Ruthless Countess Dorothea, a haughty matriarch with a passion for young men. Clandestine Clara, rebellious and delectable. Roaring Radcliffe, her illegitimate son, a rake with a weakness for tobacco, rum and provocation. British perfume house, Penhaligon’s, knows a thing or two about using fictional stories of British aristocrats to pique your interest. It did mine, which is why, on a recent trip to San Francisco, I squeezed through a crowded itinerary to slip into the fairly recent Penhaligon’s store at Westfield mall for a dekko.
At the perfume bar, over 30 bottles topped with brass animal heads await — sitting pretty in the Portraits collection, the aforesaid Clara, with rhum vanilla head notes, cinnamon musk heart and amber patchouli base, makes her presence felt. She is about to be upstaged by Agarbathi and Paithani, two scents I least expect from a brand founded in 1870 by a Cornish barber who went on to become perfumer to Queen Victoria. The latest in the brand’s Trade Routes collection, they are inspired by Californian master perfumer Alex Lee’s visit to India. Notes of bergamot, pink pepper, jasmine and sandalwood define Agarbathi, the perfume house’s homage to Indian temples. Paithani, meanwhile, with cardamom, nutmeg, rose and cedar, references our monsoon beverage, the masala chai . What do both fragrances have in common? A heart of milk accord. It is, let me assure you, no coincidence. For as master perfumer Lee confirms, milk in perfumes is trending. In an interview earlier this year, he bravely called it “the future”.
“We are closest to our palate than we were in a long time,” begins perfumer Jahnvi Dameron Nandan, speaking to me from Paris, where she is working on a new fragrance with an opera house that uses pyrazines and a warm rice note. There is a strong connect between aroma and memory, and the general perception is that we associate the familiar smell of milk with warmth and comfort. “We’ve never consumed so many sweets as we do today, as I see on streets in Tokyo, Paris and India. It could be a sign of our (troubled) times,” observes Nandan, trying to explain the revival of milk in fragrances today.
“When (Thierry Mugler’s) Angel came in the early 90s, it planted the idea of gourmand scents or wearing what you eat. The milky note, sticky, sweet and unisex, follows that idea. And when you have the blues, you eat more.” Manan Gandhi, the founder of progressive Indian fragrance house, Bombay Perfumery, adds that the milk trend represents how far perfumery has come in terms of sourcing ingredients. “Milk-like ingredients’ molecules are broken down and recreated to achieve a distinct scent that reminds one of comfort and ease,” he says, referring to his Chai Musk, the perfect monsoon fragrance for its “fiery note of ginger balanced by the milky notes of sandalwood”. At Penhaligon’s, Lee, who hails perfume as a “medicine for the spirit”, says you can thank milk for “imparting creaminess, volume, and a new type of addiction to a perfume.”
Penhaligon’s Agarbathi and Paithani at approximately ₹14,000 for 100 ml and the Portraits collection for ₹15,000 for 75 ml. Bombay Perfumery’s Chai Musk at ₹4,100.
