Fortnum and Mason's Perfume Section

Several people have mentioned how extensive the fragrance section is at Fortnum and Mason. On Saturday I finally had the chance to visit, and they do stock a lot of niche lines. that are hard to come by elsewhere. It almost rivals the Liberty perfume room if you ask me.

Niche brands in Fortnum and Mason include Grossmith, Annick Goutal and Clive Christian. A large section of the third floor displays are room fragrances from lots of different companies. Definitely well worth a visit. 

It's hard to find any information on the Fortnum's website about their perfume section. There's an old link to a Micallef event here, where you can see this cute photo that only hints at the treats there:

And here's a glimpse of the Caron display:

Whilst in Mayfair, I quickly popped into Ormonde Jayne, where they were kind enough to give me a sample of Tiare. I'm toying with the idea of buying a full bottle. I'll see how I feel about it after I've finished this sample.

Melvita Gardenia Ylang Ylang - Fight the Winter Blues

The lovely Shelley from Notes from the Ledge was kind enough to swap some perfumes with me recently. I've just received two brand new perfumes Jacomo Silences and Violette Precieuse by Caron. 

From a very brief first-sniff, Silences is reminding me of Annick Goutal's Grand Amour.

I've read that Silences is very green. In fact what attracted me to it was that quite a few descriptions compared it with Chanel No. 19. I'm pretty familiar with No. 19 as it's a scent that I grew up smelling. But Silences is actually quite different. It's more of a sweetened green. Imagine, if you can, slightly caramelised lily stems that have been snapped and crushed. Fresh, but with an extra edge.

I also have to mention my current anti-winter favourite. It's Melvita's Gardenia - Ylang Ylang.

It's a new scent, from the Melvita range, which prides itself on its natural ingredients. If you want a perfume that's going to remind you of a tropical island, this is it. It reminds me of coconut, which is a first for any perfume. Absolutely gorgeous.

British Vogue February 2011 - Perfume Ads

Not one. Not one single perfume ad in the February issue of Vogue.

However, there is an editorial on 'understated scents'. Featured perfumes include the new Hermessence Iris Ukiyoe and a range of five new perfumes from Roger Vivier. The article also notes that Michael Boadi (creator of Boadicea the Victorious) had developed Illuminum, "a range of 16 fragrances, each created from only eight ingredients".

There's also a fabulous picture of some fragrances, which I can't resist including. The bottles pictured are of Chanel No. 5 Eau de Parfum; Tom Ford Private Blend White Suede Eau de Parfum and Prada Infusion d'Iris Eau de Toilette.

Some Family Photos - Children and Food

Here's a picture of my two smallest having tea today. Not to say I'm a bad cook, but look what they're doing with the food.

And here they are having a cream tea in Cornwall six weeks ago. Cake is a different story.

They're one an a half and totally adorable (if I say so myself).

Comme des Garcons Series 3: Incense Avignon

During the We Three Kings joint blogging project I read so much great stuff about Avignon that I gave my husband a bottle of this deep, rich Comme des Garcons incense fragrance for Christmas. Smelling it over the last week has made me very happy. There's a beauty and grace to churches, even for non-believers like me, that's awe-inspiring. Is it the memory of vaulted ceilings and coloured sunlight pouring through stained glass windows that gives Avignon perfume its ethereal charm? Or is it something innately graceful about in frankincense/incense that makes Avignon so appealing? Either way it's a proud and slightly flamboyant perfume that I'm loving.

 

The first spray of Avignon has an incredibly dark inky quality. It initially reminds me of Serge Lutens's Daim Blond. That's not to say that these two fragrances smell the same, but there's a similarity in the richness and dark depth. Avignon is also quite woody. I'm not usually a fan of woody fragrances, but this is old piano woody rather than pine forest woody.

In a review from 2006, Robin from NowSmellThis describes Avignon as "what I think of as the industry standard" for incense fragrances. Praise indeed. Over at Scent of the Day Krista Janicki asks "Does heaven smell of frankincense?" If you like the smell of church incense. Or if you've every walked into a cathedral and been overwhelmed by the beauty of the architecture, then you should definitely try Avignon.