London

Diptyqye
195 Westbourne Grove, W11 2SB. [Nearest Tube: Notting Hill Gate/ Central Line]

A very friendly small store in Notting Hill. It's at the 'less busy' end of Westbourne Grove, but well worth a diversion.

Penhaligon's
41 Wellington Street
Covent Garden
London WC2E 7BN

020 7836 2150
Nearest tube
Covent Garden

also
16 Burlington Arcade
Piccadilly ÊW1J 0PL

020 7629 1416
www.penhaligons.com

Geo F Trumper
Original Mayfair shop
9 Curzon Street
W1J 5HQ

020 7499 1850

also in St James's
20 Jermyn Street
SW1Y 6HP

020 7734 6553
www.trumpers.com

nearest tubes
Piccadilly Circus and Green Park

Last visited Penhaligon's in Feb 04 and Trumpers May 04. Good service, samples readily available

Trot

I'd like to add

1. Browns London
http://brownsfashion.com

23 - 27 South Molton Street London W1K 5RD

They stocks Gobin Daude, The Different Company, Dior Homme Cologne, Le Costes, Diptyque and Red Flowers candles...



2. The Dover Street Market
17-18 Dover Street, Mayfair

All Comme perfumes.

Farmacia Santa Maria Novella

117 Walton Street,
London SW3 2HP

Phone: 020 7460 6600

(Near Harrods, which has an excellent selection of perfumes under one roof).

--

L'Artisan Parfumeur
17 Cale Street,
London SW3 3QR
Phone: 020 7352 4196

(off the King's Road)

--

Parfums de Nicolai
101a Fulham Road,
London SW3 6RH

Phone: 020 7581 0922



--


Floris
89 Jermyn Street,
London SW1Y 6JH

Phone: 020 7930 2885

http://www.florislondon.com

--


Czech and Speake
39c Jermyn Street,
London SW1Y 6DN

Phone: 020 7439 0216

http://www.czechspeake.com/


--


D R Harris
29 St James's Street,
London ÊSW!A 1HB

Phone: 020 7930 3915

http://www.drharris.co.uk

--

Taylor's of Old Bond Street
74 Jermyn Street,
London SWIY 6NP

Phone: 020 7930 5544

http://www.tayloroldbondst.co.uk/


--

Truefitt & Hill
71 St. James Street,
London SW1A 1PH

Phone: 020 7493 8496

http://www.truefittandhill.com/

--


Department stores, with interesting range of perfumes:

Harrods, Knightbridge (Phone: 020 7730 1234)

Liberty's, 214 Regent Street, London W1 (Phone: 020 7734 1234)

Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, London W1 (Phone: 020 7734 8040)

Update
Fortnum & Mason (as above) now have Floris No 89 in the Classics range. Spotted today (22 Nov)

Fortnums also have a very good range of Guerlain including Mouchoir de Monsieur. Sampled today.

Also do not miss small traditional Chemist shop in Piccadilly (opposite Burlington Arcade) called Maitlands. Selling big range of Roget & Gallet for men and complete range of Balmain for ladies. Also Kent accessories, etc.

(nearest tubes Green Park and Piccadilly Circus).

Hello,
First, I wanted to thank you all for the excellent suggestions. I took advantage of them during my first visit to London last week. I picked up a sample set from Ormonde Jayne (and promptly lost it on the underground, so it was repurchased). I also visited Czech & Speake (although they only had the Neroli, Mimosa and lavender that I could see), Penhaligon's, Liberty's, Harrod's, Harvey Nichols and Fortnum and Mason's. I'm editorializing a lot, but here's the info I thought might be of use...

Harvey Nichols has the Bond No. 9 line (for a price that the SA told me she found shocking) and touts itself as the exclusive UK distributor. Said SA also revealed she found Bandit disgusting.

The Chanel counter also carries the limited scents (No. 22, Gardenia, Bois des Iles and Cuir de Russie), at least in the EDT. The SA said they were the only non-Chanel shop to carry them.

One thing I didn't realize is they have two locations of perfumes--the downstairs cosmetics area and then, much further up, a "French boudoir"-style space (according to the SA) which carries lines like The Different Company, Parfums de Rosine, Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier (I think--none of these were lines I was terribly familiar with so I might be screwing them up).

