VENUS OF VERBENA by Sana Jardin

There is something so autumnal about generously spritzing a scarf with your favourite fragrance and then launching yourself out into an amber-leafed, and frost-encrusted world. Okay, I might be sounding a little over-poetical here, when what we really mean is “a finger-freezing force nine gale”, but you get the idea. Your choice of perfume is always going to be a highly personal decision, but I really do encourage you to think about reaching for the glorious greens during autumn and winter instead of the usual ambers. The perfect starting point for this has to be Venus of Verbena from Sana Jardin.

There are many perfume brands at the moment that have taken a wellness approach to their fragrance launches, with varying degrees of success and storytelling. Some of the promises have been fantastically fanciful, while some have been distinctly pedestrian, and so finding a middle ground where the claims match the content is a line that few have achieved. It’s very difficult to successfully sell “wellness” because, even if you have certification, it will still be a personal response that a customer ultimately gets from a perfume. With this in mind, Sana Jardin have taken a more “resonant” route.

Many people are familiar with the idea of aromatherapy and aromachology, as a way of dealing with feelings and emotions, but it’s still often difficult to get people invested. So, the way that Sana Jardin have approached their fragrances takes the concept of flower vibrations as their cornerstone. The vibrations are the catalyst to the change that a scent can exert on the wearer and, while historically this was done in an observational way, it’s now achieved in more scientific means. The fragrances still have to smell amazing, which they really do, but an added dose of energy also does wonders.

Sana Jardin was founded by Amy Christiansen, who had herself been helped by the healing properties of flowers and “the power of scent to uplift and transform”. The collection of perfumes is made up of nine fragrance, which naturally split into three groups - empowering, uplifting and grounding. These run the gamut from floral through to resinous and, within each scent, there is a key ingredient that provides the vibrational response. The focus in Venus of Verbena is described as helping “lighten energy and clear the path for more optimistic times ahead” - something we could all do with at the moment!

Venus of Verbena opens brightly with an uplifting blend of green verbena and lemon but, alongside this powerful pair, you also have the focusing aroma of neroli with its evocatively metallic edge. This leads seamlessly onto an aromatic blend of clary sage and orange blossom, so building on the opening but with an added depth, and creates a genderless floral effect. The development of the fragrance sees a carefully measured cherry-pie heliotrope come into the mix along with a billowy dash of musk, but an earthy vetiver and oakmoss combo add an elegance to the blend that does conjure the idea of “optimistic times ahead”.

Venus of Verbena is available from the Sana Jardin website at sanajardin.com, and also Space NK, priced at £32 for 10ml and £115 for 50ml. [Sample provided by Sana Jardin]