FOR THIS Autumn’s scent selections, I feel I have been on a very wide-ranging and expansive – olfactive – journey.
From the spice trails through Florence, London at night, Great Gatsby-esque parties, experiencing some California love, sailing the stormy high seas and for an exhilarating spin in an Italian sportscar – all navigated through the mysterious and marvellous medium of perfume.
Chanel Beauty – Allure Homme Sport Superleggera
£130 for 100ml – Available here
A limited-edition release flanker of the Chanel Allure Homme Sport fragrance, Superleggera is inspired by the concept of “superleggera” (meaning super-light in Italian and used to describe a construction technique using super-lightweight materials to make sports car).
Created by Chanel in-house nose, Olivier Polge, Superleggera has a lighter blend of woody notes with its original amber dialled down. It is built around an “engine” centre of patchouli and is a lighter invigorating version of the classic scent.
The classic Allure Homme Sport bottle has been revamped in clear smoked glass with the Superleggera imprinted on it in striking, dynamic red lettering.
Penhaligon’s – The Dandy
£175 for 100ml – Available here
Presented in very stylish Art Deco packaging, The Dandy, the new launch from heritage British perfume house Penhaligon’s pays homage to Great Gatsby-inspired nights of revelry. With a whisky accord blended with raspberry and bergamot, cedarwood essence and base notes of patchouli and cedret, oak and smoke, it’s a glamorous affair.
Noyz – Lost and Found
£85 for 50ml – Available here
Noyz is a gender-neutral fragrance brand set up by Southern Californian serial entrepreneur Shaun Neff. Noyz is dedicated to self-expression in scent, using high quality, long-lasting ingredients to create juices “inspired by real stories and raw feelings” and “the loud, the imperfect, the messy, the real”.
Made by leading nose Jérôme Epinette (the perfumer behind work for Byredo, Dolce & Gabbana and Van Cleef & Arpels), Lost and Found is a subtle and attractive skin scent that draws you in with its profile of Italian lemon and pink pepper; raspberry, rhubarb and jasmine; and a foundation of sugar, cedarwood and amber.
And not only is Noyz high quality and expertly composed – at a very reasonable price point – it is also certified vegan and cruelty-free and uses no synthetic dyes or animal by-products.
Issey Miyake – Le Sel d’Issey
£101 for 100ml – Available here
A major fragrance launch for men from Issey Miyake 30 years after L’Eau d’Issey, Le Sel d’Issey is by rising star perfumer Quentin Bisch.
Bisch says of the new juice, it is “scent of the exact moment the waves roll back, transitioning between the earth and sea. Salt is the memory left behind by a wave on the earth and on the skin, almost like an imprint. I wanted the focus to be salt, which naturally complements the idea of water previously showcased by the brand – with the huge success it experienced – as well as the rhythm and movement of nature.”
With a vibrant refreshing salt accord – augmented by intense cedarwood and oakmoss, Le Sel d’Issey is very wearable and versatile. A great daily go-to scent.
Superdry – Real Superdry 01 for Men
£45 for 100ml – Available here
I love a well-crafted great smelling perfume sold at a very reasonable price. And the new Superdry line released as a duo – one for women, one for men – is just that.
Real Superdry 01 is composed by master perfumers Nathalie Lorson and Alexandra Monet (the noses behind perfumes for Amouage, Dior, Bulgari, Kenzo and Givenchy), with creative direction from the Superdry CEO Julian Dunkerton. The breezy and enlivening Real Superdry 01 contains skilfully balanced salty, mineral notes blended with a bright citrus, cooled by the balmy Hinoki (a Japanese wood).
Real Superdry 01 has great eco-cred too. It’s presented in 100 per cent recyclable and refillable bottles with wooden caps – made from partially recycled glass. It is also vegan-friendly, eco-conscious scent made of 98 per cent naturally sourced, socially responsible ingredients, too. Superdry is onto a winner.
Beaufort London – Absent Presence
£115 for 50ml – Available here
The last fragrance in the British’s brand Revenant series inspired by the sea and seafaring, Absent Presence draws inspiration from Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney’s haunting sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella, which evokes the eerie presence of someone who is never seen but whose presence is felt.
Absent Presence also evokes elemental dark bodies of water and crashing walls of waves. Like the rest of the Revenant series, made of a high level of natural ingredents – 30 per cent eau de parfum – it contains an overdose of concentrated ingredients.
These include galbanum, bergamot and black pepper as opening notes; violet leaf and jasmine at the centre; moored down with extravagant bourbon vetiver, sandalwood, leather, musk, cedarwood and an amber base. A unique compelling composition.
Electimuss London – Spice D’Arno
£200 for 100ml – Available here
Part of the revered brand’s Explorer Collection, the starting point for its new launch – Spice D’Arno – is the city of Florence and the Arno River that flows through it. Composed by master perfumer Celine Barel, who says she was inspired by Florence’s “its rich history. I wanted to work with one of its emblems, a full-grain leather, soft and velvety, which I sublimated by combining it with mystical resins and balsams like myrrh, olibanum, labdanum and gurjun.”
Adding iris to interplay with warm spices, saffron and vanilla (which were once transported on the Arno), Barel seals the deal with an elegant touch of oud, myrrh and cashmeran at the base.
Moncler – Les Sommets Ciel d’Hiver
£175 for 100ml – Available here
Luxury fashion house Moncler introduces a new fragrance into its Les Sommets collection that celebrates the brand’s rich Alpine heritage, stunning mountain forests as well as cosy chalets – Ciel d’Hiver.
Staying true to the codes of the house, a dazzling neroli bursts through to open up the wood- and musk-infused Ciel d’Hiver, creating a refined and complex scent.
Mastenbroek London – London Dusk
£150 for 100ml – Available here
A new limited-edition launch from the UK-based and family-run fragrance company, London Dusk is a collaboration between the founder and master perfumer Ruth Mastenbroek and her son Nic.
The scent combines Ruth’s wealth of experience in formulating with Nic’s innovative take on perfume making. Harmonious and vibrant, London Dusk captures the experience of adventures in the city as dusk falls until dawn awakens.
London Dusk opens with redolent golden fig, elemi, coconut; has a rich tonka bean, saffron, incense heart and a base of sandalwood, vetiver and amber. It’s a brilliant companion to explore the city with
Creed – Centaurus
£330 for 100ml – Available here
This autumn Creed launches its Amber Universe with two perfumes that delve into wood and leather accords to create a “duo reminiscent of radiant amber gemstones”.
Using the finest raw materials from “rare spices to precious woods, resins, and balms”, Amber Universe mines the hypnotic and sensual facets of amber to create these two exceptional fragrances, Delphinus and Centaurus (named after the brightest stars in the universe).
Inspired by the wise centaur of Greek mythology, Centaurus, this wonderfully luxurious EDP blazes with spice notes pink pepper, cinnamon, and cardamom and warm rich tobacco; has a heart of géranium, sandalwood, héliotrope, jasmine patchouli and is grounded by rich and almost luminous amber facets of benzoin, tolu balm, tonka bean, ambroxan and bourbon vanilla.
by Caroline Simpson