Liberty's carries, from what I could tell, the vast majority of the Comme de Garcons line, which I got to try in peace since the SAs there avoided me like the plague in favor of better-heeled customers (I understand but it still stung a bit) and seemed rather put out when I had a question. I know I'm a scrappy college student, but still! They also berated a British woman who was wanting to try Green Irish Tweed since it was a man's fragrance.

I'll put in a good word for the SAs at Fortnum and Mason's, Harrods, and Ormonde Jayne. All very nice and helpful.

Cheers!

previously i visited such shops as harrods, liberty, shops in oxford street. but i read here this information and i want to say many thanks to you all. now i know where to go and try unknown scents to me.i always wanted to smell chanel exlusive line, but thought that they don' t have them in london; also bond no 9; l artisan.
thank you *

Give the SAs at Liberty a chance - they're not pushy at all as in the other dept stores, they allow you to browse quite happily for a long time, and are quite charming if you are to them. I was wearing jeans that could've done with a wash the last time I was in there, and I had the pants (almost) charmed off me. It's my fave London dept store.

I visited the Thierry Mugler-corner in Harrods, and asked about if they had A*Men refillable in 30ml, and the SA then tried to trick me, by saying it was discontinued, so they did only have the 100ml. I then said I had seen it several other places in 30ml size, and then he "miraculousely" found a bottle in a shelve... When I asked about samples, he also said they didn't have any... Good service

Does anyone happen to know if there is anywhere in London that sells either Geir or Hanae Mori? :-/

http://www.beautybase.com/cgi-bin/in...p;session=list

They have Hanae Mori and many other fragrances you would not find in other stores, they do not list all their fragrances on their websites, but the Whiteleys Bayswater store has Hanae Mori as I got one from there my self. Sadly they do not have Geir, I my self orderd Geir from www.luckyscent.com personaly I do not find it that great at all I am even thinking of selling it.

After recent bad experiences (see comments here http://www.basenotes.net/community/Y...num=1133949574) I will not use les senteurs again and cannot recommend them to anyone else.

Hello to everybody: is there a kind soul who can give me the address of a London shop which stocks Demeter fragrances? I'm going there shortly and really would like to try them...
Thank you ever so much for taking the time to reply to my enquiry.

Liberty in London stock Demeter. Not the whole range, but the popular ones like Dirt and Rain were there last time I looked (a month ago or so).

The Hermès boutique in Bond St is well worth a visit. The sales staff are lovely and helpful and generous with samples. It is the only place in London, as far as I know, where you can get the exclusive Hermèssence range that includes Ambre Narguilé; they do a "discovery" set of those with four little bottles.

i would sugest to visit fortnum and mason in piccadily street. (picadilly Circus station).you can test here perfumes as long as you like. a few people , earthy surrounding, without SA pressure.

here you can find Clive Christian . very interesting experience. NR 1- the most expensive perfume in the world. well. nothing special - classy flowery good quality women scent.
also creed, l'artisan scents. it was interesting to me that in l'artisan shops scents are more expencive than here. 100 ml in l'artisan schop cost 70£; and in Fortnum Mason - 60£.

Also there is a Middle eastern shop opened on oxford street selling lots of oils and ouds. Some very special frags in there.

Also off bond street, Jo malone, versace, lauren, hermes, etc too many!

Mark-
What is the name of the shop on Oxford Street. I would love to see it when I visit next month. Thanks!

I used to go to Sephora when I travelled in continental Europe and the US, so I'm looking for something similar in London - I gather that Fortnum & Mason has the widest range of perfumes? At this point I'm not looking for specialized stores with few fragrances, just somewhere to test stuff without being disturbed.

Here are the details for the shop on Oxford Street from 'streetsensation'.

http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/oxford/os_s17.htm

Fortnum and Mason does have nice range of perfumes, also it's very 'non pushy' and quite quiet. If you visit on Fridays, you can say hello to my friend James on the Caron counter.

For an even larger selection, I would suggest Harrods and of course for something really special, go up to the 5th floor Urban Retret by the Egyptian escalator and visit Roja Dove's Haute Parfumery.

I've read so much about both of these venues and really ought to try to get to them sometime soon, especially Roja Dove:

http://www.urbanretreat-harrods.co.u...fumerie&pg=156

I reckon I need to go there with a reasonable spending budget though, so might need to wait a month or so and try to save ie: not buy any frags in the meantime!

