British Tales

Endymion Penhaligon's 2003

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7.3 / 10 395 Ratings

Endymion is a perfume by Penhaligon's for men and was released in 2003. The scent is spicy-fresh. It is being marketed by Puig.

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Main accords

Spicy

Fresh

Sweet

Woody

Floral

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Lavender

Bergamot

Mandarin orange

Sage

Heart Notes

Coffee absolute

Geranium

Base Notes

Sandalwood

Black pepper

Cardamom

Leather

Musk

Myrrh

Nutmeg

Vetiver

Frankincense

Perfumer

Fragrance Resources

Ratings

Scent

7.3395 Ratings

Longevity

6.4294 Ratings

Sillage

5.8292 Ratings

Bottle

7.8290 Ratings

Value for money

6.170 Ratings

Submitted by Chemist, last update on 16.03.2024.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the "British Tales" collection.

Reviews

8 in-depth fragrance descriptions

06/04/2019

8
Bottle 5
Sillage 6
Longevity 7.5
Scent

DonJuanDeCat
657 Reviews

Translated Show original

DonJuanDeCat

Top Review 20

Hold the moonstone and lift the rock... or what was the lyrics to Sailor Moon's theme song again?

Hi guys, today I'm coming to a fragrance from Penhaligon's, Endymion. Soo... the name of the fragrance seems very, VERY familiar to me. Sure, you're gonna say. Endymion is also a figure from Greek mythology, who is described as eternally young and handsome and who is the lover of the moon goddess Selene (waah, this scumbag, I get jealous *sigh* :D).

But wait, my memories of the name come from my teenage years, when I first saw Japanese cartoon series, Animes, in the 90s. And my first anime was: Sailor Moon. Yeah yeah, laughs just because girls probably watched it more, but there were a lot of guys watching that show back then. I mean, girls watched the show because they identify well with the heroines. Finally there were girls as heroes and no muscle-packed and axes swinging guys... and guys watched the show because... uh guys... Sailor Moon, hello? Those are five pretty drawn warriors in extremely short skirts and long legs, do I have to say more????

But to get back to the name of the fragrance: In the series there was also such a guy named Tuxedo Mask, who in reality was the reborn Prince Endymion, who was in love with the moon goddess... yes yes, mythologies are always a good source of inspiration :D
Anyway, now you know where the fragrance got its name from (from the mythological figure, not from Sailor Moon, just to make it clear!!). Endymion is a men's fragrance that should be reasonably fresh, which hopefully is true, because fresh fragrances are always very welcome to me on the murderously hot days!

The fragrance:

The fragrance begins with bergamot and lavender. Sage is quickly added, which is particularly suitable for bergamot with its herbaceous note. The sweetness, which also begins quickly, I can't determine yet, but I think that this is a mix of incense or myrrh, rose and mandarin. A little black pepper gives off a nice, discreet spice without appearing scratchy.
In the middle part, the citric scents become considerably weaker. But now the beautiful coffee note comes through, which is indeed weak and can only be perceived properly from close up, but it is there and smells good. Lavender and pepper continue to provide a herbaceous, tart flavour, but have lost some of their strength in the meantime. But you can smell them and they also give the fragrance a certain maturity. I also smell more and more green-earthy vetiver as the fragrance progresses.
From the base the fragrance becomes slightly more powdery, one smells incense/myrrhe and now also quite well the musk, which gives off a beautiful, sweet fragrance. You can only smell the indicated leather if you smell it at the sprayed place, because otherwise this scent is quite weak. All in all, a slightly weak, but quite nice everyday scent.

The Sillage and the shelf life:

The Sillage is initially mediocre, but then weakens quickly, so that the scent can only be perceived a little at close range. Thus the shelf life also appears quite short with three to four hours.

The bottle:

The bottle is cylindrical, clear and has a beautiful, blue and elaborate label on the front. The lid consists of a round head and a cylindrical lower part in which a blue silk bow has been attached. All in all, as always, a very beautiful bottle, which also lies well in the hand.

