The Favourite

It is complex: feminine, classy, a little bit powdery. What I love about Penhaligon's - that their fragrances inspire my imagination and evoke images in my mind. I imagine an ingenue Victorian lady wearing this for a spring/summer ball. She comes from a good family, most likely aristocratic. Plays piano, paints, and is 'accomplished' as Victorians used to say. She is romantic enough to dream about love poems being dedicated to her, yet can come across a bit restrained and aloof: might fall in love, but will not lose her mind and do something indecent, such as eloping with a gentleman. Maybe Daphne from Bridgerton could rock it. Usually violet is a difficult note for me - as much as I wanted to love Guerlain's Insolence, it was just too much. The Favourite is strong on violet, but it is also quite strong on mimosa. There is some iris too, but very soft. Could be worn every day with an elegant outfit (definitely NOT jeans+trainers scent) or to the theatre. Noblesse oblige :) It is evocative of old times, but doesn't smell dated. As for the price tag: considering how expensive designers' fragrances became, this is a bargain (much cheaper than Penhaligon's portraits collection). The performance is actually excellent - if you want sillage, it is there!

Penhaligon’s The Favourite. It’s without a doubt my #1 and the only one with a back up bottle in my collection. I like my collection to be really varied and this is such a unique scent, different from everything else I own. It’s a feminine, floral powdery. The opening fizz of orange, freesia and violet, the delicate powdery mimosa, the regal iris all mixed in with a sensual sweet musky woodiness.. my nose’s absolute addiction to ambroxan. I love the fizz on my nose, the tingle in my brain, the tease of mimosa and iris, the fresh, sweet, floral prettiness of it all that then leans into a mature and sensual ambergris-esque musk, finishing with a truly stunning powdery dry down... a beautiful, unique, stunning, comforting and well crafted perfume that just brings me immense happiness when I wear it! Damn, I just love it so much, it makes my eyes roll back when I whiff it, it triggers cute aggression and makes me want to squeeze the bottle to death! An aside - A lot of people talk about ‘compliment grabbers’ on here, and that’s not why I wear my perfumes, but every time I wear this I always get told ‘you smell sooo good’ or asked what I’m wearing.

Ooh I really do like this one! It is literally my favourite of the Penhaligon’s discovery set. Floral and feminine but with an ambery depth to it that sets it aside from a lot of the others in this genre. The mandarin and mimosa add just a little edge to the sweet florals of the violet and iris and there’s a hint of green, fresh cut stems. The woody, ambery, musky base notes don’t overwhelm but give a warm, resinous note in the background. A traditional, feminine floral scent with a touch of whimsical eccentricity. Freshly picked flowers on a table in an old English country house, still dewy from the garden. The faint aromas of old wooden floors and of deep romantic longing. Reading a book and peeling a mandarin in the window seat with an air of studied nonchalance, occasionally glancing out the window in the hope that Mr Darcy (preferably Matthew MacFadyen) gallops up the driveway on his horse.

This is a very identifiable Penhaligons fragrance. It's feminine, floral, light, fun, youthful but in a classy way. A bit of a rogue one, but it reminds me a lot of minty yogurt that you tend to get as an appetizer dip at Indian restaurants... and I love it! The downfall however is the sillage and longevity, initially it packs a punch but give it about an hour or two and it's a very close to the skin scent, give it a few more hours and you may as well not be wearing a fragrance at all. Given the price point of Penhaligons, it's truly shocking performance and really drags down what could be a great feminine spring staple. Scent: 7/10 Projection: 2/10 Longevity: 2/10 Versatility: 7/10 (Although I see it as a spring scent, if the longevity was better this could be a pretty decent everyday/office scent since it's fairly inoffensive) Price (at full price): 5/10 Overall: 4.6/10

Elegant and pretty, The Favorite is my most loved perfume. I live in a humid climate, and surprisingly, it holds up well in the summer heat. All of Penhaligon's perfumes have an old world charm to them, which I find endearing, but is not for everyone. Unless you are use to the perfume house, I would recommend sampling. There is also a very understated sexiness to this perfume, many male friends and coworkers compliment the smell. I think it's because it settles into a very clean, yet feminine smell. The pink ribbon around the perfume is very representative of the fragrance. The mimosa gives a fuzzy element, and if this perfume was a color, it would defiantly be the pink/mauvy color of the ribbon (instead of a purple color that would be expected with such a violet dominated scent). The Favorite is also unique since I live in the US, and not many wear violet fragrances.

