Penhaligon's is a British perfume house founded in the late 1860s by William Henry Penhaligon, a Cornish barber who moved to London and became Court Barber and Perfumer to Queen Victoria.
History William Penhaligon started his working life as a barber within the London and Provincial Turkish Bath Company's London Hammam at 76 Jermyn Street, one of London's most fashionable streets. As was typical of barbers then, Penhaligon created his own products to sell to his clients, many of whom were politicians of the age. Penhaligon's first shop was within the Turkish baths, with a second entrance directly from the street. This is where Penhaligon created his signature perfume, Hammam Bouquet. The second shop opened at 33 St James's Street and was attached to the Jermyn Street store at the rear. In the late 1920s, the business moved to Bury Street. The original buildings were destroyed in The Blitz in 1941, but the store on Bury Street remained untouched. The Bury Street premises operated until the mid-1950s, when Penhaligon's was purchased by Geo. F. Trumper, continuing to be manufactured from the basement of Trumper's Curzon Street premises, and slowly fell into obscurity until the brand was revived and a shop opened in Wellington Street, Covent Garden in 1977.
Penhaligon's today is wholly owned by Spanish fashion and fragrance company Puig International SA, after acquisition in 2015. Manufacture of their perfumes has now been moved from the UK to Spain and other countries.
Stores Besides the flagship store in Covent Garden, locations in London include the Burlington Arcade, Canary Wharf, Battersea Power Station, Regent Street, Mayfair, Kings Road, Islington, the Royal Exchange, and a second Covent Garden store has opened. A store is also located within Bicester Village.
Other shops have also been established outside of the capital in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Cambridge, Bath, Brighton, Bluewater, Guildford, Leeds, Liverpool, York, Liverpool, Portsmouth and Chester, as well as internationally in Paris, New York City, Hong Kong, Canada, Ireland, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Macau.
Products
Hammam Bouquet – 1872; the company's first scent Blenheim Bouquet – 1902; the company's longest surviving bespoke fragrance, created for the Duke of Marlborough and named for Blenheim Palace English Fern – 1910 Douro Eau de Portugal- 1911; name changed to Lords, reverted to Douro Lily of the Valley – 1976 Violetta – 1976 – (no longer in production) Bluebell – 1978 Victorian Posy – 1979 (No longer in production) Elisabethan Rose – 1984 (No longer in production) Racquets – 1989 (No longer in production) Cornubia – 1991 Quercus – 1996 Castile – 1998 LP No.9 for ladies – 1998 LP No.9 for men – 1999 Artemisia – 2002; Was nominated for a FiFi Fragrance Foundation award in the Nouveau Niche category in 2002. Endymion – 2003 Malabah – 2003 Lavandula – 2004 Ellenisia – 2005 Opus 1870 – 2005; Created as a celebration of Penhaligon's heritage Lily & Spice – 2006 (No longer in production) Elixir – 2008 (No longer in production) Amaranthine – 2009 (No longer in production) Sartorial – 2010 Juniper Sling – 2011 Peoneve – 2012 Vaara – 2013; Created for Maharajah Gaj Singh II Iris Prima – 2013; Created in collaboration with English National Ballet Bayolea – 2014; A modernised version of a bay rum tonic from Penhaligon's archives
Between July 2009 and 2011, Penhaligon's reissued a selection of perfumes from their archives under the banner of the Anthology Collection:
Eau de Cologne – 1927 (No longer in production) Zizonia – 1930 Eau de Verveine – 1949 (No longer in production) Extract of Limes – 1963 (No longer in production) Gardenia – 1976 Night Scented Stock – 1976 Orange Blossom – 1976 Jubilee Bouquet – 1977 (No longer in production) Esprit du Roi – 1983 Eau sans Pareil – 1988
In September 2014, Penhaligon's launched the Trade Routes collection, comprising four fragrances inspired by the explosion of trade in London at the end of the 19th Century:
Empressa – 2014; Inspired by the silks and extravagant goods traded through London Levantium – 2014; Inspired by the goods stacked high on the wharves, described in a John Masefield poem (Discontinued) Lothair – 2014; Inspired by and named for the last and biggest Tea Clipper ship (Discontinued) As Sawira – 2015; Inspired by Essaouira, the first Sea Port in Morocco (Limited Edition; Discontinued) Halfeti – 2015 Cairo – 2018 Babylon – 2019 Halfeti Cedar – 2020 (Discontinued) Halfeti Leather – 2020 Constantinople – 2021 (Discontinued) Legacy of Petra – 2022 (Discontinued) AlUla – 2024
In 2015 Penhaligon's launched two new fragrances inspired by the wilds of the British Coastline.
Blasted Heath – 2015; Inspired by the power of the sea. Blasted Bloom – 2015; Inspired by the wild flora of the British Coastline. Equinox Bloom – 2016; The first 2016 launch from Penhaligon's, Equinox Bloom is inspired by the loved British tradition of Afternoon Tea
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