Tea With the Maharajah – Penhaligon’s Vaara Perfume Review

It seems that Penhaligon’s are in the mood to spoil us with not one, but two new perfumes this year. If you are too impatient to wait for the arabesque of iris that is Iris Prima that is due to launch in September, then worry ye not, as this month the brand have unleashed a brand new Eau de Parfum that most definitely deserves attention.

‘Vaara’ is the name of Penhaligon’s latest offering and it takes inspiration from the Royal House of Marwar-Jodphur in Rajasthan. Created by venerable perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour (also responsible for Amaranthine and Sartorial) Vaara was commissioned by His Highness Maharajah Gaj Singh II to commemorate the birth of his granddaughter, Vaara.

To capture the sights, sounds and scents of Jodphur, Duchaufour took a trip to India (the lucky boy gets to go to all of the best places) and explored the world of the Maharajah. The result is a truly exceptional composition (I’m so smitten I wore it as my graduation scent) that is not only evocative of a geographical location but also captures the spirit of an exotic and lavish way of life.

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The Iris Arabesque – Penhaligon’s Iris Prima Perfume Review

Perfumers and brands can take their inspiration from a wide variety of mediums when creating a perfume: music, nature, people, memories, places and food; just to name a small few. As perfume lovers we welcome a wealth of muses – after all it’s always interesting to see perfumes based on new and exciting things rather than the usual set of notes and themes.

Penhaligon’s is a brand that seems to have a far reaching nose, in the sense that they like to seek out unusual inspirations and over the years have created a number of perfumes inspired by weird and wonderful things. Take their wonderful Sartorial for example, a fragrance that accurately captures the scent of a Saville Row tailor’s workroom or the equally-wonderful Juniper Sling, a perfect olfactory tribute to the quintessentially English drink of Gin.

For their latest offering, the brand has teamed up with English National Ballet to create a fragrance that captures the spirit of the ballet – a perfume that they describe as being “a work of olfactory choreography”. Having had exclusive access to dancers Nathan Young and Lauretta Summerscales, in addition to behind the scenes visits, perfumer Alberto Morillas has created a beautiful ode to the most graceful of dances.

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The Candy Perfume Boy’s Movember Barbershop Quartet

Loving the Stripes... — The Candy Perfume Boy’s Movember Barbershop Quartet

Movember Madness has struck me this month and as well as attempting to cultivate a handsome portion of facial hair upon my top lip things have been a bit more man-focused on The Candy Perfume Boy. Sometimes one must remember that it’s important not to forget the boys and this month I am honouring my fellow Mobros in true Candy Perfume Boy style.

Those of you who read The Candy Perfume Boy regularly will know that I wear a mixture of feminine and masculine scents, with the ratio skewed much more to the former rather than the latter. That’s not to say I don’t like masculine fragrances at all, quite the opposite in fact, it just so happens that my favourite style of fragrances (earth shattering florals) tend to lurk on the feminine side of the perfume shelves.

When I wear a masculine fragrance I tend to go for something classic with a modern twist. I often find myself drawn to the floral-sweet yet dandified style of fragrances that can be classified as barbershop. For me there’s just something attractive about smelling well-groomed and well-oiled.

In this post I would like to showcase my top four barbershop scents, presented in the form of my Movember Barbershop Quartet. So without further adieu I present you The Lead, The Tenor, The Bass and The Baritone.

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And the Winner of The Candy Perfume Boy & Persolaise Twitter Giveaway Is…

Persolaise and The Candy Perfume Boy’s Juniper Sling Twitter Competition

A massive thank you to all who entered the Candy Perfume Boy/Persolaise Twitter giveaway. We received a high number of entries for the rather wonderful prize of a bottle of Penhaligon’s rather spiffy gin inspired Juniper Sling.

Well, the entries have been gathered together and the winner has been selected entirely at random using random.org. I can now reveal that the very lucky winner of the much coveted prize is…..

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From The Candy Perfume Boy Archives: The Scent of The Modern Gent – Penhaligon’s Sartorial Perfume Review

Gentleman — A Scent for The Modern Gent (Mo Not Included)

“Sartorial – sar-tor-ial adj. [attrib] of or relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress: sartorial elegance”

[Seeing as I’ve gone a bit mad for Movember I thought I would share a review of one of my favourite modern masculines from The Candy Perfume Boy Archives. Sartorial is a scent that not only evokes the smell of a tailor’s workroom, but also conjures up the image of a well groomed, modern gent with an incredibly stylish mo. Enjoy.]

I chose not to write a post on my fragrant new years resolutions simply because I have only made three. They are; to keep producing interesting and informative content for The Candy Perfume Boy, to review more fragrances from as many brands as possible and finally, to review more masculine fragrances.

Those who read this blog on a regular basis will know that I wear a lot of feminine fragrances and my reviews reflect this. I don’t have anything against masculines at all, they just tend not to be within my bracket of taste, whereas as feminine and niche ‘unisex’ (or sexless) fragrances tend to be right up my street. So, in the interest of balance I will ensure that I review more masculine fragrances and I will start with one of my recent favourites.

