Les Senteurs

Les Senteurs opened on Elizabeth Street in Belgravia in 1984, when the idea of a shop selling only niche perfume was closer to eccentric than commercial. Betty and Michael Hawksley started it; their son Christopher has run it since 2017, and the company has been continuously registered since June 1984. Four decades in one trade, in one building, is the fact that matters here.

It describes itself as London's oldest independent perfumery. We would attribute that rather than assert it - Floris has been on Jermyn Street since 1730 and Penhaligon's since 1870, though both are houses selling their own line rather than multi-brand retailers, which is presumably the distinction the claim rests on. Nobody publishes a definition, so take it as their framing.

The shelves hold over 350 fragrances, and the list is the argument: Frederic Malle, Marc-Antoine Barrois, Tauer, MFK, Papillon, Clive Christian, Ex Idolo, Cloon Keen. No designer. They also claim to have brought Creed, Byredo and Diptyque to the UK market, which given the dates is plausible and worth knowing when you wonder how these houses got here at all.

The real product is the conversation. A 45-minute private consultation runs at £280 and includes a £150 voucher, so the net cost of being properly guided is £130. They work to their own classification, the SenteurSystem, rather than the usual family wheel. If you have been buying niche off internet consensus and getting it wrong, this is the antidote: one room, one person, and 350 bottles they actually know.