A combination of dark austerity and awe-inspiring splendor, Terror & Magnificence takes its inspiration from the famous English Baroque architect, Nicholas Hawksmoor.
Hawksmoor, while a builder of churches, was obsessed with the esoteric and arcane (including Egyptian mythology), and incorporated these gothic idiosyncracies into his designs.
Like Hawkesmoor’s architectural creations, Terror & Magnificence tips its cap to Ancient Egypt, combining the scents of churchy incense, candle wax, papyrus and kyphi with a wet stone accord reminiscent of that first downpour in London after a hot summer.
NOTES
Top: Black Pepper, Saffron, Birch Tar
Middle: Somali Incense, Tobacco Absolute, Kyphi, Papyrus
Base: Myrrh Resin, Benzoin Resin, Labdanum Resin, Haitian Vetiver, Wet Stone Accord
HOW IT WEARS
This fragrance starts loud – but Beaufort London’s fragrances always do! It opens with acrid birch tar and the sharpness of black pepper, tempered slightly by the golden warmth of saffron. As the fragrance develops, you begin to be able to detect the spicy smokiness of the Somali incense and Kyphi, the rich sweetness of the tobacco, and the earthy, almost woody scent of the papyrus. The dry-down is all about the rich, molasses-y resins, complemented by the green spice of vetiver and, of course, that fascinating petrichor-like wet stone accord. This fragrance goes on a real journey on the skin and will last 8-10 hours, magnificently.
LORE LOVES
Like all of Beaufort London’s scents, Terror & Magnificence tells a real story. It vividly conjures the austere severity of a grey, stone Georgian church, its interior filled with burning candles casting light into dense darkness, rain pouring down onto the London streets outside. However, it simultaneously acknowledges the ornamental magnificence of gothic architecture from this period, and its many influences, including Egyptology. This is a fragrance any lovers of dark, smoky incense scents will be drawn to, not to mention history buffs!
ABOUT THE BRAND
Beaufort London is an incredibly unique English perfume house created by musician and writer Leo Crabtree. Inspired by Crabtree’s lifelong love of fragrance mixed with his fascination with the darker elements of British history, Beaufort London’s first collection of intense, and bold perfumes is titled “Come Hell or High Water”. Coming from a family history of seamen, Crabtree also references the sea throughout this collection. “The sea, its traditions, superstitions and way of life are ingrained in me. The brand’s name Beaufort London (derived from the 1805 wind force scale conjured up by Naval Officer Sir Francis Beaufort) represents a kind of framework within which we can understand ourselves. The wind in consistent, enduring, but ultimately changeable and potentially destructive.”
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