in my life. Orange blossom, by far. The fragrance from the past that I’ve What was the first fragrance you always wanted to smell is… were given? The original Guerlain Mitsouko. It’s such a Eau de Rochas – a wonderful fresh feminine, special fragrance but alas, it never fragrance for a young girl. really suited me.

What was the first fragrance you What is your favourite book about bought for yourself? fragrance? I was in the privileged position of Definitively Patrick Suskind’s novel, having original formulas created Perfume. At the beginning of my career for me. But I remember buying a I created a fragrance inspired by that bottle of Guerlain Shalimar, which book. It was an amazing adventure which I loved. I remember with great pride, even if the From top: fragrance itself was a limited edition and Agnès’s Have you had different wasn’t around for very long. mother’s fragrances for different phases scent. Orange of your life? Find Fragonard fragrances in the UK at blossom. A There’s always an orange blossom Marks & Spencer – including online at favourite book. Her deliciouslly story running through it – from as marksandspencer.com – as well as via their fresh first scent. far back as I remember! own website fragonard.com

32 The scented Letter AGNES’S FIVE

Above: Agnès’s Fragonard FAVOURITE favourites flanking aromatic SMELLS santolina plants 1 Roses from my

garden I have a great selection of David Austin’s fragrant roses, and I add a few new plants every year.

2 Osmanthus

blossom A Japanese plant which blooms twice a year in the South of France, smelling of apricots.

3 Santolina A grey-

leaved plant whose leaves are so amazingly fragrant when you touch them.

4 The Corsican

countryside I love Corsica, where all the Above: the Costas’ home town of plants in this very arid Grasse. Right and landscape somehow below: Guerlain work to create a Mitsouko and perfume in itself, simply Shalimar. Left: the by walking by. Corsican landscape

5 The scent of

our perfumery in Grasse As with all perfumeries, ours has its special smell. As a child, I could know that my father was home just by smelling the air. Now, whenever I enter a Fragonard shop, I recognise our special fragrance – it’s lovely! © coco; Václav Mach - Fotolia Václav © coco;

The scented Letter 33 perfumesthe master at of an modern exhibition femininity Scents on show

The organisers recommend doing as little homework in advance as possible, so as not to spoil your scented surprise 24“ The scented Letter ” How to present perfume to the public in a way that shows the exciting, revolutionary ways in which the fragrance world is changing? This was the impetus behind this summer’s exciting Somerset House exhibition. We sent Suzy Nightingale along – and overleaf, share with you other must-see exhibitions and museums around the world

Music-lovers have always by millions (if not billions) of us. We had concert halls and rock venues take it almost for granted – but at the to delight their senses. If you’re a time, this democratisation was truly foodie, there are temples to taste in revolutionary. And after L’Origan, the every city in the world. But for scent- journey through fragrance’s history lovers, there have been precious few continues via landmark fragrances opportunities – outside perfumeries including Schiaparelli Shocking, YSL and department stores – to stimulate Opium and Giorgio Beverly Hills. and tantalise our sense of smell. Until The whisk through the ages ends now, that is. Happily, around the with ckone (1994) – the original world, museums are being set up and ‘unisex’ fragrance that gave us the exhibitions dedicated to exploring the whole ‘clean’ scent trend. scented world – and one of those is It feels strangely moving, taking place in the heart of London, actually, to gaze at the perfumes until mid-September. under these bell jars – perhaps As Claire Catterall – Senior Curator recalling a grandmother or mother of ‘Perfume: A Sensory Journey who wore them as a signature scent, Through Contemporary Scent’ – or we wore ourselves – and loved. explains, Somerset House wanted to Schiaparelli Shocking, one of the 10 iconic From these scented reminiscences, create a space in which people could fragrances which open the show it’s then a giant leap for the visitor into directly connect to their sense of smell the fragrant unknown, as you step into outside the context of spritzing from scents of the time, one for each the 21st Century via the work of 10 bottles in a perfume department. decade of the 20th Century. ‘perfume provocateurs’ working today. So visitors can ‘…smell as well as This important juxtaposition of It’s a who’s-who of contemporary reflect on the current discourse around the classics with the contemporary perfume: Daniella Andrier, Mark contemporary perfume. The scents begins with the legendary L’Origan Buxton, Lyn Harris, Bertrand in the exhibition not only articulate de Coty (1905) – a hallmark perfume, Duchaufour, Olivia Giacobetti, Antoine current thinking around perfumery,’ now out of circulation, but specially Lie, David Seth Moltz, Geza Schoen, she says, ‘they also allow us to recreated by Coty for the exhibition. Andy Tauer and Killian Wells. consider the wider possibilities of Perhaps the greatest success of the We could list all the perfumes perfume, encouraging different ways Somerset House show is to present featured – but the organisers actually of thinking about the role of scent in perfume as a cultural phenomenon recommend doing as little homework our lives.’ Designed in collaboration in its own right, beginning by in advance as possible, so as not to with fragrance history expert, author highlighting how François Coty spoil your scented surprise. During and olfactory experience maven, Lizzie was determined to shake-up the your fragrant peregrinations, you will Ostrom (a.k.a. Odette Toilette), the fragrance industry, founding his encounter room sets reflecting the exhibition seeks to explore modern company in 1904 and completely inspirations of the scents, in their perfumery in an artistic setting reinventing the perfumer’s palette. design – from the sweltering heat – bringing together (hashtag alert!) Through commissioning artists and of the desert to the wild Scottish #PerfumePioneers renowned for their manufacturers like René Lalique and Highlands, the tangled sheets of a challenging, ground-breaking work. the glassworks of Baccarat, they lover’s boudoir, a trip to a Catholic This show isn’t all about ground- designed fragrances of luxurious confessional and more. As you walk breaking, punk-rock perfumers, quality in stunning bottles – and made in, you’re handed a blank sheet for though. Arrayed in the very first them available to the masses. noting your thoughts – encouraging room, setting the context, homage is Coty dared to follow his nose, you to put words to smells as The paid to those iconic fragrances that dreaming of disrupting the market Perfume Society does in our own helped shape the way we feel about by offering anyone the possibility of ‘How to Improve Your Sense of fragrance and directly influenced the buying a professionally-composed Smell’ workshops. Knowing what the kind of scents we’ve worn through perfume in its own, recognisable perfumes are beforehand definitely the decades – an olfactory time travel bottle. Today, the daily application shapes – and potentially prejudices –

