Penhaligon's
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The aldehydes and bergamot snap to attention immediately, their crisp, slightly soapy brightness cutting through with clementine's cheerful zest. Violet leaf and spearmint create an almost minty verdancy, whilst blackcurrant bud supplies an unexpected tart-resinous bite—it's green, fresh, and unmistakably spring, but never cloying.
Around the one-hour mark, the narcissus and hyacinth gradually emerge, their waxy, powdery character becoming increasingly present. The hawthorn introduces a gently bitter floral dimension, and beeswax absolute melts in like warm honey, softening the composition's herbaceous edges whilst maintaining its fundamental coolness. This is when Ostara reveals its true complexity: floral without being sweet, fresh without being aquatic.
The fragrance settles into a gentle skin scent dominated by soft musk and creamy vanilla, the base woods creating a pale, slightly resinous backdrop. All sharpness fades; what remains is a tender, intimate amber-tinged warmth with persistent whispers of that green hawthorn character and the faintest honeyed sweetness.
Ostara arrives as a contradiction resolved: a fragrance that feels simultaneously sharp-edged and honeyed, botanical and slightly aldehydic. Bertrand Duchaufour has constructed something genuinely herbaceous here—this isn't the sanitised greenery of mass-market fragrances, but rather the crushed-leaf astringency you'd find pressing violets and hawthorn between your palms on an English spring morning. The blackcurrant bud co2 provides a tart, slightly resinous foundation that grounds the more delicate florals, preventing them from drifting into feminine affectation. Violet leaf absolute and spearmint keep everything decisively green and peppery, whilst the aldehydes add a subtle powdery shimmer, like morning light catching on dew-dampened grass.
What's most compelling is how Duchaufour resists the urge to sweeten this into submission. The heart reveals narcissus and hyacinth—two notes capable of cloying prettiness—but here they're tempered by wisteria's subtle bitterness and hawthorn's almost metallic floral character. Beeswax absolute provides warmth without veering into gourmand territory; it's honeyed rather than sweet. The base offers gentle resolution: creamy vanilla and soft musk anchor the composition without overwhelming its leafy spine, whilst styrax and benzoin add a whisper of resin-like depth.
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3.6/5 (103)