Sartorial (2010) is the latest masculine release from the über-British perfume house Penhaligon’s and is inspired by the workroom of a Saville Row Tailor. Created by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour (who is also responsible for other Penhaligon’s fragrances such as Amaranthine and their Anthology Series) Sartorial is described as “a contemporary interpretation of a classic Fougère” [1]

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The Candy Perfume Boy & Persolaise’s Twitter Competition

Those of you with good memories will remember that a while back both Persolaise and I announced that we would hold a competition for a 50ml bottle of Juniper Sling, generously donated by Penhaligon’s, as soon as we both hit 1,000 Twitter followers. The good news is that we have both hit the marvellous 1K mark and that means we are now able to hold the draw!

How to enter…

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Frozen Flowers – Floral Fragrances for Winter

You may or may not be aware that I am somewhat partial to the odd floral or two. OK, that’s a severe understatement, I am a floral addict and if you were to examine me under a microscope you’d probably discover that my genetic makeup has been significantly altered by the sheer amount of white flowers that I wear. Maybe I’ll wake up one day and I’ll actually have become a flower? Is that pushing it? Thought so.

When most people think florals they think of summer; of golden sunlight beating down on fields and meadows of fragrant flowers shouting their narcotic odours into the warm summer breeze. But for me florals aren’t exclusive to spring or summer, in fact one of my favourite times of the year to break out my bottles of trapped flowers is the time, for the most part, when they are not blooming in the wild. My favourite time for florals is winter.

Floral fragrances are surprisingly versatile in winter, they can provide warmth and comfort or they can react with the cold stiff air to create a sparkling aura that freezes on the skin. So as the weather appears to be quickly changing and the mercury is heading closer and closer to the 0 mark (well it is here at least) I thought I would share with you some of my favourite florals for my favourite time of year.

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Postcards From My Collection Part 3: L’Artisan Parfumeur, Penhaligon’s and Some Dude Named Bertrand Duchaufour

The aim of the Postcards From Collection series is to take you on a guided tour through the weird, and sometimes wonderful bunch of glass, plastic and smelly water that is my perfume collection. I see it as a way to give you full disclosure on exactly which bottles I deem worthy enough to grace my bathroom shelf (I know, not the ideal storage place) and perhaps give you an insight into my scented history.

In Part 1 we looked at the most precious things in my collection, those that are both big & small, and in Part 2 we took a trip to my favourite holiday destination – Planet Mugler. On both occasions I have shown you some of my absolute favourite things and as the series moves on we will hopefully have covered everything I own, we may even delve into the purgatory drawer (maybe).

This week we are having a mosey around two brands linked together by one special guy – some dude called Bertrand Duchaufour. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him (just kidding, I know you have), he’s this amazing perfumer who does a lot of spectacular things for the two brands we shall be investigating today; L’Artisan Parfumeur and Penhaligon’s.

So sit back and relax as we cruise through Havana, sit under a tree with a black-clad lothario in Seville, cross the Bosphorus chewing on Turkish Delight, go to the circus and chat up a filthy milkmaid in the English countryside…

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A Public Information Film From Penhaligon’s of London: A Lady’s Guide to Wearing Peoneve

I know that I have perhaps been a little bit video-happy over the last week, what with videos from CB I Hate Perfume and Thierry Mugler, but I simply couldn’t not share this fabulous and very amusing public information film from British brand Penhaligon’s

Entitled “A Lady’s Guide to Wearing Peoneve” the film details (with a stiff upper lip and lots of British wit) when a lady should, or should not apply Penhaligon’s brand new feminine fragrance Peoneve.

Enjoy!

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Katie Puckrik Smells – And How! – An Evening With Katie Puckrik and Perfume Lovers London

Katie Puckrik Does Indeed ‘Smell’

YouTube frightens me slightly. Maybe I’m just a wimp but despite the wealth of content YouTube has more loons, weirdos (not the good kind) and trolls than any of the other ‘tubes’, including the London Underground, which indeed has its fair share. Other than the odd music video and occasional perfume-related video I really don’t visit it much and I admire those who can put themselves out there, warts and all.

One person who is not afraid of YouTube and actively embraces the medium with as much gusto as one person can conjure is Katie Puckrik of Katie Puckrik Smells. Katie’s YouTube reviews are pithy, fun and are splashed with charismatic wit, which is no surprise as Katie Puckrik is someone with oodles of charisma and she has been a key player in changing the way that perfume is discussed.

As a general rule of thumb I am not a big fan of YouTube perfume reviews, with my tastes lying with the written word rather than the spoken, but I always make sure I watch Katie’s videos because she talks about scent in not only an intelligent way, but because she makes it so much fun. It was for this reason that I jumped at the chance of spending an evening with Katie Puckrik organised by Olfactory Events and Perfume Lovers London.

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