Scent Seduction

When fragrances come and go quicker than Hollywood romances, it is rather special when a brand can claim it’s been around for 150 years. Even more amazing, it’s a brand that has evolved and grown purely from its passion and heritage of fine fragrances, rather than big splashy advertising campaigns.

This year the perfumer and apothecary Armand Roger and Charles Gallet created the house of Roger & Gallet a century and a half a go. Some may see it as old fashioned, but that would not be an appreciator of fragrance, others may see it as traditional, but that would be simply short sighted, and the remaining would see it as a house that has become a hallmark of authenticity, creativity and pedigree.

To celebrate this landmark anniversary, their champagne moment is a design reinterpretation of Napoleon Bonaparte’s bespoke Eau de Cologne flask. It sounds rather masculine, but as you can see from the bottle’s slender lines it’s anything but. The reason being as a token of love, Josephine de Beauharnais asked Jean Marie Farina who created the cologne, to invent a bottle that her husband could take anywhere with him. This inspired the tall and elegant shape that could be slid into his boots and infuse him with loving thoughts about her. How wonderfully romantic is that story telling? Today, they would be slipping it into their man bag which doesn’t really have the same emotion I think you’d agree!

The three limited editions are: Eau de Cologne Jean Marie Farina which is to the original recipe of notes of lemon balm, thyme, rosemary and neroli; Eau Fraiche parfumee Bois d’Orange which as it sounds, full of zesty notes of orange leaf and fruit and Eau Fraiche parfumee Fleur d’Osmanthus with delicates notes of the flower with added notes of orange peel and tonka bean. All three are breezy, easy and delicious to wear on the skin and cost £34 each.

Bringing the house right up to the 21^st century, their new all-in-one body mist, Eau Des bienfaits is an everyday spritz that’s fresh, modern and heightens your senses. Inspired by a journey to the heart of an Italian garden, this gives you some idea what to expect in terms of smell. As well as an energising fragrance, it also leads a double scented spritz as a bodycare formula with extracts of Aloe Vera, and fruits acids to gentle smooth the skin. I love to use it after a workout.  Available this month at £28.50.

Roger & Gallet is available from pharmacies and selected stores.

To read more about the house go to www.roger-gallet.co.uk