There’s nothing quite like getting lost in the hustle and bustle of a vibrant, cosmopolitan city like London, Paris or New York. Whether you’re there for the art, fashion, food or simply to soak up the atmosphere, these stunning metropolises offer a veritable feast for all the senses. Drink up the incredible sights, set against the hypnotic soundtrack of cities at work and play. Immerse yourself in the history of the people, captured in time through the magnificent architecture.  Breathe in those powerfully evocative scents, the exhilarating clash of aromas from bars, cafés, restaurants a ..read more

With the summer holiday season starting to sizzle, it’s time to breathe deep and really feel the healing power of the sun on your skin, embracing the sensory essence of summer in all its forms. Complete that summer holiday feeling with the perfect scent. Explore our 2023 summer edit along with the following top tips for making the most of your fragrances: 1. Work with the weather These are the hot humid days when perfume smells richer, fuller and stronger. Every facet of a fragrance is revealed and enhanced by warm skin. Remember to balance your scent with the atmosphe ..read more

With the summer holiday season starting to sizzle, it’s time to breathe deep and really feel the healing power of the sun on your skin, embracing the sensory essence of summer in all its forms. Complete that summer holiday feeling with the perfect scent. Explore our 2023 summer edit along with the following top tips for making the most of your fragrances: 1. Work with the weather These are the hot humid days when perfume smells richer, fuller and stronger. Every facet of a fragrance is revealed and enhanced by warm skin. Remember to balance your scent with the atmosphe ..read more

The unprecedentedly long reign of our wonderful Queen reflects so many changes in trends, modes and manners. Take for instance our favourite theme: perfume. One might measure out Her Majesty’s 70 Glorious Years in scents; for smelling a perfume associated with various periods of one’s life evokes innumerable poignant memories and weaves a nostalgic tapestry of a life well lived. Every scent is a brush that paints the past in brilliant colour. From your most recent purchase, to the remembered fragrance of apple blossom as you lay under the trees as a small child, every scent tells a tale. Becau ..read more

The fashionable colour for this year is a vibrant shade of translucent blue with deep glowing hints of mauve and amethyst. It’s the colour of early spring flowers - plants such as scillas, periwinkles, crocus, rosemary, bluebells, violets, anemones and hyacinths. All those flowers that spread like an azure lake under the trees before the boughs even come into full leaf. This is the tint of an April sky in the late afternoon after a cloudless day of radiant sunshine and early heat; of daffodil leaves and stems; of kingfisher's wings and nesting blue tits; it’s the colour of your beloved’s eyes ..read more

When we hear the word 'perfume' it’s likely that a great many of us will visualise a fragrance of the Oriental type: a soft, sweet spicy shimmering cloud of loveliness. Like most perfume families, Orientals have long since expanded from their classic prototype. This is usually said to be Guerlain’s Shalimar of nearly a century ago; though a very good case could be made for a much earlier scent, the mauve and silvery-powdery Shem-el-Nessim which always draws the crowds at Les Senteurs. Orientals have developed in many directions and they remain the most sensual, adventurous and colourful of all ..read more

Perfume and the wearing of perfume is all to do with the working of magic or the casting of a spell; an enchantment that works both on yourself and on others.  Don’t forget that the origins of perfume, thousands of years ago, lie wholly in the world of sorcery: in the practice of keeping on the right side of Unseen Beings. The very first perfumes were used in the worship of the gods through incense: per fumum/ ‘through the smoke’.  A brief history Incense is the fragrance released by the burning of scented woods and plant-derived gums and resins: myrrh, opoponax, frankincense, copal ..read more

The fascinating and luxurious business of fragrance layering has two meanings:   Intensifying Firstly, it is the practice of intensifying the effect of a perfume by applying it to the skin in different formats. Layering is practical: your perfume will last much longer and have much greater throw and sillage. So, use a scented lotion, body cream, bath gel or hair mist in addition to your signature scent and revel in the extra depth and richness.  Alternatively, use the body products only for a subtly different perception of your favourite perfume. See for instance the Frederic Malle ..read more

We have recently sent out a newsletter for our dear customers and friends with some modest proposals for scents to see you through the seasons. Now as you know, we tend to recommend perfumes by mood and style rather than gender at Les Senteurs. Therefore, gentlemen, please do not be put off when you see in this calendar a splendid assemblage of floral notes: this flowery fragrance could yet be very much the one for you! So: be bold and follow your nose ... and your heart! When was it that boys were told off to avoid flowers? It's a very British thing. And relatively recent. Male Russian cosmo ..read more

Musk is one of the most famous and notorious ingredients in perfumery. It came from the Far East some 1500 years ago, via the vibrant Arabic cultures who believed that a party of houris in Paradise were composed entirely of musk. Musk took the Western world by storm and has been misunderstood ever since, like so many myths and legends of fragrance. Like ‘oud’ and ‘amber’, ‘musk’ has become a vague and generic word, frequently misapplied. Folk will often talk about a musky perfume when they mean a rich, dark, spicy, sensual fragrance that more accurately could described as oriental or chypre ..read more