Winter Scents

One of my favourite seasons is Winter. The nights are shorter, the weather is gloomy but the air turns festive and Christmas is right around the corner. Christmas events and outdoor markets take place and the cooler weather is in full swing.

This is the season for darker and more resinous perfumes to shine. Some are smoky and resinous, some are sweet and cozy, some are boozy. Here is a list of some my favourite winter perfumes. There are some more well known ones and some hidden gems.

The newly released Amandus by Sophia Bardelli includes all the right notes for the season. Almond, salted caramel, sugar dust, incence and toffee evokes all the festive emotions. Its name reflects the association between the almond and eternal love in Hellenic tradition. According to an ancient Greek myth, a heartbroken princess was given a new life by the gods, turned into an almond tree. And to this day, sugar-coated almonds are being offered in most Greek weddings.

Capua is a daring and sultry cedar fragrance that demands attention. Capua was the spiritual and commercial epicentre of ancient Rome’s perfume industry. Ingredients collected across the empire from flowers, herbs and spices, vegetable and nut oils, animal-derived ingredients such as musk and ambergris were blended by perfumers in the city and bought and sold in Seplasia, Capua’s most prominent perfume market. Rome’s perfume capital provided rich inspiration for one of the fragrances in the NERO Collection. Seductive and spicy, this smoky cedar scent uses rare and exotic ingredients gathered across the Silk Road from west to east. The citrus entrance pivots quickly to reveal a darker side: a spicy, smoky cedar and incense heart is full of depth and warmth. It is a sweet addictive scent which is oh so enticing.

Perverso on the other hand is an explosion to the senses, as the name of the brand siginifies. The name comes from the German expression Pervers Gut, which freely translated means perversely good. The perfumer Spyros Drosopoulos uses this expression for food or beverages that are heavily loaded with chocolate. An overdose of tobacco leaf contrasted with a chocolate/hazelnut accord and resins and rum, this is a scent which stands out, grabs you by the cuff and demands attention. It evokes the feeling of sitting by the fireplace, sipping rum and roasting nuts.

Moonlight is a fragrance crafted to capture the mystique of Nordic nights — serene, enchanting, and touched by celestial magic. It is a more gourmand and inviting take on a winter scent, a wonderful blend of tobacco, plum, chocolate and spices. It has an amazing sillage and longevity and is perfect for this time of season.

Finally, Panettone is Christmas in a bottle. Crafted by Mathilde Bijaoui, it celebrates Milan’s beloved Christmas dessert. Top notes of bitter orange and mandarin blend with a warm heart of rum and everlasting flower, evoking the scent of freshly baked panettone. Vanilla in the base adds an enveloping sweetness, making this fragrance perfect for lovers of gourmand scents.

Find the above scents exclusively at House of Scents in Limassol.