Penhaligon’s is thrilled to have opened its boutique doors again and is once more back in full swing. There’s a line-up of exciting new fragrances which includes an array of new characters and an exotic home collection, which has a firm emphasis on entertaining with a flourish.
William Penhaligon created his first fragrance, Hammam Bouquet, in 1872, inspired by the Turkish Baths where he worked as a barber on Jermyn Street in Westminster, London. The exotic fragrance caused a stir and his customers clamoured for more. When he inherited the business from his father in 1901, William continued to dazzle, and was commissioned to create Blenheim Bouquet for the 9th Duke of Marlborough just a year later.
Fast forward 151 years, with two Royal Warrants and a clutch of globally renowned fragrances, Penhaligon’s mission continues to be to delight and entertain. Indeed, given its name has been synonymous with entertainment of the senses for the last 150 years, it comes as no surprise that in 2021 Penhaligon’s made the decision to bring cheer to its community through fragrance and storytelling.
And so, as 2021 dawned, it drew the curtains back on a dark stage. Then, in a theatrical flash of magic and magnificent cartomancy, it breathed new life into Penhaligon’s fragrance profiling. Ever concerned with providing an exciting level of spectacle for its customers, and inspired as ever by the irrepressibly exuberant, flamboyant spirit of William Penhaligon, Penhaligon’s created an entrancing new experience for 2021. This time, it teemed with all the adventure and phantasmagoria of a mystical Tarot reading.
The experience itself is simple: pick a card, any card, based on your natural inclinations and what draws you in. This well-known process is then repeated, with questions posed along the way. First, you’re asked to describe yourself. Are you adventurous, captivating, graceful or fun-loving? And thus it continues with a set of fun and intriguing questions: ‘Which garnish graces your tipple?’ or ‘Which hat tickles your fancy?’ At the end of the experience, Penhaligon’s has gleaned enough of an informational nugget to ensure the customer (or the intended recipient – you can of course choose to do it as a gift for someone else) doesn’t leave empty handed, and two carefully selected samples will duly arrive on their doorstep.
In-store, customers are invited to step over to Penhaligon’s Perfumers Organ. Here, swathes of scent waft enticingly beneath totally blank glass cloches, waiting to be sniffed. This is the blind profiling service, in all its glory. Nothing is given away, no name, ingredient or story that could trigger a perfumed preconception and sway a decision. Customers create their own connection to the scent blindly and instinctively, finding the perfect match without being influenced by anything other than the pure emotion conjured in the moment as the fragrance intertwines with the soul.
Penhaligon’s promise for 2022 is that it will continue to thrill and entice with more entertaining ways for customers to find that ideal and elusive fragrance suited perfectly to them.
