You only have to scroll a little way through my blog to know that I'm totally obsessed with the world of fragrance. Not all, though. No no no. What Britney and J Lo know about perfume, I know about football.You do the maths.No. The world of luxury fragrance is magical. Sniffing something that is rich in ingredient, and uses rich ingredients, is by far one of my favourite things to do. Finding a rose or oud scent that at once hits you in the face and makes you oooh and ahhh is amazing.So when I found out that Penhaligaon's London - the British perfume house, founded in 1870 - offered their very own scent profiling and fragrance layering consultation, I knew I had to book in.
In fact, I booked the husband in, as part of his 30th birthday present. He LOVES Penhaligon's. And seeing as the brand discontinued his favourite scent - Extract of Limes - it was time to find him a new one.We met with Stoyka, the store manager at the Burlington Arcade shop. She led the way, up the charming spiral staircase, into the room above, full with stunning antique Chinese furniture, bottles and bottle of fragrances, and champagne and chocolate truffles. DELICIOUS!
To determine the hubby's new fragrance, Stoyka asked him a series of questions: what his favourite fragrance is at the moment, what his favourite ingredient is, what his favourite colour is, even what his favourite fabric is.She then reeled off a few names of Penhaligon's fragrances that matched his answers, and talked us through each one: its history, the ingredients, and then let us both smell each one. It was informative, educational and intriguing. I was obviously in my element.
It turns out the fragrance for him was Empressa, which came as a surprise to all of us because it's very fruity, with a hint of patchouli. Usually he goes for super zingy citrus scents, or anything with fig in it. Empressa is inspired by pearls and precious silks transported through London for rich women in the 19th Century.It features pink pepper, blood orange, dewberry, peach, vanilla and sandalwood.His new bottle was wrapped up beautifully, bagged, with the scent spritzed on the tissue paper, for added luxury. Oh, and the store itself is pretty damn gorgeous too, especially the special edition boxes...
Highly recommend the Penhaligon's London scent profiling and fragrance layering experience, for anyone who loves luxury fragrances, or for someone who's looking for a new signature scent.
You can book yours by calling any Penhaligon's London store. Find one here.
Yours truly, The VSG x