The Fragrance 411: June/July

Latest fragrance news

It's been a couple of months since I last wrote one of these posts, but boy do we have a lot to catch up on! Most excitingly - Elizabeth & James is only bloody coming to the UK, finally! For those unaware, that's Mary Kate & Ashley's cult fragrance line. I believe at present only Nirvana Black and White will be available from the existing range, but they have two new scents Amethyst and French Grey launching exclusively into Harrods. All very exciting, and should be available very soon!

Another UK exclusive for Harrods is Moresque Parfum, which is a fusion of Italian and Arabic perfumery. The brand plays tribute to the rich Arabic art and culture, matching it with Italy's flair for design, finesse and taste. The result is four curated collections - the White collection, the Black collection, the Art collection and the Gold collection, all housed in the most exquisite bottles. Definitely one to check out.

New-in fragrance launches

YSL's popular Mon Paris has earned itself an Eau de Toilette flanker (from £58 for 50ml), inspired by the first moments of attraction. It has top notes of bergamot, raspberry and blackberry, a heart of jasmine, tuberose, peony and orange blossom and ends on a lingering base of narcotic Datural flower, patchouli and white musk. It sounds beautiful, and the rich berry top note will take you into the autumn months too.

Another launch to burst onto the scene is from Thierry Mugler (which now appears to be known as simply Mugler). Not a brand to do things by halves, Aura (from £49 for 30ml) follows the success of Angel and Alien, and it is inspired by a woman's intuition and instincts. Described as a botanical oriental, Aura mixes tropical accords of tiger liana (a unique note to Mugler, which has been described as a smoky sugared almond note), rhubarb leaf and orange blossom, with a sensual base of bourbon vanilla and wolfwood. It appears that Womanity is slowly slipping off the shelves due to it being too experimental, so with this one being more safe, I'm intrigued to see whether it can match the success of its predecessors!

There's also a new scent from Givenchy, which adds to the Dahlia Divin range. This one is Eau de Parfum Nude (from £47 for 30ml), which is described as a musky, fruity floral. It has notes of apricot and orange blossom, jasmine, osmanthus and rose, and white musk and white wood. If you're a fan of sophisticated floral scents, this is a great option for you!

If you've been on social media at all this month, you won't have escaped the hype of Zoella Beauty, who have released a new collection for the summer entitled Jelly & Gelato. I always look forward to the body mists as they're nice and affordable (and ones that I'm completely kicking myself for forgetting to include in my Best of Budget Fragrance video, oops!) and within this collection is the aptly named Gelat-Eau Body Mist (£8). As with the rest of the range, it has notes of elderflower jelly, double cream and pomegranate, inspired by old school jelly and ice cream. It is available online now and should be in Superdrug stores soon, very excited to give it a sniff!

Estée Lauder's luxury sister brand AERIN is releasing Garden Rose Eau de Cologne (£120 for 200ml), collaborating with fashion influencer Alice Naylor-Leyland to produce a limited edition AERIN x Mrs Alice gift box. Garden Rose is inspired by the English countryside with notes of geranium, white Bulgarian rose, rose centifolia, sandalwood, amber and musk. It sounds beautiful and rose scents are always so timeless.

Missguided Babe Power (£28 for 80ml) has burst onto the scene as the clothing brand's first fragrance, produced by perfumers Per-Scent. It has become the fasting-selling fragrance to date at The Fragrance Shop - who'd have thought something that looks more like a fizzy drink than a perfume would reach such dizzying heights. Must be good! it has top notes of grapefruit, sour cherry, apple and pink pepper, with a heart of orange blossom, peony and jasmine, and a base of vanilla, musk, amber and a dose of the obligatory candyfloss for those sassy vibes. I've heard nothing but good things so far, and it's definitely on my to try list!

The newest scent from DKNY is Nectar Love (from £40 for 30ml), a floral fruity fragrance that features notes of freesia, mandarin, grapefruit, nectarine, jasmine, orange blossom, cedarwood and vanilla. The bottle is reminiscent of the brand's signature Delicious line, but the scent pyramid sounds like it is a world away, with more sophisticated notes. Definitely seems like one to check out if you like the more solar summer scents!

A quick shout-out to our pals at The Perfume Society (go and check out the latest edition of The Scented Letter if you subscribe, I'm in it!) as they have released this year's version of their annual Travel Edition Discovery Box (£12.50 for subscribers/£17.50 for non-subscribers). It contains a selection of holiday inspired fragrances as well as some gorgeous toiletries too, with standouts being Moschino Pink Fresh Couture, État Libre d’Orange You or Someone Like You, Narciso Rodriguez For Her Fleur Musc, a Molton Brown Coastal Cypress and Sea Fennel shower gel and the Philosophy Exfoliating Facial Wash. It is a great addition to your travel toiletry bag, particularly if you want to discover a new fragrance to scent your trip!

Coming soon

When I was in a Jo Malone store in London at the weekend, I was given a sneaky preview of two new Autumnal woodsy fragrances launching in September. Both are twists on the pivotal English Oak note, the first with fresh woodland berries lifting the scent, giving English Oak & Redcurrant a fruity twist. It has a heart of rose, which didn't immediately leap out to me. It isn't a million miles away from Blackberry & Bay, so if you're getting tired of that one, this will be a great new season update for you. Then there is English Oak & Hazelnut, which is the more unisex scent out of the two, having with an earthier vibe. I also picked up a similar note to Dark Amber & Ginger Lily (which I'm currently lusting after). Out of the two, I preferred English Oak & Redcurrant as it seemed more fresh, but both really summed up that Autumnal feeling. I'm really hoping they'll bring out a candle in these scents!

Which new fragrances are you looking forward to?

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