How To Choose A Fragrance | With Her Majesty The Queen’s Perfumers

Selecting a fragrance is an incredibly Personal decision That is only further complicated by the Endless options Out there however like most things i've Always found myself gravitating towards The heritage fragrance houses These are the houses that have been Around the longest and produce their Fragrances Using the tried and true traditional Methods that have been around for Centuries However amongst the heritage houses Flores Which is based on the iconic german Street in london just a stone's throw From the piccadilly arcade Has always stood out as one of my Favorites My daily rotation of fragrances consists Primarily Of those from florists we also for this Reason carry them on kirby allison.com Which is one of the ways that you can Support this channel however back to Floris Founded in 1730 flores is one of the Oldest heritage houses in england That is still family owned and managed They have possessed countless royal Warrants including the royal warrant to Her majesty the queen And the prince of wales they have an

Incredible history With creating fragrances using only the Highest quality Non-synthetic ingredients and to this Day You can still walk into their iconic German street shop And design your own bespoke fragrance to Be hand mixed and poured Right there in front of you now flores Is currently run by their ninth Generation family member Edward bodenham and i thought it would Be fun to check in with him To see how he advises their clients on Selecting the perfect fragrance for them Edward great to see you and i'm sure you Get this question Just as often as we do here and that is How does one go about beginning the Process of choosing a fragrance Thank you kirby well um smelling a Fragrance and finding a fragrance is Something that is is really Instinctive um it is something that is Is very Um natural for us and primal really so If if we smelt burning Um now we would instantly know that That's something that was a danger Signal that something was burning in the In the building so The same way um is how you choose your Fragrance something will

You have your own memory bank of Different um Uh smell experiences that Sort of determine your your tastes in Perfume In fragrances so if you smell something And instinctively like it then then you Should go with that really and it's and It's different for every single person Because it's Uh each person has their own memory bank Of Fragrances that they've smelt uh Throughout their life Which remind them of of um happy Memories or Or not so good memories so you'll see Someone's face light up when they when They smell something that connects with Them instantly So when a customer first steps inside Floris how do you begin the journey To finding the fragrance that's right For them we would normally show them A few fragrances from the different Fragrance families so we'll show them Something from the citrus family Something from the floral family Something woody something oriental And a few different um [Music] Different scents in those those sort of Categories and then you just Get to know people like i say will

Instantly Know if they respond positively to a Fragrance and that's that's really how You Um that's really how you do it so the Best thing is just to go with your Instincts really and and the fragrance Will find you interesting Um so one of the things that makes Flores so special Is the fact that you don't just have Ready-made fragrances That a customer can choose from i mean Of course you have many that That are great and are iconic and that i Love but that you can actually create Your own Fragrance uh completely bespoke uh Working with one of your perfumers Can you talk a bit about that process Because it's always been something i've Been fascinated by We where i'm standing here this is our Perfumery and It's also a bit like a museum really Because we're fortunate enough that we Have so many uh of our old fragrances And um Archives that have been collected over The years so this is where a customer Can come And have their own bespoke fragrance Created for them And here we have our different bases and

Blends that we work with And that works in a similar way showing The customer Different ingredients and different Bases from the different fragrance Families and just See which they respond positively to And you get to to to see the customer's Preference and that's how the Fragrance comes together so talk to me About what goes into a fragrance What are the different components and How is it built up because one of the Things that you always see with Fragrances Are kind of the top notes the base notes Like the different layers of the Fragrant itself Well the makeup of a fragrance is um you Have base notes Which are the very heavy molecules the Real sort of fixatives of the fragrance If you like Um things like musk um woody notes Amber and then left on the skin Right at the end of the day when you've Been wearing a fragrance You have the heart notes which usually Tend to be the sort of floral elements Or The spices um and then you have the Top notes which are the very volatile Molecules things like the sort of citrus And zesty notes and very light floral

Notes that will just lift off in the First sort of few seconds or First few minutes of spraying a Fragrance so that's really how a Fragrance is sort of Composed really of these various notes And obviously the perfumery actually Shares a lot of the vocabulary Um the same vocabulary as music really With with notes Well i mean of course flores isn't short On iconic fragrances I mean jf number 89 which was i think Ian fleming's a fragrance Even the new german street or turnbull Nasser i mean these are some of the Fragrances that i have as part of my Rotation But what are some of your top tips for Someone trying to find the right Fragrance for them When really choosing amongst those that You have already developed I think the top tips are to um Try a few different fragrances from Different families and just go with your Instincts really You'll know if you like something or if You don't like it and just Just be just be guided by your instinct And if you smell a few fragrances and You Start to get overwhelmed by smelling too Many

Different fragrances that you know your Brain has never smelled before so Sometimes it can be a little bit Overwhelming Then go outside go for a walk for five Minutes Um also smelling coffee beans is Supposed to sort of reset Your sense of smell as well so that can Help and just help you to sort of Smell more um more fragrances really so You can Um make that decision my other top tip Would be To once you've found a fragrance that That you like And to to wear it on your skin and um And just wear it for a few hours and Come back to it and just see Um how it responds to your your body Chemistry And that's the best way to really sort Of get to know a fragrance Um but anyone that comes into the shop We have A wonderful team of trained staff best Thing is just to To come and chat to them they will take You through the journey And they'll help you find the fragrance That's perfect for you Thank you edward i mean this is one of The things that i truly love About london and shopping in london is

That it's really one of the few places Around the world Where you have these heritage houses That are still run And managed by multi-generational family Members i mean the fact that you can Walk into florist's store right there in German street And speak with someone like edward Bodenham who's been in the family Ninth generation he may not always be There but many days he is and Most of the time he's just right Upstairs if he's not downstairs on the Shop floor That is really incredible and one of the Things that i love so much so There we go edward bodenham kind of Giving us a little bit of advice On how to approach fragrance i mean i Know Kind of thinking of myself that you know Kind of the way that i approach it is Not You know really kind of being Overwhelmed by it and really kind of Playing around with it You know flirting with some different Fragrances trying different things out Seeing what you like and at the end of The day you know i think we all Gravitate maybe towards one Two or three fragrances but i really Enjoy having a collection of several

That in the morning i can kind of choose Amongst and see you know really for that Day what really kind of fits my mood And there's something to be said about Fragrance and how It really does impact the overall kind Of senses I honestly don't feel like i've gotten Fully Ready for the day in the morning until After of course i've tied A tie i put my jacket on but the last Thing i always do before leaving my Closet in the morning Is walking into my shelf with all my Fragrances and selecting That day's fragrance so if you haven't Tried florists Please give them a try we've got several Of their iconic Fragrances of course all my favorite Listed On kirby allison.com it's one of the Ways that you can support this channel And i would encourage you to give those A try if you haven't seen our full Piccadilly arcade walking tour or our German street walking tours Check those out we kind of talk about Several of these other heritage houses For which london is so well known of Course i'm kirby allison And i love to help the well-dressed Acquire and care for their wardrobe

While exploring the world of quality Craftsmanship and tradition Thanks for watching