Bluebells in Hackney

When I was invited to an event in Hackney last week for a fragrance launch I wasn’t sure what to expect. These days Hackney is arty and edgy and I couldn’t quite make that image gel with the classic contemporary brand Yardley. Reading a little further down the invite though I discovered that the venue for the launch was Grace & Thorn close to the Columbia Road flower market in a shop that was once the Kray brothers’ tailor. (I think that’s a whole different blog post).

We were invited to this unique venue to hear about Yardley’s new fragrance and to get a little bit messy learning how to make a terrarium.

We were welcomed in time-honoured blogger style with glasses of fizz and cupcakes in keeping with the bluebell theme. Gorgeous! I was beginning to be in the mood to get involved with all things floral!

Then Yardley London, a heritage perfumery brand, introduced us to English Bluebell. It’s a light fresh and feminine fruity floral fragrance. This is the latest addition to the Yardley Contemporary Classics floral fragrance collection that launched earlier this year.

Nestling among the equipment for the terrarium-making workshop we saw the stylish design of the new English Bluebell EDT and we were invited to try it. It’s been created to replicate the scent of a bluebell wood and I found it light, fruity and fresh. I really liked it!

For you fragrance enthusiasts the top notes are bergamot and cassis; the heart is bluebell, jasmine, lily of the valley, peony, and peach; the base notes are wood, vanilla, and musk.

Then we got started at making our terrariums. A lot of us didn’t even know what one was before we got there and I have to confess that I’m not great with plants –  They don’t usually last very long in my hands. Still, we were surrounded by beautiful flowers to inspire us to be creative and we all gave it our best shot.

After a little bit of fuss when I needed to get my hands dirty to plant the fern and pretending to artistically trim the bluebells I was reasonably pleased with my creation. It was a little reminiscent of making something at school that you get to take home to your Mum and we all wanted the “teacher” to tell us that we had done a good job.

All too soon it was time to go home but we were so lucky to be given a goodie bag that not only contained the gorgeous Yardley London English Bluebell fragrance to take home but also the Deodorising Body Spray and samples of the rest of the contemporary classics range English Lavender, English Rose, Lily of the Valley and April Violets.

Our final bluebell-related treat was a stunning bluebell necklace by Alex Monroe. This whole experience of the fragrance and the fun and the bluebells made sure that I’ll remember this fragrance launch for a very long time. I’ve used the fragrance each day since and I’m loving how it looks on my shelf. The 50ml EDT costs £9.99, 125ml is £14.99 and the 75ml body spray is £2.49.

Hazel