Recently I visited the Penhaligon's store in Brighton and got to check out their fabulous Christmas gift collection. This year the collection is called World of Wonder which is Circus inspired with a festive & frosty twist! The collection is described as: "The most jaw-dropping show in the North Pole has pitched up a tent at Penhaligon’s. Come one and all to discover nostril bending novelties, arresting scents, and fragrant finales festooned with a darling bow.”
The store was decorated beautifully for Christmas with presents hanging in the window and various themed displays throughout the shop. The manager, Martin, talked me through the collection and I had fun trying out some of their scents I’d never smelt before.
The gift sets this year include: Halfeti’s Showstopper - a gift set with a full size 100ml of the iconic scent (and my favourite!) as well a 300ml hand & body wash. Luna’s Grand Debut - a set that includes a 100ml perfume and a 300ml hand & body lotion all in this years themed packaging. Leading Ladies and The Showmen - both of these sets include the cutest mini perfume bottles of the 5 most popular scents for women and men respectively. Then there is the Doors of Wonder Advent Calendar - this wasn’t in store, but it is still available online if you want to grab one! 24 scented gifts are behind each door including perfumes, candles, soaps and hand creams. It looks amazing!
I have long loved Penhaligon's fragrances. Not only are they beautiful, luxurious and complex in their scent notes but I find they also have the unique ability to actually last once you’ve spritzed them and mean truly last all day! They’re very special and in my opinion worth the price tag if you can stretch to it as you don’t need to spray a lot for a strong scent. A little goes a long way! I’ve had many occasions where I’ve been wearing a Penhaligon's scent (more often than not Halfeti!) and have been asked what the fragrance is and been made to write it down!
I was kindly treated to some of the gift sets from the range and a couple of other fragrances to try too. Here is what I picked up:
Halfeti’s Showstopper Gift Set: Halfeti is my favourite Penhaligon's scent, it’s woody, floral and spicy all at once. With notes of grapefruit, cardamom & bergamot, Bulgarian rose & jasmine, amber, sandalwood, tonka and musks. It smells luxurious & expensive, it’s very aromatic and always makes me feel great when I’m wearing it. It feels very autumnal and wintery for me, but I have worn it all year round and it still works.
At the time of posting this gift set is currently sold out but you can get the exact same gift set here just in different packaging
The Leading Ladies Set: which includes 5ml bottles of The Favourite, Elisabethan Rose, Halfeti, Empressa & Luna. I thought these would be great for taking away on trips with me.
Constantinople: I fell in love with this scent as soon as I tried it! It’s woody & aromatic like Halfeti, but has a more powdery, soft, slightly frosty & wintery feeling to it. With notes of patchouli, pine, iris, lavender, pink pepper & vanilla.
Luna: If you know me, you’ll know that I have a little dilute calico cat called Luna and for that reason I’ve wanted to own the Luna perfume for a while now! They only had a small 50ml bottle available in store, so I picked that up. With top notes of lemon, bergamot & orange, middle notes of rose, juniper berries and jasmine and base notes of balsam fir & musk. For me, this is a spring/summer scent and perfect for those who love fresh, floral fragrances.
Highgrove Bouquet: This was the scent my Mum chose. We both loved it, but I definitely think it suits her more! This was created in collaboration with Highgrove Gardens and the then HRH The Prince of Wales. It smells like the most perfect garden in spring/early summer, fresh and earthy, bursting with life, colour & fragrance! The main notes are lime blossom, mimosa and cedar.
I’d highly recommend popping into your local Penhaligon's store to try out the fragrances as they really have to be experienced in real life to get a true feel for what they’re like. I’ve tried my best to describe the scents, but I definitely haven’t done them justice!
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Make sure you’re following me on Instagram as I have a very exciting giveaway for one of the Penhaligon's Christmas gift sets coming up! CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY.
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