Royal Aroma

A signature golden crown sits as a stopper on a striking red jewel, a perfume flacon. That is because only one perfume house has ever been able to use a version of a royal crown within the designs of its bottles. The perfume company Clive Christian is a combination of regal, grace, and elegance. A brand that is a symbol of royalty, a brand where royalty runs through its DNA. In our article here, Royal Aroma we introduce Matsukita, a fragrance from the historic archives of the brand, reimagined for Clive Christian Perfume’s Crown Collection that alludes to royalty and heritage.

In 1872 the Crown Perfumery Company was established in London and its most famous customer, Queen Victoria recognised its contribution to British excellence by granting the use of a replica of her crown for a stopper. It is still seen atop every bottle to this day. Even after 1999 when the legacy of the Crown Perfumery Company was passed on to Clive Christian. The crown embraced the perfume and gave a royal essence to their brand. The legacy of the Crown Perfumery Company created the beginning of a new era for Clive Christian.

It was the brands’ way of letting the world know that these were complex perfumes made from precious ingredients. Queen Victoria herself loved ‘Crown Essence’, made especially for her, while her daughter-in-law, the Princess of Wales, liked to wear ‘Crown Rose’. The Crown Perfumery Company was used by those in high society across London and Europe.

But the links to royals doesn’t just stop at Queen Victoria’s. Now Clive Christian has reworked their Matsukita perfume from the original archives to give it a modern-day reboot. Matsukita was first created in 1892. The perfume was inspired by a legendary Japanese princess who was respected at the Victorian royal court for her elegance and grace.

This perfume was very much seen at the time as a Royal Aroma. Today, Matsukita has been reimagined to capture this illusive elegance.

The fragrance opens with green Bergamot, bitter orange oil, clary sage oil, frankincense oil, pink pepper, black pepper, and nutmeg oil. For the heart notes find mate tea, jasmine sambac, fresh jasmine, rose absolute, rose, magnolia, guaiac oil, cade oil and styrax all used as a sophisticated but powerful set of ingredients. Finally, a base of amber, musks, cedarwood oil, vetiver oil, patchouli oil, cypriol oil, Georgy wood, akigalawood, fir balsam absolute and oakmoss gives a warm and sensual finish.

Interestingly, during the late 1800, many perfumes were advertised with hand-painted illustrations. This year Japanese artist Yukako Sakakura has created a beautiful painting as an interpretation for this launch. Inspired by the unique notes and mood of the perfume, capturing its essence with her abstract and nature-inspired designs.