Miller Harris - Perfume for the discerning

If you're a little bored of celebrity fragrances and generic designer scents then perhaps it's time to try something a little more special. I was delighted to spend some time perusing the shelves at Miller Harris' Mayfair store on Bruton Street as it is a such a special treat.  When you enter it is so serene,  after the hustle of Berkeley Square. It feels like a chinese tea room or a library, it is somewhere you would go to appreciate carefully curated items.

Miller Harris is British brand which was created by Lyn Harris and named after her father.  Harris trained for 5 years in Paris before relocating to Grasse (the world famous home of fragrance) to train for a further 5 years.  She has an amazing "nose" an can identify 1000 different fragrances by smell alone. Miller Harris has grown quickly since it first came on the scene and has become known for it's grown up fragrances.  The perfumiers is a favourite of Kristen Scott-Thomas, Madonna and Sophia Copolla.

Miller Harris started with just a core collection of 4 fragrances but has since expanded to over 30. There is something for everyone and each is tied to a story such as an afternoon in Southern France or a morning cup of tea, if you read the description of each perfume on the website you can learn what inspired each fragrance.

Miller Harris works hard to ensure they only gets the most premium ingredients for their perfumes and wait months for just the right batch.  The perfumes aren't cheap but neither are they especially expensive at around £60 per 50ml of Eau de Parfum.  I was pleased to learn that they don't do Eau de Toilette, which I think is fantastic because who wants a watered down perfume, what's the point?

We were there to sample the new fragrance called Vetiver Insolent which is a bold fragrance for either men or women.  It is a truly distinctive smell and goes beautifully with so many of my other fragrances.  I use it as a long lasting base note upon which to layer more sweet and sharp top notes.  It smells of Vetiver, Lavender, Amber and Cardamon. For anyone who is as clueless as me, vetiver is the root of an exotic grass and has a distinctive smell often found in high-end male fragrances.  It is a smoky, woody, incense like smell, but also a little like mown grass and patchouli, that 70's hippy fave.  Vetiver Insolent is the creation of Perfumer Mathieu Nardin and I was delighted to learn that all  3 of the fragrances I liked best were his creations.

We were lucky enough to smell the myriad of fragrances on offer and my absolute favorites were Tea Tonique

Like hearing a captivating story for the first time, Tea Tonique’s energy infuses your surroundings without overwhelming them. Beguiling and cultured, it engages its audience with musical tones and an unpredictable nature. With an infusion of Italian Bergamot suggesting smoky birch tar, it is equally at home in the English countryside or a London café, rejoicing in the many-layered characteristics of an aromatic tea.

and Rose Silence.

The week is gone, the room is your own. A beam of light streams in through the curtains and you wake slowly, breathing the scent of a fresh white pillow. An unexpected embrace: faint, fresh rose with undertones of sandalwood and patchouli, untouchable yet crisp, possessing an intoxicating magic. An intimate, thrilling moment.

The one things all the bloggers noticed was just how different the perfumes smelled on each of us.  Our personal PH, the food we had eaten and the level of oils in our skin, changed the smell of the perfume on each of us dramatically.  Never again will I just buy a perfume by smelling a tester strip.

I loved the personal hand engraved bottles we each received, it is such a beautiful touch.

Miller Harris fragrances can be bought online here, but I would definitely visit the store if you live near by so you can try the fragrances on and get a real sense of what works for you.  It feels like such a treat visiting them store in person and everyone we met was insanely knowledgeable about fragrance.