Fab Find of the Week: Ostens PRÉPARATION Oil Collection

Meet your new fragrance wardrobe, which comes in its own trunk. Well, kinda: this beautiful, limited edition collection of fragrant oils is presented in a beautiful wooden case, etched with the name of this ‘cult’ independent fragrance brand, Ostens, who base their fragrances around the astonishing natural perfume ingredients produced by LMR Naturals, a highly respected Grasse fragrance house specialising in nature’s fragrant bounty.

Fragrance oils are a revelation, if you haven’t tried them. Fact: scent naturally likes to ‘cling’ to oil in the skin – which is why it disappears so quickly during this centrally-heated season. In fact, Ostens’s single note oils can either be worn on their own, to long-lasting effect – it’s that ‘oil factor’ – or turbo-charged further with a range of ‘matching’ Ostens Impression Eau de Parfums: complex, yet similar and complementary to the oils.

There are five bottles in this casket, each containing a different oil, plus a beautiful hand-blown, smooth glass wand for application. The five include Rose Oil Isparta, Cedarwood Heart Virginia, Jasmine Absolute Egypt, Cashmeran Velvet – beautifully sandalwood-y, that – and Patchouli Heart Indonesia, which is possibly our favourite because we’re patchouli-lovers from WAY back. (Having said that, we’d happily wear any of them!)

Actually, worn on their own, fragrance oils are becoming quite a ‘thing’, for the intimate experience of wearing them: they don’t rock rooms or scare the horses, but can be enjoyed by the wearer and those who enter their near-orbit. And these are exactly the same oils as the world’s leading perfumers like to work with.

A beautiful collection, either as a gift or for exploring at your leisure. But one thing is certain: you’ll have your finger on the pulse – or rather pulse-point – of one of fragrance’s hottest trends. 

£100 for 5 x 9ml – buy here