Description
The Anthology Collection was launched in 2009 with the first four fragrances; Extract of Limes, Eau de Verveine, Gardenia and Night Scented Stock. Orange Blossom, Eau de Cologne, Jubilee Bouquet and Zizonia followed in 2010. This July, the collection is completed with these final two scents.
Penhaligon’s has a long and distinguished history in the world of British perfumery dating back to the 1870s when William Penhaligon moved to London from Cornwall and starting creating fine fragrances for discerning gentlemen. With this rich heritage and an archive of formulations, Penhaligon’s have breathed life into ten of its heritage fragrances dating back as far as 1927.
A selection of these formulations have remained unchanged, offering a unique insight into the fragrance tastes and trends of the era, whilst others have been carefully reformulated to ensure they appeal to modern fragrance wearers while still retaining a unique heritage feel.
Originally created in 1988, Eau Sans Pareil has been transformed into a shimmering chypre. Opening with a giddy rush of sparkling fruits and sensual white flowers, Eau Sans Pareil is softened with sweet woods, elegant oakmoss and musks. Powdery, wistful and romantic.
Head: Aldehydes, Neroli, Mandarin, Bergamot, Kumquat, Raspberry, Pineapple, Cypress, Pink Pepper, Tagetes
Heart: Jasmine, Damascus Rose, Muguet, Orris, Ylang, Orange Blossom, Liquorice, Clove
Base: Patchouli, Vetiver, Cedarwood, Oakmoss, Musk, Vanilla, Cistus-Labdanum, Benzoin, Amber Crystals
Eau Sans Pareil was launched in 2011. The nose behind this fragrance is Bertrand Duchaufour.
khlebnikov24 – :
The opening evokes the image of sparkling champagne, I can almost physically feel the bubbles. Then it develops into a nice woody scent with decent sillage.
I would say it’s leaning towards unisex.
gvm850821 – :
A sparkling chypre fragrance, lightly aldehydic and delightful to wear. Mandarin, bergamot, pink pepper and raspberry open over Damascus Rose, muguet, orris, ylang, orange blossom, liquorice and clove. These facets give Eau Sans Pareil a light powdery floral, fruity, citrus feel over the slightly sweet fragrance of labdanum. Happy to see that the earthy and tart absolute of oak moss is present in the base. Shimmering…. yes!!
azat_x87 – :
First time trying it today as a blind buy, absolutely love it, usually don’t care for Penhaligons fragrances but this is great
Mikalas – :
First of all, it is by all means a unisex fragrance. Intriguingly, it is sold and marketed as a fragrance for women in Europe and as a fragance for men in the Far East. Being male, I like it more on myself than I would on my girlfriend. 🙂 To me musk, vetiver and rose are quite obvious from the beginning and they stay there, when raspberry, kumquat and citruses (also easily distinguishable to my nose) are already gone.
Edit: It stroke me today how much patchouli is there at the beginning. How could I not smell it before? I don’t think it is equally distinct in the later, more soapy-powdery stage of this frag, even though it is a base note. But will continue to sniff myself today. 🙂
systemerror – :
Eau Sans Pareil on my skin, is primarily a raspberry fragrance. The opening few minutes remind me of black currant, probably a combined effect of the raspberry note and pine/cypress. These two main accords soon separate from each other and make an enticing contrast.
I usually don’t enjoy jammy raspberry accord in perfumery. But in Eau Sans Pareil, while the raspberry is unapologetically sweet, it’s rendered rather dry with a matte finish thanks to the woody and camphor aspects of pine and cypress. A pinch of aldehyde adds a bit of metallic twang and sparkles. While it’s not as sparkling as the raspberry champagne in Louis Vuitton Mille Feux, the cool feeling imparted by aldehyde and conifers provides a very nice balance to the sweet raspberry.
Sadly, 2 hours in, the alliance of raspberry and conifers soon fall apart. An abstract spicy note and a more robust smoky woody note fight for the place of the conifers. As a result, the raspberry is warmed up and becomes much more sugary. While it’s not as cynically cloying as certain commercial fruitchoulis, the fragrance feels kind of a cacophony on my skin, as the artificial raspberry here doesn’t seem to incorporate these potentially interesting accords in an organic way.
Eau Sans Pareil remains an almost saccharine raspberry fragrance with a vague woody spicy base from then on. The sillage is moderate for the most part, and the longevity is around 9 hours.
As someone who usually doesn’t cope well with raspberry note in perfumes, I find the dynamic between cool conifer and aldehyde, and sweet youthful raspberry in Eau Sans Pareil a delightful surprise. Unfortunately, the dry down didn’t escape the sugary trap, thus didn’t sway me on the whole. Nevertheless, if you happen to love raspberry accords in perfumery, Eau Sans Pareil providing an interesting woody variation with refreshing, metallic, camphor nuances, might worth a try.
dima13223 – :
I do agree with Penhaligon’s. This scent is abstract.
Unique and lovely. However, also confusing at the moments.
A few seconds after applying, the scent seems sweet, but it isn’t.
