Andraste

Inspiration

Andraste is the name of the Celtic warrior goddess invoked by Queen Boadicea before she led her army against the Romans. With this fragrance, the perfume house that bears the legendary queen's name honours both the sovereign and her goddess. Boadicea the Victorious calls Andraste an Iceni rose: sensual and steely at once, an intense rose with metallic thorns and the scent of a gathering storm.

The setting is a walled garden, a place in which the house sees something magical: the secluded, almost contemplative privacy of a hidden enclosure. Walls capture the heat and hold it; the sun travels from wall to wall, reflecting off brick, slate, trellises and espaliered fruit. Over beds of flowers, vegetables and medicinal herbs hangs honeyed, pollen-soaked air. Butterflies flit, glass-winged dragonflies hover above the ornamental water that mirrors the blue sky. Time seems to stand still.

The result is what the house calls a potent portrait of efflorescence: a floral fragrance of concentrated glamour and horticultural fascination, worn like insignia into the maelstrom of modern life. To protect, and to dazzle.

Fragrance Family

Floral, with spicy, smoky and leathery facets.

The Olfactive Composition

Top notes: Bergamot, Elemi, Eucalyptus, Lapsang Souchong, Lemon, Saffron, Thyme
Heart notes: Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Lady Emma Hamilton Rose, Orris, Wisteria
Base notes: Ambrette Seed, Guaiacwood, Leather, Musk, Oakwood, Vetiver, Incense

The Signature of Andraste

Andraste opens the way a garden smells at the height of the day. Bergamot and lemon bring light, elemi a bright, resinous sheen. But something unexpected happens straight away: cool, almost mentholic eucalyptus meets smoky Lapsang Souchong, the Chinese tea dried over pinewood fires. Saffron lays a golden, faintly leathery warmth over it all, and thyme brings the scent of sun-warmed herb beds. Cool against smoky, fresh against glowing: from the very first second you sense that this will be no demure floral.

Then the garden opens up. Honeysuckle and wisteria bring the honeyed, almost nectar-sweet air of a wall in full bloom and full sun. Jasmine adds volume and a pungent, warm richness, and at the centre stands the rose: Lady Emma Hamilton, an English garden rose. Orris, the precious material drawn from the root of the iris, draws a powdery, earthy veil across it. The house itself speaks of an intense, almost cacophonous rose: a bouquet in which flowers, foliage and herbs sound together, yet stays balanced thanks to a bright dose of citrus.

In the base, the rose grows her thorns. Supple, resinous leather and incense give the composition its steely edge; guaiacwood, oakwood and vetiver bring smoke and a woody backbone, as if the wood had briefly hung above the fire. Ambrette seed, from a plant of the hibiscus family, joins musk in a warm, vegetal muskiness that feels soft and skin-like. This is how Andraste anchors her lavish flowers in something earthy and protective.

Boadicea the Victorious says its perfumes concern themselves with aromatic cause and effect: the tension and balance sought in olfactory ingredients. In Andraste you can follow this beautifully. Every soft note has a counterpart: the nectar of honeysuckle against the smoke of tea, powdery orris against leather, the rose against her metallic thorns. The result is a floral with the bearing of a queen riding into battle.

What our ParfuMaria team thinks of this fragrance

What moves us about Andraste is that the rose is not used in a romantic or well-behaved way. She stands in the middle of a sultry garden, surrounded by smoky tea, saffron and leather, and holds her ground effortlessly. It is precisely that contrast between lavish bloom and a dark, resinous undertone that makes her so compelling to follow.

A fragrance for lovers of flowers, but with character and real presence, just what you would expect of a house known for statement scents with longevity and impact. Beautiful in spring and late summer, and on cooler evenings the leather comes forward even more. This view is based on the official composition and the house's fragrance profile.