If, like me, you get a bit bored of fashion house perfumes (a thoroughly mixed bag) and celebrity scent (which usually smell like sweets), Les Senteurs is a great place to head. This artisan perfumery offers a fantastic selection of classic, timeless fragrances that smell deep, complex, luxurious and sophisticated. Located in the heart of Victoria, just off Sloane Square, Les Senteurs is an upmarket perfumery. A family run business set up by husband and wife team Betty and Michael Hawksley in 1984, this store offer a huge range of perfumes with an equally diverse price range (starting at a very reasonable £25, they sour to an eye-watering £180+).
Specialising in imported, high quality, and typically French perfumes, often from impendent perfume houses, Les Senteurs offer forgotten classics from brands such as Creed and Caron, alongside modern, niche fragrances. They stock a full range of each scent families – oriental, green, citrus, leather, floral, fruity, chypre, woody and aquatic – with handy colour coding for each perfume, so you can get a vague approximation on the type of scent it will be.
Les Senteurs have a good online store, which offers a sample service where they will send you vial of each scent that you are interested in. Vial’s cost £5, no matter what priced scent you wish to try, and you get a good quantity of perfume, enough of a month of constant usage, so you can really asses the scent. Excellent for when trying something new, or when buying perfume as a gift. The in-store service is by far the best option though if you can get to London easily. Les Senteurs offer an excellent personal service, with knowledgeable and patient staff, and an ideal environment to experiment and discover in.
