With The Great Gatsby soon to be hitting our screens, my renewed fascination with The Roaring Twenties has led to me frequently spritzing on one of my favourite Penhaligon’s scents Juniper Sling. One sniff of its warm notes of cinnamon, juniper berry and cardamom given a zesty kick with black pepper and immediately I can imagine flapper girl Daisy Buchanan at one of Gatsby’s wild parties, draped in diamonds, a gin martini in hand. As each Penhaligon’s scent seems to have a personality of its own, I realised there were several other famous literary characters I could match a few of them to…

Ellenisia – This cheery, feminine scent would be a perfect fit for Cassandra Mortmain, the heroine of I Capture the Castle. Set in the 1930s, the novel is told via Cassandra’s diary about life with her eccentric family who live in gentile poverty in an old English castle. An uplifting concoction of mandarin, violet, jasmine and tuberose, it’s a scent that never fails to lift the spirits, much like spending time with narrator Cassandra – as anyone who has read the book will attest.

Lily of the Valley –Another 1930′s heroine, Fanny Wincham is the narrator of Nancy Mitford’s famous novels The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate (and later Don’t Tell Alfred). The antithesis of her absent and frivolous mother (known as ‘The Bolter’ for her numerous husbands), Fanny is the most stable and dependable of characters and a caring, loyal friend to the novels’ rebellious and unstable heroines Linda Radlett and Polly Hampton. Like Fanny, Lily of the Valley seems to typify a sweet and unassuming English young lady, with its soft, warm bouquet of jasmine, ylang ylang and rose.

Endymion – A resolutely masculine scent with rich notes of leather and spices, no one is better suited to wearing Endymion than Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester. Charismatic, brooding and shrouded in mystery, Rochester manages to win the heart of the intelligent yet naive Jane, who works in his household as a governess. Being well-travelled, he has a touch of the exotic about him, much like Endymion whose dark heart is brightened by dashes of mandarin and lavender.

Bluebell –In The Virgin Suicides author Jeffrey Eugenides doesn’t feel the need to explain the actions of its main characters, the five Lisbon sisters. Instead they haunt the novel like ghosts, as the horrific story of their lives is played out like a Greek tragedy. 14-year-old Lux Lisbon is the book’s most iconic character- beautiful, seductive and rebellious, yet she also seems to inhabit a childlike dream world along with the rest of her sisters. I think the pretty Bluebell (created in the 70s, the decade in which the book is set) encapsulates Lux perfectly, with its baby blue coloured liquid, with notes of sweet intoxicating citrus, softened by a delicate floral heart.

Viola Levy is a freelance beauty writer and editor. Follow her on Twitter @violalevy

The fragrant cocktail combines Hendrick’s Gin, juniper berries, byrhh, lemon and cucumber bitters. To learn how to mix a Juniper Sling cocktail, watch Bar Manager Geoff Robinson here.

As well as spoiling you with a delicious new cocktail, we are also giving you the chance to win £500 worth of Penhaligon’s goodies. Enter our competition here.

Who will be trying a Juniper Sling cocktail?

- Laura

Penhaligon’s sponsored the event, offering cyclists a place to spritz and refresh. The stylish riders were also treated to complimentary fragrance profiling sessions.

Penhaligon’s awarded prizes for the Best Moustache and Best Groomed Male. It was difficult to choose but here are our winners:

Despite the rain, everybody had a fantastic day and it was for a fantastic cause. This year, the Tweed Run’s chosen charity was the National Cycling Charity the CTC who have been protecting and promoting the rights of cyclists since 1878.

-Laura

As most of you know, we love the eccentric and unusual and subsequently, are delighted to be a sponsor of this year’s event. Not only will we be judging the Best Moustache and Grooming Awards during the tea break, but we’ll also be offering our fragrance profiling service to all of the dapper cyclists, ensuring they leave a trail of delicious smells as they embark on the second half of their travels. I have a sneaky suspicion Sartorial might be quite popular on a day like this one, don’t you?

Unfortunately all 500 tickets have already sold out, but we at Penhaligon’s have something up our sleeves…if you were one of hundreds who weren’t lucky enough to be allocated a ticket, then today may just be your very day. Discover how you can win a pair of tickets on our Facebook page here. The best of luck dear chums, toodle pip for now!

-          Lauren

Almost the entire process is done by hand, not a robot in sight! First the sterilised bottles are filled using this brilliant contraption, which we can perfectly imagine in the laboratory of a mad Victorian scientist! Look at all that lovely Blenheim Bouquet, enough to keep a whole troop of gents beautifully scented.

