Phul-Nana

Phul-Nana is Hindi for lovely flower. First made in 1891 and revived by the house in 2009 from the original formula, it is the herbal one of the old Grossmith trio. The brand calls it a marriage of the herb garden and the flower garden, unusual in a feminine perfume, and says it paved the way for the fragrances that followed. Wearers often file it as an oriental fougere. It opens on spiced orange and a peppery, green geranium, with a dense neroli and a bitter edge from the bergamot. Within minutes it turns warmer. Ylang-ylang whispers behind the geranium, and opoponax, smoky and honeyed, takes over the heart. Tuberose is listed, but wearers disagree about whether it shows. The base is benzoin, sandalwood, vanilla and tonka bean, milky and powdery rather than gourmand, with a tobacco-like patchouli and a little cedar adding pepper. On many skins it settles into a warm, resinous neroli glow with geranium flickering underneath. It is languid, plush and thick without feeling heavy. By most accounts it lasts and projects well, a long day for many wearers, although a few find the sillage sits close to the skin after the first hour. It is best in autumn and winter, works in spring, and suits evenings and nights out far better than the office. Men wear it easily, and several wearers call it unisex. Phul-Nana is old-school and opulent, with a spicy, resinous edge that some find dark and others find joyful. It is not a clean modern scent, and some find the geranium or the resin too much. At a luxury price it is best tried on skin first.