Penhaligon's
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The blackcurrant hits with jammy immediacy, sharp and slightly tart, whilst the neroli lifts it skyward with a bitter-bright quality—the lemon arrives as a whisper rather than a shout, more Meyer than Sicilian. Within moments, the citrus takes on a peculiar softness, as though it's been warmed through a fine mesh.
The tiare blooms with creamy tenderness, its indolic green-floral character gently softened by ylang-ylang's buttery tone. Jasmine weaves through the middle register with restraint, adding depth without dominating; the vanilla emerges here too, transforming the composition into something that smells almost skin-like, as if the florals are flowering atop warm, honeyed flesh.
Sandalwood becomes the anchor, its dry-powder character stabilising the remaining vanilla sweetness into something closer to skin cream than dessert. The cedarwood offers a faint woody whisper, and what lingers is a gentle, almost nude floral-creamy accord—intimate, close-worn, increasingly difficult to detect but pleasant when you lean in.
Solaris arrives as a paradox: a fragrance that feels simultaneously luminous and voluptuous, refusing the typical hierarchy that separates bright citrus scents from creamy florals. Aliénor Massenet has engineered something rather clever here—the blackcurrant and lemon opening doesn't simply fade into a conventional floral heart. Instead, the tiare and ylang-ylang emerge with a custard-like richness, suggesting that the citrus has been stewed into something almost jammy, a fruit compote suspended in tuberose-adjacent cream. The jasmine arrives late to this party, adding a whisper of indolic deepness without tipping into the headache-inducing territory that overwrought florals often inhabit.
This is a scent for someone who finds typical aldehydic florals insufferably thin, yet equally bored by linear fruity-gourmands. The creamy accord (88%) is the true protagonist—it's built from the interplay between the sandalwood's soft powder and the vanilla's gentle sweetness, creating a skin-like base that lets those middle notes bloom without competition. The cedarwood acts as a subtle structural agent, preventing the whole composition from becoming too confectionery.
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3.5/5 (147)