The Glass Christmas Gift Guide – scents for the season

 

bella-closetomyheartClose To My Heart by Bella Freud

Close To My Heart by Bella Freud
Close To My Heart is the newly launched floral fragrance by the quirky and hugely talented British fashion designer, Bella Freud. Close To My Heart has a feminine, alluring tuberose scent, with accentuated floral notes of neroli, rose de mai and jasmine. It is fresh enough to wear during the day while equally sensual and mysterious for evenings. The chunky red cap and bottle will certainly enhance any girl’s dressing table.

by Amanda Bernstein

Close To My Heart  (50ml, EDP) retails at £95 and available at here

 

 

 

 flacon-star-of-the-season-whiteOrlov Paris Star of the Season

Orlov Paris Star of the Season
At Christmas, in the nativity story, we are reminded it is the season to follow the star, so what could be more fitting than dousing yourself liberally in Star of the Season, a fragrance in the first collection from new luxury French brand Orlov Paris whose founder Ruth Méaulle has two passions – diamonds and perfume – bringing these together to form her company?

Each perfume in the range is created by legendary nose Dominique Ropion (the genius behind some of Frederic Malle’s classics like Portrait of a Lady) and is inspired by a diamond and its unique facets. In Star of the Season, it is a 100.10-carat pear-shaped stone that, at the time it was auctioned for $16,500,000 in 1995, making it the most expensive diamond in the world.

Lucky for us that the perfume isn’t priced at such a stratospheric figure although it does contains two of the world’s most precious perfume ingredients rare Indian sandalwood and iris, and is spiced up by orange blossom, rose, patchouli and vanilla. The result is a unisex floral which is richly layered and captivating.

by Caroline Simpson

Orlov Paris Star of the Season (EDP, 75ml) retails at £200.00 and is available from here or Harrods

 

penhaligons portraitsPenhaligons Portraits

Penhaligon’s Portraits

The Portraits collection is a very clever idea from Penhaligon’s drawing on the brand’s own illustrious heritage while nodding to, and subverting, the enduring fascination the lives of the English aristocracy (like novels such as Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh Anthony Powell’s Dance to the Music of Time series, television shows Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey) exerts on our collective psyche. Each fragrance in this collection – The Tragedy of Lord George, The Revenge of Lady Blanche, Much Ado About The Duke and The Coveted Duchess Rose – comes with its own witty and well-thought out backstory played out in perfume.

The packaging of each fragrance is most appealing and unique – as befits the collection – with each bottle having a solid metal cap in a design representing the character of the fragrance as well as being presented in a beautiful box designed by Icelandic illustrator Kristjana Williams. Glass particularly loves the sensual yet refined floral wood, Much Ado About The Duke, a very wearable gin-ny leather with a peppery rose accents.

by Caroline Simpson

Penhaligon’s Portraits (EDP 75ml) each retail at £178 and are available from Penhaligon’s

 

Essences Incensées by Diptyque

Essences Insensées by Diptyque

Essences Insensées by Diptyque
Fabrice Pellegrin, perfumer and collaborator from the well-loved Parisian house of Diptyque, has created Essences Insensées, a limited edition fragrance focusing on the seasonal May rose, found in Grasse in southern France. Additional notes include sweet red fruits and honey, which makes it a perfect choice for daytime. Enrobed in an utterly glamorous art deco inspired glass black bottle, Essences Insensées comes complete with an attached equally glamorous co-ordinating puff atomiser.

by Amanda Bernstein

Priced at £105 for 120 ml and available at Diptyque or here

 

 

Chanel No5 L'EauN°5 L’Eau by Chanel

N°5 L’Eau by Chanel
From Chanel comes the recently launched N°5 L’Eau, especially created by perfumer Olivier Polge for today’s modern thinking woman. The fragrance draws inspiration from the much-loved, iconic and world-renowned fragrance, Chanel N°5. With its fresh, light and simple notes of rose, jasmine and ylang-ylang, N°5 L’EAU is sure to be another success story for Chanel.

by Amanda Bernstein

Priced at £96 for 100ml and available at Chanel

 

crop-for-site-mfk-grandsoirbottle

Grand Soir Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Grand Soir Maison Francis Kurkdjian
One of Glass’ favourite fragrances of the year is Grand Soir from Maison Francis Kurkdjian. Part of the house’s Les lumières de Paris collection, this is a seductive, sultry oriental with redolent notes of amber, tonka bean and vanilla, all conspiring to evoke the romance and magnificence of a night without end in the city of lights and just right for winter. Whenever Glass wears this, we receive urgent inquiries about its identity. A perfect gift for the season.

 by Caroline Simpson

Grand Soir by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (EDP 70ml) retails at £140.00  available from the Maison Francis Kurkdjian site and Selfridges in London

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