This is a rather splendiferous thing, which arrived on Jo’s desk so exquisitely wrapped that she somehow slid the slim L’Herbier Odoriferant volume out of that wrapping paper without tearing it.

It’s basically the poshest scratch ‘n’ sniff book ever made. Like an ancient volume you might find on the library shelf of a botanist, it gives the history of 12 ingredients that are found in the l'Officine Universelle Buly’s Les Jardins Français collection of beautiful scented body products and fragrances, all featuring notes of plants you might find in a kitchen garden. (They smell much, much better than that sounds, and you can explore them via Buly’s counter on the ground floor in Selfridges, while we wait patiently for the brand to make landfall with a flagship boutique.)

What makes the ‘Herbarium’ book super-special is that each page (see above) is scented with the vegetable or herb note that you’re reading about, to bring it alive. (Yes, that’s rhubarb, which brings a lovely tartness to their Iraqi Beetroot and Egyptian Rhubarb ‘Triple Water’ fragrance.)

The story behind this cool French heritage house is that it was revived by a very clever couple – Ramdane Touhami and his wife Victoire de Taillac – and is now part of the spiffy LVMH luxury empire.

The calligraphy on the wrapping of the book, meanwhile – with Jo’s name – is literally a ‘signature’ of theirs, something that Buly offer on many different products (albeit not always as elaborately origami-ed and sealed as this one). As Christmas approaches, it’s definitely worth checking out all the different personalisation options, from calligraphy to monogramming.

The Herbier is a thing of beauty to look at, and an olfactory delight. While we never quite know what Buly’s going to come up with next, we’re always pretty confident that it’s going to please several of our senses, all at once – and this so doesn’t disappoint. 

€50 – buy here

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