© Laziz Hamani through 10 of the most trailblazing of fragrance is something enjoyed your impressions.

The scented Letter 35 perfumes at an exhibition

Each fragrance is experienced in a different, uniquely interactive way. The visitor is invited to reach out and ‘touch’ the smells, to lie on the bed, to sit on the wooden chair of the confessional. Taken out of context (with no bottles or perfume notes to guide you), these become strangely intimate moments. You really are forced to challenge your expectations and concentrate on the smell alone. (Once you’ve been through the first five of the installations, meanwhile, there’s a ‘big reveal’, where you can discover the names of the fragrances in each of the previous rooms, while reading about – and re-smelling – them. There’s a similar opportunity after the final five perfumes.) At the end of the exhibition there’s even a mini perfumers’ lab, staffed by noses going about their business of carefully creating fragrances, weighing the materials and more than happy to explain the process, letting you sniff as they do so. Fully functioning, this Givaudan perfume laboratory – installed by one of the leading fragrance houses in the world – is stocked with over 200 ingredients. Visitors are encouraged to interact with – and get instruction from – the professionals, enjoying first-hand a rare glimpse of the skill, creativity and science of the perfumer, as well as taking part in hands-on workshops. If the world of fragrance used to be a stuffy old secretive place, the past few years have seen a THE PERFUMISTA’S l Le Grand Musée du Parfum, Paris. sea change, with perfumers finally BUCKET LIST Across several floors of this beautifully being recognised and celebrated restored building on Paris’s smart as artistic pioneers. The Somerset For anyone who wants to go beyond rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and House exhibition is a fragrant tour simply wearing and enjoying with countless impressive interactive de force that continues this wave perfume and wishes to delve deeper displays, you can explore ingredients, of accessibility. To make it possible, and explore its history, ingredients listen to perfumers speak on film the organisers worked in association and the creativity behind fragrance about their craft, and discover the with Coty and Peroni Ambra, with creation, here are some suggestions history of some of the great fragrance additional support from Givaudan and for destinations and exhibitions houses. grandmuseeduparfum.fr Liberty London. Clearly many hours to add to your travel wishlist. For (weeks, months… years!) have gone in opening hours and precise locations, l Musée du Parfum, Paris. Long to making this a feast for all the senses please visit the website for each. before the Grand Musée, Fragonard – and we cannot urge you enough to opened this perfume museum take your sense of smell for an outing. l Christian Dior Exhibition, Musée across two stories of a 19th Century des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Go, go, go townhouse on the Rue Scribe. (It’s Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through to this before it ends on 7th January free to visit.) After you’ve enjoyed Contemporary Scent 21st June – 2018. You’ll swoon over the frocks – the displays – which range from a 17th September 2017/tickets £11 (or but for us, the unmissable room is perfumer’s organ to various cabinets £9 concessions), Somerset House, dedicated to the history of the Miss showing the history of perfume East Wing Galleries.Buy tickets at: Dior fragrance via flacons down the manufacturing from ancient times – somersethouse.org.uk ages. lesartsdecoratifs.fr you exit via the Fragonard perfume

