Penhaligons — The Favourite
Essence
The Favourite is a 2020 floral-powdery EDP from British house Penhaligon’s, part of their British Tales collection and released for the brand’s 150th anniversary (it’s “chapter 18” of the brand’s storytelling line). It was composed by Alienor Massenet of Symrise.
Scent Profile
A fragrance where, unusually, the notes stay legible. The opening is a fleeting bright citrus (mandarin/bergamot) with green-sweet freesia and the first dusting of violet - Cafleurebon likens it to “enjoying a cup of tea in an English countryside garden.” The heart is the heart of the matter: powdery violet and iris, warmed and rounded by golden, honeyed mimosa, with non-indolic jasmine sambac lending a slightly more grown-up floralcy. Reviewers consistently describe a “swan down powder puff” cosmetic-powdery quality from the violet ionones - sweet, almost sherbety, but restrained and “posh” rather than juvenile. The drydown is a clean, soft musk with sandalwood and ambroxan; this is the most contested stage. To some it’s “the softest of musks”; to a vocal minority it’s a “harsh, sharp, screechy” ambroxan base - one reviewer found ambroxan “more prominent here than in any other Penhaligon’s I’ve tried.” Broadly linear after the citrus burns off: a powdery-floral cloud close to the skin. Signature accord: powdery violet-iris over warm mimosa and clean musk.
Performance
wearers-reported as a soft, intimate performer with surprisingly durable longevity. The consistent pattern across wearer: mild-to-moderate projection (a “scent bubble” close to the skin, not a room-filler) but long wear - one reviewer “could still smell this on my wrists nearly 10 hours later,” and several others report it persisting 8 - 10 hours. A minority report the opposite (“not a lot of longevity or substance”), which tracks with skin-chemistry sensitivity to powdery musks. A notable subset find it potent to the point of headache-inducing (“massively strong… gives me a headache,” “a single spray gave me a headache in ~20 minutes”), suggesting the musk/ambroxan blooms strongly on some skins. Application: a light hand is wise given the headache reports; it’s a pulse-point intimate scent, not a projection monster.
Wearing Context
Best for spring and daytime; broadly a refined, feminine, daytime-elegant scent. wearers and practical reads converge on spring/early-fall, casual-to-smart-casual social settings, weddings (one reviewer: “Perfect for an outdoor spring wedding… delicate in a princess way, with a charming Barbie vibe”), and any setting calling for understated, polished prettiness. Social-perception skew is strongly, even emphatically feminine and somewhat genteel/“old-money British” - “the epitome of what I imagine a Countess in Edwardian England would wear” captures the consensus image. Time of day: daytime over evening; the powder-floral profile is too soft and pretty for bold nighttime statements.
Comparisons & DNA
Chanel Beige is a useful yellow-floral comparison: brighter and less powdery, with a softer base. Classic violet candies explain the powdery sweetness. Within Penhaligon’s, Luna is fresher and more citrus-clean, while Empressa is sweeter and more ambered.
Reception
Generally liked as pretty and refined, with ambroxan sharpness and value as the main objections.
Versions & Reformulation
Single composition, no known reformulations. Available as 100ml and 30ml EDP. (Note: wearer lists the perfumer as Alienor Massenet and the base officially as “Musk, Ambroxan and Sandalwood”; some sources list “Amber” instead of ambroxan, but reviewer experience strongly supports a prominent ambroxan/clean-musk base.)
Acquisition Notes
A luxury EDP with 30 ml and 100 ml formats plus discovery sets. Sample first if ambroxan or cosmetic powder can turn sharp for you.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The lore is the richest part.
- The Favourite is the 18th “chapter” of Penhaligon’s 150th-anniversary (2020) British Tales storytelling, and it pays tribute to Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660 - 1744) - Queen Anne’s confidante and the first mistress of Blenheim Palace, whose descendants include Winston Churchill and Princess Diana.
- It’s a deliberate companion-in-spirit to the brand’s oldest surviving fragrance, Blenheim Bouquet (1902, originally bespoke for the Duke of Marlborough).
- The shared name with the Oscar-winning 2018 film The Favourite (Olivia Colman won Best Actress as Queen Anne; Rachel Weisz played Sarah) is not coincidental - both draw on the same history - but the perfume is not an official film tie-in.
- Critics repeatedly note the charming irony that the fragrance is delicate and “innocent as a wildflower” while its namesake was famously sharp-tongued and politically ruthless; Cafleurebon frames it as the scent of “the young, beautiful and ebullient Sarah” before the power games.