I’ve had a really blessed week. Minus the terrible NYC weather and my allergies trying to keep me down, I met so many beauty heroes, including Clive Christian earlier this week! For me, Clive Christian has always been this mythical person. Super mysterious, probably because he’s British and has what seems like this heritage fragrance brand that would date back to a royals in the 17th century. But alas he’s only been doing fragrance since 1999, starting with fragrance No. 1 which quickly earned him the crown for creating “the worlds most expensive perfume”. No mater in date, his fragrances carry that elegance and regal feel (the caps are even crowns). And it should be noted he was very established (or maybe famous is a more appropriate word) in the world of interiors when he introduced fragrance as an extension of his brand. I took none of that lightly as I walked into the ever elegant Baccarat Hotel, to meet him and hear about his latest fragrance pair, Noble VII Cosmos Flower and Rose Rock.
So just a few notes on brand for anyone looking to get more acquainted, Noble VII is in fact the 7th fragrance pair. And he launches every new fragrance as a pair (so technically its the 13th and 14th scent in the collection). Back in the day you could say the pairings were a feminine and masculine scent but now all the lines are blurred with so consider it unisex with one leaning more in one direction.
The Original Collection featured the first three scent pairs, followed by the Private Collection, which featured the next 3 pairings, and now in a new category we have the seventh scent pairing, Noble VII available in Cosmos Flower and Rock Rose.
Inspired by his magnificent residence, specifically the exquisite garden, which to give you some idea of how vast and stunning this property is it was Queen Anne’s residence in 1730! And of course it’s in the English countryside which just adds to the romance (click HERE to see an image and learn more about the residence).
This fragrance has been their most successful, launching originally at Harrods and selling out. It’s now made it’s way to the US this month and in the usual suspects, Saks, Neiman’s, Bergdorf’s and Nordstrom. The more feminine of the two is Cosmos Flower, a modern gourmand scent blending sweet benzoin and caramel at the base with a bouquet of plum accord, ylang-ylang, jasmine, the fruitiness of osmanthus and the chocolaty note of the cosmos flower which is enhanced with natural cocoa to bring out the scent of the flower. With fruit for the top nots there’s sparkling pink pepper with a touch of fiery rum to bring warmth the fragrance. To my unsophisticated, allergy infested nose, it smells like a victorian fragrance that’s powdery with hints of jasmine and a beautiful warmth. The fruit balances the more food notes so it’s not your typical gourmand.
The more masculine fragrance is Rock Rose, a modern interpretation of a classically styled fougere perfume. For me it reads very masculine in a YSL L’Homme kind of way. The top notes of the fragrance is a blend of citrus oils, bergamot, black pepper and a hint of neroli. The heard is a fusion of clean lavender, violet, herbs and of course rock rose. The base combines dark cocoa and patchouli with an abundance of amber and touch of sparkling vetiver to compliment the citrus accord on top. To blow your mind further, it’s comprised of 196 ingredients.
The packaging is exquisite, a matte black bottle with red label and crown for the cap crated in a black box nestled in red velvet. The whole experience of the brand is undoubtably regal and luxurious. And the man behind the brand is equally exquisite. 
He’s had 14 successful fragrances — all unique and has never discontinuing a single scent. Hearing him talk and explain how it took the world time to embrace high price point fragrances (which by the way are a dime a dozen now), made me realize how much he’s helped push forward the luxury fragrance industry forward. He also gave me the best early birthday present I could ask for, a new signature scent. Admittedly, I wanted one of his L fragrance pairs to work on me. And they are complex and not all fragrances work on everyone but we both agreed the L for men fit for me! What are the odds that out of 14 fragrances, 3 would have letters and of that one of them would be mine! So I like to think L is for Lara! And what could be more fitting in a signature scent. Maybe I’ll even tell people it was made for me.
Like all fragrances and especially these, I recommend going to a store, putting it on and walking around for the day. They blossom so beautifully but they settle on everyone differently.