When I read that Penhaligon’s was coming out with a fragrance that was inspired by London dry gin, well, I celebrated with a gin martini - gin being one of my all time favourite spirits.

  NANBAN, launched in 2015, is another stunning olfactory expression Huber’s genuine interest in history and culture. NANBAN was inspired by a Japanese galleon on the Pacific Ocean in January 1618. The full story can be found on the Arquiste website

 When I first smelled Le Chèvrefeuille by Annick Goutal, I immediately returned to sweet memories of good times with good friends in Provence. Turns out I’m not the only with scent memories of honeysuckle since Le Chèvrefeuille was inspired by Goutal’s daughter Camille’s childhood memories of the honeysuckle that used to bloom outside her bedroom window at the family home there in Provence.

When I first came across Russian Leather from Parisian niche fragrance house MEMO at Saks, I was instantly taken with this forest fragrance. Back at home, I checked it out online where I found the brief for the fragrance:

I can’t recall what possessed me to sniff a fragrance called Chocolate Amère, but when I did, I was quite surprised at how quickly and deeply I fell in love with it. Chocolate Amère is from Il Profvmo, the Italian niche perfume house founded by aroma therapist Silvana Casoli.

Fantastic Man was inspired by a Dutch men's magazine called Fantastic Man. The magazine’s byline is: The Gentleman’s Style Journal. The editorial focus is men’s fashion, style and lifestyle through interviews with male celebrities – actors, writers, artists from different countries and with different backgrounds. The result is a witty, playful, well - designed magazine.

Soliflore Gardenia opens with soft, floral, indolic gardenia. As a soliflore, it doesn’t evolve much, but it isn’t linear either – how can it be when the scent of gardenia is so complex and heavily nuanced? Body heat makes it bloom, getting fatty, lactonic and bigger until it develops into a fully realized gardenia scent that is true to nature.

It has been a very long time since I’ve smelled something as evocative as Peau d’Ailleurs. It has ejected me back in time to a happy, innocent place – the backyard garden I used to play in at the house we lived in before my sister was born.

I made a list a while ago of the fragrances I think every perfumista should try; when I saw Patchouli 24 by New York-based niche perfume house Le Labo on the list, I smiled to myself.