Real Green

When we were young the family Christmas tree had a very strong and beautiful odour. The spruce all smell sharp, sweet, and refreshing with clear resinous pine-citrus scent, but in current times the spruce trees have been overtaken by the Nordmann Tree, for the longer-lasting needles that make far less mess, but sadly far less scent.

Worry not, that genius of fragrance Franic Kurdjian has the answer – well if you want to pop over to Paris and treat yourself and have a tree that holds its needles but is scented too.

Maison, Francis Kurkdjian’s perfumed Christmas tree is the result of a tripartite collaboration led by Francis who brought together Fabien Joly, a florist with poetic creations, and Sapins & Compagnie, a French family company that has been expert in snow flocking for more than 60 years.

There are three varieties on offer. A natural green tree, a tree dressed with a dusting of snow, or a fully flocked white variety. All of these scented trees are fireproof, thus meeting all regulations in force.

A little nearer to home on the shop is the delightful scent of Christmas in a candle, so should getting a scented tree from Paris not be viable then there is the option of a scented candle

Called, Mon beau Sapin. It comes in a dark green colour adorned with a fir bough decorated in white and gold. Its generous, characteristic smell of a Balsam fir, slightly resinous, slowly draws towards a reassuring forest. This candle, with its specific wintery enveloping fragrance, brings the finishing touch to the joyful holiday mood and memories past.

If you should go to buy anything from Maison Francis Kurkdjian from Selfridges there is an offer of a mini version of the candle as ‘gift with purchase’. On top of that, they also have Mon Beau Sapin Christmas cards, which they will have a calligrapher on hand to personalise.

Avaiable at Selfridges or on line /www.franciskurkdjian.com/mon-beau-sapin-candle

Order from Parisian shops Maison Francis Kurkdjian: Boutique Saint Honoré – 5 rue d’Alger, Paris 1 er – 01 42 60 07 07 Boutique Marais – 7 rue des Blancs-Manteaux, Paris 4 ème – 01 42 71 76 76