I have never been able to carry off a crisp white shirt. First off, I’ve never eaten a meal that I haven’t ended up wearing (and you can’t get away with that on a starched placket). Second, while I am in awe of friends and colleagues who can sail through to Happy Hour with nary a crease in their clothing, anything remotely related to cotton or linen looks like I’ve pulled it from the laundry basket by elevenses. So: white shirts are a wardrobe no-no.

The miracle of fragrance, however (right up there with the loaves and the fishes, in my book) is that scents can make you feel one way, even when the reality is the polar opposite. And what I’ve found, over the past few years, is that one particular fragrance note – pear – comes pretty close to a crisp white shirt in a bottle.

As it happens, pear’s having a fragrance moment right now: crisp yet juicy, clean yet semi-sweet, green and somehow almost ‘crunchy’. It can be combined in many different ways: pear is surprisingly complex and versatile. But to me there’s always a clean, fresh edge to a pear scent – so think of these as a delicious alternative to getting out the ironing board.

The ‘pop art’ black-and- white bottle for this was supposedly inspired by the nashi flower: nashi is a kind of Asian pear (a.k.a. ‘sand pear’), which – if you’re ever lucky enough to bite into one – is sweet as a pear, crisp as an apple. Here, pear blossom’s given juicy, fruity flourishes, alongside rose and white musk: fresh yet ultra-pretty. If you fall for it, be sure to stockpile: this is a limited edition.


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Marc Jacobs has delighted perfumistas by bringing back four much-loved, long-lost scents to its portfolio for summer. Sun- ripened, nectarous pears are given a lively edge by lemon peel and bergamot, while the heart’s all G&T, with its aromatic juniper and gin accord sweetened by freesia, then buffed smooth by amber in the dry-down. Positively thirst-quenching.

Pour Tojours is the ‘baby’ of Frenchwoman Martine Denisot who is essentially a self-taught ‘nose’ who was lucky enough to spend some time under the ‘wing’ of family friend, Chanel perfumer Jacques Polge. Her mentor chose well: the exclusive-to- Liberty collection is very accomplished, this being a magnificent contrast of juicy pear – you know that moment when it’s so ripe it’s almost gone over, is almost alcoholic? - with dry, grassy, earthy vetiver. (The whole Pour Toujours collection is well worth a sniff, by the way.)

This really kickstarted the current pear trend – and its sheer mouthwatering crispness drew me to Jo Malone counters like a moth to a candle when this first came out a few years ago, to spritz and re-spritz compulsively. Featuring another fruity element alongside the ripe King William pear – green rhubarb – it’s tangy and almost effervecent. On me, this skips right over the floral heart notes (wild roses, white freesias) to the base of musk, patchouli, white amber and pencil-shaving touches of cedarwood. I’m not in the least surprised that it’s become a modern classic.

‘Poirier’ is French for pear tree, and this is perhaps not so much a crisp white shirt, more a black silk one. (I’m not very good at keeping those unrumpled either, by the way.) A burst of bergamot freshness soon morphs into something way more sensual: honey-drizzled pears, touched with boozy rum, with a rosy heart and woodsy finale.

This is probably the flirtiest and most feminine of this particular pear harvest, in which the fruit’s signature crispness is softened by jasmine, osmanthus and pink magnolia. As with so many of C&E’s creations, you can literally wallow in this with a shelf-ful of scented ‘layering opportunities’ for the body.

The most gourmand, or ‘sweet’, of the pears I’ve picked here: with its spicy warmth, this is pear as you might enjoy it in a crumble, rather than pear grabbed straight from the fruitbowl. It’s as moreish as crumble, too, made even more delicious by the creaminess of sandalwood and musk as the base unfolds – but proves intriguing as well as appetising, with rhubarb and fennel taking the edge off the sweetness.

Guerlain’s hotly-anticipated annual Aqua Allegoria releases tend to be cool-as- a-cucumber, and this is (almost) icy as the name implies. Lemon, bergamot and grapefruit introduce the fragrance, which becomes herby and aromatic, then sweetens up with the arrival of osmanthus and pear. Base notes include moss, cedarwood and white musk – and the whole thing’s as pretty as its ballerina pink ‘juice’ suggests.

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