A little London perfume tour (featuring tea and cake at Fortnum’s)

One of the best things about the internet is how it’s brought fellow fragrance nerds together and allowed us to get to know each other. People from all sorts of backgrounds can become fascinated by scents and it’s great to have the opportunity to hang out with such an interesting bunch. I’ve been running small perfume tours in London for a few years and yesterday I met up with a few friends in Spitalfields and visited Angela Flanders, Bloom and Patisserie Valerie (yes, cake is an essential part of any decent perfume tour). Then we headed to Piccadilly Circus and walked to Geo F. Trumper’s perfumery and had afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason. Fortnum’s perfume and toiletries department is opulent, old-fashioned and a must-see for any perfume fan heading to London. I bought Angela’s Precious one and Trumper’s Ajaccio Violets (which sounds like a spell from Harry Potter). I might write about Angela Flanders and Bloom a bit more in the future, but here are some photos!

We met at Patisserie Valerie for breakfast.

Healthy breakfast foods.

This is what my friends were having. I had a cheese and tomato croissant. Looking at these pictures, I wish I could go back and have the cake, too.

A chocolate croissant.

(World’s first?) crowd-sourced perfume from 4160 Tuesdays.

On the way to Angela’s perfumery, there’s an old wall with a new building right behind it. One way to conserve things, I guess!

Artillery passage.

Angela Flanders’ perfumery.

Angela’s daughter was there to meet us and told us stories about her mum’s perfume creations. I can’t remember the last time I received this warm a welcome at a perfumery.

Inside Angela’s perfumery.

Look, it’s Persolaise’s book!

Sarah Mc Cartney (polymath and perfumer at 4160 Tuesdays) and Karen Gilbert (author and perfumery teacher).

Sniffing perfumes at Angela’s

We worked our way through everything.

Window display at Angela’s.

I bought Precious One, the FiFi award-winning soft vetivert perfume.

We walked to Bloom’s which is just around the corner.

Sweetish Old Books at Bloom’s.

A nice display at Bloom’s.

Inside Bloom’s.

Glasses hanging from the ceiling at Bloom’s.

Caron perfume urns at Fortnum & Mason

We made our way to Piccadilly and Sarah took us to Trumper’s behind Fortnum’s.

Refined old-style colognes at Trumper’s. I liked everything I smelled.

I bought Ajaccio Violets – an old-style sweet violet cologne. I had something similar as a child and it’s a smile in a bottle for me.

We had booked at table at Fortnum’s for 3pm and had some tea and cake. Mine was a lemon tart and Earl Grey. Fantasic tea; Fortnum’s deserves its reputation for this.

We also spent quite a while sniffing Sarah’s perfumes and chatting.

Bisquit packaging at Fortnum’s.

Stairs at Fortnum’s.

Aqua di Parma candles at Fortnum’s.

Caron counter at Fortnum’s.

Caron face powders at Fortnum’s.

Caron urns at Fortnum’s.

More Caron urns at Fortnum’s.

Caron refillable bottles at Fortnum’s.

Fancy Caron packaging at Fortnum’s.

Candles at Fortnum’s.

A window display at Fortnum’s.