Jardins d’Écrivans was founded in 2012 by the perfumer Anaïs Biguine. Her fascination with literature was an area that she wanted to explore through fragrance, but finding just the right subject was challenging. Her first perfume was simply titled George and was based upon the life of the author George Sand. Now, George was actually Amantine Lucile Aurore Daupin but, in the best tradition of a nom de plume, she changed sex and became a hugely successful author. This perfume set the style for the Jardins d’Écrivains range and the following year saw the release of Orlando.
Virginia Woolfe’s central character in her book Orlando: A Biography starts off as a teenage boy in the Elizabethan court before falling into a deep sleep around the age of thirty. Upon waking, Orlando has turned into a girl and, even more remarkably, manages to live for over three hundred years. The book is one of Woolfe’s most popular novels and is widely written about in regards to gender, transgender, and feminist issues, but translating it into a fragrance was always going to be a challenge. So, let’s open the bottle and see what Anaïs Biguine has in store for us.
“Quirky blends with the eclectic and timeless in a spellbinding fragrance. Irrational dreams, an eastern monarchy, and a sense of the divine linger in its wake.” These were the words that Jardins d’Écrivains used to describe Orlando and I can very happily agree. The opening of this fragrance is not a fresh citrus but rather an orange-imbued blend of spices. There is a huge rush of clove, which puts you in mind of a Christmas pomander, but it is rounded off by a beautifully balanced pink pepper and ginger, which makes the opening incredibly addictive.
Orlando by Jardins d’Écrivains is available from Jovoy, Bloom Perfumery, and Shy Mimosa, or from their website, jardinsdecrivains.com priced at £85 for 100ml [Sample provided by Aspects Beauty]
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