Morning ladies today I want to talk perfume. I don't know about you but I love wearing perfume that's a little bit different & unusual to the norm & the memories that different scents can evoke. In fact whenever we go away on holiday you'll always find me in duty free trying the various perfumes out to try & see if I can find a new signature scent. So when I was recently contacted by
Penhaligon's, a British perfumer I was intrigued to learn more.
Now I must admit I'd not heard of the brand before they contact me, but on taking a look at their website I discovered that they have in fact been around for some 144 years when their first scent 'Hamman Bouquet' was created in 1872 & have over the years been awarded 3 Royal Warrants - by Queen Alexandra in 1903, the Duke of Edinburgh in 1958 & in 1988 by The Prince of Wales.
With their mission to continue the work of their founder William Penhaligon & 'carry on his incredible legacy of creative & innovative perfumery, challenging the traditions of the art & seeking new ways to interpret elegant' they're definitely a perfumer to take note of & I love that fact that all their scents are still made in England, using the finest rare ingredients. With even their signature fragrance bottle still being produced to the original design with clear glass & a distinctive ribbon-wrapped stopper.
Plus they even have high street stores in various cities, including their Covent Garden store, which I just so happened to stumble upon during a recent visit to London. So I'm amazed I'd not heard of them before.
In order that I could get to know the brand a little further & discover more about their scents I was very kindly sent a
scent library which contains ten samples of their most popular scents. Ranging from 5 scents that are aimed at ladies to offer feminine, sensual & exotic perfumes to 5 more masculine scents that, whilst produced for the men in our lives can also be worn by women too.
In order to get accustomed to the new fragrances I spent a few weeks wearing each one for a couple of days & have to say I loved them all. Of course several were more to my taste than others but none were too overpowering or sweet/floral that I couldn't wear them, which as someone who can suffer with migraines from certain scents says a lot.
Personally I have always favoured a more spicy fragrance, with most of the perfumes I wear containing base notes of either Incense or Bergamot. So it's probably no surprise that my favourite of the 10 samples was
Endymion which contains Bergamot, Sage & Lavender as it's head notes, Geranium & Suede Accord as it's heart notes & Leather, Incense & Nutmeg as it's base notes - you could say this was made for me!
Penhaligon's describe the scent as 'spicy & fresh' that 'is a fragrance of contrasts, sensual, light & dark, velvety, sweet & sharp'. Originally created in 2003 they have recently launched Endymion Concentre a luxurious interpretation of the original scent, which the company continue to describe as 'a fusion of spices, leather & florals that opens with notes of sage & lavender to pearl the sensuality of suede layered with geranium. That as it warms to the skin, leather notes intensify with hints of creamy nutmeg mixed with incense for a base that is both sweet & seductive'.
As you may have gathered from the above description this fragrance is unisex & is based on the tragic Ancient Greek love story of a young handsome shepherd called Endymion, the son of Zeus who would look after his flock of sheep in the hills of Elis & is said to have been the first mortal to observe the movement of the moon. Luna (the moon goddess who drove her chariot across the heavens every night, taking with her the light of moon) would gaze upon Endymion's beauty & filled with longing pleaded with Zeus for the right to his son. Eventually Zeus conceded & permitted Luna to place Endymion (would had fallen in love with her as she crossed the skies) into an eternal slumber where he would remain ageless & deathless so his beauty would be preserved & whom she visited every night in his slumber.
In fact Penhaligon's also produce a fragrance called Luna that compliments Endymion, which is a fresh floral perfume that opens 'with the bitter freshness of orange bigarade, with the heart unfolding with the crisp lightness of juniper berry, rounded off with the sensuality of a dark woody base'.
I've not tried the Luna fragrance but it's definitely on my wish list & if I happen to find myself passing one of their stores I definitely intend to give it a try as I just love the idea of his & her fragrances that compliment each other & as I've mentioned previously my hubby loves all things moon & space related so I'm having trouble keeping his hands off my new fragrance!
Like other luxury brands Penhaligon's also produce complimentary bath & shower gel as well as deodorant, shaving cream & aftershave balm so it would make a lovely range to either treat yourself to or if you're ever struggling for gift inspiration for your other half. You can see the full range
here.
They even create gorgeous scented candles for the home
(see here) that are packed with essential oils so I think these are also going to require further investigation as you can never have enough candles can you?!
Back to today & I'm wearing my Monks on vacation maxi skirt (I've folded the waistband over to make it more of a midi) with a new cross over tee from Marks & my trusted biker.
Biker Jacket - Zara
Trainers - Golden Goose
So what do you think ladies? Have you ever tried any of Penhaligon's fragrances? Or is it a brand that like me until a few weeks ago you've not heard of? If you have tried some of the products, which ones do you recommend? I'd love to know which are your favourite scents & also if you've used their scented candles. If so would you recommend them & are they particularly long lasting? It says on their website that they last approximately 30 hours which I think is pretty generous but I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Enjoy your day & I'll see you in the morning.
