By HANNAH BETTS, BEAUTY COLUMNIST & FEATURE WRITER, INSPIRE MAGAZINE
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I’ve been a stalwart sporter of ‘men’s’ aromas since turning 30 (almost a quarter of a century ago, ahem), when I embraced the fact that wood and leather did more for me than hearts and flowers.
I say ‘men’s’ in inverted commas because perfume has always been unisex. Only in the 20th Century did scent start being divided into male and female, and only then as a cunning marketing ploy.
Come August, the headier ‘feminine’ florals can smell sickly and cloying, more ‘masculine’ options cucumber cool.
As a stylish midlife sophisticate, why deprive yourself of such riches? Just as a woman will look chic in a mannish tux, so she will cut a dash in a ‘suit’ scent. allow me to convert you to a spot of olfactory cross-dressing.
1. Crisp cologne -Cinna Eau de Cologne by Cologne & Cotton
Cologne – with its lighter concentration than perfume – has been both genders’ summer reviver for over 300 years. I wrote about Cologne & Cotton’s Niobe (£85 for 150ml, cologneandcotton.com) in June, a robust, vetiver-rich fusion, offset by aromatic frankincense.
Lately, I’ve been revelling in fellow 1988 re-release Cinna (again £85 for a huge bottle OF 150ml), an uplifting hit of lavender, mandarin and sandalwood with serious potency. I’ve lost track of the times I’ve been told I smell fantastic – even by tourists with very little English, pointing at my neck while taking pantomime sniffs and demanding I write down its name. Truly, it’s that showstopping.
Cinna Eau de Cologne by Cologne & Cotton
Uplifting hit of lavender, mandarin and sandalwood with serious potency.
£85 Shop
2. Lavish leather – Habit Rouge by Guerlain
Guerlain’s masculine creations are a treasure trove, not least those by Jean-Paul Guerlain. Whether it’s his greenly woody Vétiver of 1959 (£136 for 100ml of perfume, Guerlain.com) adored by Elle Macpherson and Jodi Foster, or the great fist of patchouli that is Héritage of 1992 (£113 for 100ml), women looking to stand out from the crowd should head here.
This summer sees his Habit Rouge (from £85) celebrate its 60th birthday. It was inspired by JPG’s love of riding, conjuring polished saddles amid an oiled mahogany smoking room. A limited-edition, Habit Rouge Spirit (£150 for 100ml), lends whisky notes from aged oak-barrels to smoulder off sun-warmed skin.
Guerlain Vétiver Eau de Parfum, 100ml
£136 Shop Guerlain Heritage Eau de Parfum, 100ml
£113 Shop Guerlain Habit Rouge Eau de Parfum, 50ml
This summer sees his Habit Rouge (from £85) celebrate its 60th birthday. It was inspired by JPG’s love of riding, conjuring polished saddles amid an oiled mahogany smoking room.
£85 Shop3. Maritime moodiness: Sea Moss by Sunspel
Sunspel’s four scents were composed by Lyn Harris, designed to be as sensuous as the brand’s tactile clothing (Eau De Parfum Gift Set, £125 for 4 x 15ml, sunspel.com). This summer, I’m obsessed with 2022’s Sea Moss (from £80 for 50ml). Serene, yet transfixing, inspired by our mercurial British coast, it’s a sea shanty of wild flowers and cedar, driftwood and mossy stones, offset by a salty breeze.
Fans of Miller Harris’s discontinued 2007 marvel Fleurs de Sel will fall hard. A cold shower to counteract humidity, it’s perfection in a heatwave. ‘Someone smells amazing,’ declared an actor I was interviewing. I could confidently report that it was me.
Sunspel Eau De Parfum Gift Set 4 x 15ml
£125 Shop Sea Moss Eau De Parfum 100ml
Serene, yet transfixing, inspired by our mercurial British coast, it’s a sea shanty of wild flowers and cedar, driftwood and mossy stones, offset by a salty breeze.
