Betrothal

Perfume friends, I cannot at all understand the non existing or even negative reviews on the internet of this fragrance and other Grossmith'es. Only because they re so pricey (which is understandable give the fact what the Grossmith "family" invests in their production) some folks do not even try them. A big mistake in my humble opinium!:= I agree wholeheartily with Suzy here: Betrothal is a luxury powdery,even dusty white floral with quality boozing all over.. The cibet causing the naughtyness mentioned by Suzy. And the Heliotrope note is the most beautiful I ve ever detected in any fragrance! Yes it is sweet but tempered by the strong African flower and earthy vetiver in the drydown which is quite heavenly to my nose at least:=) An absolutely PERFUME in the most true sense of the word (even in the EDP version). Not for untrained noses and quite surely not for lovers of modern chemical Iso-Super kind of fragrances...I guess our Kate is not really a perfume addict so let her buy Katy Perry's Purr instead:=) A must try for any real perfume art lovers of the classics! If you like powdery florals give it a chance..

A beautiful and easy to understand and easy to "hug" scent. I must thank to a beautiful member here, for giving me the oportunity to meet this perfume. Thank you so much mr. F, for this one and for the other amazing masterpieces you sent me. It is strange but my nose didn t put on the highest stair the heliotrope. Not in the middle, nor in the dry down. I feel it but it is captured and transformed into an unknown flower, in this mixture. Wich is not bad at all. It s like a delicious ganache with rose petals, vanilla and ylang ylang, after the short time when the citrus dissapear. The middle is floral but in a correct line, nothing is in contradiction. I love the most the final, wich unfortunately on my skins lasts not as long as I wanted... The animal vibe is minimal,but enough. I am glad also for the fact the vetiver is not screaming. Feminine but not too "lady gem", a not intoxicating and heavy scent, refined, revigorating, like a spring starry NIGHT. The lasting power is almost weak on my skin but well..every beautiful dream it come to an end too early, every time...

8/10. Slippery elm. Ale. Clove, nutmeg. German black forest cake. Sigh, my last sample and I still did not find the perfect Grossmith fragrance yet. At least at first... three hours later, very pleasant citrus floral, powdery. If I could skip to this part sooner I would buy it right away!

A good feminine floral bouquet where I take above all rose and heliotrope with a start of citrus fruits and orange flowers that lasts until the end supported by a polite civet. On my skin it is never completely dry or powdery but rather alive, fresh and citrusy. It mostly stays like this, intertwined with clean florals, light vanilla and animalic whiffs. I was expecting a twist in the ending that didn't arrive. and...I waited calmly for 24 hours! Composed, comfortable, serious, clean and elegantly mature. Short but resistant and pulsating sillage. Reserved.

i really liked this one, not that very unique and something quite bizarre. it's just quite good and loving my skin. it is powdery yes, and im not a fan of that but this one amazes me allot. i remember it was already produced back then in 1893 to be worn by Mary of Teck for her betrothal to King George V, and it was recreated again in 2011 or 2012 (don't remember exactly) for Kate Middleton to be worn in her betrothal like her grandmother did. it has big citrusy vetiver note with the least vanilla that could adds a haze of sweetness to the juice. rose and jasmin are there yes, quite thin but there already, & thank GOD ylang ylang isn't there at all, it's just the Civetta that adds that tiny twist to the blend & it's doing an amazing job. i guess neroli is there already. i guess this one is the most expensive one in his collection and to be honest it deserves it. it is unisex for sure. it could be worn in the morning and charms everyone around you, it's not sharp and never heavy. it's exactly on the right wave length of perfect. Edit (14th feb 2015): i was mistaken! the Ylang Ylang is there already and quite shown clearely! it is the one that added that tingling twist beside the Civet. note: the main drawback of all Grossmith's fragrances is the spray, the top piece that sprays the fragrance. however, after few sprays that piece on top kind of wears down or melts, in another way the smell of it turns very metallic. this could be because of the quality of the spray itself, or maybe the fragrance itself is quite strong in away that the spray material can't handle it's strength or density. so i wish they take this into consideration cause this might ruin the essence as it has direct connection with the fragrance.

Re-visiting Bethrotal today (4th Nov 20). I really don't know what exactly to say about it. It is definitely a quality fragrance. I am super fan of natural ingredients used in fragrances, so I do appreciate that in this scent, but I am not sure I find it matching my taste and my personality. Upon application I have a slight, very slight medicinal feel, or kind of more of an oil blend aroma for a back/shoulders/neck massage (you know the one which the masseurs are making when you get ready to have a massage). After that moment I was transported back to when I was a very little 4-5 y.o. child hiding in my grandmother's (made from real walnut tree) wardrobe , looking at her stuff and sniffing her lipstick and whatever she had in her bag. Yes, they say a fragrance could really transport you in a place well forgotten years and years ago. Actually, this in fact made me a bit sad and nostalgic. So many memories popped in my head.... I am not sure how to describe the notes, they are so masterfully blended, I can't separate one from another. It also reminds me of hand made luxorious orange soap. It is definitely complex scent, and If you want to feel the reality of this fragrance, please do experience it yourself, on your skin, this is the only way you can understand it. It's not an easy one for me anyway, but it is natural and not synthetic, for sure.

Dear Ladies, I rather have a question: is the Perfume version of Betrothal as short-lived as the EdP? I do love this fragrance, I believe it is one of the most beautiful ones in the world. Though have had an unfortunate experience with the EdP, which literally evaporated in a couple of hours. And it is not just one or two or three notes that disappear or merge with the base, but the whole bouquet becomes non existent. I am now reading a perfumery book by Mandy Aftel, who says that if this should be the case, the scent is badly composed and should be restructured. So I am appealing to those among you who was lucky to experience the entire cycle of the Betrothal Perfume longevity. Do you think it is worth the investment? :-) Cheers

At first I find myself beeing forcefed a big heap of random flowers. And as much as I enjoy flowers, and basically all kinds of them, I do not enjoy the act of forcefeeding. Then I'm invited to a celebration in an old house by an old rich woman. Theres a big table covered in cakes, cookies and sweets of all kinds. Beautiful but exhausting. At last I leave, and somebody gives me a doggiebag with a few treats, well chosen and more spicy than sweet. I gladly accept the gift to let this cover up what happened before.

A high quality floral, classic in feel, big citrus opening. I'm definitely reminded of both No 5 Eau Premiere and No 5 Elixir Sensuele. Reminiscent too of Guerlain's Apres l'ondee with its huge heliptrope. I don't usually wear any of those. This is warmer, probably more powdery. It doesn't mention aldehyde but I detect them here. If you like No 5 I reckon you'll love this. For me it's a wee bit headache inducing! Beautiful perfume though.

It's an over the top typically British floral scent, quite classy, but yes, as threshique said, it is like being buried in a big heap of random flowers. But that's what we Brits like to do - stand in our gardens surrounded by lots of different scented flowers and be overwhelmed. It's so nostalgic - an english garden, a garden party! A posh one with champagne and ladies dressed in white floaty dresses.

I love this, it smells like a slice of British History, for some reason it reminds me of Miss Havisham from Great Expectations (in a good way) because of the slightly dusty dry down. It's pretty pricey, but Grossmith perfumes are truly unique one of a kinds. Also surprised not to see more reviews.

Mainly a heliotrope(floral almond) scent. Nice but I'm not sure it's worthy of the price tag. But I think you'd really have to love heliotrope to love this. It's certainly unrivalled in its heliotrope-ness.