Serene

Serene is the calm one in Being's debut quartet, and it turns out to be the most carefully built. The opening pairs bergamot and mandarin with pink pepper and cardamom, then adds a marine note and a little elemi, which gives the first few minutes an odd and rather good salty-resinous edge instead of the usual clean citrus. The heart is a genuine orange blossom and neroli accord with orris behind it for powder, muguet for a green lift, and sage and geranium grounding the whole thing so it never becomes syrupy. That sage is what stops Serene reading as a straightforward pretty floral. The base is the surprise: dry amber, sandalwood and musk are expected, but there is leather and tonka bean in there too, and they give the drydown a quiet suede-like texture that is unusual at this price. Tenacity is decent, with the base holding close to the skin well into a second half of the day. It is the most versatile of the four, working across spring and autumn, comfortable in an office, and smart enough for a formal evening. The lane is affordable, composed, gender-neutral floral woody, sold exclusively through The Fragrance Shop. If you only try one from the line, make it this one.