Fab Find of the Week: Granado Pharmacias (at Liberty London)
It’s quite something when an entire fragrance collection lands fully-formed in this country, never mind when it smells and looks as good as this.
Granado Pharmacias has samba-ed its way to these shores from Brazil, from when this heritage fragrance brand hails. It’s a fascinating tale. Granado launched in 1870 and was the Official Pharmacy of the Brazilian Royal Family – and ended up being bought by British-born Christopher Freeman who was sent in to organise the firm’s finances, ready for a sale – and he was so taken with it, ended up buying it himself. Since then, Granado has gone from strength to strength, with daughter Sissi working as a Marketing Director.
Granado Pharmacias has dozens of boutiques across Brazil – and closer to home, you’ll find one in Paris, where we can’t wait to check out their store. And inching even closer – and in a sort of match made in heaven – the fragrance house just landed in a corner of Liberty, where it couldn’t look more perfect, in a window setting on the corner of Great Marlborough and Carnaby streets, thanks to the Art Deco vibe to the beautiful packaging.
There are many scents to discover. We thoroughly recommend a little perfumed pilgrimage, to find your favourites: there are several different ranges, spanning splashable Colognes to fine perfumes, and we’ve picked a favourite from each collection.
Limāo & Néroli Eau de Cologne/£48 for 100ml. The Colognes are splash-it-all-over gorgeous – but a little more intense than your typical Cologne, thus longer-lasting. We love this super-fresh orange blossom and petitgrain creation, the dash of lime elevating its freshness even further than you’d expect.
Sândalo Eau de Toilette/£58 for 100ml. Slightly more powerful are Granado’s Eau de Toilettes, and this one most definitely floats our boat, creamily soft and woody, most definitely nuzzleable and moreish. We also love the fresh, grassy vetiver and mysterious, sexy Couro, a ‘skin-scent’ with ambery, woody, musky notes, in the EDT line-up, and are mad for Bossa – think of it as Brazil, bottled, with tropical coconut, lush florals and a sea breeze gusting through it.
In the more concentrated Granado Perfume line-up (only available in store, for now), we’re most drawn to spicy, warm Boemia, swirling with frankincense, cedar, geranium, leather and tobacco – a little bit nightclubby, a lot smoochy. But honestly, set aside some time because they’re ALL worthy of a sniff.
We like very much that the prices aren’t silly. We are living in an age of so, so many £240 scents, but these are priced to allow for generous spritzing. And that’s the way we like it. The range also features exquisite tins of beautifully embossed soap, using the original factory moulds and presented in gorgeous tins, which we’ve already earmarked for our Christmas list. (And yes, we know it’s only July.)
Altogether a delight for the nose, a treat for the eyes.
From £48 (soaps start at £7) – buy here
