Over the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November this year, we spent a few days in Lisbon. It was our first visit to Portugal so we did a lot of low-key sightseeing on foot and by subway, tram, and Uber (with fares being very favorable compared with those in the United States). I think I discovered new muscles around the shins and ankles after walking up and down some steep cobblestone slopes, just to get around downtown!

Perfumery highlights

The streets were fragranced by people wearing perfume, but most of it seemed fresher than the woody ambers pervasive in many cities. Our first perfumery stop was Claus Porto on the Rua do Carmo, in a space that used to be a bookstore.

Although the first items I noticed and started sniffing were candles, the brand had started in soaps, and some of the candles were named after their vintage soaps and packaged with the old labels. They have now expanded into many offerings, including a line of “unisex” colognes made by perfumer Lyn Harris. Each is inspired by an area of Portugal, with six in total.

At the time, they were out of bottles and testers of “1” (Agua Vetiver) and “6” (Agua Flores), so the sales associate used the display travel set to spray them on blotters for me. She explained that they were soon re-releasing the colognes in eau de toilette concentration so that they would last longer.

Their newest feature was a collaboration with Monocle called Soleil Zeste, by perfumer Daphné Bugey. Consistent with the image conjured by the name, it lists notes of lime, bergamot, lemon; petitgrain, cypress, galbanum; musk and lavender.

Daphné Bugey is also the author of the Musgo Real collection of five eau de toilettes related to the men’s grooming line.

I particularly enjoyed the relics of perfumery from another time interspersed between the product displays.

The sales associate was very knowledgeable and attentive, and I liked pretty much everything I smelled in the store, although nothing was groundbreaking. I bought discovery sets of both the água de colónia and the Musgo Real collections.

Portugal is also known for hand-painted ceramic tiles, or azulejos, and this is reflected in much of the architecture, street art, and even some of the “tuk-tuks” that transport people around Lisbon.

The next perfume destination was Next Memory Atelier, housed in a former pharmaceutical laboratory. We had to stand behind a velvet rope at the entrance to wait to be let in, as they limit the number of people in the store to avoid crowding.

Their perfumes come in liquid and solid formulations, and containers can be personalized. Each perfume is “delicately crafted to evoke a specific memory from Portugal” and most names consist of a color and a note, with the exception of Pastel de Nata, the famous egg custard pastry. Blue Sandalwood was pleasantly reminiscent of other santal-forward masterpieces, and Purple Fig was a well balanced representation of multiple parts of the fig plant—the fruit, the leaves, and the wood.

An inner section of the shop is dedicated to tea blends, or “a potion for all remedies.” At the very back is The Bespoke Garden, where visitors can book a custom perfume experience and blend their own perfume choosing from 37 accords.

The teas are presented in flasks with atomizers for smelling, and some are quite unusual in the ingredients that they blend in with tea leaves. Five O’Clock in Mayfair includes actual pieces of cookies, and several others mix in dried fruits. I bought Nº187, named after their shop’s address, featuring hibiscus, rose hips, apple, coconut chips, pineapple, orange peel, mango, and blue cornflower; and Ritual of the Antioxidants, which I couldn’t resist for the shavings of white and dark chocolate generously mingling with pu-erh red tea. It smells divine (even boozy, as my other half noted) and really tastes of chocolate.

The third perfume shop of interest was Embassy Niche Perfumery, which stocks niche perfumes from many well known brands. As their space is small, they too had a rope for queues. I peeked inside and decided to bail as most brands can also be found elsewhere, but by then my other half had rung the doorbell. A lady came out to greet us and let us know that they were full, and we could either wait or go to their “other shop, Xerjoff!” that was a few doors down. We wouldn’t have known that the boutiques were related. We opted to move along and look for a restaurant as it was approaching dinnertime.

Non-perfumery highlights

Castelo de São Jorge

This castle is walkable from downtown and worth the ticket and the climbs for the panoramic views of Lisbon that extend to the Tagus River.

Peacocks reign on the grounds of this castle…

…and sometimes fly in droves to perch on trees!

MUDE Design Museum

Exhibitions explore the usage of materials and objects, including a focus on leather and improvements in tanning and dyeing processes that reduce toxicity and waste.

Fashion has always been part of the design conversation, and pieces by several couture designers are showcased.