The arrival of spring puts the perfume wearer in a new gear; the ambers are swapped in favour of the floral, the boozy gourmand for the citrus. Spring is a style, an embrace of lively freshness and aromatic lightness.
In this edit, our fragrance editor Liam has assembled six fragrances oriented around the vernal. Full of easy sunshine and the scent of nature energised and returning to life, captured through notes of green herbs and grasses, wildflowers, blooms, and fruits. Every perfumer captures spring differently, and on our noses, this means there’s a springtime perfume for every taste.
Remarkable People - Etat Libre d’Orange
Nature comes to life after the dormancy of winter - the earth warms and the days lengthen, which is a cause for celebration. Remarkable People by Etat Libre d’Orange is the aromatic essence of this celebratory spirit; sharing this energy with an equivalent aromatic wavelength. It draws upon the wonderfully frenetic energy of spices and citrus - the peppery sizzle of grapefruit, the cool and diffusive green resin of cardamom, and the fascinating addition of curry tree - fragrant leaves that are entirely their own, lending pungency and distinction. These spices rise on the foam of hundreds of dry Champagne bubbles, until this mousse coats and spreads over a gentle woody-amber base.
Remarkable People is a rejuvenating perfume. Vibrant and lively, it sees the springtime world through a flute overflowing with Champagne.
Fougere Emeraude - Les Indemodables
The fougere is a foundational family in the world of perfumery, and Les Indemodables proposes a reinvention - blurring lavender with tuberose flower, gaining a unique botanical quality that feels like the warmth of spring light. This scent bursts with life and natural intensity, its emerald tone attesting to the quality of liveliness of the fragrance.
The unique grade of lavender used in this fragrance, ‘Saint Christol’ is particularly rich, with an enhanced olfactory profile as the flowers are semi-dried before being processed - with distinctive almond-like facets. Similarly, a dash of clary sage oil deepens the fragrance, with a discernible leathery facet. A huge dose of Indian tuberose with Moroccan mimosa absolute lends creaminess, lusciousness, set against the upright posture of lavender. In sum, it’s a happy creation, an indubitable invocation of spring.
10 - Bogue Profumo
Bogue Profumo’s 10 draws its remarkable power from nature. It is an ode to a green universe of suggestions - an intriguing scent where the classic fougère is pushed into unmapped territories. The energising power of bergamot meets the arboreal protection of intensely spicy marigold flowers, which introduces the vibrant aromatic soul of lavender growing in the shadow of a mighty fig tree. Emerging from the base, the unexpected force of oud, frankincense and civet changes the course of this vegetal and floral theme, synergising with a blooming heart of jasmine and rose. The journey ends in a mischievous velvety origami made of vanilla and tonka, without disrupting the balance achieved here.
In 10, flower means power, as all of its ingredients are in the service of creating striking green. A meticulously constructed kaleidoscope in slow-motion, floral notes morph in a dazzling display. 10 is spring, but it is also autumn, it brings together beginning and ending at once: it is the gift of an infinite now.
L’Amandiere - Heeley
If the impressionistic is more your speed - this is a portrait of Spring where rays of sunlight filter through a canopy of almond trees, onto dew-laden grass dotted with wildflowers in bloom. This could be an image painted en plein air by Monet or Signac, but here one imagines the style of Pissarro through the touch of perfumer James Heeley.
This is the gentle scent of spring - to warm the coldest days or complement the warmest ones. It collects green and yellow scent on a gentle breeze as the almond tree shivers and exudes, pulsing with the addition of hyacinth and mint. L’Amandiere is achingly tender, sweet, soft and gentle. A vivid background of colour coated in translucent and powdery white.
Rabbit - Zoologist
If we take the energetic bunny rabbit as a metaphor for spring, as they so often are, then Zoologist’s Rabbit is inextricably the scent of the season. Perfumer Fanny Bal has created a fragrance vast with wildflower petals and clover, replete with clippings of grass and hay, all at once vegetal and green.
This bunny rabbit has got the binkies: zooming, darting, and twisting, it is high on a rush of happy endorphins. The sweet ambiance of this scent gives expression to this sensation, blending the powdery sweetness of an emblematic carrot note with a biscuity blend of almond, vanilla, and white musk as soft as rabbit fur. We can imagine Rabbit as Zoologist’s founder, Victor Wong does: like a carrot cake baked by a rabbit - mixing sugary notes with grassy notes, spiced with cinnamon and flavoured with jasmine. Rabbit says gourmand, but it doesn’t quite say eat me. It's a bit of an innocent trickster, and is very easy to like. Its drydown is long and leaves a memorable scent trail.
Libertine Neroli - Francesca Bianchi
The abandonment of pleasures and the enjoyment of life: this is Francesca Bianchi’s intention with Libertine Neroli, this namesake material indissociable from warm sunlight and generosity. The entire bounty of the bitter orange tree - leaves, twigs, aromatic fruit skins - alloyed to a chypre structure, it gains in unbelievable complexity. Finishing on leathery oakmoss and spices, it is this dark contrast that makes all the light so prominent. Francesca Bianchi showcases a deep and comprehensive understanding of her materials.
