Something is blooming in Penhaligon's scent garden and it's none other than their latest floral...

Peoneve

The latest addition to Penhaligon's already bursting scent collection, Peoneve is not as simple and dainty as the fluttery-petaled flower sounds.

Let me quickly preface this entry by saying I may sound ultimately biased towards this fragrance but you must understand, fragrance is a very personal experience and inclination. I, for one, am a huge rose scent lover and have been on the look out for the perfect rose perfume.

While 'Rose' is a commonly used scent from body moisturizers to shower gels, room fragrances and the sorts, I am highly particular about a rose scented perfume.

Believe it or not, I have yet to find a perfect rose perfume that has the best of... various worlds – a light floral crisp sensation, the romance of rose along with an accompanying muskiness to give it sensuality.

Now that, is what I define a perfect Rose perfume and honestly that is my own take on it.

Some might prefer their rose to be a pink blossom in the garden on a clear spring day; I like my rose to be a crimson, decorating the parks in the evening, swaying with the sensuality of tango yet still unravels to reveal a soft fragility.

Thus, the very first time I gave Penhaligon's Peoneve a sniff (or a couple after letting it sit), I thought – Homerun.

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Now that I have very blatantly expressed my affection for rose-scented perfumes and also mentioned that Peoneve is exactly the type of rose fragrance I am looking for, let me delve into finer details about this scent in a more... neutral manner.

Peoneve was created by Oliver Cresp, the same perfumer that produced the largely popular Penhaligon's fragrance, Juniper Sling.

While simplistic in name, Peoneve is actually a blend of varying florals to give you that fresh crisp greenness along with a mix of romanticism and soft sweet (read: not over the tip cloying) floral. While a blend, the amount of scents thrown into this is kept minimalistic, just enough to edge the scent along without pushing it too complex.

The Scent Journey –

With a spritz, the fresh scent of Violet Leaf greets you, hinting at a slightly 'green' and vibrant opening. However if you are not a fan of green notes, don't let that garden freshness put you off. In no time at all, Peony joins in and weaves an underlying floral sweetness, accompanied with the powdery floral of Hedione, giving the scent a soft swaying vulnerability.

The floral transformation doesn't stop there as the peppery kick of Bulgarian rose edges in and gives the fragrance some spunk, giving that initial girl-next-door phase a light jolt of modern attitude. With the florals all out in play, envision a mix of crisp freshness melded with floral sweetness and given a light dose of 'weight' so the scent doesn't seem too 'floaty'. Have you ever thought a Rose fragrance could invoke this many personalities?

Winding down, the scent shifts to woodier, somewhat earthy notes of Vetiver, Musk and Cashmere Wood. These give the scent a creamy appeal I can't quite word but imagine a smooth muskiness with a nice perk of earthiness (not muddiness) between... this is the way this scent ends off. I find the peony note lasts the longest through the floral phase and continues to lend a soft floral hand with the musk towards the end.

With that description I hope it gave you a good mental idea (through the form of words) how the smell evolves and takes on varying roles and personalities.

According to Penhaligon's, this scent is one of their rather straight-forward ones and it invokes whatever you want to make of it. From Pehnaligon's end, they tried to model this scent after the image of the modern woman – fresh and strong yet still sensual with a peeking note of fragility.

Versatile is probably one way to word the perfume, to me at least. I have worn this during the day to work and also reached for it for special occasions and evenings out. it's just something about it that feels very appropriate and light for day yet a dressy enough fragrance for night.

The Science behind the Scent –

For a little bit of science talk, the scent extracts used in Peoneve are derived from a procedure called CO2 Extraction. Without going into super detailed chemical relations, this extraction method ensures the purest of scents is extracted from a subject (in this case the florals).

Aside from this one venture into science, Peoneve also sees another procedure done, called Nature Printing. This one is far more complex but Nature Printing is about replicating a particular scent using particles from other scents. Basically it's like scent jig-saw and because no 2 flowers smell the same, Oliver Cresp (the perfumer) wanted to replicate this exact stalk of Peoneve, hence the need to replicate it via this procedure.

The one down-side to this perfume is while being an EDP, it isn't entirely long lasting only because particles extracted from the CO2 method tend to 'float' around since they are in such a pure state.

On me, this lasts a good 5-6 hours or so before it somewhat disappears. If you find that most perfumes don't last long on you, this could disappear even quicker. While the floral scents don't take you through the day, on some occasions I might catch a whiff of the musky scents towards the evening.

It is a pity given that it could be perfect if the scent lasted a longer while but this means decanting some and carrying a little vial around for 'touch-ups' during the evening. After all, a bottle of perfume does last a pretty long time.

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I have rambled on long enough in this entry solely about a perfume but, like I had mentioned, I think perfumes are something you should experience and sniff for yourself but at the same time, to help create a visual expectation is quite a fun task too.

I have been on a look out for the perfect rose perfume and I can safely say that right now, this is the closest thing to the 'dream rose fragrance' that I have in mind and I am not joking at all. The satisfaction of finding something so close to what you have always envisioned in mind is... very exciting.

If you happen to be strolling about town, do drop by Penhaligon's after 1st September to give this lucious scent a whiff! It may just tickle your fancy.

Peoneve will be retailing at S$310 (100ml) or S$220 (50ml) at Penhaligon's from 1st 17th September on.

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Thanks for reading!

Disclosure:
Products were provided to me for review consideration.
I am not affiliated to them and all opinions expressed are my own.