New Penhaligon's Boutique in San Francisco

I was doing some shopping the other night when some Penhaligon's bottles caught my eye in a storefront. It has always been hard to find Penhaligon's to sample in San Francisco. I then realized that it was an actual Penhaligon's boutique! I spoke briefly with an SA, and she said that they are popping up worldwide.

I checked out the new Portraits Collection, but I only sniffed the nozzles as I was (naturally) already wearing about 3 different perfumes, as I had just come from another awesome meeting with perfumer Laurie Stern of Velvet and Sweet Pea's Purrfumery (will write about that separately). The nozzle of The Coveted Duchess Rose (wolf's head) smelled like a massive bouquet of crimson roses with perhaps some spice. It smelled very dressed up and something that lovers of rose fragrances should really try. The nozzle of The Tragedy of Lord George (stag head) smelled sweet and balsamic and a bit like a vanillic tobacco fragrance.

I did sprizt on a tiny bit of Lothair, and it smelled marvelously creamy and woody. The SA was kind enough to send me home with a sample. ​​​

​Side note: Check out the "Penhaligon's Times" (their blog) on their website! Fun and cute blog posts/articles on categories such as cocktails, grooming and fragrance.

Penhaligon's comes up as vegan and cruelty-free on many websites and blogs. While they promise that their perfumes are indeed free of any animal products or by-products, and they do not test on animals nor ask any third parties to test on animals on their behalf, they do sell leather goods as well as brushes made of badger fur. 

Here is what Penhaligon's has to say about it, from their FAQs page:

​-Do you use badger hair in your shaving brushes? 
-Yes we do as this is by far the most superior fibre for applying shaving lubricants. However, as a part of gaining our warrant status we have proven to the Royal Warrant Holders Association (who re-issued our warrant in 2006), that our shaving brush supplier only purchases from ethical badger farms in a part of the world where badgers are not endangered and are in fact primarily farmed for their meat.

While I love the scent of Lothair, I can't buy it. I have turned towards not supporting perfume companies that sell stuff like natural brushes, leather, etc., as I learn more about cruelty in the perfume and clothing industries. It's not cool at all.
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It was fun to check out the new shop, and I am glad I got some clarification on whether they are a vegan company or not (they aren't), and also to provide this info to those who might have the same questions as I did. I still appreciate, in any case, that their perfumes have been formulated to not contain anything that is produced by cruel methods. And they smell so good! Now, if they could just ditch the brushes and leather, it would be perfection.

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