Three of the best: autumn fragrances
Just up from Marble Arch, Les Senteurs is a boutique specialising in unique and rare fragrances by independent perfumeurs. This is where to come if you're looking for something that explores the real passion and inventiveness in modern fragrances. A world away from the J. Lo's Glow or One Direction's That Moment, the scents at Les Senteurs are fine stuff, picked out by a team which includes the store's ebullient archivist James Craven, who once took me on a frankly kaleidoscopic tour of the smells in the shop. The change of seasons is a great time for new options. I asked Callum Langston-Bolt, one of James' team, for his recommendations.
Musc Tonkin from Parfum d'Empire:
'Due to be launched in the coming months, this fragrance is astonishingly good. A reworking of the brand's limited edition Extrait from 2012, there is no official list of notes. Instead the perfumer, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, wants each person to smell it blind, as it were. Hugh amounts of animalic musks - so soft, and yet incredibly sexy - mix with a deep, dark jasmine to create something that I found utterly beguiling.'
£105 for 100ml EdP
Liqueur Charnelle from Huitieme Art:
'It's based on the scent of cognac and it's a gorgeous concoction of warm, boozy fruits, golden tobacco and soft powdered woods. It starts with a bright, smooth fruitiness before the woods and tobacco warm and soften underneath - supreme coziness. Once the chill finally hits, this will be in its element!'
£88 for 50ml EdP
Anubis from Papillon:
'I thought I'd include a real power-house in the name of balance. Anubis (a scent that the perfumer Elizabeth Moores created for herself) is just the thing for walks in the forest and afternoons near the fire (hopefully in a local pub). A huge Egyptian jasmine forms the heart of this fragrance; in no way delicate or flowery, this jasmine is all spice and depth. Leather, castoreum pink lotus, saffron, sandalwood and immortelles surround the heart. All the while, its dryness means that it never becomes overpowering.'
£94 for 50ml.
Les Senteurs, 2 Seymour Place, Marble Arch, London W1H 7NA
