[From the Archives] The Iris Arabesque – Penhaligon’s Iris Prima Perfume Review

The Spirit of the Ballet. Bottled. — The Scent of The Ballet, Bottled

“Editor’s Note: Iris Prima, the latest perfume from Penhaligon’s launches today therefore I thought it prudent to share again with you my review from June. Tell me, what do you think the ballet smells like?”

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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A Scented Summer Collage

As we head into September with the knowledge that the remainder of the summer season is short lived, I have found myself looking back over the last few months and thinking what a generally lovely time it has been. So much has happened already this year and I find myself feeling a strong urge to simply stop and take it all in.

Perfume has obviously played a big part over the summer and the fact that I’ll soon be retiring some of my summer scents in favour for my winter wardrobe has made me feel more than slightly melancholic about those scents which have carried significant favour through the hotter months.

In this post I’m taking a look back on the events of summer 2013 and the scents that have made it so fabulous. When I say scents, I don’t just mean the fragrances I have worn but also the odours that have accompanied many a wonderful occasion and have helped cement each day as a wonderful, joy-filled memory.

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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

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Moustache Monday: Week 4

It is the very final week of Movember and whodathunk that I’d have made it this far? Not me, that’s for sure! I had visions of me finding my Mo so utterly monstrous and/or frustrating that I would have taken a pair of scissors to it in a fit of a rage by now. But the truth is that the month of Movember has been relatively easy and dare I say rather fun indeed.

On Thursday last week I took a trip up to London to the Official Movember Barbers for a free Mo trim. This was my first true barbershop encounter (I wore Petit Fracas btw, an entirely un-barbershoppy fragrance for what it’s worth) and it was rather enjoyable; not only was it quite relaxing but the barbers hired by Movember were pretty damn handsome too. So yes, I would recommend a true old-fashioned barbershop shave, the results of which you can view below the jump…

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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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Moustache Monday: Week 2

So it’s day 11 of Movember and Week 2 of Moustache Mondays which means it is time for my weekly Mo update! That’s right, you may be sick to the back teeth of me banging on about Movember, but as promised I am here to keep you up to date with all that relates to my facial hair, and it seems that we’ve had quite a bit of progress since week 1….

As you can see by the picture above, which was taken yesterday on day 10, the Mo is in full fuzz mode. I have to admit that it really doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would, although since having my hair did I do look a tad Hitler-esque without my glasses on, but on the whole I am growing rather attached to it.

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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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