36 The scented Letter From left: the yellow exterior of Grasse’s Fragonard last edition of The Scented Letter, museum, and a perfumer’s organ on display inside. ‘A Bigger Splash’, Johann Maria Below: ancient vessels at the Palazzo Mocenigo Farina pioneered the original Eau de in Venice. Bottom from left: Le Grand Musée du Cologne. This museum showcases Parfum; The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents three centuries of fragrance history, with flacons, objets d’art and paintings documenting the history of that game- changing fragrance. (NB The museum can only be visited as part of a guided tour.) farina.org

l Museo del Perfum, Barcelona. Founded in 1961, this shows the evolution of perfume vessels through the ages – over 1500 of them in all, from Egyptian and Etruscan vases to crystal and porcelain bottles from the 17th to 19th Century, right up to the modern day. A star artefact is a perfume box once belonging to Queen Marie Antoinette. museodelperfum.com

l Osmothèque, Versailles. The world’s largest scent archive, founded in 1990 by legendary perfumers Jean Kerléo, Guy Robert and Jean-Claude Ellena, the Osmothèque safeguards the formulations of more than 3,200 fragrances in its vaults, and is keeper of the flame for over 400 ‘lost’ scents. Alas, it isn’t open every day but offers around 150 perfume sessions a year, which are detailed on the website. osmotheque.fr

l Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, Berkeley, California. Just opened boutique. We defy you to leave Fragonard. As you reach the top, across the bay from San Francisco is empty-handed. fragonard.com you can’t miss the yellow museum perfumer and author Mandy Aftel’s in its magnificently-restored historic new museum devoted to natural l Lalique Museum, Wingen-sur- building, where you can immerse aromatics and artefacts. In this living Moder, France. Hundreds of Lalique yourself in a world of scents – from museum, you can actually touch and perfume bottles feature among ingredients to extraction methods via smell raw botanical materials, even the collection of Art Nouveau and the construction of perfumes. Again, a comparing century-old essences with Art Deco glass from the master world-class gift shop. fragonard.com their modern counterparts. It’s open craftsman who worked with François Saturdays; be sure to book your ticket Coty to popularise perfume via his l Palazzo Mocenigo, Venice. Five in advance. (And it’s top of our own flacon designs, and also created rooms of this stunning palazzo on bucket list.) aftelier.com many stunning collector’s items. (For the Grand Canal are dedicated to a full report see the ‘Collectors & the fascinating role this trading port Collections’ edition of The Scented played in the history of fragrance, Letter.) musee-lalique.com including a reconstruction of the laboratory of a perfume-maker, or l International Perfume Museum, muschiere. (And be sure to visit The For news of a very special Grasse. Fragonard’s importance to the Merchant of Venice’s gift shop!) Perfume Society event at the hilltop town which is still the epicentre mocenigo.visitmuve.it Somerset House perfume of perfumery can be gauged from exhibition, keep an eye on the fact that the main street snaking l Fragrance Museum Farina-House, perfumesociety.org/events

Aftelier whale © Joel Bernstein up the hill is itself called Boulevard Cologne. As we explored in the

The scented Letter 37

first whiffs latest launches The pace of launches has slowed SUMMER SCENT SECRETS only slightly for high summer l Hot weather and fragrance aren’t happy bedfellows – and scent’s as vulnerable to UV damage as our skins. If your 2017 – plenty of limited edition fragrances are generally kept near a window, move them to the back of the room where sunlight can’t damage them. collectible bottles for lovers of l Better still, keep your fragrance in the fridge. A normal fridge can be too cold – a wine fridge is perfect, advises James iconic scents, some much- Craven of Les Senteurs. heralded new fragrances from l Scent bottles look so beautiful on the shelf – but if you can bear to, keep them in their boxes from day of purchase, to Calvin Klein and Gucci (among protect the contents. (James Craven actually recommends keeping perfume boxes and their bottles in a drawer – though others), and many fabulous we can’t quite bring ourselves to do as we’re told...) offerings from some of the scent l Travel light: in our website shop – find it at perfumesociety. org/shop – you can now stock up on so-useful Travalo travel world’s independent ‘rising stars’. sprays, to fill and refill with favourite fragrances for spritzing on-the-go. Buy different-coloured Travalos so you can It’s surely never been a better differentiate between them. (We keep a list of what we’ve time to be a perfumista... decanted into which Travalo on our phones. It’s easy to forget!) l And of course, our own Perfume Society Discovery Box samples allow you to pack an entire wardrobe of scents – even if you’re one of those admirable souls who manages to travel with hand baggage.

THE FRAGRANCE FAMILIES

As scentophiles know, fragrances fall into different ‘families’. So we’ve used the same classification system for launches as on our 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.