Being that you mentioned spending budget, are there any shops in London that are similar to shops in New York or Los Angeles that sell fragrances for less than retail price? I apologize if this is a silly question, but are there discount stores in London?

You can find Hanae in 'Beauty Base' in Whiteley's in Bayswater. Just as you go into the shop it is on your right....

Parfums de Nicolai
101a Fulham Road, Kensington and Chelsea, SW3 6RH
Telephone: \t020 7581 0922

There's a great perfumery in London called 'Floris' it can be found just down the road from Trumpers, on Jermyn Street.

Greeting fellow Basenotes,
I seek your wisdom in solving a little problem.
I'm looking for Kenzo pour Homme, Guerlain Vetiver & Creed Green Irish Tweed
in London and here's the catch. I must get matching deodorant sticks for each.
I'm in Sydney myself, and it's been almost 30 years since I've been to England
so I've really got no idea where to get the above products. I'll be passing
any suggestions to a colleague who is in London now and flying to Sydney on
the 22nd of April.

Kind regards, Vilas

Wasn't too sure where to post this so feel free to move it if it's in the wrong place. Anyways, my friend and I are going to London on Saturday so that we can go try and find some niche fragrances so I have a few questions to ask you guys. What type of fragrances do Harrods sell, and do they sell Creed? Where is good to go for Creed and nice fragrances? and finally, Are these places 'snobby'? Random question I know but when you're only 19 people do tend to look down on you as if you are a paupar lol. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Tom

Libertine,
The City Guides forum has several threads of London shopping questions and answers. One look at this link and you'll see what I mean:
http://community.basenotes.net/forumdisplay.php?f=47
--Chris

Oh, and also, have a great time. I'm sure it'll be a thrill.
--Chris

I have been to a lot of London shops (just got back today and went to D.R.Harris yesterday) and find London sales people uniformly pleasant. The only unpleasant thing is the exchange rate, which is an unacceptable 2-1, which makes shopping except for unavailable things unfeasible.

Joe

If you go to Harrod's make sure you go to Roja Dove in the Urban Retreat (5th Floor of Harrods)

Here's where we went on the Basenotes London Lunch

http://www.basenotes.net/articles/lunchstores07.html

And here's a write up of 2 of the shops

http://www.basenotes.net/articles/20...oteslunch.html

Have fun

Thanks for the advice guys. I am really looking forward to it, I'm just a bit nervous that people will not like me testing fragrances and might be a bit rude. I'm such a wimp!!

I feel the same way sometimes, but just remember that you're the consumer; its their job to be pleasant and answer questions, etc.

Hi Tom,

Your message is well-timed as I just got back from London and went a bit mad buying fragrances despite the absurd exchange rate (I believe you live in the UK so this isn't an issue for you).

Harrods has a very large selection, but I was there on a very busy Saturday so sort of helped myself as far as testing and examining product. The staff at two different Penhaligons were quite nice, as was the young man at D.R. Harris. The staff at both Floris, Trumpers, and Taylors were cordial if not especially warm, but in two cases that could be because I arrived shortly before closing!

My advice would be to dress the part and enter the store assuming the staff will be helpful. I also find that if you know you want to make at least one purchase, make that clear quickly and the SA will generally become much more attentive. Finally, the best advice I can give you is to use these stores to test product, but buy online (if you can) through discounters and avoid paying full retail. I wish I had taken my own advice, but I got a little carried away while on holiday!

Have fun!

Wayne

Hey, thanks for all of your advice guys. Had a great day shopping yesterday. We mainly went to Harrods and Harvey Nicholls, and it was great fun smelling all these perfumes which O had read so much about. My first experience was at the Bond No 9 counter, the bottles are gorgeous but I found the scents nothing special in themselves, definitely not worth the price tag. Then we had a browse at the Creed counter, the SA was very helpfull and not at all snobby, she tried the new Virgin Island Waters on me and I was instantly in love. I also tried Himalaya, Erolfa and Original Santal which were all beautiful. I ended up walking away with some Silver Mountain Water and Virgin Island Waters and a couple of samples :P. All in all a very good day.

Glad to hear it! Was that SA in harrods or harvey nicks?

