September brings an interesting mix of fragrance launches, from unexpected ingredient pairings and intensified interpretations to a Guerlain classic reimagined more than a century after its debut. Closer to home, Omani fragrance house Amouage has added two high-concentration extraits to its collection.
Dries Van Noten Pairs Violet With Roasted Sesame
Dries Van Noten Beauty explores an unexpected meeting of floral and gourmand notes with Velvet Violet, a new woody floral gourmand fragrance created by perfumer Gaël Montero.
Rather than concentrating solely on violet’s familiar powdery character, the composition draws on the greener freshness of violet leaf and places it against the warmth of toasted sesame. Pink pepper, violet leaf and clary sage open the fragrance before roasted sesame and barley take over at the heart. Tonka bean, benzoin and vetiver form the base, bringing warmth and depth to the final stages.
The contrast extends to the refillable bottle. Deep purple semi-transparent glass sits above a patterned base inspired by sesame seeds, translating the fragrance’s two central ingredients into its design.
Bvlgari Turns Up the Intensity With Baciami Ancora
Bvlgari has revisited Baciami with Baciami Ancora, a new Parfum created by Master Perfumer Jacques Cavallier as a richer interpretation of the original Eau de Parfum.
The floral amber composition retains Baciami’s central pairing of gardenia and vanilla but pushes both into more concentrated territory. Gardenia takes on greater fullness while vanilla becomes warmer and more ambery, supported by cedarwood and black pepper. Peru balsam, cinnamon and ginger add further spice and depth.
Baciami Ancora also remains part of the Bvlgari Allegra personalisation concept, allowing the Parfum to be layered with the collection’s Magnifying Essences to alter its character and sillage.
Its bottle follows the architectural language of the Allegra collection, with ridged details inspired by Roman columns and a cabochon-like silhouette. For Baciami Ancora, the familiar red becomes deeper across the bottle cap and presentation box, reflecting the increased intensity of the fragrance inside.
Guerlain Reimagines L’Heure Bleue for 2026
More than a century after Jacques Guerlain created L’Heure Bleue in 1912, Guerlain Director of Perfume Creation Delphine Jelk has returned to the name for a contemporary interpretation.
The 2026 L’Heure Bleue takes inspiration from the brief period when daylight gives way to night and the sky assumes an intense blue. Jelk translates that transition through an amber floral composition beginning with an airy ozonic accord, pear and neroli.
Iris sits at its centre, appearing as both iris butter and a tailor-made tincture developed specifically for the fragrance. The latter took three years to create and reveals a fresher, more botanical facet of the material. Jasmine accompanies the iris before vanilla, Ambroxan and musks bring warmth to the base.
The connection to the original extends to the bottle. Guerlain has revisited the inverted-heart flacon associated with the 1912 fragrance, this time covering it in a gradient of blues with gold lettering and making the new version refillable.
Santa Maria Novella Revisits Melograno
Santa Maria Novella turns the spotlight back on Melograno, one of the Florentine house’s longstanding fragrances and an olfactory interpretation of the pomegranate.
Rather than treating the fruit as an overtly sweet note, Melograno places its pomegranate accord within a spicy oriental composition. Bergamot and bitter orange meet fresh spices at the opening, followed by pomegranate, rose and ylang-ylang. Oakmoss, labdanum, patchouli and musk create its deeper base.
The fragrance draws on the pomegranate’s journey from Persia to the Mediterranean as well as its longstanding associations with abundance and good fortune, bringing those references into a composition that remains part of Santa Maria Novella’s extensive fragrance catalogue.
Amouage Pushes Two Signatures Into Extrait Territory
Omani fragrance house Amouage has started September with Decision 42 and Overture 41, two new additions to its Exceptional Extraits collection that revisit existing compositions at considerably higher concentrations.
Created by Quentin Bisch, Decision 42 takes the original Decision into darker territory at a 42 per cent perfume-oil concentration. Pink pepper, bergamot, cardamom, neroli and cinnamon lead into frankincense, juniper, myrrh, sandalwood and rectified pine tar. Patchouli, cedarwood, vanilla and labdanum complete the composition.
Overture 41, meanwhile, sees perfumer Annick Ménardo revisit Overture Woman at a 41 per cent concentration. Frankincense, saffron, Calvados and cinnamon open the extrait before a heart of benzoin, Centifolia rose, geranium and Sandalwood Drèches. Vanilla, labdanum, patchouli and leather form the base.
Both fragrances undergo six weeks of ageing, with different periods of maturation and maceration used for each composition. The pair launched on September 1 as the latest examples of Amouage’s approach to revisiting established fragrances through concentration, ageing and changes to their original formulas.