£125 Shop4. Power flowers: Valiant by Boadicea the Victorious
Think florals have to be wimpy? Think again. Valiant by Boadicea the Victorious (£950 for 100ml of perfume) launched in 2013 and has been a bestseller ever since. A luscious, citrus-doused bouquet, on paper, it sounds puddingy: fruit-drenched jasmine, cherry blossom and ylang-ylang, on a vanilla-rich, chocolately patchouli base.
Yet, the effect is as magisterially seductive as Boadicea herself, drying down to a queenly, iris-laced pomander. Dubai-based perfumer Christian Provenzano is the author of this statement, stupendous in sultry weather.
Valiant by Boadicea the Victorious
A luscious, citrus-doused bouquet, on paper, it sounds puddingy: fruit-drenched jasmine, cherry blossom and ylang-ylang, on a vanilla-rich, chocolately patchouli base.
£950 Shop5. Flinty fabulousness: Terre d’Hermès by Hermès
What do Scarlett Johansson and I have in common? We both wear Terre d’Hermès by Hermès (from £130 for 150ml of perfume), the exquisite skin scent turning 20 next year. Airy, elemental, earthily warm, yet with a stonily cool aspect, it was described by creator Jean-Claude Ellena as: ‘Human skin, bodies after love making’.
In winter, its tenderness is akin to a comforting, cashmere blanket; in summer, a flinty riposte to scorched earth. In Claridge’s Fumoir one torrid August evening back in my dancing days, an impeccably elegant stranger noted that he and I were both sporting Terre, inquiring whether we should step upstairs to compare its sillage. Now that, my friends, is a proposition.
Hermès Terre d’Hermès Parfum
Airy, elemental, earthily warm, yet with a stonily cool aspect, it was described by creator Jean-Claude Ellena as: ‘Human skin, bodies after love making’.
£130 Shop 5 hot picks for summer NYX Professional Makeup Ultimate Shadow Palette in I Know
Vibrant mattes and metallics to lend lids kapow at all ages.
£15.98 Shop Estée Lauder Double Wear 24H Waterproof Gel Eye Pencil in Emerald Vault
Powerful, sea-green pigment that sets and locks in seconds to become summer-proof.
£30 Shop Jones Road The Lip Tint in Valencia Orange
A gliding, sunny satsuma that works beautifully with a (fake) tan and freckles.
£28 Shop KVD Beauty Dazzle Gel Hyper-Metallic Eyeshadow in Cobalt Vortex
A super-saturated metallic gel that intensifies as you blend. Wear as shadow or liner.
£13.80 Shop NYX Buttermelt Highlighter in No 1 Butta
Cool tones should choose this glorious lilac, golden girls one of three gold shades.
£9.99 Shop Race You To It: Dcypher Blur Balance Primer (£25, dcypher.com)
Dcypher Blur Balance Primer (£25, dcypher.com) went online in June and has been selling up a storm. It’s also the first mattifying primer I’ve ever kept for my kit.
With one dab, cavernous pores disappear and vanishing summer slap stays put, with a velvety effect, without that flat, parched guise primers can leave. An August t-zone essential.
Blur Balance Primer £25 Shop
Cosmetic Craving: The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum (from £15.90, Boots.com)
I applied The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum (from £15.90, Boots.com) recently, seeking heatwave hydration. The next morning: a sensation – my face looked not only radiantly and plumply nourished, but firmer and lifted; compliments of the “What have you done?” variety immediately rolling in. I realised that this is the global bestseller that used to be called “The Buffet,” one of the wares that made The Ordinary such a phenomenon following its launch in 2016, promising top-quality skincare at attainable prices. Its smorgasbord of four high-tech peptides works alongside amino acids and multiple hyaluronic-acid complexes. I only wish it came in litre-sized bottles.
The Ordinary Multi-Peptide + HA Serum 30ml £15.90 Shop
My icon of the week: Keeley Hawes
Star of The Assassin, Keeley Hawes, 49, had her brows microbladed with Karen Betts (from £495, karenbetts.com) pre-filming the Prime Video series. Make-up artist Justine Jenkins uses skincare-infused brand et al’s Intelligent Skin Radiant Foundation (£45, etalbeauty collective.co.uk) and Complexion Glow Palette (from £30) to create a ‘candlelit glow’
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