Frame; and Forage with Miller Harris

By Jo Phillips

The sun is out but there is a sweet chill in the air; the sky is still blue but with milky loose clouds the tell- tale sign of a season changing.

The tail-end of summer has arrived but although tingled with sadness there is the fringe of thankfulness that at least before the darker skies bring cool edges to the day , there is the end of summer with its golden low sunsets and voluptuous red fruits. Tis the season of hunting and gathering, from the hedgerows and parks from country lanes to city streets.

All cities are haven to wild fruits or other forage-able items, look at the cracks of old walls where you can just as easily see wild garlic or horseradish, ripe for eating. Crunch a wild garlic leaf in your hand and breath deep into the aroma.

Blackberries raspberries and blackcurrants all grow wildly and are ripe for picking, ripe to rummage, pick and eat. For most of us this is the first foraging experience we will ever have, it’s so much part of our lives we don’t even consider it foraging we simply think of it as part of the ritual of that specific time of year.

 

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As a city girl, London has become my playground of search and sniff, look and pick and I’m not the only one, it’s a growing art. London based Perfumer Miller Harris have taken the idea of natural London foraged items and turned them into three unique scents with Master Perfumers Mathieu Nardin and Bernard Duchaufour.

Mathieu has created two out of the three new forage-inspired scents – Wander (through the Parks) & Lost (in the City) and Bernard Duchaufour has created the third forage-inspired scent – Hidden (on the Rooftops).

Starting with hidden because of course there are hidden treasures to be discovered in the city so this fragrance by Mathieu Nardin starts with this premise

Hidden (on the Rooftops) celebrates the most recognisable of insects, the honey bee, the worker of the skies that brings together so much of flora and fauna, flitting over violet flowers. The bee brings honey violet and seeds and fauna together. This breaks down into top notes of Bergamot, Lime, Angelica Seeds, Violet Leaf Absolute, Clary Sage, Red Berries, and Black Peppe. The heart brings Syringa, Privet Flower, Pollen, Honey, Honeysuckle, Turkish Rose Oil, and Tea finishing with: Vetiver, Ambergris, Sandalwood, Driftwood, and Musk.

The fragrance hits warm and fruity yet sits against the skin with a sun-bleached wooden undertone alongside hints of sweet green notes; its skin sexy allure creeps up and envelopes with a musky veil and an underlay of deliciously ‘dirty’ vetiver.

Adrift in the hedgerows you will find LOST (in the City). This is where you will find wild Ferns pushing their way into the cracks of walls and concrete, their bright green vibrant against the crumbling brickwork of old buildings.

This fragrance is made up of from a head of Bergamot Zest, Angelica Seed, and Blackcurrant, with a heart of Rhubarb, Rose petals, Geranium

Finishing with Earl Grey Tea, Crisp Amber, and Musk

An immediate hit of rhubarb is centred by soft rose and geranium wrapped is soft warm musk, its lively fruity with a final signature of amber resting at the bottom.

Last in the foraging in the city fragrances is WANDER (through the parks). The head of the perfume is made up of Pink Grapefruit, Juicy Mandarin, Blackcurrant, and Pink Berries, the centre is : Galibanum, Fig, Nettle, alongside Indian Tuberose, finishing with Violet Leaf, Cashmere Wood, Patchouli Fraction, Musk

This is the greenest of the three fragrances and it celebrates the green parks of London, its fresh earthy and green but is set against a spark of citrus making for a modern lively scent which is softened at the edges with musk.

And just in case you are not inspired enough its good to know, London is made up of 47% of green spaces with its parks taking up 5000 acres and surely because of this has the highest density of bees in the whole of the UK.

So go forage for wild garlic for berries or should that not tickle your fancy why not forage at Miller Harris for some rather distinguished fine modern fragrance.

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Available from May 2018 100ml  and 50ml at Miller Harris

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