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There’s magic, as well as fragrance, in the air at Floris. Just minutes away from the bustle of London’s Piccadilly Circus, Britain’s oldest perfumery continues to cast its spell on Jermyn Street, just as it has done since 1730. Step into this atelier and you will be walking in the footsteps of English monarchs and Hollywood royalty, patrons whose favoured elixirs have been hand-inked into the leatherbound ledger – a story through scent. Here, NoteWorthy speaks to friend and Perfumery Director, Edward Bodenham – the ninth-generation ‘nose’ behind Floris – on the enduring power of perfume.
Everyone has their own personal memory bank of scents that have meant something to them, throughout their lives.
THREE CENTURIES OF CRAFT
“For something that's invisible, fragrance is incredibly potent. It can stop us in our tracks. It’s a little bottle of nostalgia that can transport us to another time – to a moment that you'd completely forgotten,” says Edward. Nowhere captures this sense of time-travel better than his ancestors’ beautifully preserved workshop, where clients encounter the timeless art of perfumery in the exact spot where the Floris family bottled ‘White Rose’ for Florence Nightingale, crafted cologne for Sir Winston Churchill, and prepared Marilyn Monroe’s favoured fragrance to be shipped to the set of Some Like it Hot.
“Many call it a potion room,” Edward explains. “The space itself is incredibly atmospheric, and I do feel a little of the magic of our building goes into the creative process.” Hand blending and intuitively balancing each imperial fluid dram, centuries of artisan techniques are poured into the hand-etched glass bottles that Edward continues to use when devising bespoke scents for NoteWorthy guests.
Just as Floris’ techniques have been handed down through generations, so in turn will the fragrances. “Creating a scent for someone is almost like making a time capsule – something their grandchildren might one day treasure.”
AROMA OF ONE’S OWN
Each personally commissioned Floris fragrance is as individual as a fingerprint, yet it always begins with one of four bases: citrus, floral, woody or amber leaf. As the customer breathes in each aroma in turn, Edward watches for their reaction. “I have seen how scent can make eyes light up, vividly rekindling long-forgotten memories and stirring deep emotions. We always have tissues to hand, just in case,” he says.
Floris perfumiers layer each note so the scent builds like a symphony. “The alchemy that then happens when that custom scent touches the skin is amazing. I find people know almost instantly whether it’s ‘the one’.”
In a final flourish, the customer is invited to name their perfume before Edward meticulously records it in the Floris ledger – a living document that chronicles centuries of scent-making history.
“One spread tells a particularly remarkable story: the royal abdication and coronation of King George VI, followed by an entry for the young Princess Elizabeth that shows her address neatly crossed out and re-inked as Buckingham Palace.” This one-of-a-kind book has quite the story to tell.
