Sophia Fannon-Howell’s Deco London launches next month. She has translated her appreciation for history and fragrance into a well-rounded collection of perfumes, three feminine and three masculine eau de parfums developed in collaboration with Robertet. I’ve spent the past few weeks getting to know the scents a bit better.
As far as perfume launches go, Lankaran Forest took things to the next level and then some. The release of the Maria Candida Gentile creation coincided with the closing of the Buta Festival, a five month long programme of Azerbaijani arts and cultural events at venues across London, and the celebration of the Persian New Year, Nowruz. The March event, held at the Royal Academy, had lots of free flowing champagne, buffet tables decorated with a Dionysian display of spices and sweets, and even the odd celebrity or two.
However, the highlight of the event was the Francisco Rodriguez Weil designed Lankaran Forest sensory installation. This immersive experience allowed guests to wander through a “perfume sculpture” snapshot of tangled trees and fallen leaves, the fragrance of Lankaran Forest diffused throughout the space.
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with Maria Candida Gentile about the perfume she created for the event.
I feel that Angela Flanders’ Josephine is a perfume that expresses itself through the warm gaze of nostalgia; looking back fondly on the memory of a love from another time. A love so potent it seeps into the architecture of the heart and peppers the landscape of the soul, and it is only long after the pain of separation that one is able to look back upon such a love to cherish its memory.
With Josephine, Ms Flanders interprets violet through a kaleidoscopic lens, expressing different characters of violet via the nuances of Josephine, which for me feels like a production of love in three acts: the nervous first meeting, the full bloom of love, and, finally, the drifting away. There is a tenderness and gentle handling of delicate petals expressed in its execution which skirts the lines between gourmand flirtations and retro allusions, projecting a celebration of violets that makes Josephine a tribute to love and its namesake.
Legendary perfumer Edmond Roudnitska once said, “A beautiful perfume is one that gives us a shock”. That was my initial impression when I happened upon the bottle of YS-UZAC’s Sacre du Printemps I found at the November Perfume Lovers London event.
Photo courtesy of YS-UZAC
Photo courtesy of urbanwalkabout.com
Wednesday evening I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Angela Flanders’ latest perfume, Bleu de Chine at her salon on Artillery Passage in Spitalfields .
It was a happy accident brought about my own internet incompetence that I ended up making contact with Virginie Roux, Director of Au Pays de la Fleur d’Oranger, who very kindly sent me a sample pack of the perfumes on offer from this range.
Spoilt for choice, I decided to try Lavande Ombrée, and I have to say that I have found myself pleasantly surprised by this spectacular shape shifter.
Perhaps this review is timely given the weather in London the past couple of days where the sun and clouds and rain have seemingly been chasing one another across the sky, but I found myself reaching for this fragrance today. I was feeling a bit unsettled, wistful, pensive and lost in my thoughts, often catching myself gazing off out the window in a thousand yard stare into the gray sky thinking about nothing and everything all at once.
I found my small sample of Miller Harris’s La Pluie and dabbed both of my wrists with this beautifully quiet perfume, laid down and began inhaling…
Portrait of a Lady by Jean-Baptiste Greuze at The Wallace Collection. I was wearing the perfume when I took this.
Frederic Malle’s Portrait of a Lady is a perfume very dear to me not only for its fragrance but also for the memories I associate with it. I remember the day I purchased it so vividly. It ended up turning into quite a special one. It was my friend Sanjay’s last day working at the studio, and of course there was the usual office whip round to send him off with a leaving gift. I think because Sanjay always seemed to bring so much happiness with him where ever he went, with his great smile and really infectious laugh, everyone was a bit more generous than they usually were in in the past, which was great news for me who was usually tasked with selecting a present for whomever was leaving. I knew I could get Sanjay something really special, and knowing he was as smitten with perfume as I was, I headed straight down to the Frederic Malle counter at Liberty.
I purchased a bottle of Geranium pour Monsieur for Sanjay which he absolutely adored, and while that was being wrapped up the sales assistant asked me if I had tried Portrait of a Lady, which was in fact inspired by Geranium pour Monsieur. I was ensorcelled by the first spray. It effected me in such a way that I felt a dreamy heaviness wash over my eyes. Never before had I had such a visceral response to a fragrance.
As I left Liberty and was crossing the street only to be met by a girl working for one of the national magazines. I was a bit taken aback at first as I generally am when someone approaches me on the street, but then she started explaining to me that she wanted to feature me in the style section of the magazine. I was like beyond chuffed! I couldn’t believe it! Yes, so it wasn’t like the most glamorous experience having my photo taken rather awkwardly off to the side of a magazine kiosk, but I loved it anyway. And as far as I am concerned, my buying Portrait of a Lady lead to a portrait of a lady. 😛
More than three years later I am still as in love with this perfume as I was at first sniff. I wanted to make it my first perfume review for the memories this fragrances holds for me and because I find it to be such an olfactory masterpiece.
“Portrait of a Lady is a new generation rose Oriental. It’s a pure perfume, baroque and sumptuous, an urban version of the “Tales of the Arabian Nights”.” Frederic Malle
Illustration by Konstantin Kakanias from Frederic Malle On Perfume Making
I sat down with Dominique Ropion’s creation for Frederic Malle today to write down my initial impressions. I had never actually done this before, and to be honest I found it a very interesting exercise. I was initially struck by just how sharp the opening of the fragrance is. It then settles very quickly, and I begin to smell the spices coming through. For me the spices begin with clove, then patchouli permeates through a melange of familiar smelling, comforting spices which seem to fall sparkling on a breathtaking unfolding blossom of warm Turkish Rose. As the rose blooms more prominently into the fragrance I begin to catch glimpses of the fruity notes peaking up from under her petals.
I would say Portrait of a Lady has a rather strong sillage, and a small amount of the fragrance does indeed go a very long way. I can still smell it on me more than five hours after putting it on, and by past experience I know that I will smell it throughout the rest of the evening and on my duvet when I wake up tomorrow. It has incredible lasting power, and I catch different accords, usually alternating between the warm spices and playful fruits swirling round the constancy of the rich, sensual rose, throughout my experience wearing it.
Described as an Oriental fragrance with notes of Turkish rose absolute, blended with raspberry, cassis, clove, cinnamon, patchouli, and amber. Portrait of a Lady is available to purchase in 50ml and 100ml eau de parfum sizes for £140 and £200 respectively.
Throughout today as I have been thinking about this fragrance I began to wonder about the inspiration for the name of the fragrance. Some sources say it was in fact inspired by the Henry James novel, while others say it was not. I haven’t actually read Portrait of a Lady so cannot say for certain if I find any similarities between Isabel Archer and the perfume I am wearing.
Isabel Archer
Then my mind drifted back to the Greuze painting I photographed at the Wallace Collection. I wondered how many other paintings might hold this title and I did a Google image search…
To me this feels most appropriate. So many portraits representing so many facets found in each and every one of us and in this breathtaking fragrance evocative of so many of them.
bgirl rhapsody 