On my skin, I smell vetiver, oak moss, orris, patchouli and cypress. The combination seems quite masculine and sharp, but it lays on a creamy mix of fruits (not sweet or gourmand) and flowers. I can’t detect exact flower/fruit notes, but they are altogether beautiful.
After a while, there is a hairspray note that, luckily goes away quickly.
Perhaps this is unisex by today’s standards. Women might find it too masculine, and vice versa.
I find it very pleasant. Anytime, anyplace scent.
Sillage is moderate, but perfume is long lasting.
lazarchuk – :
I wore this scent today for the 1st time. I chose this fragrance over Esprit Du Roi- I did not like the acidic smell in Esprit Du Roi.
Eau Sans Pareil has a very distinctive raspberry note. The fragrance settles down to almost a woody type scent. I was concerned that the scent would smell to sweet on skin but feel that it works well with my own chemistry. Good fragrance from Penhaligon’s.
gnusernamem8 – :
A bit of a hot mess in the opening with too many scent notes seeking attention. It quickly becomes a rather mundane musky vanilla cedar. Yawn. Too feminine for the hubby. Too boring for me. Not offensive, but wholly unexciting.
crosswell – :
so many fruits，too sweet and cloying 2/5
ALF_Kott – :
Olfactory artist, Beverley Bayne’s ( not Bertrand Duchaufour) 2011 creation of Eau Sans Pareil for Penhallagon’s is sparkling if fleeting cocktail for the end of summer in a haunted garden. A watery right bright effusion of Aldehydes open the composition with a basket filled with fruits. Bitter Neroli meets up with the sweetly tart Kumquats; Mandarin oranges do their thing with the help of a whispering pineapple. More whispers of the sun on a southern slid toward autumn is found with a little cypress, pink pepper and a very light honey sweet Tagete flower. All of this is just a momentary introduction to a great big boisterous raspberry. The opening is promising for those who are looking for a light fruity Eau de Toilette that acts more like cologne, a beautiful melancholy ghost to follow you from summer into fall.
In the heart the fragrance it moves from the fruit garden to the flower garden and in this transition it drops very close to the skin. Maybe too close to the skin for some. Light lily of the valley, a delicate Ylang-ylang bring soft caresses to a sleepy Jasmine. There is a touch of spice from clove and tangy thick liquorice that gild a lovely late rose of summer. Under this rose there is a grounding earthy orris root to remind you that all things must return to the earth. It swirls around nicely and then evaporates like a ghostly ectoplasm to the dry down.
Here there is the haunting in the dying garden. The spirits of Patchouli waft over a dry, dry vetiver. Tendrils of vanilla tease a shy spectral Amber as together they float over a parched Cedarwood. Labdanum and Oakmoss are shrouded in a ghostly musk. The sprit of the fragrance crosses over to the next world at about the forth hour.
As an Aromatic Fougere is it very soft and pleasing. I find it to be too wispy for my taste but still lovely in what it does. It is sold as a masculine fragrance but pushing that nonsense aside this fragrance would work well on a woman who is looking for a fruity floral that is not in the least bombastic but rather hauntingly beautiful.
Eau Sans Pareil by Penhalagon’s 3 gold stars ***
(Why only three gold stars? Beautiful as it is, like summer Eau Sans Pariel fades much too quickly. )
For the ghostly tale that goes along with my review check out my blog Scents Memory.
scream731 – :
After reading all the notes in this perfume I thought it would smell like a mess, it wasn’t, but it smells cheap to me. Too much going on with nothing standing out.very happy I got it as a gift and didn’t pay for it.
wpaska – :
For first month, I could smell only masculin green notes. It was like luxurious men’s toner. A little dark smell that i like. I enjoyed a lot that smell though I’m a woman. after one month I could begin to recognize very sweet smell. IT is vivacious and girlish or childlike. It’s interesting combination between luxurious masculin scent and girlish candy smell. But It’s attractive and well balanced. I had this Spring and Summer with this perfume. I love it. LOngevity is also very long though it’s eau de toillette.
машуничка – :
This is a great scent for women as well! Spicy!
mg2 – :
I have sample~ I love it
timalex78 – :
I liked this perfume just fine. It wasn’t fbw to me, but it was pleasant. I found the description of sweet, woody, floral, citrus to be very accurate. There are so many notes that I can’t tell them apart and usually I am okay at that. Complex is accurate as well. This perfume has a lot going on, so it’s kind of vague. It’s not bad, but it’s not amazing either.
Marcos – :
I ordered this after sampling it (old review below) and have not been disappointed. For me, it is heaven in a bottle. A unique, complex, rich scent that is comforting and cheering at the same time. It simply smells like me. If you can get a sample, try it. It might work for you too.
terminatort1 – :
A completely new perfume, not even close to the original, such a pity.. I’m treasuring the sample of the original Eau sans pareil, which is indeed an Eau without comparisons. At least they could use a different name.
vntima – :
Too fruity and sweet. Not original. The name is “Without comparisons” and seems a copy of hypnotic poison? No comment.