Note Pyramid
English Lavender
Lavender is the entire point of English Lavender Eau de Toilette, and it is one of the few fragrances in any shop that smells exactly like the name on the bottle.
The opening is clean and sharp. Lavender arrives at once, and it is handled as a herb rather than as a flower, with the camphorous, slightly medicinal bite left in. Rosemary and eucalyptus push that further, both cool and resinous, and bergamot sits over the top to keep it from smelling like a chest rub. It is bracing in the way a cold bathroom is bracing, and that is clearly deliberate.
The middle softens without sweetening. Clary sage adds a nutty, hay dry herbal depth, geranium brings a green rosy sharpness, and cedarwood starts drying the whole thing out from below. There is no fruit anywhere in it and no flowers in the modern sense, which is why it reads as traditional rather than old.
The base is quiet and well judged. Oakmoss gives a bitter, damp earthiness, tonka bean a soft powdered sweetness that takes the edge off the herbs, and musk a clean finish close to the skin. The concentration is light, three or four hours of it, and the stuff is meant to be used freely rather than measured out. It suits mornings, shaving, hot weather, offices and anybody who likes to smell washed rather than perfumed, and it has always been worn by both men and women.
Yardley, whose signature this scent is, dates its founding to 1770, became Yardley and Co in the 1880s, opened a Stratford factory in 1905 and a New Bond Street shop in 1910. The company went into receivership in August 1998 and afterwards passed through Wella, Lornamead and Li and Fung before reaching Wipro, which has held it since 2009 and bought the UK and European division in 2012.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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