How important is the story of a perfume to you?
Does the story about a fragrance make a perfume more appealing to you?
Some perfume houses have a very clear story to tell about a fragrance. Like the Canadian perfume house Zoologist Perfumes and the British perfume house Penhaligon’s Portraits series, both are inspired by animals in a way.
Zoologist Perfumes and its owner Victor Wong have a very clear story by taking its inspiration from interesting animals ranging from bats and civets to hummingbirds. Not only does the perfume house have a clear image of a dressed animal on the bottle. The scent itself is inspired by this animal as well. I really like this idea as it is original, daring and the fragrances themselves are all worthwhile to try. As far as I know perfumes have never been presented this way.
Penhaligon’s introduced a very exciting imaginative tale last year about an aristocratic British family and the intriguing stories within this family. When visiting a Penhaligon’s store last year in London I was very impressed by the history of this family presented as The Portraits Series with beautiful animal head bottle caps on the perfume bottles. These animals are said to portray the persons they represent.
The story of a Lord (The Tragedy of Lord George), a bored Lady (The Revenge of Lady Blanche) and an illegitimate son (Roaring Radcliff) is fun and the bottles with the animal head bottle caps are very impressive. But unfortunately the fragrances themselves are somewhat disappointing. To me the scents do not fit the glamorous presented story. Too much emphasis is placed on the bottles and the story and too little effort on the fragrance itself. The scents (I tried the first 4 launched in 2016) are not very distinctive especially given their presentation and price tag. This is a real pity as the bottles themselves are a real addition to anyone’s perfume collection and the whole story of an aristocratic family with all its intriguing relationships are a fabulous way to present a perfume line as well.
Bottom line A story behind a perfume can be important in inviting us to try and buy a fragrance. In the end however, the scent must be worthwhile as well. Both are crucial: the story and the scent. They must be a good fit. As much as I like these Penhaligon’s bottles and their stories I would not buy any of them as I was disappointed in the fragrances but I am tempted to buy a bottle of Zoologist Bat or Hummingbird as I find the combination of the story of the animal and the fragrance capitivating. The story and scent are a good fit.
How important is a story behind a perfume to you? Have you ever been tempted to buy or try a fragrance inspired by its story?
Disclosure: Photographs taken from the officials websites
October 27, 2017 @ 13:11
I prefer a perfume “story” that is less specific to a person than these Penhaligons. Their stories seem to me to limit the appeal of the fragrance, especially along gender lines. Intellectually, I know I can wear both “Lord George” and “Lady Blanche”, but it seems awkward to wear the one that doesn’t match my own gender, once they’ve made such a point of emphasizing that aspect. I tend to love Penhaligon’s fragrances, but I prefer their less personal narratives, evocative of any atmosphere, like the descriptions for Savoy Steam, or Blasted Bloom. Then I can make up my own story: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2015/12/21/fragrance-friday-blasted-bloom/ .
October 27, 2017 @ 20:38
Interesting point, I had not thought about the gender specific stories and the implications of it. Do not think I Would wear Lord George either, because of this. I loved reading your review of Blasted Bloom. Did not know the fragrance but the way you described it makes it sound like a scent I must try. Thank you for the link.
October 28, 2017 @ 09:10
This morning when I saw the title of this post in my inbox I had déjà vu: I could have sworn that I’ve previously saw that question. When I came home and looked in my notes, I got a confirmation that there was some post or comment, in which you told some story about perfume and asked a similar question (I have your screen name saved in the note). I made that note because I thought of a story that I wanted to tell on my blog and I planned to reference your story/question. For the life of me I couldn’t remember what that note was about. I looked through all your posts (which wasn’t easy since for some reason you have 1 post per page – usually one sees these settings when there are banners that earn money “per view” – but there are no banners on your site…), then through your FB page, then through your comments on my blog… I have no idea what I referred to 🙁 Any chance you can think of anything?
Answering your question, there are so many factors that go into 1) the decision to even try perfumes (for example, since I do not like the “animal” theme behind that brand, I decided not to test those perfumes); 2) liking what I test (there were a couple of EldO perfumes that, I thought, weren’t bad but I decided not to pursue them because I didn’t like the names). But I also have a case of liking perfume because of its story (I won’t name it yet – in case I decide to do that post, even without knowing what prompted the isea in the first place 🙂 ).
October 28, 2017 @ 18:29
Hi Undina! You took a lot of effort to find the post or comment 😊 I can imagine it took you quite some time searching through comments, fb. In Budget Pick Of the Month January 27th I posted the same question at the end and we had a little discussion about this topic. It is a topic which particularly interests me to be honest as I am a bit allergic to too much marketing and not enough content in general.
Interesting points you mention: 1. Your decision to even try perfumes, had not thought about this. A story or bottle might invite us to try it. The animals were inviting to me, but obviously not to you. Interesting for an article too 😊 2. Not to buy a fragrance when you do not like a name, I agree, if the name for ever reason is not inviting or even offending 3. I am very much looking forward to your choice of liking a perfume because of it’s story.
(Personally I do not like banners btw)
Hope you get to write the article!
October 29, 2017 @ 08:01
Thank you! It would have haunted me otherwise 🙂
I would be surprised to find anybody who likes banners. I was just saying that I usually see the setting of 1-5 posts per page when people put banners on their blogs (I’m not talking about those that WordPress inserts in the free accounts but rather those that blog authors use to earn some money on the traffic). That’s why I was surprised that you use that setting without having a reason of making money on extra banners’ views. Not that there is anything bad with either making money this way or showing one post at a time. Just unusual 🙂
October 28, 2017 @ 18:59
Great topic! Been thinking about this a lot recently. It really depends on how authentic the story is. And of course, if the story is more enticing than the scent itself, then what’s the point? I haven’y tried all of the fragrances from the Portraits Collection. But I love the packaging, the names and the stories. I really like those that I have tried so far. Thanks for the post. R
November 2, 2017 @ 10:50
I agree, R, authenticity is important in a story too. Interesting to read you liked the Portraits Collection! Thank you for reading and leaving a comment 😊
November 2, 2017 @ 17:38
Always a pleasure! R