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Wherever you are right now, I want you to shut your eyes and whisk yourself away to this scene in your mind for a few seconds. You’re somewhere warm — the sort of warm that means breeze carries no chill whatsoever, but rather comes laced with scent. Flowers, usually. Possibly some herbs and a whisper of that inimitable oceanic metallic edge, too. Ahead of you shimmers an enticing body of blue water, inviting you in. You’ll go once the sun has baked just a little more heat into you, you decide. No hurry anyway; you know no interruptions are due so you can really ease into a day of absolutely nothing bar breaking for food. Speaking of which, someone’s just handed you a fig. It’s perfect; velvety skin firm, innards juicy and ripe. You bite into it and the sensation and flavour burst alive in your mouth.
If you’re anything like me, that will all feel like something you’re craving deeply in your bones right now — and if you’re also currently sitting in grey old England at a desk, maybe you too want to parlay a little bit of that joy into your every day life rather than wait it out. To get us from bleak to heavenly holidays. The answer: perfume. It’s well-established that the olfactory bulb does more than just smell; it affects mood and conjures up memories, and is therefore the perfect way to evoke a sense of being on distant shores.
Perfumers have cottoned on to this desire, and have alighted upon fig as being the perfect conduit. “Fig is a deeply sensual and indulgent, and bridges that huge British gap into summer,” Olivia da Costa, founder and creative director for Olfactive O fragrances tells me. “The fig scent note is as complex as the opening of the fresh ripe fruit, making it such a beautifully intriguing note for perfumery.” Olfactive O has made fig a big deal in its latest launch, blending it with honey and rum for an indulgent and warming result.
Other brands have taken things in a different direction, rendering fig fresh or deeply sensual or lush and verdant. Below are my pick of the best of the lot to take you on a teeny tiny holiday with every spritz.
Father Figure by Phlur
If you want your fig to hug your skin, for the fleshy fruit to be bedded in milky warmth, to embrace you with its vanilla-dusted arms: this. It’s comforting and powerful at once.
Fig & Lotus Flower Cologne by Jo Malone
We’re going a little wetter in vibe here, dipping our toes into watery territory, adding floating lotus flowers with their clean and green and serene scent to the plump figs.
Gris Charnel by BDK
Thanks to a little spicy warmth courtesy of cardamom and tonka beans, this fig folds into the black tea, sandalwood and vetiver comfortably, with the final result being a moreish, creamy concoction.
Gourmand by Olfactive O
Are you a more, more, more kind of person when it comes to all things luxury? You’ll like this if so: fig and honey and rum all cavorting together in the one bottle makes it a very sensual and very pleasingly sybaritic scent.
Gabar Swim Eau de Parfum
Imagine you’ve grabbed your fig and taken it into a forest. Moss pads your footsteps, blackcurrant buds punctuating the greenery around you, a little rain dripping through a canopy of leaves. That’s where you’re eating this fig — and that’s the moment this scent captures.
Silk Wood Elixir by Goldfield & Banks
Just as biting into a fig prompts an eruption of flavour, a spritz of this not only releases fig scent but also, wait for it: saffron, rose, orris, vanilla, musk, oak moss, and Australian oud. You’d be correct in thinking that’s a whole lot of scent — but it works, coming together to create a woody warm scent that’ll nuzzle its way onto your skin.
Infusion de Figure by Prada
Prada has taken all the creaminess of the fig and mixed it with a shock of lemongrass, spearmint, and mandarin to wake it up, make it fizzy, happy, energised.
Mon Guerlain by Guerlain
There’s nothing quite like a Guerlain perfume — and its fig blended with lavender, jasmine, sandalwood, and vanilla (aka all the good stuff) is no exception, feeling both classic and modern, fresh and warm all at once. The bottle is a thing of pure joy and will in and of itself lift your spirits.
Fig by Perfumer H
Fig and rose are the major notes here — but to make the leap between those two, they’ve added cedar wood and black pepper, making it feel like that tail end of summer where there’s an overabundance of everything and it’s all very heady and intense.
Premier Figuier Extreme by Olivia Giacobetti
Fancy fig, solo? This is that, a truly earnest fig scent — encompassing everything from the fleshy fruit to the green leaves.