Clive Christian 150th Anniversary: Timeless and Contemporary

1872 was a long time ago. It was before both World Wars and the television and phone were invented. There are a few fragrance houses that have been around for a century or more…namely Guerlain, Floris, Penhaligon’s, and Acqua di Parma. One that I often forget about is Clive Christian, even though they were called Crown Perfumery back before the brand was acquired in 1999. Clive Christian honors that heritage with two new releases, Contemporary and Timeless.

Clive Christian 150th Anniversary Timeless:

A citrus woody perfume that is a present-day take on a classic Victorian era(1837-1901) cologne. Spicy ginger meets glistening lime and English lavender enlivens the senses, while musk, leather, and amber complete the classic base the scent is built upon. According to the brand, this cologne-style scent is a 25% concentration and is made up of 187 different ingredients.

Notes: Ginger, Lime, English Lavender, Musk, Leather, and Amber

Clive Christian 150th Anniversary Contemporary:

Contemporary is a stylish fougere that contrasts violet with crisp geranium in the top, soon after a heart of black pepper, cedar, hedgerow berries, and warm nutmeg rest on a base of single malt and moss. Hedgerow berries encompass a lot of different berries, but the most popular ones are blueberries, elderberries, blackberries, rosehips, and raspberries. It seems as though blackberry is the choice here. The brand claims this one is concentrated at 25% and contains 203 different ingredients.

Notes: Geranium, Black Pepper, Cedar, Blackberry, Nutmeg, Single Malt, and Moss

The bottle comes in the same shade of green that was the trademark of Crown Perfumery, with silver writing that is an homage to the brand’s most infamous product, lavender salts. These salts were used as a remedy for headaches, fainting, and to rid rooms of the musty odors of that era.

The salts were quite putrid on their own, so they were scented with lavender to help them be more nose friendly, even though the purpose of the products was to disrupt the nose so that more oxygen went into the body to alleviate the symptoms of dizziness and headaches. They were also opened and used like we would use a candle to scent a room and rid of it odors or stale air. These became the companies most iconic and popular product.

Timeless and Contemporary come in 50ml sizes that are priced at $380 each. They are currently available in both Europe and the US on the Clive Christian site.