Okay, that was Endymion. And I liked the smell. Not in such a way that I absolutely must have it, but as a gift I would use it. Or maybe even strike at a good offer at some point, because it's a nice, slightly mature men's fragrance (yeah... I'm also getting older...) that can be used well as an all-rounder. By this I mean that the fragrance actually goes all year round, because it is neither particularly light nor too heavy, even if it could hardly be perceived in winter (outside), but it is suitable for everyday use, for work etc... for going out it is however too weak and too unspectacular.

Soo, ahhh the scent is a men's scent. That is, whoever applies this fragrance is then this Prince Endymion or Tuxedo Mask, even me, if I should use the fragrance. Then all I have to do is find my Sailormoon... *sigh* that should be a thing of impossibility, waaaah! *sigh* Well, I'd rather have Sailor Venus (boah I always found them so pretty!) anyway, or Sailor Pluto (boah I always found them so hot! :DD), which would probably be even harder to have, aaargh!!!

Actually I would sigh again now, but I'm at the end (aaah, I'm at the end!! :DD) and so I just say: Have a nice evening and see you next time! :)

06/17/2018

8
Bottle 6
Sillage 6
Longevity 8
Scent

Kinetycs
1 Review

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Kinetycs

Top Review 12

Endymion - A Greek tragedy in perfect beauty

*The curtain goes up*

They exist - these fragrances that suddenly and abruptly reach us and leave us speechless. Endymion is one of those scents for me.

For the first time in 2007 on a business trip to London he fascinated me. There I was, standing in an elevator together, driving to a meeting with several colleagues. The elevator door opened to drive another gush of people into the confinement of the cabin. "Well wonderful" I thought to myself "A real firework of scents is about to light here, with so many people eating and midsummer temperatures (yes, even in London these occur). But what then unfolded on my nose was a true revelation! No typical British water with citric notes or soapy smell - no! It smelled of the Orient, of divine paradise, of forbidden and so sweetly rejoicing that I did not know how it happened to me. This is how it must smell when the sun sets in southern climes after a long hot day and the mantle of the silent night spreads over the world. So silent and yet so loud - with this fragrance you roar out into the world the pure joy of life and sensual pleasure in all imaginable tones! I would have expected this fragrance in Arab countries, in the desert or in the Aegean, but not in a British elevator between tailor-made suits and welted shoes. Far too "loud" this fragrance for the rather quiet Brit, after all he has a reputation to lose.

But it had happened to me. I was quickly able to find out which of my colleagues here, like a God incarnate, was playing tricks on us humans and consciously overtaxed our senses. If I had been asked about its content and outcome after the meeting, I would have been embarrassed not to be able to formulate an answer other than Stammer. My thoughts were only about my olfactory perception - everything else was faded out. After the meeting, I literally rushed towards my colleague to find out what was clouding my senses and those of other people present. His brief answer "Endymion" from Penhaligon's one of the most traditional fragrance houses of the British capital. "Endymion" itself, the name enchanted me and, with the help of the name, I was able to appreciate the intention that was pursued here during the conception of the fragrance. Greek tragedies, worlds of the gods, Olympus and especially the "night" which I had inevitably believed to be immediately recognizable in the fragrance. Here the name simply fits like the proverbial fist on the eye.

With this information I went to the said perfumer on the same evening and held a bottle in my hands, which is typically simple (Penhaligon's) but still playful and sensual. The label as well as the name inevitably fits to the contained fragrance pleasure.

Now I stood there and smelled a breath of freshly atomized Greek mythology and a feeling came over me as if I had bitten into the forbidden apple. The top note, much sweeter (even somewhat "fresher") than the spicy-sweet base and heart note I had perceived on my colleague, robbed me of my last clear thoughts. I must have been dreaming for quite a while and standing there away from this reality, as the consultant spoke to me a little louder than usual - it was probably not his first attempt to get me out of my dream.

And this fascination, which I associate with the first encounter with one of my absolute favorite fragrances, still unfolds today every time I remove the lid of the bottle and a slight breeze buzzes around my nose and chases a pleasant shiver of anticipation over my neck.

The only hard thing I did was with the purchase. I had to convince myself that I not only "want" but also "can" wear this fragrance, because it is so completely different from me.

