Shops We Love: Soliflore, Brighton
We’re honestly not sure how anyone manages to buy a fragrance in somewhere like Selfridges. The noise, the crowds, the music – and the sheer, overwhelming choice. Well, if you feel the same, we’ve the perfect antidote: Soliflore – in Seven Dials, Brighton’s equivalent of Notting Hill.
Opened on Bonfire Night last year by Sarah Reason, who’d formerly worked at Jo Malone London but whose wider career background is in visual merchandising, Soliflore is a joy. A quirky, unique joy. On the central counter, for instance (an industrial workbench, in a former life), Sarah has assembled a collection of vintage packaging – tobacco tins, a Bourjois powder pot, even a cigarette packet! – with folds of scarf silk inside, spritzed with the scents.
It's honestly THE best expression of what those perfumes will smell like in the all-important ‘dry-down’ (how a fragrance will actually smell after an hour or two), that we’ve ever come across. (Of course, there are spills for spritzing – though do remember to write down what you’ve sprayed. Although that’s a case of do as we say, rather than what Jo did, having broken her golden rule through fizzing over-excitement; she’s still puzzling to identify some of the fragrances on the spills she took home.)
The line-up of fragrances and candles itself is beautifully edited, inviting you to explore some of the most creative independent fragrance brands across the scented landscape. You might not know all the names, but you’ll be glad to make their acquaintance.
Among others, find Kingdom Scotland, Ruth Mastenbroek, Nancy Meiland, Jorum Studio, Gallivant, plus the cult niche brand Arquiste; Sarah admits to being slightly blown away that just six weeks after launch, scent superstar founder Carlos Arquiste pitched up for a personal appearance at her little store for Soliflore’s very first event – so do sign up to the mailing list to learn of future events.
On the candle front, there’s our friend Cass’s La Montaña brand, together wtih August & Piers candles – and do also look out for Imogen Owen’s scented pencils (FAB!) and Scribble & Daub’s greetings cards (ditto).
Fittings were sourced from Ardingly vintage fair and from other secondhand emporia, while the window’s top ‘curtain’ is crafted from rather beautifully rusted corrugated iron; the stock room door was even salvaged from a skip (Sarah is clearly a girl after our own heart). So, décor-wise, this is unlike anywhere you’ll have shopped for a scent – but as ardent upcyclers ourselves, we love Sarah for that.
The personal service is what makes Soliflore stand out, though. Passionate about scent, Sarah really knows her stock – but also knows to leave you to ponder, and even go away empty-handed, while you allow fragrances to develop on your skin – the only real way to try a scent. It clearly works: two customers popped back to buy fragrances they’d done that with, even in the (blissful) hour Jo spent there, just a couple of days ago.
Next time you need a new fragrance, then, our advice is to give Oxford Street a miss – and make a little perfume pilgrimage to Brighton, instead. (Just be sure to observe the opening hours, below.)
Because Soliflore’s a treat for the nose – and the eye.
64 Dyke Rd, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 3JD
Weds – Fri 12-5
Saturday 11-5
Sunday 12-4
soliflore.co.uk (no mail order though – you’ll have to check it out in person!)
PS The clothes rail is temporary, by the way; Sarah’s currently clearing out her wardrobe – ‘clothes for my old life’, as she puts it – and will then have space to expand what is already a stellar collection of scents.
