Scents of the wild Burren

As we enter that time of year when perfume sales typically reach their festive peak, here is a sort of a cat-among-the-pigeons question: have you ever felt almost nasally assaulted/affronted/repelled by certain popular perfumes? Similarly, has the passing whiff of those same scents ever caused you to wonder at the fact that certain smells can seem almost geographically inappropriate?

For example, a perfume based on the tropical fragrances of frangipani or ylang ylang can strike a strangely discordant note if you happen to inhale it while walking along a frosty Irish street in the middle of winter.

No such accusations could be made of the products created by the Burren Perfumery, whose owners Sadie Chowen and Ralph Doyle draw the inspiration for their handmade perfumes and cosmetics from the stark, stony beauty of the Burren and its rich variety of native flora.

There are delicate, floral perfumes such as Summer Harvest, with notes of Irish wildflowers including meadowsweet and lady's bedstraw, and Frond, with notes of wild roses, freshly cut grass and violets. Other products were inspired by the smell of the wild orchids that grow on the grasslands close to the Burren's limestone karst or pavement.

"Their dainty flowers have this rich perfume that's surprisingly exotic, a little like jasmine or lily-of the-valley," Chowen says. She trained with the Parisian perfumier or "nose" Katell Plisson and admits to being obsessed by the smells of the wild landscape surrounding her home and business. "It's our raison d'être, the thing that consumes us."

Some of the many other native Irish plants that provide inspiration include wood sage (Teucrium scorodonia), which she describes as having “this subtle, woody smell”. Another is the flowers of wild ivy. “When I go for a run at this time of year, I can catch its scent, this wonderfully green, light, slightly airy perfume floating in the air.” Moss, by comparison, “has these woody notes that aren’t that pleasant, but can make an important contribution to the base notes”.

The latter, by the way, are the smells that “ground a perfume and give it structure so that it sticks to your skin. The top notes are what give it its ‘wow’ factor, while the middle or ‘heart’ notes are what give it body or personality.”

Chowen is straight up about the fact that the natural ingredients used to create this family-owned Irish perfumery’s range are not locally grown. “The practicalities of producing sufficient quantities make it impossible, but we do grow many of the plants for display in our organic herb garden, which is open to the public”.

Impressively, with the exception of its perfumes, all of the Burren Perfumery's other cosmetics – its soaps, skin creams, body lotions, serums and lip balms – are certified organic by the UK Soil Association. An extra-lovely touch is the new packaging for its perfumes, featuring the specially commissioned botanical illustrations of different Burren plants by well-known Irish artist Cliodhna Doyle. Just don't expect to buy anything that smells of frangipani.

burrenperfumery.com