ORIENTAL

FLORIENTAL

CHYPRE

WOODY

FLORAL

GOURMAND

FRESH FOUGERE

The scented Letter 39 ATELIER D’ORS BRITNEY SPEARS BRONNLEY MUSC IMMORTEL VIP PRIVATE IRIS & WILD CASSIS

Weighty, hand-pleasingly curved and Designed as a celebration of her Hot on the heels of Bronnley’s with Deco inspired sunrays etched shows – ‘where it’s just you and the successful Pink Peony & Rhubarb into the glass bottle, it’s the glittering audience’ – Britney’s newest is sweet comes this rich and sultry floral, flurry of real gold inside this bottle and flirty from top to toe. The perfectly blended for allure and that truly captures the eye – the opening’s a veritable smoothie of surprise. Fresh berries and mandarin perfect backdrop for the decadent orange, apple and mango, while are warmed with generous pepper haze of musk infused with powdery- magnolia in the heart blends notes in the top, making way for an spiced immortelle flowers at this perfectly with raspberry wood, aromatic romance of star anise and scent’s heart. Their true name – amber and musk in the base to soft petals. As it continues to unfold, helichrysum – is from the Greek create a lasting impression. And isn’t iris, jasmine and tuberose are kissed ‘helios’ meaning sun or gold, a that crystal-inspired bottle, topped with syrupy plum as dark chocolate is reflection of the shimmering, exotic off with a sparkling gold lid, pure blended with patchouli and musk. warmth of this fascinating fragrance. Britney glam? Appropriately, we’re wild for it. £150 For 100ml eau de parfum From £23 for 30ml eau de toilette £14.50 for 50ml eau de toilette harrods.com superdrug.com boots.com

CALVIN KLEIN CAUDALIE CARTHUSIA OBSESSED FOR WOMEN EAU DES VIGNES GELSOMINI DI CAPRI

Obsession is, incredibly, celebrating French skincare name Caudalie has This translates as ‘Jasmine of Capri’, its 25th anniversary! Accompanied by been inspired from the start by the after the white flower which blooms all never-before-seen imagery from the vines that flourish around Mathilde over this rocky Italian paradise – home original Kate Moss/Mario Sorrenti ad Thomas’s family Chateau Smith Haut of Carthusia, whose roots originally go campaign, Obsessed offers an Lafitte near Bordeaux. Now, Alberto back to 1380, an ancient monastery herbaceous evocation of the timeless Morillas’s new Caudalie eau fraîche and a floral water made from the original. Perfumers Honorine Blanc sets out to bottle its large garden – full island’s wildflowers. Fast forward to and Annick Menardo fuse lavender of light and scents on a sleepy July 2017: Gelsomino di Capri garlands with violet leaf and purple sage for a afternoon in brilliant heat via lemon, bergamot, lemon, tangerine, aromatic spiky green edge to the softly bergamot, orange blossom, iris, clary Italian broom, orange blossom, billowing cloud of musk. The scented sage, pink peppercorns and a light labdanum, vanilla and musk with a equivalent of a classic white shirt, it’s caress of powdery white musk, incense heavenly note of jasmine that never going to be out of style. and ambergris. scrambles throughout. £35 for 30ml eau de parfum £25 for 50ml eau fraîche £80 for 100ml eau de parfum boots.com uk.caudalie.com liberty.co.uk

40 The scented Letter COMME DES GARÇONS CREED CLEAN RESERVE CONCRETE WHITE AMBER SKIN [RESERVE BLEND]

Well, this is a first: a bottle (designed Olivier Creed’s latest joins the line-up For those who love their fragrances as by Rei Kawakubo) encased in real of Le Royales Exclusives, which are clean as just-laundered sheets or concrete, held within a pocket of showcased in stunning handcrafted fresh-from-the-shower skin, this is soft, bubble wrap. Contrast that tough bottles from centuries-old glassmakers tender – and intriguing. The polar exterior with the softness of the Pochet, accented with 10 carat gold. opposite of a room-rocker, Skin fragrance within: layers of resinous That sumptuousness is reflected in the [Reserve Blend] has a truly intimate warmth, via CdG’s signature spices, feminine scent within, which puts feel, blending fresh musks and a ‘warm alongside rose oxide (for an intriguing amber at the forefront of a blend skin accord’ with the sweetness of metallic edge), plus an overdose of opening to a burst of blackcurrant and tonka bean and a subtle gourmand sandalwood. ‘An exploration of green apple, blossoming with jasmine twist of salted praline. Clean Reserve’s destruction, construction and absolute, smoothed and warmed by packaging is equally understated, its creation’, is Comme des Garçons’ Indian sandalwood and benzoin. pleasingly hefty square bottle topped description. Ours? Simply divine. Worthy of a gold star, this one. with a smooth wood cap. £115 for 80ml eau de parfum From £320 for 75ml eau de parfum £79 for 50ml eau de parfum At Selfridges creedfragrances.co.uk spacenk.com

