Perfume Pilgrim

I do miss Hiram Green’s old shop near Carnaby Street. Local artists used to paint custom murals on his walls, that were ever so sparsely and selectively shelved with sumptuous scents. His shop introduced me to a new world of natural perfumes that I have never forgotten, and I still feel vaguely nostalgic about. I enjoyed many a meandering in the cupboard sized store as-well as fragrance discussions with him, so it was with pleasure that I discovered scent system’s own luxurious and entirely natural perfume collection.

These single note florals have their own shelves amidst treasure troves of jewellery in the former home of the first dairy in London, called French’s Dairy, found in the fashionable Bloomsbury quarter off Lambs Conduit Street. Inhaling natural perfumes is an entirely different pleasure from smelling most perfumes. Although I am partial to aldehydes and hedione in most commercial perfumes, I really do enjoy deeply inhaling natural perfume oils, and there really is a difference.

As I had been exploring violet perfumes recently, I first approached the wild violet scent. Coupled with some rose, this has gorgeous natural orris heart. Imagine the beauty of Iris Noble of Acqua di Parma, intensified and more sublime, a scent that compels you to sniff ever more deeply. The soul of the scent is immersed in sandalwood and plant musk. Despite no aldehydes, this fragrance sparkles a little like lemonade with violet syrup. There are musical notes of Indian flowers and champaca absolute, that Ormond Jayne officianados are sure to recognize. This is a powdery feminine fragrance but not saccharine sweet, more of a wooden canoe filled with fresh garlands and poesies floating on a lake.

Next, I approached the tuberose with caution. Many love tuberose, but it is usually a flower I stay away from. This has top teasers of  citrus and coriander, middle notes of rose and heliotrope, tiare lily with Karo Karounde absolute, which I had never smelt before. The base notes are sumptuous with vanilla, honey and plant musk. My immediate response to this perfume is  bulging black tassels, full bodied lilies and what the perfume Fracas could dream of smelling like if it contained more naturals. I also smell ripened fruit in a dimly lit lacy boudoir with lots of velvet cushions.

The Rose perfume was a revelation. I am very partial to rose fragrances and this one is not the scent of a single rose, but a veritable rose garden in a Moroccan courtyard, shaded by neroli, bitter orange and petitgrain. It is easy to tell that this bouquet contains roses from around the world, including Grasse, Morocco, India, and Turkey. These are spicy roses, deep velvety reds on a floor of vetivert and vanilla. The vetivert balances the sweetness and whispers the grass and stems are as beautiful as the petals. Rose growers will recognize this rose perfume, but tea rose scent admirers may not. Having a collection of rose oils from around the world, I would hazard a guess that there is less Rose de Mai and Turkish rose and more of the Moroccan and Indian notes. There is also the surprising addition of heather absolute, possibly a signature from its creator, George Dodd, who operates from a remote part of the Scottish highlands. By the way, I am going to  attend a talk he is giving this evening on Perfume at the Dana centre in London…

One of the most interesting and unusual fragrances in the collection is the Oeillet or Carnation, although I did find some superficial similarities with Mona di Orio’s carnation. This is a spicy floral. Teasing with top notes of bergamot, clary sage and galbanum it is followed by actual Indian carnation absolute, the kind mentioned in the Kama Sutra. This also has basmati flower and cistus. The alto on the  base has patchouli, vanilla and heliotrope as well as the plant musk. I smell spicy banana flambe, peppery and creamy cointreau. This has an earthy aroma and the closest to an oriental of the collection. However, this is the one I would be least likely to wear myself.

The final floral is the Jasmine. This contains the precious oil where one million flowers are needed to produce one kilo.  My nose leads me to a Jaipur jasmine garden at night, while eating blood red oranges from a silver plate and walking barefoot in the dried grass. This is inviting with an icing of pineapple, vervein, heather (here it is talisman like again), cradled by bountiful blooms of jasmine, orange, broom, lavender and rose. Sweetened by vanilla, vetivert, plant musk and lovage. This scent reminded me of one of Mandy Aftels solid perfumes of Jasmine and orange, with the more fruity sparkle and herbacious depth to tone down the sweet cloyingness of real indolic jasmine. This is charming fragrance and an appetising introduction to naturals.

These perfumes are beautifully presented in cubed bottles and glass stoppers and the fragrances transform and sing on the skin. While intense initially due to the high absolute content, these may not have the staying power of chemical fixatives used in modern perfumery, but the scent does unfold and develop on our bodies. This is the kind of perfume that needs to be daubed with a stopper rather than sprayed on with an atomizer.  For the sheer exploratory enjoyment or introduction to naturals I suggest purchasing the sample box available exclusively from the Scent Systems website for only £34. The 17ml bottles retail for £229  each.  The floral fragrances are also currently available at W1 at the fabulous John Rocha shop on Dover Street. Green and Dodd  also offer a bespoke perfume service, which I hope to write about another time.