Endymion Concentré

I'm so happy to finally have my hands on a bottle of this little gem. I'll skip all the history lessons because Penhaligon's is a fairly well known name in the fragrance world (and even outside if you're into the barbershop culture). So yes, at the core, Penhaligon's is a barbershop, right next to other giants like Truefitt & Hill, Atkinson's, Dunhill's, etc. Penhaligon's is also well known for being upscale: King Charles himself did the artistic direction for one of their fragrances, Highgrove Bouquet (I believe he wears it as well). As such they are sadly pricey, and their fragrances are as well. It's kind of a shame, as many of them are fantastic scents, especially their colognes. One of these is Endymion, the original cologne version. It's a super nice, refreshing (posh) barbershop aromatic fragrance. You'd be forgiven to say it smells like designer blue fragrance, because that's pretty much what it is. The main criticism Penhaligon's fragrances get is the longevity. Besides Halfeti, most of their fragrances are quite short lived. To some that's a deal breaker but you'd be mistaken to judge their work solely based off of that. The house made an attempt to deepen Endymion's DNA with its EDP counterpart, Endymion "concentré". I will be honest, it's not massively successful. It's still short lived, although the EDP is definitely deeper, warmer and has hints of smoke and leather outright and dries down into a beautiful warm blue fragrance, once again not too unlike familiar designer DNAs, just a bit more posh and less cheap smelling. indeed, Endymion Concentré is a compliment magnet. And I don't use that expression liberally. I've been wearing this thing a few times and already people have commented on it multiple times. Just this morning as I type this, a colleague stepped into my office asking what the heck I was wearing and that it made her feel "uplifted". That's a win in my book. Actually, that's exactly what Endymion does, both the cologne and EDP. I find it a super uplifting, mood-boosting scent. If it wasn't for the admittedly super short longevity (2 hours or so) it would be a fragcomm darling I'm sure. If you love barbershop fragrances and blue fragrances in general, or if (Penhaligon's) Sartorial is a little too spicy and formal to your taste, get your nose on this one.

I got this during a winter sale from Penhaligon's, and it was one of the best investments to my collection I've ever made. This leather-y/suede-y scent is so relaxing. It's a super diverse scent that truly can be worn during any season and any time. This has become my go-to scent ever since I got it. It smells very much like a romantic night amongst an Italian garden/temple. The smell hits you right away with the botanical top notes that keep it nice and light, but the suede and leather are instantly noticeable. the main notes for the first 1-2 hours is lavender, suede, leather, and bergamot. As it begins to dry down the bergamot and lavender begin to take a step back as geranium and incense begin to poke through. This is the bulk of the wear, and it's a really nice leather/suede/floral scent. Then as you get into the base notes it becomes an extremely intimate scent, but the nutmeg begins to poke through to give it that ever so needed spiciness. I absolutely love this scent. If you're looking for an amazing suede/leather scent to either add to your collection or start your leather perfumes scent journey, i encourage you to buy this; sale or not.

I been wearing and testing Endymion the last few days and in my skin it starts off with a very fresh and citrusy blast with the lavender and then the woody and spiciness comes in which for some moment feels like a Fougère type of fragrance which I really love. As it drys down, the leather and suede notes pops up with the lingering incense, the leather and suede dominates the dry down but it’s not overpowering as the freshness and florals are still very noticeable which in my opinion is just a sophisticated and classy dry down. Performance wise, I surprisingly get a very good projection out of this, with about 6-7 hours of longevity. What I notice from Endymion Concentré is that it develops differently when I apply it to my skin and to my clothes, the lavender, bergamot and spices remains longer when applied to clothes than in skin which I don’t mind at all too. In my opinion, this could be worn by both women and man, slightly in the masculine side and it could be a all year around fragrance, I can see my self wearing this in summer to winter, very versatile fragrance indeed. IG: the_frag_mens

A fragrance in the true sense of the word, airy, fresh, barbershop style thanks to lavender, sage and geranium but much more complex. It blends into a unique accord that manages to stay fresh for many hours, it does not have much evolution but the mix is very multifaceted and compact thanks to the well blended leathery and incensed notes. In my skin it stays more than 7 hours and it's very pleasing from start to bottom, it is a scent you would use either for a date night, a wedding, an important meeting or before going to bed. This could be a great signature scent for all the season and it's a safe blind buy. Endymion Concentré differs from Colonia because it is a little less rounded, the concentrated variant is modern and goes straight to the point, while Colonia evolves more, it's full and classy, perhaps more old-fashioned. That said, I prefer the concentrated version, more present, a few more hours long lasting, more projection, a contemporary take on the classic barbershop fragrance, perfect for a late-night rendezvous at the lounge bar. 9/10

I love this one. Wore it out last night for 9 hours before I took a shower. Even at the end I was getting whiffs of it, it could probably go longer. So I decided to write this review. The top notes whizz by after the initial spray, I get the bergamot, maybe a little lavender, and then it's straight to the leather. To me, this is a leather fragrance: a creamy, brown, vegetable tanned leather. It definitely still has coffee in there, sewn into the tail end of the leather accord, and it gives the fragrance a really mouthwatering feeling. A spicy-sweet nutmeg only shows up after at least 5+ hours of wear, seems to be the heaviest of all the notes. In my opinion, Concentre is strictly an improvement of the cologne, both in smell and performance, though I understand if what people really liked was Endymion's take on lavender this is a bit disappointing. It's a great family resemblance though. A dark and dreamy beauty.