In the 20th century, perfumer Ernest Daltroff authored many iconic perfumes for the Parisian house of Caron, and at the time of the second world war he created Royal Bain de Caron: a scent intended to celebrate the ritual of bathing. Presented in a flacon resembling a generous champagne magnum, Royal Bain de Caron is meant to be used with excessive abandon… splashed into your bathwater to perfume your body; applied directly to warm, wet skin after stepping from the shower, or pulled through damp hair. Caron maintains this intimate bathing ritual to this very day, as this scent is still in production some 75 years on!

Perfumed with the scent of lilac and rose, Royal Bain has a dense floral feel, but one that is diluted by a resinous heart of opoponax, incense and benzoin… these notes bring with them, a richer, ambery quality. A foundation of vanilla, musk and cedar provides a velvety, textured feel. When one uses this fragrance precisely as intended, you will find yourself enveloped in the most sumptuous ‘Caron-ade’ cloud for the best part of an entire day.

Royal Bain de Caron is a wonderful relic from decades ago – a reminder of the pleasures of bathing before we all became time-poor and turned to 3-minute showers. Sometimes, however, I find it’s nice to revisit these traditions. At such a good price for very generous sizes, this is certainly one to be experienced.