The SA was in Harrods, she was really lovely and quite happy to help me find the right fragrance for me. Im thinking of buying Original Santal next, I have it on a tester strip, can't stop sniffing it!!

Did they give you creed samples? The guy at selfridges insists that creed have stopped doing samples entirely, but I am not sure if he is just bull****ing me. There are a lot of samples on ebay at the moment which may suggest a clear out.

She gave me samples of Himalaya and Erolfa, i have no idea whether they are stopping samples! Maybe i'll ask next time. Bad thing is, now I want to buy Himalaya and Original Santal, give me money someone, please!!

Hi friends,

Ive read many of the London threads here and cant wait to hit the high streets in a fortnight from now when my wife and I visit. It will be our first time let loose there armed with plastic!

I can see there are a LOT of London retailers offering many scents! My question is this...

Is it possible to visit a good number of perfume retailers on foot in just a day?

I haven't any idea what's up or down there yet, but we plan to take a day hiking it through the big smoke whilst our chums (ie: hosts) are at work. We will also be armed with a 2-zone weekly train ticket if thats any help... but I'll admit we are both are a little daunted at navigating the overwhelming rail network.

If there are any BNers that can suggest a good route to take so we can take in a few must-see stores, please let me know here.
We're interested in finding some high-end scents (maybe at Les Scenteurs) as well as some good cheap discounters if possible.

Many thanks for any advice in advance!

D.

Thanks tigrushka!
This sounds like a great afternoon's walk!
Am bustin' out the London map and flouro pen as I type!
Thanks again!

Have a great time Dimitri! This sounds like a fun trip. Next time I'm down there I will take the same route and indulge in some serious perfume sniffing.

... or rather - it is all ON a map - you should be able to click here and get a Google map I've created with all the perfumeries in London worth going to!

Don't forget: Harvey Nichols has a niche perfumery on the 4th floor, as well as what they offer on the ground floor.

If you must do the Harrods thing (and I guess sometimes you must; they stock Bond No9 and have Roja Dove's haute parfumerie...), then it's just off Knightsbridge underground (follow signs for Harrods exit).

This is a great resource for visitors to London, thank you so much!

That's AWESOME, Nukapai (even though I only jsut noticed your post - I don't come in here much!). I'll be in London soon and this little map will be very helpful/enabling.

Thanks guys!

I'm going to do a couple of actual tours with friends and colleagues one day based on that map. Why not?

May I humbly request Geo. F. Trumper (also on Jermyn Street) be added? It is a favorite of mine. Also D. R. Harris, in that same neighborhood.
Thanks so much, this is a great service.
Cheers,

Done and done! Thank you for the suggestions, Odysseusm.

In fact, anyone with suggestions and additions - please do let me know! I'd like to make this map as useful as possible for perfume fanatics everywhere.

Fab work Nukapai!

Perhaps you might like to add the Hermés boutique at 179 Sloane Street in your listing. When I visited the staff were very friendly and forthcoming with samples from the exclusive hermessences line

Will do! Thank you for the recommendation

Ok, added (who wants to go on this tour then? I reckon it'd take two or three days to cover all spots...).

Excellent guide Nukapai, I won't be in London 'til next year sometime but I'll definitely use your perfume map. Thank you!

Thank you, Chaelaran

Do let me know when you're in London!

Who knows, perhaps we could arrange some sort of Basenotes trawl with a bunch of us.

Now that would be FUN!

That would be a cracking laugh. I was very jealous to read about the Basenotes 'sniffathon' in London a year or so ago.

I don't get to London very often and when I do it's usually with the full family so it's strictly Natural History Museum, Science Museum and pasta houses. But I long to be allowed a day off with a wad of cash. Maybe it's what I should ask for for Xmas!

VM and I were chatting about the possibility of organising some kind of meet next year - perhaps we ought to make it a reality!

Looking at that map, there are some nice routes or themes that present themselves. And where we go would depend on what everyone prefers of course. There are two really "special interest" things, which would demand a second day perhaps - Pecksniffs of Brighton (trains from London are frequent) is one of the last independent UK perfumeries with a basic line of scents and toiletries + they offer custom fragrance blends. Then there's the "open Sundays only" flower market perfumer Angela Flanders (Old Street underground stop is nearest, so it's a bit far out from most of the perfumeries). Other than that, the main points of interest on that map could be whittled down to an enjoyable day's worth of trawling!