If you follow us on Twitter you would have noticed a flurry of activity and excitement last night as we hosted our Scented Soirēe at Callooh Callay for London’s blogging glitterati.
From the outside, who would have known the scented delights that lurked behind this innocent looking wardrobe? With their key in hand, guests were ushered through the wardrobe (images of Narnia spring to mind) into our intoxicating den of fragrant delights.
On entering the wardrobe our guests senses were delighted with the scent of our black wax Elixir candles; a potent and seductive blend of incense, spices and eucalyptus mixed with the sweetness of vanilla. Giant Penhaligon’s factices adorned the mirrored walls and the scented den was completed with our “pop-up” fragrance booth to profile our guests.
In our view Callooh Callay has to be one of the coolest bars in London. Not only do you enter the back room by walking through a wardrobe but their furniture will have you sitting in a sliced-in-half bath tub which, in truth, was deceptively comfortable.
So, not only are they a little on the eccentric side (something we embrace) but they’re also renowned for their cocktails. With this in mind, we couldn’t resist employing their creative mixology skills to craft our very own Penhaligon’s cocktail range (complete with video guides coming soon!). For one night only our bloggers could wet their taste buds with Orange Blossom, Blenheim Bouquet, Endymoin, Malabah and Artemisia cocktails. True to form, Blenheim Bouquet proved to be the most popular.
With a cocktail in hand we revealed our latest creations to London’s bloggers and we’re extending this sneak preview to our followers on Adventures in Scent.
In July we’ll be launching the final two fragrances to complete the Anthology Collection, the woody citrus Esprit du Roi and fruity chypre Eau Sans Pareil.
Our biggest launch of 2011 will be Fitzrovia, a unisex fragrance inspired by the traditions of London Dry Gin making! Heavy on the juniper, with touches of black pepper, leather and lots of woods, Fitrovia was created for us by master perfumer Olivier Cresp.
Sipping cocktails late into the evening, we were pleased to welcome the blogging community to our first exclusive blogger’s event. To be expected the tweets were rolling in thick and fast. A @modelrecommends was “delighted to gain entry” to the scented den whilst @disneyrollrgirl was left with a compulsion to sniff her arm and @MyFashionLife fragranced the Tube on her way home with Gardenia. @IsabelloOC tweeted it was the “best event of 2011 so far!” and @david_m_watts found a new addiction in Zizonia. The @tattydevine girls came along too, and fell for Gardenia and Cornubia!
Still abuzz from last night we sign off today. But we’ll be sharing more details on our new fragrances with you soon here. Watch this space!
- Nicky
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We did indeed! It’s a shame you’re on the other side of the Atlantic as we would have been delighted to invite you as you’re so passionate and knowledgeable about fragrances on your blog and in #fumechat!
However, given the joy of sipping cocktails and sampling wonderful new creations I can only imagine this is just the first of more exclusive scented soirees, perhaps another time you can join us.
Having said that, do let me know when you’re back in London and I can arrange a special appointment for you to be profiled by Richard (who received much praise at Callooh Callay not only for his yellow trousers and silver shoes but also his excellent profiling skills!). Email me at adventuresinscent@penhaligons.com
- Nicky
P.s. Thanks for your post!
It looks like everyone had such a fabulous time! I wish I could have been there. Perhaps someday I’ll make it back to London for a fragrance-event extravaganza week.