The smell of Christmas is a key part of its magic, whether it’s the WARM SWEETNESS of
plum pudding or cool fresh pine. Four of Ireland’s most SOPHISTICATED NOSES have stylish ideas for what to blend, spritz, taste and breathe in, writes SARAH HALLIWELL
The Flower Forager
Scent is an important part of life for floral designer and stylist Ann Marie O’Leary. Having studied floristry in Dublin, O’Leary created memorable set pieces for the Four Seasons Hotel before setting up her own floral design company six years ago to focus on wedding and occasion florals. “For me, scent is a powerful catalyst for emotion. Just unpacking a delivery of sweetpeas is enough to take me back to a moment in time.”
O’Leary grew up in Tralee and returned to Kerry in 1999, though she continues to work all over the country. She now lives in a cottage in the grounds of an old rectory on the Dingle peninsula, with her studio nearby. She finds the wildness of the Kerry landscape inspiring. “For me it’s all about working with nature. People no longer look for that idea of ‘perfection’ – designs are more fluid and organic, lighter and with more movement. Lots of people now ask for completely Irish bouquets, so I use roses, tulips, nigella, sweetpeas and cosmos. In winter it might be montbretia and foliage – beech is a favourite of mine.” O’Leary also loves ferns, for their fresh scent and texture. She has a foraging licence and can be spotted around the Dingle roads in her reconditioned red VW camper van. This new natural mood extends to big occasions, and scent is a key element.
“Previously, florals for brides were all about tight hand-tied, structured bouquets,” she notes. “But these always remind me of a weapon! I’ve always done looser, wilder flowers, and I find that now more people are looking for asymmetric, free-form bouquets. One Dingle bride wanted locally grown flowers so I made her a wild floral crown with ivy, local heather, mint, rosemary, hebe and lavender. Because it’s scented she says it’s like a living memento of the wedding.” O’Leary plans to open up her studio in the new year, stocking beautiful and lasting items. Her creative workshops take place in venues such as Druids Glen; she’ll be at Ballynahinch Castle Hotel in Connemara in February. For Christmas, she steers clear of the clichéd holly and poinsettias, and turns instead to warmly fragrant spices: “I use cylinder vases and fill the bottom with star anise and a pillar candle. You can also use cloves, or crushed cinnamon sticks – as the spices warm up with the heat from the candle you get this wonderful scent, and it looks beautiful too.” Ann Marie O’Leary, 066 712 9999; www.annmarieoleary.com.
The Tastemaker
Julie Dupouy has been named Best Sommelier in Ireland twice. Originally from Agen, in the southwest of France, she has worked at Residence, Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud and Fallon & Byrne, before arriving at The Greenhouse in February. She loves working alongside “genius” chef Mickael Viljanen to pair food and wine. “We are using the Coravin system, which uses a needle to access the wine without removing the cork. This means we can have a really great selection by the glass.” She also runs private tastings and masterclasses via her business, Down2Wine.
“The nose is one of the main tools of wine tasting. When I do tastings, I ask people to pinch their nose and eat a sweet – so they can see that if your nose is pinched you do not know what you are eating, beyond whether it’s sweet or salty. Whether you’re breathing in or eating – aromas and flavours are of equal importance. This is the key to my job and vital for food and wine pairing. “I do find people are more and more interested in trying new wines and excited to taste new grape varieties,” says Dupouy. There’s a strong Scandinavian influence at The Greenhouse and lots of smoky flavours. For wines to pair with this, Dupouy looks to the “natural smokiness in Syrah grapes or by oak ageing in the barrel. Wines such as white Bordeaux and Pinot Noir have a lovely smokiness. Or you might try something bright like Pouilly Fumé for contrast.
“I rarely wear perfume in the restaurant when people are enjoying food. Outside work I like floral scents but nothing too strong – rose, white flowers, acacia. I love Nuxe Prodigieux Le Parfum in the summer, with its orange blossom notes, Babydoll by YSL and Dior Addict, both light florals; for winter I love Hermès Eau de Merveilles, with its cedar and strong spices. I also like delicate spices like cardamom, pink peppercorn and anise. At Christmas I peel oranges and press the skin so that I have the smell of orange zest around the house, along with a real tree. I favour natural scents over candles. “At Christmas, in an ideal world, I would love to open a Krug – even if you didn’t know about champagne you’d love Krug. It has so much complexity, roundness and a creamy, briochy flavour – it’s like getting a hug! Or else ShortCross Gin with Fever-Tree tonic, which is lighter and less bitter than others. With dinner I will be drinking a white Burgundy, a Meursault or a German Riesling. And to pair with the Christmas pudding I’d recommend a Madeira – there are now some fantastic half-bottles of great single vintage Madeiras we are serving at the moment that go so well with it.” The Greenhouse, Dawson Street, Dublin 2. www.Down2Wine.ie.
The Alchemist
Although Margaret Mangan of Cloon Keen Atelier is in the business of creating the most elegant fragranced candles, there are times when they are entirely banned in her home. “I never burn scented candles during Christmas dinner. Please, no scented candles when you’re eating, it totally ruins the food!” Instead, Mangan will fill rooms with plain candles of different heights, and dress the table with natural pine. “I’ll have a natural tree – we get one from Yes Flowers in Galway every year. “Scent is all about adding a different layer. It depends on the mood you’re trying to create, whether it’s jolly and childlike, with sweet and fruit notes, or sophisticated and mature. Think of fragrance as another element.”