CLIVE CHRISTIAN DKNY EIGHT & BOB C feminine NECTAR LOVE CHAMPS DE PROVENCE

There’s a pair of Cs in this collection Bedecked with bees buzzing round a Champs de Provence feels like the – do also check out the men’s option new-shape golden DKNY apple bottle, perfect sundress, timeless and – reflecting the wildness and vigour of this floral fruity gourmand hums with elegant, playful and radiant. Fresh the Scottish landscape where Clive yellow freesia, juicy mandarin, flowers and sparkling citruses evoke Christian was born, from its rough grapefruit and a luscious nectarine warm days dancing amongst mountain terrain to the untamed note – all delivered with a ‘solar’ wildflowers that glisten like stars in coastline. Jasmine and rose are used brightness. Nectar Love’s floral heart the sunshine. A bright bergamot and to mimic the sweetness of wild offers jasmine, orange flower, muguet fruity pear lead onto an abundance flowers, with a touch of woody and mirabelle plum – but it isn’t long of dazzling orange blossom with the heather that takes you to the hills, and before the fragrance reveals its soft hum of jasmine and rose in the a saltiness that sings of sea-whipped gourmand side, with vanilla and background. Musk, Ambroxan and breezes. Majestic, slightly heady and honeycomb sweetening beeswax, maté linger as the sun sets. In short, utterly wearable. cedarwood and neroli. Moreish. the beauty of Provence, bottled. £395 for 100ml eau de parfum From £40 for 30ml £125 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com theperfumeshop.com harveynichols.com

The scented Letter 41 GUERLAIN GUCCI NINA RICCI LA PETITE ROBE NOIRE BLACK BLOOM PERFECTO LES GOURMANDISES DE NINA

Gucci designer Alessandro Michele La Petite Robe Noire is growing up An effervescent opening of orange was seriously hands-on during the – and most definitely revealing her and lemonade fizzes alongside a heart creation of this hotly-anticipated rock chick side. Sashaying away from of piña colada that has us dreaming of fragrance, blended by Master the sweetness of LPRN’s predecessors, cocktails by the pool. In the heart, Perfumer Alberto Morillas. Its this interpretation offers a trilogy of velvety, creamy gardenia is paired with concentration of flowers blooms forth Bulgarian rose water, rose essence and caramelised praline for a with natural Indian tuberose absolute, Grasse rose absolute at its heart, mouthwateringly delicious base – all jasmine absolute and a special encased in leather, with a flourish of wrapped up in a candy-coloured, extraction of jasmine buds delivering a almond and a woody accord blending sprinkle-coated bottle that fits fresh, green ‘petal’ scent on skin, patchouli and tonka. We predict you’ll beautifully in the hand. Look out for its enfolded in the feminine powderiness find Black Perfecto as easy to wear as sister scent, Les Gourmandises de of an Indian vine known as Rangoon your black biker jacket, shrugged over Luna, too – they’re both absolutely Creeper. A stunner of a bottle, too. a pretty dress. good enough to eat. From £52 for 30ml eau de parfum From £46.50 for 30ml eau de parfum £46 for 50ml eau de toilette At Harrods (from 1st August) Available nationwide (August launch) theperfumeshop.com

MARC JACOBS MICHAEL KORS OUR MODERN LIVES DAISY MARC JACOBS LIMITED WONDERLUST SENSUAL EDITION ESSENCE RED

Marc Jacobs hasn’t played with the Celebrating a sense of adventure, Weekly requests from perfume lovers widely-adored Daisy construction, Wanderlust’s fragrant trail this time wanting all-natural fragrances – along here – it’s still the signature blend of leads to a bowl of luscious black with those allergic to ingredients berries, white violets, jasmine and a cherries and succulent mouthfuls of commonly found in scents – led dry-down of sandalwood, but dressed Nashi pear, while the heady elegance perfumer Sarah McCartney to launch up for summer 2017 in a stunning of orange blossom absolut wafts its Our Modern Lives as a crowdfunded white bottle to celebrate 10 years of heavenly magic all around the heart line of nine fragrances (two ultra-safe the fashion designer’s most iconic notes. Bedecked with swags of synthetics and seven all-naturals). Red fragrance. Look out for a striking new jasmine and a tingle of pink pepper, represents harvest and gratitude; hay ad campaign, too – and if the star Sensual Essence is an intoxicating absolute entangles with rose and looks familiar? She’s supermodel blend that had us fantasising about raspberry leaf, hazelnuts get boozy Cindy Crawford’s daughter, 15-year- warm sand, sunsets and languid with wine – and a peppered woody old Kaia Gerber. Quite a coup. canoodling sessions ’til dawn. dry-down will have you giving thanks. £78 for 100ml eau de toilette £46 for 30ml eau de parfum £95 for 50ml eau de parfum debenhams.com boots.com ourmodernlives.net