Super girly, almost performatively feminine. This is the sweetest, non-gourmand scent ever- it smells like powdered sugar violets more so than fresh violets. The florals are there, but on my skin this leans towards clean musk with slight bitterness from the ambroxan hidden under a cloud of that floral sweetness. This lasts about four hours on my skin, but then hours later I'll still get a whiff of it. Lasts all day and longer on my clothes and if it gets in my hair. I do absolutely love this, after about two years of ordering decants and travel sizes, I finally ordered the full sized bottle. This is my second penhaligon's scent, my first being luna. Both are lovely every day scents, and I love that they're so unique. The Favourite is the more coquette, flirty sister of the whimsical, carefree Luna, and I love having both in my collection.

Smells just like the bottle looks - very cute, girly, sweet, and innocent. This is basically a sweet powdery violet in the same vein as Guerlain Insolence EDP, except not quite as aggressively “violet” (Insolence reminded me way too much of chalky Parma violet candies). Despite also being essentially a powdery violet. I find The Favourite a lot more to my liking as it has some additional floral notes and citrus that round it out. Could I picture a duchess or lady-in-waiting wearing this, as the marketing implies? Maybe. It certainly is a very prim-and-proper, buttoned-up type of scent. Almost smells more like a fancy dusting powder. I think this is best suited to transitional seasons like spring and fall, this is far too sweet for summertime in my opinion and the light florals might get a bit lost in cold winter air.

Writing some quick notes here for my own future reference, more than anything else. This starts off as a powder bomb, although I would say it's inoffensive. No super strong violet at first, I'm just hit with a powder blast. I rated it a 5/10 or 6/10 at first. Then about an hour later the powder was subsiding which allowed the other notes to shine, which bumped it to maybe a 7/10. After two hours, it was fabulous and I was loving it. It was comforting, addictive, and girly. Had a bit of a candy feel and a little more floral. It was a bit gourmand actually and began to remind me of turkish delight! At that point it was a 9/10 for me. It's great for a girl in her 20s. Good for spring. No lipstick effect which you often get from a violet + iris combo.

This was a blind buy that worked. OMG... This is a very bright and not at all syrupy violet scent. If Insolence is too overpowering or too sweet, but you like the idea of it, or the general notes, this might be for you! It sits close to the skin, so you aren't going to offend anyone and I can smell it on myself after 7 or 8 hours with 2 sprays per arm. What I like about this is with the notes it could go bath and body works FAST, but somehow it doesn't. (Which is something I've come to love Penhaligon's for - striking that balance between being light without being "cheap"/"body spray-esque" and complex without being asthma-inducing.) The bottle is so perfect too - the fragrance smells like the bottle looks. A+

A very beautiful scent. Very powdery floral, i can really smell the violet, iris and mimosa here, this might be the most feminine perfume in my collection (in a good way). I can’t smell the jasmine at all. It dries down to a soft musky skin scent. People say that the performance of this is quite weak but on me, it last 12 hours straight. No kidding. I sprayed this 4 times before bed at 9 pm, woke up and the scent is still there! On 11am the next day, i still smell the scent lingering on my skin. Wow. I layered this with lelabo another 13, and oh GOD it turns out amazing!! They both compliment each other so well as they both got the ambroxan note. Love!!

Judging by the notes, the bottle/packaging and the whole vibe, I figured this was one I wouldn't like. Oh, but I was wrong! I am completely in love with this fragrance. It is powdery and only slightly sweet - the violet and iris work perfectly in this composition. Powdery without being cloying or overwhelming. Soft without being a skin scent. This one has projection and is long-lasting (for me). But I don't feel I am overly perfumed or obvious about it. It sort of strikes that balance between clean and professional + soft and feminine. The dry down is a pleasant muskiness - but I find that the iris lingers long. . . Love it!

