The Actress

The Actress is the St Giles character built for an entrance: dramatic, glamorous and a little knowing. Michael Donovan's London house asked Bertrand Duchaufour to give each character its own scent, and this one throws a spotlight on the wearer without becoming a diva. It opens with a surprising, zingy-green burst of tomato leaf and basil over Calabrian lemon, bitter orange and bergamot. After about ten minutes a thick, velvety bouquet of oriental lily and orchid begins to billow, with Egyptian jasmine, honeysuckle and a restrained, slightly savoury pear fluttering around it. The base is warm and creamy: sandalwood and musk, a little patchouli, and a vanilla custard finish that wearers describe as clean yet seductive. It is light yet powerful, with a strong trail early on and a quieter, creamy floral presence through the day, although one wearer finds it shorter-lived than hoped and another loses the tomato leaf within the hour. It wears in every season, most easily in spring, and suits evenings, nights out and leisure better than the office. It sits closer to a lush white-floral niche scent than to a sweet designer, and wearers mostly read it as feminine, although one calls it wearable by a man in the evening. Sold in 50 ml and 100 ml, it is worth a sample first, because the lily is the whole show.