42 The scented Letter PAPILLON PARFUMS REEK PERFUMES TIMOTHY HAN DRYAD DAMN REBEL WITCHES THE DECAY OF THE ANGEL

Dripping with dewy green While REEK’s first scent was made in Based on ‘the five stages of a galbanum at first, Dryad develops memory of the fiery Jacobite women falling angel’ – decay, into a foxy minx of a Chypre via the who earned the nickname ‘Damn diaphoresis, dirt, dissatisfaction winding path of orange blossom, Rebel Bitches’, Witches now and darkness – designer Timothy misty mosses and dry leaves commemorates those outspoken Han’s newest is most definitely a crackling under bare feet. Lurking in females prosecuted for witchcraft, scent to fall for. An intense heady the shadows of the forest are often burned at the stake. In this dark rose is laced with cade for a dark half-glimpsed creatures of fur and affair, find hints of feminine intrigue via edge, evoking the death of a fang, the animalic dry-down a blood orange, hazelnut, malt and flower. A quiet hedione is added, magnificent swoon that feels like orange pips. Think: smouldering green and subtle, with a lasting some long-lost classic scent, leaves with trails of tobacco, a rasp of musk to finish. Ultimately exotic lingering beguilingly and exuding saddle leather and the warmth of a and sexy – a burnt floral to set mystery and glamour. wool shawl worn on misty moorlands. desires alight. £125 for 50ml eau de parfum £75 for 50ml eau de parfum £160 for 60ml eau de parfum papillonperfumery.co.uk reekperfume.com brownsfashion.com

TOM FORD PRIVATE BLEND TORY BURCH VAN CLEEF & ARPELS MANDARINO DI AMALFI JOLIE FLEUR LAVANDE BOIS DORÉ No1 2953XW ACQUA

The frosted sky blue bottle tells you Everything in lifestyle designer Fabrice Pellegrin composed Bois Doré this is a brand new version of the Tory Burch’s garden is still lovely – latest in VC&F’s single-ingredient-led so-popular Mandarino di Amalfi, – as evidenced by this latest Collection Extraordinaire – ‘to be a evoking cliffsides where mint, thyme, addition to her existing petal- wood that has fused with the wildflowers and exotic, night- powered line-up of Jolie Fleur luminosity of gold…’ So he enfolded blooming flowers scent the breeze. At Bleue, Fleur Verte and Fleur Rose. cedarwood and the ‘star’ ingredient, first zestily fresh with herbaceous This time, Tory puts the eternally tonka, in musk and vanilla – but facets, black pepper and coriander popular, deeply soothing scent of contrasting that softness, added an add nose-tingling effervescence. lavender front and centre stage, intriguing mineral facet evoking hot Creamy florals then drift in (given an with freesia and bergamot adding stones, enlivened by black pepper. ‘I unexpected twist by shiso leaf), before freshness, magnolia for floral wanted you to be drawn to it as if it it beckons you into the vetiver, musk, depth, on a softly ravishing base of was a nugget of gold,’ explains labdanum and amber depths. tonka and musk. Pellegrin – and we are, we are. £155 for 50ml eau de toilette £95 for 100ml eau de parfum £126 for 75ml eau de parfum selfridges.com At Harrods escentual.com

The scented Letter 43 CALVIN KLEIN CLIVE CHRISTIAN GUERLAIN OBSESSED FOR MEN E MASCULINE OUD ESSENTIEL

This is a compelling continuation of With each scent from this ‘alphabet’ Thierry Wasser turns up the heat with the Obsession scent story, structured collection being chosen to echo a this be-tasseled celebration of oudh, around the sophistication of black moment in Sir Clive’s life, this latest part of Guerlain’s Absolus d’Orient vanilla shot through with zesty – E for men – references the elegance collection (and launched exclusively grapefruit and gently spiced with of the royal gardens (so loved by the at Harrods for summer – just in time Sichuan pepper and cardamom. Dry designer), via the sophisticated depth for the influx of perfume-loving cedar leaves rub against the softness of deep leafy notes. Bracing but Middle Eastern shoppers). of labdanum and supple blonde aromatic, the scent starts with the Sumptuous and dark, this woody- leather before patchouli droplets fuse unfurling of a fresh rose and a touch leather underpins saffron, geranium, with that deep vanilla deliciousness, of lavender, before tumbling into full rich rose and Atlas cedarwood with and it concludes with with almost fluffy greenness via armfuls of narcissus. incense, guiaic wood and a leather Ambrox. We cannot get enough of Luxuriously green and mossy – a note – but the oudh is most definitely this – or its ad campaign. fougère fit for a King. the star of this particular party. £33 for 30ml eau de toilette £275 for 50ml eau de parfum £125 for 125ml eau de parfum boots.com harrods.com At Harrods

