After The Rain

After The Rain has been the anchor of Arran Sense of Scotland since the brand's early days, and the whole toiletries range on the island is built out from it. The brief was to capture a garden on Arran just after a rainstorm, and the composition is refreshingly literal about how it gets there. Lime opens it, sharp and green rather than sweet, and it carries a wet, just-rinsed quality that does a lot of the storytelling in the first ten minutes. Rose takes the middle, but it is a soft, dewy, slightly transparent rose rather than a heavy damask, which keeps the fragrance in fresh-floral territory instead of tipping it into something more formal. Sandalwood underneath is what gives it staying power and a faintly milky, earthy warmth as it settles, and there is a clean musky quality running through the drydown that makes it read a little like good soap in the best sense. As an eau de toilette it is exactly as tenacious as you would expect, which is to say a few hours of gentle presence rather than a statement. That suits it. This is an everyday, all-occasions scent, best in spring and summer, easy in an office and just as at home on a walk. The lane is affordable homegrown British at GBP 47.50 for 100ml, and it is one of Scotland's most recognisable fragrances.