Amaranthine – tropical and floral and sensuous

Summer is here! Oh, maybe not just yet according to the calendar, but the telltale signs of summer – shorts, sandals, weekends at the cottage, the smell of food grilling on BBQs, the low hum of chatter tumbling from gardens, porches, patios and decks - are all here.

I love the easy, casual vibe that comes with summer where I live but the thing I love the most about this time of year are ‘summer’ fragrances - fragrances that can stand up to the heat of summer without wilting, fading or disappearing because they were inspired by it and made for it. This is when I put my bottles of Batucada, Terracotta Voile d'Ete and Fire Island in the fridge, so I can get a shot of cool relief when I spritz my favourite summer scents. And, lately, I’ve been spritzing a lot of Amaranthine by Penhaligon’s.

Penhaligon’s was always a bit of a fussy line for me and very few of their scents grabbed me, until Cradle Holdings bought the line in 2009. They upped their game by commissioning noses like Bertrand Duchaufour and Olivia Giacobetti to create some exciting fragrances - Juniper Sling, Sartorial and Peoneve - that revitalized the line and made it more relevant to me. That relevance started in 2009 with Duchaufour’s tropical treat Amaranthine.

Amaranthine opens with a light, fresh note of green tea, its floral aspects heightened by white freesia. Fragrant banana leaf adds a green, tropical note that is spiced up by aromatic coriander and cardamom. Such a lovely summer scent…until we get down to business with the heart notes. Rose, lush and exotic shows up along with spicy, peppery carnation. Carnation has a clove-like aspect that I love and it’s bolstered here with the addition of clove oil giving the scent a languid, tropical warmth. Soon the white florals show up: fresh, sweet orange blossom; rich, custardy, banana-laced ylang-ylang and narcotic, animalic jasmine. They make Amaranthine indolic, sensuous and erotic.

The base is creamy and thickly sweet from notes of condensed milk and Tonka bean – the perfect compliment to the voluptuous florals – smoothed and softened by musk and sandalwood.

The drydown is all lush and creamy with a green, tropical spiciness that runs through it right from the top notes. It smells like an irresistible call to action.

Amaranthine comes from the Greek amaranth and means "unwilting". It was the name given to the mythical flower that grew on Mount Olympus and lived eternally. Sounds like the ideal name for a fragrance that won’t wilt in any kind of heat.

Check out Amaranthine in our Shop.