Penhaligon's

Penhaligon's is an English perfume company who may not be best known for their fragrances, though they have been around since 1870.

I first came across this line in a hotel! Beauty addict that I am, I love to check out the brand of shampoo and conditioner my hotel is carrying and luck would have it that this particular hotel provided us with Penhaligon's Quercus shampoo and body wash.

Personally, I don't think there's anything remarkable about the shampoo. I think that people think it's making a difference simply because it's very basic and it cleans the build-up from their hair. Nevertheless, what results is a quest to find more Quercus shampoo and unfortunately, Penhaligon's insists on only selling tiny travel-sized bottles. (I myself still have a couple of little bottles of their shampoo and shower gel kicking around somewhere.)
Moving along. This brand also has fantastic scents. Quercus is citrusy (and unisex, quite daring for a traditional company), but their forte is scents that capture the smell of England. If you've ever been to that island, you'll know what I'm talking about. Since it's always raining there (really, it is) there's always a clean damp smell in the air. It's the smell of mud, of wet grass, and if you're lucky of wildflowers. You'd think that such a scent would be difficult to bottle and even more difficult to find, but Penheligon's has done it for you.
Bluebell is what Kate Moss wears, and Sienna Miller loves it too. Lily of the Valley is quite lovely, but Lily and Spice (a relatively new addition to their line of perfumes) is my absolute favourite. There's an opening note of biting pepper, and mixed with the powdery Lily, it's something fresh.

Noor in Toronto carries the Penhaligon's line, but if you live in an area that does not have these scents easily available, you should definitely think about ordering their Scent Samples. For a reasonable fee, they send you 10 vials of their scents - 5 men's and 5 women's, which means that you can pick your favourite and then proceed to order it in its many incarnations.