I, the typical German - boring, small-minded, bland and punctual. And then "Endymion" - loud, shrill, sensual, heavy and sweet and so not at all timeless! With this fragrance, time becomes an affliction in the nirvana of desires. And that's the scent I really wanted to wear? Yes! - "If an Englishman can do it, then I can do it even more!" I had to, couldn't get past it. Our first joint attempts were almost shy. But quickly the initial fear of me getting caught up with Endymion and being perceived as "not real" subsided. The first inquiries "Who smells so good forbidden here?" or "Oh, are you the one who smells so pleasant here? I wouldn't have expected anything from you, but it fits perfectly".

Amazingly, I rarely get comments (positive or negative) about my olfactory appearance. Anyway, this strengthened my opinion that my decision was the right one and my love for Endymion can be shared with others.

A love that came over me surprisingly fast, almost like a raid, but continues unbroken until today and with which I hope to experience many more years together and especially hot summer days, so that together we can lay the heavy coat of the night over the world.

*The curtain falls*

04/19/2021

5
Pricing 10
Bottle 6
Sillage 6
Longevity 9.5
Scent

Elysium
815 Reviews

Elysium

Helpful Review 7

Young Man Of Exceptional Beauty

I bet British house Penhaligon's named this perfume after the myth of the Greeks, rather than the futuristic character Raoul Endymion of Dan Simmons saga "The Hyperion Cantos." Endymion in Greek mythology is a young man of exceptional beauty. According to legend, Endymion was king of Elis, hunter or shepherd: he was the first king of Elis in Greek Peloponnese and founded the kingdom with Thessaly colonists. When Zeus offered him to choose his fate, Endymion chose immortality and youth in eternal sleep. The history of Endymion varies from one legend to another. However, the most famous is that of his love for Selene, the goddess of the Moon. They say that Selene became the lover of this shepherd from Mount Latmos in Caria and visited him every night during her sleep.
Back to our era. What is Penhaligon's Endymion all about? If you're anything like me, the aroma of espresso coffee, especially that of the early morning, stimulates you as you need to wake up. So I like the note of coffee, even in the fragrances. And I have some colognes that incorporate this note in their pyramid. However, notes like rose, leather, or coumarin pair with coffee, but the dyad of lavender and coffee is almost a novelty for me. In Endymion, the dyad creates such a subtle and distinctive nuance on par with that of the lavender and vanilla found in Caron's Pour Un Homme, so excellent and disruptive to me. Endymion is my second blindly purchased Penhaligon scent, after Agarbathi, and I'm not disappointed at all. Anything pleasant and unfamiliar to the nose makes me enthusiastic.

As soon as I took a hit of Endymion, I couldn't think of anything else. The opening blast with its brilliant citrus accord made of sweet and sour mandarin and powdery bergamot stays on its own for a minute or so, soon followed by a delicate sage, mainly with whiffs of grass, adding a subtle green edge. There are hints of black pepper that add to the richness of the scent. Shortly after that, a refined lavender arrives that adds an aromatic undertone reasonably subtly. It is neither a floral nor medicinal lavender, instead of a hay-like lavender note straight from the leaf needles rather than the flower buds.
Let the initial burst tone down, and a greener and gourmand heart unfold. The green darkness comes from geranium leaves, while toasted coffee beans blend with a lavender thing for offering a light gourmand touch. It doesn't enter gourmand territory or become foody. That beautiful accord gets better and better, and I can't get enough. I like how the coffee note intertwines with the lavender in this.

The scent stays deceptively subtle despite its heavier components. The dry-down adds some spiciness, mainly from creamy nutmeg, a delicate resinous aroma, while the citrus aroma of the opening is retreating. Light vetiver with no earthy character signals a shift to a musky and woody phase. A soft, thin suede, everything but rude, with touch amber, leads into the base, and the resins gradually dominate the rest of the development. There's just a kiss of musk on a broad base of talc, nothing like a lipstick but something like talcum powder, roundish and sweetish kind of leathery powder associated with Fabergé's Brut, and overall it's a pretty different juice indeed. It becomes warmer, cuddly, introverted, and homey.

