In search of MY fragrance…..

“Women waste so much time wearing no perfume. As for me, in every step that I have taken in life, I have been accompanied by an exquisite perfume!”
~C.JoyBell C.

“A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future.”
~Coco Chanel

“A woman’s perfume tells more about her than her handwriting.”
~Christian Dior

This post is a bit different as it involves scent and unfortunately the scratch and sniff computer screen has yet to be invented. So I will do my best to use words and photographs to describe the pure pleasure that I experienced recently with the Penhaligon’s brand of fragrance.

I have been on a life-long journey for MY fragrance. I worked for Sephora for 6 years and had access to multiple scents and fragrances on a daily basis. Through this exposure I became enamored by the history and stories of the big Perfume Houses and how they created their scents. I’ve always loved the design of the perfume bottles and how, at times they can show you what the actual scent might be just by looking at it.

However, I never found “The One”. The problem was, nothing seemed to smell good on me. If it didn’t give me an instant headache and/or make me nauseated, my body chemistry would turn the scent to (excuse my French) ASS!!! I’ve never been able to handle Sandalwood or Patchouli and most fragrances have one or both of these as a base note. I think in my history of wearing fragrances I’ve found 2 commercial fragrances* that I like (not necessarily love). Until now!!!

*(I found that wearing essential oils worked really well for me, but it wasn’t was I was looking for)

I happened upon the Penhaligon’s website and I fell in love not only with the beautiful packaging I saw, but also the descriptions and scent ingredients of the fragrances. As I didn’t have a store terribly close to me (the closest one to me is in Luxembourg), I decided to order a fragrance set with 5 of their popular ladies fragrances. I’d heard wonderful things about Juniper Sling and I was excited that it was included in the set.

The set was perfect, adorable little bottles that I could try and enjoy. I liked all 5 fragrances, but I love 2 of them. Juniper Sling and Vaara.

The descriptions of these fragrances from their website are:

JUNIPER SLING

An intoxicating fragrance created by Olivier Cresp, and inspired by the most iconic and atmospheric of spirits: London Dry Gin.
For enigmatic boys and girls, Juniper Sling is a crisp cocktail shot of gin with the freshness of juniper, cool measures of angelica and brandy and a beating libertine heart of black pepper, cardamom, soft leather and orris.
A gourmand base of brown sugar, black cherry and amber add sensuality to the scent. Apply liberally and drink in.

VAARA

The fragrance begins with a delicious blend of coriander and carrot seeds, creamy saffron and juicy quince: ingredients discovered during his trips to local markets in Jodhpur.
The heart of Vaara belongs to the gardens of Balsamand, the Maharaja’s summer palace, with two glorious roses blended elegantly with a billowing white note of Indian magnolia, a touch of freesia and a whisper of iris.
The fragrance settles into a luscious combination of honey, white musks and resins dripping over an aromatic base of tonka, cedarwood and sandalwood.

As I knew we were visiting Paris for my birthday, I wanted to make a trip to an actual brick and mortar Penhaligon’s store. So we decided on the shop located at 209 Rue Saint Honoré in the 1st arrondissement.

Walking into the shop is like walking back in time with its dark interior, beautiful wood drawers and glass shelves. It was very reminiscent of an old Apothecary. We were met by Antonia, a lovely (I believe British) gal, who was incredibly helpful and knowledgable. I briefly told her my story of my search for a fragrance and how I came across the brand. She was more than happy to give us a tour of the shop and educated us on their fragrances.

I love the way that they present their “testers”, in tall glasses with a wad of cotton mesh inside sprayed with the fragrance. When you walk into the store you are not assaulted with too many competing scents in the air. You can simply pick up the glass you wish to try and inhale.

After a few sniffs, she introduced me to their brand new fragrance ~ Equinox Bloom ~. And I immediately fell in love. It was a delicious mix of floral, citrus, and sweetness. It is just perfecting, the floral notes are not over powering at all and it has a beautiful creamy vanilla like finish.

She gave us each a few samples so we could wear them for a few days to see how they worked. I could not wait to go back and buy a full bottle of it. Luckily when we went back a few days later Antonia was working again and she helped us with our purchase. My husband also bought a fragrance, he has a similar issue with fragrance so I’m glad we could find one for him as well. She wrapped up our purchase and added a few more samples of fragrances for the both us.

I now have MY fragrance and a few more that I really love. The level of customer service we experienced in the shop was fabulous. So if you are ever in Paris, I urge you to go visit Antonia and find YOUR scent.