MERCHANT OF VENICE HUGO BOSS OUR MODERN LIVES GRAN TEATRO LA FENICE HUGO BOSS ICED MAN GREEN

A bracing hit of iced mint clears your The perfumers for Merchant of Green shoots and bursting buds passages in the opening of Hugo Boss Venice’s new fragrant duo – there’s a invoke a sense of renewal with this Iced, with an exotic wild tea note women’s fragrance, too – immersed uniquely zippy scent from 4160 giving depth (and a slight bitterness). themselves in the splendours of the Tuesdays’ crowdfunded ‘safe scents’ Electrifying juniper berries are city’s opera house, absorbing and offshoot, Our Modern Lives. Here, contrasted with bitter orange, icy and translating that into invisible opulence. jasmine tea mingles with green aromatic, and the scent finishes by Unusually, apple blossom combines mandarin and Calabrian bergamot as dwelling on the invigorating elements with frankincense here for a striking cool cucumber gets frosty with of vetiver – clean, energising and green edge, revealing a spiced, bergamot mint essential oil and invigorating, with just a hint of that peppery and orris-laced heart, with a aromatic spinach absolute. A fragrance smoky-earthy-dirtiness, for longevity. cedar-amber-leather accord in the so good for you it surely counts as one An impossibly cool accessory for any finale. We think you’ll definitely be of your five a day? We wish. But savour masculine neck, this summer. back for an encore. the freshness! £45 for 75ml eau de toilette £150 for 100ml eau de parfum £95 for 50ml eau de parfum johnlewis.com At Harvey Nichols ourmodernlives.net

44 The scented Letter the men’s room

PENHALIGON’S SALVATORE FERRAGAMO TIZIANA TERENZI BLENHEIM BOUQUET UOMO CASUAL LIFE LUCENERA

A scent that’s truly stood the test of The newest from this favourite Italian Third generation candlestick makers- time, the Blenheim Collection now luxury name sings the song of a turned-perfumers, Tiziana Terenzi is a includes candles and bath oil, with charismatic man, all dynamism and name familiar to Italian perfumistas Penhaligon’s joyously re-introducing confidence. After a powerful opening – but less so here. This should put the fragrance first made for the Duke of zesty lemon, refreshing and spicy them on your radar: nose Paolo of Marlborough in 1902. Intriguingly cardamom and crisp green violet Terenzi conjures up childhood featuring no mid (heart) notes, leaves, the complex heart juxtaposes memories of night walks through the instead it offers lavender, Amalfi geranium with an unusual coffee note, family garden, lit by fireflies. Delicously lemon and lime to tickle the nose in smoothed by Ambrox in a soft aromatic with myrtle, thyme, coriander, the top, with musk, pine and black resinous amber accord. Velvety musks benzoin and oregano, it’s warmed by pepper spicing the base. Crisp as a and beautifully buffed cedar and musk, sandalwood, patchouli, G&T on a scorching day. (And we cashmere woods finish the scent on a ambergris and labdanum to invoke hear Churchill was also a huge fan!) truly sensual note. ‘light emerging from the darkness…’ £92 for 100ml eau de toilette £38 for 30ml eau de toilette £250 for 100ml eau de parfum penhaligons.com thefragranceshop.co.uk harveynichols.com

TOM FORD PRIVATE BLEND VILHELM PARFUMERIE ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA OUD MINERALE BASILICO & FELLINI ELEMENTS OF MAN: STRENGTH

Welcome to the ‘marine oudh’ – which Inspired by director Federico Fellini’s Strength famously ‘comes from within’ sends a wave of ocean freshness obsession with basil (rumour is that – but scent can be a spritzable armour blasting through the traditional he’d order extra with every dish for its to wear for everyday reassurance. earthiness of the woody note. Bright aphrodisiac effect), Vilhelm’s latest Zegna invite you to choose your pink peppercorn and a ‘salty seaweed’ shareable option says ‘buongiorno’ characteristic from the five Elements of note add a (yes) mineralic flourish, with a delicious aromatic overload of Man: The Life Collection. Our favourite before the sea meets the dry earth via that Mediterranean herb. Juicy from the quintet, Strength is a glorious grounding, resinous fir balsam and dragonfruit drizzles mouthwateringly fusion of smooth tobacco leaves and styrax alongside that oudh. But what into violet and wild fig, with fresh-floral ripe apricots drizzled with golden better to complete a sea-inspired notes given a dry, almost grassy edge honey, tendrils of smoke curl through fragrance than touches of ambergris by green hay and vetiver. (Do also pine needles and musk for a – the ultimate sea-borne note, which check out Vilhelm’s seasonally perfect sophisticated yet easy-to-wear scent you can explore in depth on p.10…? travel sprays, by the way.) we’ll definitely be borrowing. From £155 for 100ml eau de parfum £145 for 100ml eau de parfum £180 for 50ml eau de parfum harrods.com liberty.co.uk At Harrods (from 21st August)

