TRAVELS, Middle East culture, rare ingredients, kitchen gardens and rituals are the stand-out themes of this selection of scents for – offering up some very rich, crisp and distinctive juices.
Ojar – Routes Nomades
£195 for 100ml – Available here
Founded by Omani entrepreneur Sheikha Hind Bahwan who wanted to celebrate her culture and heritage as well as her love for fragrance and all its rituals, Ojar fragrances were originally released as absolute perfume oils but are now available as eau de parfums.
Deliciously smoky and incense-like, Routes Nomades is enriched cypress, ginger, cardamom, ylang, vetiver and cinnamon leaf to keep things interesting with patchouli and leather giving depth.
Akro – East
£220 for 100ml – Available here
The latest from legendary master perfumer Olivier Cresp with daughter Anais. Cresp has created some of the world’s best-sellers such as Angel and Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue.
Established in 2018, Akro makes scents that explore the “middle ground between fantasy and reality, pleasure and pain, science and sex”. Its latest launch, East, is inspired by Olivier’s travels to the Middle East – in particular the street markets of Dubai – and the rich mesmerising ingredient oud.
The intriguing and potent East has four aspects – a base of rare amber minerals, then agarwood and leather at the heart, with raspberry as dynamic top note.
Bentley – Beyond The Collection Magnetic Amber
£165 for 100ml – Available here
The Bentley Beyond The Collection of fragrances takes its lead from travelling and exotic locations, and Magnetic Amber takes us to Panama.
Composed by the perfumer Karine Dubreuil-Sereni, the nose behind scents for Gucci, Guerlain and Givenchy, Magnetic Amber contrasts and weaves labdanum, almond-tobacco, Virginia cedar, tonka bean and smoky Madagascar vanilla notes to forge a warm, rich woody multi-textured scent that evokes the Panamanian night.
Ffern – Autumn 23
£79 for 32ml – Available here
The unique ledger-based, sustainable, organic and season-focused company Ffern’s Autumn 23 was released on the Autumn Equinox. Created in collaboration with farmer and chef-of-the-moment Julius Roberts, Autumn 23 is something of a departure from previous Ffern fragrances.
It has a more fruit and vegetable palette and is informed “by the sights and scents of the orchard, vegetable garden and fields” at Roberts’ Dorset smallholding when the Ffern founders visited last October.
Smouldering wood- and smoke-rich and Harvest Festival fruit-heavy, Autumn 23 has earthy hints of tonka bean, carrots, basil, fig and timut pepper as well as some rich fig leaf accord.
Roads – This Weekend
£120 for 50ml – Available here
Established 10 years ago by Dublin-based entrepreneur Danielle Ryan, the eco-conscious perfume brand Roads (for every bottle bought Roads plants a tree) expresses her wide-ranging travels, wanderlust and curiosity about the world.
This Weekend bottles the excitement of freedom and anticipating the fun of, well, the weekend ahead, and is packed with dynamic mandarin, bergamot and orange; rose absolute, jasmine sambac and tuberose at the heart, and a base of patchouli, cedarwood and vanilla.
Les Jardins Français de L’Officine Universelle Buly – Caribbean Sweet Potato and Afghan Carrot
£144 for 75ml – Available here
The most recent launch by French heritage house Buly 1803 is the innovative and exciting Les Jardins Français (the French gardens).
Les Jardins Français is inspired by the passion and curiosity of 18th and 19th century botanists for their seed and seedling collections and brilliantly revives some unique, subtle and surprising garden fragrances – including Egyptian rhubarb, Iraqi beetroot, Afghan carrot and Sardinian parsley.
For this autumn, I suggest wearing the sublime and intriguing Caribbean Sweet Potato and Afghan Carrot perfume which contains a subtle blend of spices and vetiver. These are water-based, alcohol-free scents that are very easy on the skin and a delight to wear.
Santa Maria Novella – Bizzarria
£160 for 50ml – Available here
From the oldest cologne house in the world, founded in 1221, the Florence-based Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella – renowned for its colognes and its botanical garden – has launched its first ever collection of eau de parfums, I Giardini Medicei, inspired by the house’s lengthy heritage.
Bizzarria is based on a very rare citrus fruit of the same name, and which is something of a botanical mystery – it was first discovered in 1644 and not seen again until the 1980s. Bizzarria is an unusual but very compelling and distinctive blend of citrus and wood notes – its cedarwood accents mellow any sharpness. A great scent for day wear.
Brunello Cucinelli – Pour Homme
£160 for 100ml – Available here
Quiet luxury, stealth wealth, call it what you will, Pour Homme was launched this year and is the first ever perfume launch from the chic Italian fashion house, Brunello Cuccinelli.
Composed by leading nose Oliver Cresp (mentioned above as the founder of Akro), Pour Homme is aromatic and spicy, zingy green and fresh, with accents of ginger, Calabrian bergamot and black pepper; middle notes of cypress, clary sage and juniper; and base notes clearwood, angelica and ambrox super, Pour Homme mesmerises with its understated elegance.
Byredo – Rouge Chaotique
£250 for 50ml – Available here
Deep and dark, Rouge Chaotique is the first oud gourmand launch for the cult Swedish fragrance, make-up and lifestyle brand Byredo, founded by Ben Gorham. It’s part of the brand’s extrait de parfum Night Veils line designed to be worn as a “ritual of the night”.
Gorham’s concept behind it is to accept the “chaos within”. Rouge Chaotique is mysterious and almost spiritual and is composed of deep patchouli, oud and papyrus making a potent base, which is layered with plum and praline notes. Blackcurrant, bergamot and saffron add some light to the shadows.
Laboratorio Olfattivo – Nektar
£110 for 100ml – Available here
Honey-inspired Nektar is from the Italian brand, Laboratorio Olfattivo. The nose behind this fragrance is Pierre-Constantin Guéros, known for his expertise with oud, and who has worked with many leading companies such as Initio Parfums Prive, Jil Sander, Thameen and Givenchy.
Guéros works the sweetness of honey into something complex, soothing and dark as well as sweet. Nektar also contains rich hints of tonka bean and vanilla as well as cedarwood oil.
by Caroline Simpson