Optima Magazine

Mary Linehan wakes up and smells the roses…

Musing on this feature, a thought struck me. Did I really want to recommend my favourite perfumes and risk walking into a room only to find every other woman there wearing the same scent? Is that vanity, or perfectly acceptable sensibilities?

Wearing fragrance is personal. The scent we choose can reflect a mood, an intimacy, a trend, or make a statement. It can also evoke a memory. Who doesn’t recall with fondness their first fragrances? (Diorella, Rive Gauche and Nina Ricci’s L’Air du Temps bought at the airport en route on my first European holiday.)

What makes us choose a fragrance, ultimately, is a wonderful trick of Mother Nature helped along by peer pressure and persuasive marketing. The season also has some influence.

As the warmer weather arrives, fragrance experts recommend lighter, spritzier scents. According to Fred Johansson at Jean Paul Gaultier Perfumes, “Summer fragrances are mostly based on citrus accords to heighten the freshness that we seek out in hot weather. Deeper notes from many heavy florals can intensify in warm weather and become overpowering. Summer scents are also either alcohol-free, or have a lighter ‘safe’ alcohol to avoid any reaction on the skin due to photosynthesis.”

Walk into any department store to shop for fragrances and you’ll find lighter scents from Chanel, Dior and YSL, many of them classics. The trick, though, is to find something more personal. I tend to prefer the sophistication of French fragrances, but the amazing news is there are some fabulous ‘noses’ – the masters who create our favourite bouquets – right here at home.

Take Lyn Harris, whose wonderful Miller Harris fragrances and bath and body ranges are rewriting perfume history. Walks through the secret garden in Regents Park are her inspiration for new Fleur du Bois (£52 for 50ml), which launches in May.

This crisp, cool, summery and totally wearable daytime scent has top notes of galbanum and green grass, tangerine green and rosemary that give way to rose, jasmine and iris, drying down to oakmoss, vetivert and birch.

Ex-wife of Rolling Stones errant, Ronnie, Jo Wood has been committed to an organic lifestyle for nearly 20 years and is now the proud owner of her own luxury beauty company. Her fabulous certified organic AMKA (which means ‘to wake’ in Swahili), has fresh top notes of neroli and bergamot that dry down to green mandarin and sweet orange blossom, and beautiful rose otto and jasmine at the heart. (£36 for 50ml).

Ta’If by Ormonde Jayne is something else entirely – exotic and so sophisticated that it’s for evening wear only. The creation of gifted perfumer Linda Pilkington, this fragrance is an intoxicating and opulent Damascan rose with orange blossom, dates and saffron and pink pepper. It really is an exquisite and beautifully constructed fragrance with a Middle Eastern promise that evokes the steamy romance of balmy summer nights.

Jo Malone is perhaps the most famous of the British perfumers. New this month is her Lotus Blossom and Waterlily fragrance (£29.50 for 30ml). A magical blend of mandarin, sacred lotus blossom, bamboo and aloeswood make it perfect for daywear. It’s part of the limited edition Jo Malone Kohdo Wood Collection, inspired by the Japanese ritual of Kohdo, an intricate ceremony designed to use scent to alleviate stress and to influence mood. But that’s another story…

Stockist information and mail order enquiries:
www.millerharris.com;
www.jowoodorganics.com;
www.ormondejayne.com;
www.jomalone.co.uk