Beauty Terrorist - Style and Smell
Story Highlights
- Bespoke Perfumes – An Introduction
- Caffeinated Lemons
- For The Road
Bespoke Perfumes – An Introduction
It's not your average, run of the mill perfume and aftershave vendor but it is a well established, global brand with a historically fragrant kick to it. The title hails back to the nineteenth century work of Mr William Penhaligon and what he began as a Barber, next door to the Hammam Turkish baths in Piccadilly, London. Tired of simply sending London's men out of the door with cropped hair and fragrant oils, he decided to mix up a batch of his own fragrance. Interestingly enough it was inspired by the steam and sulphur of the nearby Hammam baths, and in honor of this the scent was labeled Hamman Bouquet. Penhaligon's has come a long way since said sulphur and today offers scent profiling to all of its customers. I was lucky enough to experience this at the Covent Garden boutique on Wellington Street.
Caffeinated Lemons
It might be something to do with the sheer volume of coffee that I wash through my body everyday, but when I walked into the warm wood interior of this exquisitely decorated perfumery, I was immediately drawn to the caffeinated scent of a specific coffee based tester. If you wisely add Penhaligon's to your London sight seeing circuit, you too will find this taster - next to rich variety of other scent examples, on a large, beautifully carved table, across from the roaring open fire. The heavenly selection of scents boasts several zesty, citrus offerings and after much consulting, spraying, indulging and pampering, it was decided that the scent which reacted best to my body was Castile. In an endorsed nutshell, Castile is: “The dusky sensuality of neroli, the fresh warmth of orange blossom.” It also lasts all day, smells amazing and is worth every penny.
For The Road
Because of the unadulterated, finely sourced ingredients and the hand crafted, attention to detail - packaging, the fragrances from Penhaligon's don't fit into the same price category as your run of the mill, Diesel and Armani fragrances. That said however, it's not a huge mark up and you can take away a distinct, historic and carefully blended, 50ml scent with you for £50. They make for great gifts too and the duration of the aromatic sprays will set you in good stead for most transatlantic, trans-European and equator crossing flights. A quick spray at each end will also take your sense related memory back to your warm and fuzzy scent profiling and the exuberant luxury of this one of a kind brand. If you don't get a chance to build the London store into your itinerary, you can follow your nose to the other signature boutiques in the St Christopher's cities of Paris and Edinburgh. Why not take a look at the website to find out a little more?
- Rob Savage
