LEN Fragrance

When the desire to leave a mark on perfumery meets the corresponding opportunities, brands like LEN Fragrance emerge. An art collector, a publisher with journalistic experience, and the daughter of a diplomat, Elena von Olnhausen brought together renowned designer Thierry de Baschmakoff and equally renowned perfumers Michel Almairac and Mark Buxton to tell her personal story through the language of scent.

I'd love to visit the same beautiful places and experience the same exciting situations as the inspiration behind LEN Fragrance, but it's impossible to live someone else's life, so my focus is on scent.

LEN's most beautiful creation is She&Male. A design of blue and yellow irises on the dusty glass of a pastry shop window. If you get up close and press your nose against it, as you did in childhood, you can discern through the swirls and vignettes of Art Nouveau murals, mountains of creamy toffee and marzipan in gold wrappers, chocolate bunnies, and handmade candies on lacy napkins. You can even recall their melting sweetness on your tongue. But step back a little, and all you see again is dried raindrops on glass and a faded iris pattern. A very French scent.

She&Male LEN,

Michel Almairac

Iris, vetiver, neroli, moss

LEN Just Roulette – I liked it the most when I first encountered the brand, and I still like it. It truly catches your attention with its vibrant notes of smoked tea, rich prunes, gunpowder, cold metal, and resin. Like a sepia-toned photograph, Just Roulette sounds slightly muffled, but smooth and doesn't fade at all over time. The brand's brochure lists it as a men's fragrance, which is, of course, completely unfair.

Just Roulette LEN,

Michel Almairac

Iris, vetiver, cedar, moss

Privarot LEN Fragrance is a bridal bouquet from an American movie. A lavish ceremony in a May garden amid a whirlwind of white petals, tulle, and lace. A traditional orange blossom is held in hand, and a much less innocent tuberose is woven into golden curls. The champagne is warm, the apple marshmallow sticks to your fingers, but everyone is tipsy and cheerful, and the mothers are teary-eyed. Privarot is one of the most delicate white floral bouquets. A truly bridal scent.

Privarot LEN Fragrance,

Michel Almairac

Orange blossom, jasmine, tiare flower, ylang ylang, sandalwood, benzoin

Last Call to IBIZA and Macao by LEN are more expensive and more concentrated than other fragrances. IBIZA smells like a beach party, dancing in the surf, and the relaxing smoke of a mild weed. At the beach bar, white rum cocktails flow freely with sweet syrups, colorful umbrellas, pineapple slices, and peach chunks. Like everything Mark Buxton makes, Last Call to IBIZA contains the extract of madness and the essential oil of indifference.

Last Call to IBIZA LEN Fragrance,

Mark Buxton

Marijuana, coffee, passionfruit, raspberry, peach, rose, freesia, sandalwood, patchouli, musk, caramel.

Paolo Terenzi would have eaten his hat if he'd tried 27 in Macao. It's everything he loves: a combination of the incompatible, a sturm und drang. A sweeping stream of coffee cocktail with vanilla syrup, a powdery hurricane, and modern woody-ambery materials with week-long staying power are enhanced by blackened leather, green peach jam, musk, and fiery ginger. I think this is a super-mega-giga-hit in Italy.

27 in Macao LEN Fragrance,

Pepper, coffee, cardamom, lychee, peony, ginger, peach, vetiver, amber

You can immediately tell that Crystal Bomb is dedicated to Dubai. The Middle East loves fragrances with various leather textures, vanilla, and oud—not surprising, familiar from Tom Ford, but delightful in their brightness and longevity.

Crystal Bomb LEN Fragrance,

Michel Almairac

Rose, raspberry, violet leaf, cedar, oud, white musk, vanilla

Try to follow me LEN is a masculine, fresh, vulgaris without any distinct features. It immediately reminded me of the darkness of everything, led by Green Irish Tweed and Jazz YSL's recent releases. Not with apple cider, but with ginger lemonade. For those who want something familiar, but a little more expensive.

Try to follow me LEN,

Michel Almairac

Mandarin, pepper, ginger, cedar, vetiver, tonka bean, amber, moss, musk

Jeux Dangereux is the still-popular Chanel Chance. It's a very enduring fragrance because it invariably lifts the spirits. Green peaches, cherry plum, patchouli, and a touch of hairspray. Nostalgia for the heady early 2000s.

Jeux Dangereux LEN,

Michel Almairac

Bergamot, grapefruit, rose, jasmine, vanilla, wood.