If you’re a perfume fan then you can’t have failed to notice that the number of new releases every year continues to grow. An exact figure is impossible to calculate, but we’re definitely in the thousands rather than the hundreds. This is a far cry from the days when companies would launch a new fragrance possibly every three to four years, it now feels more like one every three to four months. So, finding “your” perfume amongst the noise can be an almighty challenge. Enter Fario who, with the release of their Autograph fragrance, have tackled the issue of originality head-on in their debut signature scent.
As we slowly begin to exit the rules that have governed us for over a year, we do it in the knowledge that there are others who are not so lucky. Their lives are still restricted and many don’t have the freedoms that we now do in Britain. It’s because of this uncertainty, and also because we’ve all been on a long voyage of self-discovery, that many of us are now reaching for “simpler” products. Overly blended fragrances are being glossed over in favour of a purer style, and none embodies this more than Fleur de Lavande from 1000 Flowers. The archetypal soliflore, it’s time to take a scented journey to the town of Grasse.
When we think about perfume we rarely also think about gadgets. The world of fragrance is almost revered and the prospect of having it sullied with gimmicks and novelties would be sacrilege. However, there have already been many questionable bottles and applicators, but the latest “gadget” owes a lot to a much-loved part of perfume’s history. Fulton & Roark have launched a range of solid fragrances that draw on the earliest tradition of having your scent contained within a wearable wax. Encased in a magnetic sliding container, they have made solid perfumes sexy. Let me introduce you to some streamlined silver.
Fragonard started a tradition back in 2010 by releasing their first "Flower of the Year" and it is still something that is looked forward to even in its eighth season. Now these fragrances are essentially soliflores, which essentially means an interpretation of a single flower, but you also find that they have been crafted into an Eau de Toilette that develops on the skin. It's a very old tradition to create something which is true to nature rather than abstract and Fragonard continue to do it brilliantly. This year's chosen flower is the Peony, or Pivoine in French, and it's everything that you could have wished for.