The artisan perfumery has come a long way since its beginnings in a Galway garage. Margaret Mangan and husband Julian Checkley set up shop in 2001 after ten years of working in the art department on feature films. This year, the boutique moved to a chic new premises on High Street, and won the Irish Times’ Best Speciality Shop award. Cloon Keen’s elegant candles and scents have been nominated for several awards, including the prestigious Fragrance Foundation FIFI award. Their attention to detail and style – and show-stopping scents – makes Mangan and Checkley international players. “Scent memories of Christmas vary widely according to culture: for some, it’s all about pine scents, whereas in Newfoundland, where I’m from, it’s about fresh bracing air, so it’s that smell that makes me nostalgic. I think about the Wise Men – frankincense and myrrh, balsamic and coniferous notes, tree resins such as fir balsam – the most luxurious scent ever, incredibly opulent. At home, we burn Antique Library, and our Dyflin candle also has lots of natural outdoor notes like juniper berries and silver birch.”
Mangan rarely wears scent herself as she’s always testing new blends on her skin. “But at this time of year I wear Castaña. It’s a beautiful gourmand with a burnt praline chestnut accord wrapped up in exotic spices … it feels like being wrapped in a cashmere shawl.” Cloon Keen’s new body creams in Tulum and Copacetic offer a subtle and luxurious way to wear scent. The team is working on ever more intoxicating concoctions in
their Spiddal lab, as well as exploring new technology skincare to suit the troublesome Irish skin type. And Mangan is excited about their next eau de parfum, Grande Dame, created specially for The Shelbourne Hotel’s new Salon and launching early next year: “It’s an ambery oriental with really modern rose facets, inspired by the idea of walking into the hotel from St Stephen’s Green, with summer geranium and rose blended with a sense of orientalism.” Cloon Keen Atelier, 21A High Street, Galway, 091 565 736; Brown Thomas;
www.cloonkeenatelier.com.
The Diviner
Marija Aslimoska’s elegant boutique Parfumarija, in Dublin’s Westbury Mall, set up in 2014 with husband Brendan Coyle, is an Aladdin’s Cave for perfume-lovers, many of whom regularly pop in to report on their latest scent obsession. Aslimoska sources only the most intriguing niche brands you won’t find anywhere else, bringing the world’s most beautiful and exclusive fragrances to Ireland from houses such as Arquiste, Illuminum and Etat Libre d’Orange. Aslimoska has been stocking Frederic Malle scents since February 2014 and is constantly sought out by Portrait of a Lady addicts, while her recent acquisition of Le Galion scents, which date back to the 1930s, means the shop is now frequented by elderly ladies who wore it when they were young and are thrilled to get hold of it again in Dublin. She has plans to stock classic Florentine apothecary Santa Maria Novella skincare and fragrance in time for Valentine’s Day, as well as niche London label Ormonde Jayne. Aslimoska trained in perfumery in Grasse, and has been working in the lab on candles and fragrance of her own. Her advice for Christmas is to try something warm and spicy: “I find a lot of clients are asking for incense scents – incense is such a trend at the moment, along with leather.” Perfumers are creating different takes on incense, such as Iris Nazarena from Aedes de Venustas, a boutique in New York’s West Village that’s a destination for insiders and scent lovers like Sarah Jessica Parker. Another one to try if you haven’t worn incense-type scents before is elegant Cardinal by niche English perfumer James Heeley.
One of the most surprising yet appealing winter scents according to Aslimoska is Profumum’s Dulcis in Fundo. “Imagine walking down a cold street in Milan and being suddenly hit by the smell of panettone – that comforting warm smell, with orange and vanilla, is incredible for winter when you need a fragrance to envelop you.” The smell of orange peel is firmly associated with Christmas for Aslimoska, though her family didn’t celebrate it when she was growing up in Macedonia. “It’s only since I began spending Christmas in Donegal over the past eleven years that I’ve experienced the Christmas of movies – trees, carols, lights and food. It’s not just the smells – there are a few things that make the whole thing, such as the music. Other key scents for me are a burning fire and the smell of port, plus the cool air when we walk by the lake.” And for scent at home? Jovoy’s chestnut candle contains so much perfume “its scent will fill the biggest house”, while Frederic Malle’s perfume guns are a fun way to add instant ambience: spritz some Café Society, she says, “the smell of a room after a fabulous dinner party”.
So what does the woman who has every scent on tap choose to wear herself? Amouage’s Jubilation 25, a rich and luxurious blend of oakmoss, incense, rose and spicy amber. “It’s a classic: to me it’s a sexier version of Mitsouko [the 1919 Guerlain classic].” In time for Christmas she’ll be stocking a limited edition Amouage lacquer box containing Jubilation scent and body cream – both instant pleasure and a lasting keepsake. Parfumarija, 25 Westbury Mall, Dublin 2, 01 671 0255; www.parfumarija.com.
This article appeared in a previous issue, for more features like this, don’t miss our January issue, out Thursday January 7.
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