Then another interesting looking device ensures the pump and tube are sealed nice and tightly (we wouldn’t want any of that precious juice to leak!) before the little bottles make their way along the line to be dressed!

These speed at which the labels and bows are hand-applied is quite astonishing, they were going at such a lick that we could hardly capture it on camera.

Finally the complete bottles are nestled into their lovely boxes, then wrapped and packed for delivery to our stores all over the world!

We imagine everyone went home that day smelling everso slightly of this great classic, which is no bad thing!  Did you know that after 110 years Blenheim Bouquet still remains our bestselling fragrance globally?

How important is it to you that the products you buy are made in the UK?

- Emily

Following the highly successful launch of our first boutique in Singapore in 2011, the new concept has been adapted to combine classic Edwardian splendour with thoroughly modern fittings. Designed by Christoper Jenner, the new boutique will reflect our decades of heritage, and our contemporary approach to perfumery and design.

With such beautiful fittings as Brighton pavilion dome chandeliers, extensive marquetry panellling and handcrafted furniture to reflect our iconic bottle shape, our Regent Street boutique will become a must visit destination. The store will reopen following it’s  Edwardian makeover on the week commencing of the 21st of January.

- Lauren

There was a fantastic turnout at the event and the Penhaligon’s Christmas tree looked stunning in the corner of the decadent lobby.  Festooned with opera glasses, theatre programmes, bright coloured baubles and bottles of scent, the tree is a homage to our 2012 Christmas Collection. We completely fell in love with their Christmas cake, created exclusively for the event by their Head Chef - how beautiful?

We all thoroughly enjoyed the Penhaligon’s cocktails (maybe a few too many) and I still can’t decide whether I preferred Endymion (Lavender Liquor, Gin, and Champagne with a Sage, Lemon and Cointreau sorbet) or Peoneve (Jasmine Syrup, Rose Liquor, Vodka and Champagne Rose.) I guess I’ll just have to go back and try them again to find out….

Which Penhaligon’s fragrance would you like to see transformed into a cocktail?

-          Lauren

Team Penhaligon’s made a fantastic effort at growing some Mo’s for the charity this month, raising a total of £795. A huge thank you to everyone who got involved especially the lovely bloggers Warren from Monsieur Robot, Grant from Basenotes, Eli from Joshua’s Magazine and Candy Perfume Boy for growing some splendid facial hair, all in the name of charity. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing your Mo’s grow throughout the month!

As most of you know, this year also saw the launch of an exclusive moustache wax for Movember. Lightly fragranced with Sartorial, the wax was a must-have accessory for any respectable Moustache Merchant.  £2 of every tin sold was donated directly to the charity. The wax has proven to be a huge success, with stocks selling out online in the first week!  For all of you who didn’t get the chance to get your hands on some, we can confirm that it will be returning next year!

Last month, we also held the Third Annual Moustache Awards on our Facebook page.  It proved to be extremely tricky at choosing the winner but we are delighted to reveal that the winner of our Moustache Awards was Andy Childs. We love his decadent Mo! You can see the runners up online here.

As always it’s been a terrific month working with Movember and we’ve certainly enjoyed the huge amount of moustachioed men walking down the streets of London.  Until next year…

-          Lauren

With December around the corner, invites to Christmas parties are coming in thick and fast. We at Penhaligon’s love a good old shindig and that doesn’t just include us at Head Office – some of our UK boutiques will be hosting some  festive soirees for all of you to enjoy this Christmas.

Up North, the Edinburgh boutique will be hosting a theatrical masked affair, and in Chester our boutique has created bespoke artisan chocolates for all guests to savour. Down South, our flagship, Covent Garden will be transformed into a winter wonderland and our pop up shop in Bluewater will be participating in the shopping centre’s official Christmas Night Out.

If this and some bubbly isn’t enough to entice you, then we can also reveal that our boutiques will be offering an exclusive 15% discount off as well.* For further details about any upcoming events then please read our Facebook page here.

Christmas gifts anyone?

- Lauren

*Subject to availability whilst stocks last. Offer excludes crystal, marquetry and silver goods. 15% discount is not valid with any other offer and is only valid within the individual Penhaligon’s boutique on the date and time specified.

Team Penhaligon’s Mo Bro’s have been growing some spectacular facial hair over the last couple of weeks  to help raise funds for the charity. Check out how lovely Candy Perfume Boy, Grant of Basenotes and Remi from Head Office moustaches are! We can’t wait to see them all on the final day of the month. Handlebar anyone?

It’s not too late to support Team Penhaligon’s and donate some money to this fantastic cause – just click here.

-          Lauren