Fragrance: Simple and Affordable

Fragrance On A Budget

I bloody love perfumes! I never get bored of sniffing around the new releases as well as the classics and I am more than happy to spend a hefty amount on a bottle I have been lusting over. The only problem is, not everyone has excess cash to spend on luxury perfumes.  Personally, I find a lot of the cheaper perfume brands tend to smell, well, cheap. Often they smell heavily of alcohol and once that wears off they tend to smell sugary sweet and overpoweringly synthetic (not chic!). I wish I could suggest a whole heap of affordable but lovely perfumes, but quite frankly, I just can’t find any, except Yardley London, who have recently impressed me with their simple but pretty perfumes and their excellent price tags.

Yardley London

Yardley London have two fragrance collections; Signature Fragrances and Contemporary Classics. It’s the Contemporary Classics that I want to share with you today. Each fragrance is inspired by a classic British floral, with supporting wood, citrus and floral notes. Each one is really pretty, subtle and simple, they have a feel of light Summer fragrances which are perfect for those who want a light spritz of something floral and fresh. In terms of price, a 50ml bottle is £9.99 and a 125ml bottle is £14.99, which is incredible.

English Lavender

Yardley London is synonymous with English Lavender, in fact, last year, I visited the lavender fields where their flowers are grown and harvested. In this perfume, lavender is blended with bergamot, clary sage, jasmine and eucalyptus. It is predominantly lavender, but it has a cleanliness to it. It also doubles up as a really lovely pillow spray! Of the five, I would say this perfume is the most traditional and has a slightly more unisex feel.

April Violets

I love the smell of violets and it’s actually quite hard to find violet based perfumes. To create this perfume, Yardley London have blended violet leaves with citrus fruits, orris, mimosa and rose to create a soft, subtle violet with pretty florals and woody elements. Together creating a pretty, powdery and soft floral fragrance which is naturally sweet with violet flowers. It does have a slightly alcoholic top note, but it it wears off very quickly to reveal a lovely fresh violet fragrance. April Violets is of my favourites in the collection.

Lily Of The Valley

Lily of the Valley is perfect for those who are looking for a white floral perfume, it is blended with juicy pear, freesia and musk, for a pretty floral feminine fragrance. I generally avoid white floral fragrances, but this is lovely, really clean, subtle and pretty. It has the feel of fresh laundry and open windows on a beautiful Summer’s day.

English Rose

English Rose has been blended with citrus, magnolia and violet to create a really pretty pink rose perfume. Much like the violet, on first sniff it does have a slightly alcoholic top note, but after about 30 seconds it wears off and leaves a really lovely soft rose perfume. With it’s floral notes and musk at the base, it’s the most sensual of the collection and my personal favourite.

English Bluebell

Finally, English Bluebell is a fruity floral with bell bell, bergamot, peony and cassis, on a woody base. It’s light but noticeable and fruity floral without being sugary sweet. It has a real woodland prettiness to it. Of the five, this is the most playful and I can imagine the most popular amongst younger women.

Have you tried Yardley London Fragrances? If anyone can recommend any other affordable perfumes, please do let me know!