A scent souvenir has always been my favourite kind of souvenir. Sometimes, the notes of a perfume serve as a postcard. In Capri, I visited the niche fragrance house, Carthusia in search of a scent that would bottle up the the island’s lemon trees, wild flowers and sea breeze (it existed!). Other times, the purchase is simply a Proustian trigger and takes me right back to the place I visited.On a recent trip to London, I made it my mission to pick up a fragrance from a local perfume house and meticulously checked off all the places on my list: flagship boutiques like Penhaligon’s and Jo Loves, department stores like Liberty London and Selfridges, and independent perfume shops like Les Senteurs. Eventually, I chose a scent from Penhaligon’s as my souvenir. After coming home, London was still on my mind and I thought a lot about what the city would smell like in scent form. So I reached out to Michael Donovan,owner of London-based perfumery Roullier White (who possesses an insane encyclopedic knowledge of fragrances andalso just launched his own perfume line called St Gilessold exclusively at Selfridges) to share his thoughts.
“I think that attempting to re-create a sense of a specific place in a fragrance is very hard to do well,” he told me. “I have encountered perfumes seeking to capture the scents of London before and they often centre on Hyde Park, which is really not the experience of most Londoners! However, there are intelligent and imaginative exceptions that get me excited.”
Here are five scents that he believes capture the spirit of London.
Londonby Gallivant
“My current fragrance passion is ‘Gallivant’, the work of my friend Nick Steward, an olfactory obsessive like myself. Nick is a linguist and has lived and travelled all over the world. His collection conjures individual cities across the globe and are insider’sfragranced travel-guides rather than a tourist snapshot. His ‘London’ fragrance captures both the grit and the glamour of our capital perfectly. Fresh cucumber and violet leaves at the top conjure spring rain over rose de mai and leather. It is this juxtaposition that works wonderfully – the beauty and ethereal glamour of rose oil with the dark urban bite of leather. The dry down is complex and every changing – just like the city.”
Ealing Green by 4160 Tuesdays
“A very good way of tackling the enormous sprawl of a giant city is to break it down into smaller components and ‘Ealing Green’ by independent British perfumer Sarah McCartney at 4160 Tuesdays is more suburban if not bucolic. Inspired by her home postcode in West London, Sarah imagines the area in the 17th century and uses cut grass, meadow flowers, herbs and warm earth in a fragrance that is wonderfully Arcadian and the antithesis of what one would expect. I like a fragrance to surprise and transport and Sarah can always be relied upon to do both!”
Jermyn St. by Floris London
“I am a sucker for a little history and the perfume house of Floris based in London’s famous shirt-making district of Jermyn St is awash with historic olfactory anecdotes. Their gin-based cologne ‘ Jermyn Steet’ uses juniper and citrus with green notes (to conjure London’s Plane Trees) and the scent of crisp cotton to honour the tailored locale. Classic with a twist and truly uplifting.”
London by Roja Parfums
“My friend, Roja Dove has recently released his own realization of our hometown ‘London’, imagined as only Roja could as a rich oriental! He balances the luxury of Mayfair with the naughtiness of Soho and the green open spaces of the Royal Parks. It is spicy and piquant with lavender and sage over cardamom, clove and coriander and the humming urban throb of benzoin, cistus and labdanum. Imaginative and clever, I love the gloss and the power.”
Kingsman TGC by Kingsman + The Perfumer’s Story By Azzi Glasser
“I have to give a nod to ‘Kingsman TGC’ by another home-grown nose Azzi Glasser. I have worshipped Azzi’s work since her explosion onto the perfume scene with the original Agent Provocateur fragrance, which was a game changer. She recently collaborated with film director Matthew Vaughn to create a fragrance for the movie, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and it is stunning. This is London’s Savile Row in a bottle and will actually suit both men and women with a penchant for cool, elegant, tailored scent. English Earl Grey tea, laurel leaf and a hint of rum that reminds me of the great London barbers like Trumpers. A smokey vetiver base with just a hint of luxurious black oud complete a suave and sophisticated scent for grown-ups.”
