I recently had the chance to experience the new Gallivant fragrance line, and after admiring its packaging and display (city maps! 30 ml bottles! tiny paper airplanes instead of blotters!), I had to decide which of the four fragrances to try on my skin. Where to “gallivant” first? I chose the two cities that have personal meaning for me: London (which I’ve visited twice) and Brooklyn (where I work).

London was developed by perfumer Karine Chevallier and its notes include cucumber, violet leaves, rose, orris root, leather, sandalwood, patchouli and cedar. The Gallivant website outlines it in a sequence of sensory imagery: “East end boys and west end girls. Second-hand leather jackets. . . .Roses from Columbia Road. Georgian architecture. A hint of dustiness. An earthy lush wetness you can almost taste.”

Well, I’d have to try London just for that Pet Shop Boys reference, if for nothing else…

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