Sweet violet, lipstick, powder, and heady florals. What more could a girl want? I can’t think of many other fragrances that make me feel this feminine and elegant. This perfume is seriously dreamy. It’s somewhere between Apres L’ondee and Narciso Poudree - vintage but incredibly wearable. noticeable, but not overpowering. I just find myself sniffing it over and over. I would say this is a great springtime scent because it’s so light and fresh, but really this could be a signature as well. I certainly would wear it any time of year.

The Favourite is a portrait of understated power, a fragrance I instantly loved the first time I sprayed it. The delicate charm of violet and freesia opens the composition, a subtle prelude to the poised softness of mimosa and the regal powderiness of iris at its heart. The base, composed of creamy sandalwood and clean musk, anchors the fragrance with a quietly confident depth .. never overwhelming, always composed. The Favourite is an olfactory signature of grace, luxury, and opulence. – Bhavna Darira Chesan

A lovely delicate feminine wisp of a perfume, bringing to mind a lady doing her makeup in a fluffy dressing gown at a traditional vanity. Not a big performer - it retreats to virtually a skin scent after a few hours - but it lasts a deceptively long time in that mode. I sprayed at around 10am at as of 8pm, can still detect a faint sweet smell on the skin. Pleasant and discrete. For those who like this sort of profile, I could see it suiting both daytime and evening wear, and most climates as well.

I love this! It's girly, but a woman can wear it. It's soft, floral with sugar-sweetness. It makes me feel youthful and full of promise. When I first spray it I sometimes smell an herbal note --maybe a touch of dill, but then it goes away and you smell the powdery violet, iris and mimosa floral notes. The Favourite smells like pink fluffy, sugar flowers on top of a cake and I adore it. The dry-down is also so soft and wonderful. The pink bow and packaging matches this fragrance to a T.

It’s hard not to love this fragrance. I adore powdery cosmetic scents, with Violet and Iris being some of my favourite notes. The Favourite is the perfect sweet pink powder puff kissing a rosy Victorian cheek. I’m detecting a sort of clay-like undertone up close on skin, which I adore but may be an acquired taste. I may be biased as a lover of this house but The Favourite is truly the one for me. Plus, how can you not love the gorgeous little potion bottle.

Oh my god, this is sexy. It reminds me of JPG's Scandal by Night, sans the dark cherry note. It's brighter and sweeter but still substantial. It creeps like a floral ambergris cloud and is so impeccably well-blended that I only catch whiffs of jasmine, freesia, and violet notes here and there. Of course, the ambergris-esque and musk dry down is heavenly. Longevity is great, and sillage is arm's length. This is a great Penhaligon addition.

This is such a lovely perfume! If you like powdery, musky fragrances, it is easy to fall in love with The Favourite. This is a bouquet of powdery flowers; mimosa and violet are the stars of the show - at least on my skin. Soft musk and creamy sandalwood in the base complement the whole composition. The Favourite smells sweet, powdery, 'fluffy' and so 'pink' but never juvenile. Maybe it's not the most complex perfume, but still beautiful.

This is a beautiful fragrance, floral and powdery. Very feminine, non-offensive, elegant and well behaved. There's a sort of innocence about The Favourite which is projected through the beautifully blended notes. The words that come to mind are: candid, innocent, girly, feminine, classy, classic, Spring, country cottage garden, a refreshing cup of Earl grey tea under a white-flower pergola. It leans more feminine, suitable for all ages.

I got this perfume from my boyfriend and it became my signature scent without me even noticing it. I emptied a bottle within the year and rebought it immediately. It's a compliment getter and together with Lipstick Rose, the fragrance that made me aware that I'm really into powdery violette notes. It's also very niche where I live, so you're bound to be the only one wearing it wherever you are, which is a plus imo.