The scented Letter 45 it takes me right back Suntan lotion The scent of suntan lotion is a magic carpet ride back to an Alabama childhood for Jasmine Award-winning writer Laurin Taylor

In Mobile, Alabama we have four seasons: almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas. (And even at Christmas, the appearance of wreaths on front doors mother did your back until you could break free and charge and twinkling lights in windows hold no guarantee that you into the waves, dragging your inflatable raft behind you. “won’t be sporting shorts as you unwrap your presents.) The fragrance of Sundown was subtle. My mother Growing up on the Gulf of Mexico meant swimming loudly opposed coconut in any form and would not abide lessons as soon as you could walk – a practicality, not an her daughters reeking of piña coladas. So we smelled indulgence. In summer, families took beach houses or not of a tropical paradise, but of something altogether condos, and if you were lucky, you had a backyard pool and more comforting and close to home – like the Gulf Shore a June birthday; the prospect of an invitation to a pool party itself. Sundown had a creamy perfume that once dreamed was a ticket to favours from everyone in your class. of being vanilla, but settled for biscuitiness instead. If An afternoon spent sorting through my shoebox of you asked me now, I would add ‘marine’ to the list of old family photographs turns up a stack of yellowing descriptors, but in those days I was still light years and an images marked ‘LABOR DAY 1979’ in my grandmother’s ocean away from learning the language of fragrance. handwriting. An 11-month old baby The last time I applied sunscreen in a chartreuse bikini splashes on to my body was in September of 2014 the beach with her young parents on a late-season, bargain holiday – the as gentle waves roll over her “A whiff of last I would ever take with my mother. outstretched foot. The baby is me, It no longer has a guaranteed spot and we are laughing in every picture. sunscreen conjures a on my summer shopping list. On 18th My family rented the same beach August 2000, I stood at the check-in house every year, a two-bedroom desk in the Mobile Regional Airport affair decorated in the universal style place suspended in with a one-way ticket to London, of vacation rentals the world over – an knowing that I wasn’t coming back. I embarrassment of wicker furniture, time that no longer left behind the certainty of scorching seashell ornaments that gave new summers, afternoon thunderstorms meaning to the concept of bad taste exists for me” and affordable housing to build a life and paintings by a ‘local artist’. in a city where cashmere jumpers in Before picking up the key, we June are not unheard of. stopped at the supermarket on Today, when I catch a whiff of Highway 59 to stock up on provisions: sunscreen, it conjures a place ears of unshucked Silver Queen corn with suspended in time that no longer exists silky tassels peeking through rough green for me. When I visit Mobile now, I get lost husks, bags of soft white hamburger buns, on the same roads I travelled for 21 years. cases of beer and tomato juice for the The houses of my high school friends were forbidden Bloody Marys that my mother bought long ago by strangers, and the and her friends disguised in Thermos flasks unassuming street where I grew up now and smuggled down to the shore. boasts an art gallery and a pub dishing up Somewhere nestled in the brown paper pizzas with names like ‘The Tragically Hip’ bags there would be a blue and white and ‘The Hook Up’. Sunscreen is the smell of bottle of Johnson & Johnson Sundown certainty and the familiar rhythms of life that Sunscreen SPF 30. The application of London, for all its charms, cannot offer me. It sunscreen was a necessary but irritating is the place I left behind, but also the place ritual. You sat on your garishly coloured that pulls me back when the grey skies of an towel and grudgingly slapped it on to your endless winter begin to weigh too own limbs, then tried to sit still as your heavy on my shoulders. 46 The scented Letter ” A CURATED EDIT

ACQUA DI STRESA A LAB ON FIRE AGONIST AVERY Perfume Collection AZAGURY BLOOD CONCEPT BOADICEA THE VICTORIOUS FORNASETTI HISTOIRES DE PARFUMS PREPARATION PARFUMEE ANDREE PUTMAN RE PROFUMO ROADS SANTA EULALIA SOOUD S-PERFUME TFK

Avery Perfume Gallery 27 Avery Row, London W1K 4AY +44 (0)20 7629 1892 | www.averyperfumegallery.com scented