Is the grass always greener? What about the flowers?

Listed notes

Radish, watercress, chrysanthemum, hyacinth, stocks, moss.

Top notes

There seems to have been a veritable flurry of green smelling scents crossing The Sniff’s desk lately, and Freddie Albrighton’s latest creation is adding to those optimistic-smelling ranks. So whilst the winter nights begin to draw in, Freddie’s latest creation takes us forward to the brighter days and rising sap of springtime.

The opening to Someone Else’s Flowers is bright, peppery and astringent. A shock of greenery slaps you in the face. It is stem-like, sappy and bitter, reminiscent of walking into a florist’s shop only more so, more concentrated, more vibrant. There’s a pepperiness in the start of this scent which brings a dryness to the fragrance, but which is counter balanced by all the greenery acting behind it.

Many of Freddie’s creations are gourmand or ambery in tone, cosseting and snuggly, but in Someone Else’s Flowers we see Freddie move away from what he has typically done, and bring something new to the brand, something distinctly green and sharp.

Heart notes

Someone Else’s Flowers is a very savoury composition, it feels like a bitter broth perhaps, or a potion made of crushed up stems. As the scent settles, the bitter pepperiness we noticed in the opening bars mellows a little. It is still there but not quite so forcefully now. We get more of a sense of the dampness, the ichor of the blooms coming through in the middle portion of the fragrance. There is a touch of florals in the mix in this phase, but they are delicate and not overly pushed as flimsy or frilly florals, instead they too add different shades of green. Think of those blousy green chrysanthemum or the architectural green of hydrangea before they colour up. Florals, yes, but not florals that are flippant.

At certain points in Someone Else’s Flowers, I am reminded of the scent of cutting into a green bell pepper and smelling the bitter juice on the knife. There is something in the composition which smells vaguely metallic, and at times this almost bends towards being tea-leaf like.

Base notes

If you don’t enjoy green scents then Someone Else’s Flowers is not for you. If you do, however, then you will find that satisfying florist shop vibe stays with the fragrance right through to the end. Although the scent feels like it transitions and changes a fair bit between the top and middle section, there is less movement between the middle and the base and the frenetic vibration of the stemmy greenery continues right through to the end.

There is a sense of tenacity conveyed in Someone Else’s Flowers. I’ve commented before that Freddie Albrighton seems to inject a sense of vulnerability into some of his compositions but this isn’t felt so much in Someone Else’s Flowers, which, despite referencing something delicate and fleeting, manages to feel like the most armoured up of all Freddie’s compositions so far. There’s a point to make here in this composition, and Freddie drives it home forcefully. If these are someone else’s flowers, then Freddie aims to claim them as his own.

The other stuff

The perfumer for Someone Else’s Flowers was Freddie Albrighton.

The longevity of Someone Else’s Flowers is good, it seems to linger for six to eight hours following an application. The sillage is also pretty potent – perhaps not as nuclear as some of Freddie’s other fragrances, but still strong enough to get noticed. It goes to a little further than handshake distance as an approximation.

Someone Else’s Flowers lends itself to daytime wears predominantly and is a good way to wear something interesting for a shopping trip or whilst out and about. The sheer level of pep and vavavoom that it has makes it a good scent to wear when you are feeling tired or lacklustre. Alternatively, it would be a good one to wear in the depths of winter when it feels as if the sun will never come back again!

The brand

We’ve previously written a brand guide to Freddie Albrighton’s original releases, and reviewed later releases Eleven Candles in Antwerpen and Last Minute Change of Heart.

Freddie Albrighton is a tattooer turned self-taught perfumer who has shaken the UK fragrance scene with his well-developed creations. The brand has an interesting aesthetic which melds the rough, tough world of tattooing with a thoughtful approach to perfume. It’s an interesting intersection and one which feels ripe for Freddie’s creativity to explore.

Buy it

Someone Else’s Flowers is available from the Freddie Albrighton web boutique where it is priced at £102 for 50ml EdP.

Freddie kindly gifted us a sample of this fragrance with no strings attached. Our thanks to him.

Header image by József Kincse from Pixabay. Images of the product by The Sniff.