in SW England
Autumn 20
Organic eau de parfum twice aged and bottled in Somerset, England. 32ml.
- Top
- Mid
- Base
There is a word for the way the air smells after the rain: petrichor. It is a marriage of two Greek words, ‘petra’, meaning stone, and ‘ichor’, the fluid that flows through the veins of Gods. It occurs when plant oils, trapped within the soil, are released by the rain into the air.
The air, washed and heavy with new scents, holds within it something of the landscape. When it rains within a wood, the result is perhaps the most compelling of all. For Autumn 20, it is this we have sought to capture.
Our beginning was Autumn 19, set in a Scottish pine forest. This season, we find ourselves in a wilder woodland. Older, darker, richer. More alive. Here the sky hangs low and the woodland floor, dampened by fresh rain, is varied and intimate, with lush green shoots emerging from the shade of a once-great oak tree.
We’ve rebalanced the wood notes, softening the balsam fir and introducing oud, an ancient, resinous base note derived from the heartwood of the aquilaria tree. The oud, together with the red cedar and guaiac offers up a tapestry of smokey, sylvan notes, reflecting the diversity of the woodland. The fresh growth is caught in the bay leaf, which brings a culinary liveliness, and the davana, with a herbal, berry-like quality.
Distilling the essence of petrichor was an entirely different challenge. After countless iterations, we discovered that rose absolute, cognac oil and oak moss made for an earthy, succulent combination - the honeyish, floral tones of the rose enhanced by the cognac oil and balanced by the musk of the moss. Yet while they captured the heady fullness of the air after rain, we were missing the fresh, sweet burst that appears just as the rain has passed.
The solution came in the form of rosewater. For some time we have been hoping to experiment with replacing the base of pure water in our fragrances with scented water and Autumn 20 gave us this chance - we are delighted with the result and equally happy to be using a byproduct of the rose extraction process.
Allergen Information
NB: For a full breakdown of our ingredients, please refer to the ingredient list on the main fragrance page. The list below is for the identification of potentially allergenic molecules - our natural perfume oils are grouped under the term ‘Parfum’.
Alcohol denat (77%), Parfum (18%), Rosa damascena flower water (2.5%), Aqua (2.5%), Limonene*, Linalool*, Evernia Prunastri*, Eugenol*, Benzyl Benzoate*, Citronellol*, Cinnamal*, Citral*, Geraniol*, Benzyl Alcohol*, Farnesol*, Isoeugenol*
* Scientific names for molecules found inside our natural ingredients.