With thoughts turning to Valentine’s Day on 14 February, tradition might dictate you say it with flowers, but how about saying it with fragrance instead?
Perfume smells of promise, it tells a story and speaks directly to our senses. A bottle of fragrance won’t just offer a longer shelf life than a bouquet of blooms, it also has the power to create lasting scent-memories, forever to be associated with a loved one, a night to remember, a treasured place, or a feeling of exhilaration, lust or perhaps the dawning awareness of true love.
If you prefer to champion local industry there are two floral fragrances both with their roots firmly in home soil (pun intended). Metaphysic is a multi-faceted fruity floral, and a first foray into fragrance from the Oxford Botanic Garden, who have collaborated with English perfumers, 4160Tuesdays. The result proves to be a marriage made in heaven reflecting the changing scents of the UK’s oldest botanic garden throughout the seasons. Exotic top notes offer a burst of spring in the form of kumquat and bergamot, with the best of an English country garden at the height of summer – rose, lily and magnolia – forming the heart. Frankincense, amber and musk give an altogether more autumnal warmth to the base, but ultimately, this complex scent is light, airy and succulent.
If your idea of Valentine’s bouquet is more bouji flower shop than garden, look no further than Bourton-on-the-Water where one of the UK’s newest perfumers is based. Parfum d’Inza evokes elegance and luxury right from the unboxing experience as the packaging falls away to reveal your flagon nestling in a bed of satin. Each bottle comes with its certificate of authenticity and a little embossed cloth to keep the gold accents glistening. Of the four fragrances in the collection, the stand out for me is Reine de la Nuit (£173) which is lavishly laced with jasmine absolute and white lily. This is old school perfumery at its best. A modern classic for all fans of divine white flower fragrances, especially those which leave you smelling like a member of the posh Chippy Set.
Appropriately enough, Penhaligon’s Liquid Love starts off a little fruity (wink wink) before the fire and fizz of pink peppercorn, chili and ginger – plus a dash of turmeric – start to settle around the heart note of romantic rose. At the base the nuzzle-worthy scents of white musk, sandalwood and cashmeran add their dulcet notes so the dry down rounds out to form something which is recognisably rosy but one which I’m going to wager will appeal to the rose naysayers as well as its legion devotees. I’m more in the former camp but this sparkling take on the traditional has me swooning.
Solar Flair by Ojar (£195) is described as a gourmand/floral and so cleverly combines both components of the traditional Valentines gift: flowers and box of sweet treats. It brims with sunshine and turns the feelgood up to 11. The weather might say February, but your senses will be transported to languorous summer days, ripe fruits and a garden in bloom. The fragrant notes of heliotrope, honeysuckle and sweet mandarin orange blend seamlessly with a dash of pink pepper, peachy osmanthus and a base comprised of honey, vanilla and the gentle warmth of white musk. This is beautifully balanced; uplifting, joyful and full of the promise of good times to come.
In addition to her recent Grammy wins, Sabrina Carpenter has been making waves with her very on-brand range of fragrances and before you dismiss them as not-for-me give them a spritz and you might just find these sweet treats as wholesomely addictive as Carpenter’s music. In her latest, Me Espresso, the top notes are dominated by ‘morning-fuel’; espresso, cappuccino and chocolate. In coffee terms we’re talking Costa rather than Bar Italia and you’ll also find other edibles coming to the fore as it settles on the skin; biscuit, whipped cream and caramel all of which might sound dizzyingly sweet but stick with it as it goes through a number of stages before the dry down which, though faint, lingers on. Here, for me, is where you get the payoff as this is where the layers become more delicate and intimate with an effect that belies the £39.99 price.
Equally edible-sounding are some of the components in meltmyheart (£185) by niche New York fragrance house, Strangelove. If I list them out – ginger, mandarin, dark chocolate you might imagine a kind of Christmassy gourmand concoction but think again. The hero in this complex and long-lasting amber liquid is pure orris butter: powdery soft but so deeply intense so that any suggestion of sweetness is knocked back by its earthiness. Sultry with resinous oud, this bad boy is taking no prisoners. This is a deeply, deeply sensual fragrance that shoots Cupid’s arrow direct from the hip (groin).
While we’re getting down and dirty, if your heart’s desire is less than pure, then the permissive notes of rum and tobacco come together in glorious leathery abandon in Jazz Club Replica by Maison Margiela (£62). Utterly naughty and moreish, it is smoky, spiced and boozily intoxicating. Sweet with vanilla and an all-important discordant note from the punch of pink peppercorns. Close your eyes and allow yourself to be seduced.
So, from the club to, well, the bedroom. My final choice is redolent of incense-filled boudoirs and all the sticky dishevelment they promise. Matière Premiere’s Encens Suave (£165) is a (frankly) carnal full-bodied blend with coffee and vanilla to tantalise the palette before freefalling into the more animalic aromatics of woody benzoin and earthy labdanum Moreover, this is no one-night stand: it has a pleasing lingering sweetness.
