This Bodhi & Birch party

happened all the way back in May, at Les Senteurs, a specialist perfumery in Marble Arch.

All I can say is I’m glad that I didn’t discover this shop when I was working in the area. Selfridges was a bad enough habit, had I been aware of this shop I probably would have filed for bankruptcy at some point!

I love fragrances, both in my beauty products and the EDT/Perfume kind, as regular readers of my blog will probably have noticed!

For me, this event was ingenious. It’s all well and good having an event but this was a new experience and something I’ve not seen done before: pairing your fragrance with your body wash. Not from the same range, as you might do so with Pacifica, but pairing Bodhi & Birch’s fabulous Bath & Shower Therapy products with luxury fragrances.

Now, I know that creating a fragrance on a professional level is very very difficult, so I always have the utmost respect “noses”, but this event further spurred on the notion in my head that I would like to create my own perfume one day!

Here are the pairings –

Bodhi & Birch Refreshing Mint The Bath & Shower Therapy –

Jardin du Poete – I LOVE the freshness of this – basil with citrus and spicy pepper notes.

Heeley Menthe Fraiche – as the name suggests, another fresh fragrance, bergamot, mint, cedar and green tea.

Bodhi & Birch Energising Pep Noir Bath & Shower Therapy –

Parfumerie Generale Querelle – Tonka bean, cumin, myrrh, amber and vetiver. I really liked this fragrance, but the next one blew me away!

Frederic Malle – Noir Epices – dark and oriental, and oh so elegant. A beautiful blend (can you tell I REALLY LIKED this one?!) of orange rose, geranium nutmeg (who knew?!), cinnamon, clove, pepper cedar, sandalwood and patchouli, A really special scent which I may just have to treat myself to one day!

I found it strange just how much I loved these fragrances when normally I would not use the Pep Noir Body Wash, not because I don’t like it (for I like all the Bodhi & Birch body washes) but because I usually prefer the floral numbers.

Vitalising Siam Ginger Bath & Shower Therapy

Jangala Pierre Guillame – this side of the table was the side that made me wish I was rich because there were far too many fragrances I LOVED! This fragrance was a sultry blend of eucalyptus, coconut, ginger, vetiver, cardamom and sandalwood. Wow, is all I could say!

Papillon Anubis – another fragrance which had the wow factor for me! This is exclusive to Les Senteurs, and is inspired by ancient Egyptian culture, blending Nile pink lotus, Egyptian jasmine, benzoin, sandalwood, bitter orange, suede and rose otto. Yes, please!

Bodhi & Birch Relaxing Jasmine Falls Bath & Shower Therapy

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier – Jasmin – this blend of jasmine with myrrh, styrax and sandalwood (all things we burn at home!) really hit the spot with me. By this point in my olfactory experience the vision of my dressing table was very cluttered, but my bedroom smelt amazing and the bottles all lined up were oh-so-pretty!

Grossmith London – Betrothal – this floral fragrance was lighter than the first, more summery and again I fell in love. Rose de Mai, jasmine, neroli, ylang-ylang florals (you know, all those ones I love), blended with cedar, sandalwood, vanilla and vetiver. Timeless elegance.

Bodhi & Birch Reviving Rosemary Chi Bath & Shower Therapy

Cruel Intentions by Kilian Tempt Me – oud, blended with bergamot and centifolia rose, with some disruptive notes of papyrus, vetiver and styrax. This was another on the list for me!

Sensual Ylang Ylang Incensa Bath & Shower Therapy

Tauer – Gardenia Sotto La Luna – Now, Ylang Ylang is my favourite Bodhi & Birch body wash, and these perfumes, out of all of them, save perhaps the pairings for Pep Noir, were incredible for my nose! This blended gardenia (one of my fave Pacifica perfumes), rose, jasmine, sandalwood, tonka bean and vanilla – sweet but not overly so and beautifully floral.

Folie a Plusiers – Love Exposure. Of this perfume, perfumer and creator Mark Buxton said – “I was inspired by the film’s mixture of love, lust, violence, sex and religion. A story told with a certain kind of humour and tension that builds up and leads you to an unforeseeable ending. — love. A delicate floral scent, somehow innocent, but heady and strong at the same time. — lust. Clean, but kinky animal notes which run through the scent like a red thread; costus, indole and cumin and ambergris. — violence. The surprising bloody note from the bucchu oil, bay and metallic notes. — sex. A smell of hot wet skin communicated through a mixture of musk, vanilla and sandalwood. And — religion. Translated through my all time favourite incense with light sharp woody notes and a touch of amber.” This really was a special scent for me, as it combines lots of scents I enjoy wearing, and I love this story behind it (hence my sharing it!)

I’m very good at knowing my essential oils on the whole, but that didn’t stop me from spending some time hanging out at the essential oil bar, sniffing away my favourites to my heart’s content.

Now, I was speaking to the in-house experts at Senteurs whilst I was at the event, and I asked them about their 100% natural and organic offering. They did have a few, which they very kindly lined up for me –

Cologne Grand Siecle 07 Parfumerie Generale – fresh, citrus cologne made with certified organic oils, and only from ingredients available to an 18th-century perfumier: ylang-ylang, lemon, bergamot, bitter orange, cardamom, tarragon and wheat! Not suitable for our gluten free friends, unfortunately!

Cologne du Maghreb – citrus floral cologne with various citrus, orange blossom, lavender, rosemary, rose, clary sage, vetiver, petitgrain, cedar. A perfect cologne for a summer’s day.

Heeley Vetiver Veritas – I LOVE vetiver, and although I ‘ve never worn a vetiver scent I am hugely tempted by this one. A blend of Haitian vetiver with mint, lavender and grapefruit.

I left with a very happy nose and a very long list of “one-day” purchases!