With its excellent barber notes in the opening, Endymion will most likely turn many people off at first because the best part doesn't come until half an hour later when the juice unfolds with body heat. I get moderate sillage, good projection, and seven hours of longevity on my skin. It is an intriguing scent for the hottest spring days and evenings. Endymion is a perfume recommended for men and women, and it is a very sensual aroma. It's deep but not too overwhelming. It lasts all day, and I got a lot of compliments while wearing it. I don't know why this sequence of notes should be like this, but it's extraordinarily sensual. The composition falls between clean laundry and barbershop. Maybe nothing completely innovative, but still modern and elegant.

I based this review on a 100ml bottle I have owned since April 2021.

-Elysium

12/27/2012

5
Bottle 0
Sillage 2.5
Longevity 5
Scent

Drseid
819 Reviews

Drseid

Boring Powder...

Nothing wrong with this one, but it just is so mild and safe that it bores me to death. Powder mixed with a bit of fruit on an amber base... Kind of a mild powdery cloud. Inoffensive, but unimpressive. 2.5 stars out of 5.

01/12/2016

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

Helpful Review 3

Brilliant!

One of the most (or should I say, “few”) intriguing fragrances by Penhaligon’s together with Sartorial, both sharing the same peculiar feature – showing a sort of deceptive designer-oriented nature, but creatively elaborating it with what I’d personally consider an interesting and very compelling “artistic” twist (sorry for that, I hate the concept of “artistry” applied to fragrances; don’t take it too literally, it’s just meant to refer to the creativity involved in this). Endymion is basically a very gentle, impeccable, sophisticated and truly British in spirit sort of plushy powdery-gourmand Oriental scent with a fantastic smooth bergamot opening and a coffee-infused, musky-woody and slightly honeyed-resinous foundation, that overall undoubtedly contains echoes of many designers – from YSL La Nuit de l’Homme to Zegna Intenso to the drydown of Rochas Man, but it wouldn’t really be fair to compare them. There’s echoes, they may share a similar sort of inspiration, but that is really not enough to make a proper of comparison in my opinion, as their “substance” differs enormously. Endymion has a whole different quality and texture, which briefly put, is better – or well, surely more fascinating. It smells at once more substantial than them (except for Rochas Man maybe, that was a masterpiece already), more crisp, more quality, and most of all delightfully more ethereal, impalpable, boundless and sophisticated. “Emptier yet fuller”, if that makes sense. And it’s not simply a matter of lightness, I think it’s just a whole different approach and construction, and that’s what marks the difference.

As Diamondflame brilliantly explained on Basenotes in fact, Endymion belongs to that small family of “airy”, weightless (yet more than substantial and rich in character) scents together with Hermès Cuir d’Ange or Prada Infusion d’Iris: stuff which doesn’t smell like a “normal” blend of notes, just rather a unique heavenly whiff of “pure scent”, which you’ve to take and enjoy for, well, just what it is – in which the materials are so good and blended so effortlessly well and out of any formal pattern, that you only get “it”, as a whole. And that’s truly a delightfully poetic effect on skin, as you almost feel you aren’t wearing a fragrance – you rather feel surrounded by an impalpable, almost nondescript yet perfectly detectable and enjoyable scented aura of distinguished lavendery-gourmand British class, tightly blended and masterfully balancing a sort of “double cleanness” – clean zesty top notes of bergamot, clean “laundry-talc” musk and soapy sandalwood on the base notes, wrapped around a warm, velvety heart of lavendery-gourmand-herbal elegance with a perfectly mannered shade of woody smoke (which will arise more prominently on the drydown). It’s warm, sunny, cozy like an English sunset. It feels familiar, but unique. Truly irresistible. I’m probably over-romanticizing this and I am not sure if I made some sense with my description, but just I enjoy immensely the way Endymion disguises its evocative uniqueness under a deceptive, easy-to-dismiss designer-oriented look. And regardless of that it just smells fantastic, surely more on the discreet side of the spectrum projection-wise (albeit quite persistent), but it fits the scent and the inspiration perfectly. A lovely uplifting gem.

8,5/10

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