Trade Routes

Empressa Penhaligon's 2018 Eau de Parfum

Empressa (Eau de Parfum) by Penhaligon's

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7.2 / 10 173 Ratings

A perfume by Penhaligon's for women, released in 2018. The scent is floral-fruity. It is being marketed by Puig.

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Main accords

Floral

Fruity

Sweet

Fresh

Citrus

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Bergamot

Mandarin orange

Blood orange

Heart Notes

Peach

Rose

Blackcurrant

Dewberry

Geranium

Pink pepper Neroli

Neroli

Black pepper

Cardamom

Nutmeg

Base Notes

Musk

Amber

Maltol

Patchouli

Sandalwood Vanilla

Vanilla

Cocoa

Frankincense

Perfumer

Christian Provenzano

Ratings

Scent

7.2173 Ratings

Longevity

7.3130 Ratings

Sillage

7.0130 Ratings

Bottle

8.1139 Ratings

Value for money

6.070 Ratings

Submitted by OPomone, last update on 07/30/2025.

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the "Trade Routes" collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum

Empressa Hair & Body Mist

Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum Intense

Empressa Eau de Toilette

Rouge Empreisa

Coco Noir Eau de Parfum

Reviews

8 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/21/2024

7.5
Scent

D6jo
17 Reviews

D6jo

2

Schampoo turned fragrance.

At first you get this very citrusy feeling to it where the blood orange comes and gives it a little sour touch. The peach is there in the background but its very subtle so to not make sure this becomes too sweet of a fragrance.

The rose is not the dominant factor here but it still makes its little appearance with hints of nature-like freshness. The smell has after a few minutes evolved into something you could smell on a shampoo or when you wash your hands.

As time goes on, sweetness in forms of sugar starts to seep through and swallow the rose making a love child bearing the fruits of both. A interesting fragrance that takes you on a little journey.

06/09/2025

5
Pricing 5
Bottle 5
Sillage 5
Longevity 6
Scent

Ursaw
134 Reviews

Ursaw

2

Unique and anachronistic, and yet entirely forgettable

The initial cloud is full of bitter citrus with spicy and almost earthy undertones. Feels like someone sprayed their citrus freshie at an antiques shop.

As the cloud settles, fruitiness starts sprouting from below. Mostly peach, a little bit of currant. A variety of peppers. A very fitting hint of dusty geranium. The kind of scent that can be picked apart if you concentrate on it, but if you relax and let its soft sillage envelop you – it just feels like one subdued and reasonable fruity whole.

It's... perfumey, but in a non-derogatory way. Feels like I found this decant at the back of a cabinet drawer in an abandoned 19th century mansion.

Citrus fizzles out after the first ~20 minutes and leaves just spices and fruits in the spotlight. But unlike with most other perfumes I've tried, rather than being "spicy fruits", this composition smells more like "fruity spices", if that makes any sense. It's not overly sweet, and something about this spice blend reminds me of how my bottle of 50% French absinthe tastes when diluted with sugar water. It's lovable!

A low 5 of sillage for the first ~2 hours. There is a cloud around me, but it's pretty faint. I do notice a trail when I move my arms around in an enclosed space, but it doesn't leave my immediate vicinity. It wouldn't choke me out an open space office, and I probably wouldn't even notice it on a busy street.

After the first ~2 hours it gets softer and the fruits fizzle away. What's left is a delightful spicy patchouli. A skin scent. Somewhat earthy, lovable.

Another hour and patchouli also mostly withers away. The drydown is a bit sweeter – musk, frankincense. A tasteful hint of vanilla. And a mellow herbal aftertaste. Slightly bitter. Barely there.

I adore it while it lasts, but for some reason come next morning I barely remember it. Good thing I take extensive notes, or otherwise I'd have nothing to say except "eh, I guess it was okay". It's like whatever spark I've felt between us withered away from my body together with absinthe, and now that I see it in the light of day – I'm completely uninterested and just want to get this encounter over with. A shame.

07/19/2024

8
Sillage 8
Longevity 7
Scent

Raluko111
352 Reviews

Raluko111

2

The scent of money

Empressa smells like the ink on a freshly printed stack of dollar bills. It does resemble Coco Mademoiselle and Petra (Masque Milano). In my opinion, it is the most wearable of the bunch because the sweetness has been dialed back. It also resembles the scent of the Kerastase Chronologiste shampoos, the ones in the black bottles. That aroma in a shampoo doesn't bother me, but in a perfume, I find it a bit too cold and impersonal. It brings to mind the atmosphere of a luxury clothing store where your wallet needs to be heavy and contain an AmEx to be able to afford anything.

Empressa miroase exact ca cerneala unui teanc de bancnote de dolari noi nouțe. Da, se aseamănă și cu Coco Mademoiselle, și cu Petra de la Masque Milano, dar poate e cel mai purtabil dintre toate trei din punctul meu de vedere, pentru că nu e la fel de dulce. Se mai aseamănă și cu aroma de la șamponul Kerastase Chronologiste, cel din recipientele negre. Ca șampon nu mă deranjează, dar ca parfum, hmm, nu prea mă atinge pe suflet. Are ceva rece, standoffish, nu e pentru mine. Nu e un parfum rău, chiar are un siaj și persistență deosebite, dacă te identifici cu ceea ce emană. Mi-se pare totuși un miros destul de generic, atmosfera pe care o percepi când te apropii de un raion cu haine de marcă scumpă, unde știi clar că trebuie să arăți că poți să spargi bani dacă intri.

04/15/2024

Yenn
34 Reviews

Yenn

2

A clean soft pleasant chypre with milky peaches

I think I have some kind of noseblindness with this one or something, because I feel this is supposed to be a strong sofisticated perfume, but for me is just some creamy soft peaches with some touches of dark green that make it fresher and reminds more a soapy chypre.

Very clean and soapy. But yeah, the main player here is peach, milky peaches

I will try in different weathers because Penhaligon's to me change in my skin depending of how hot it is

05/22/2025

ClaireV
832 Reviews

ClaireV

1

Pleasant but slightly insipid fruitchouli

Empressa is a slightly nondescript fruity-floral musk with a tinge of that clean, syrupy patchouli that passes for the nu-chypre base these days, i.e., a fruitchouli in the mold of Coco Mademoiselle. It is pretty, pleasantly tart and arresting in the topnotes, but a bit too brisk in its progression to the sweet, sugary florals in the heart to be to my taste. I wouldn't pay Penhaligon's prices for this, and anyway, Chanel does it better.

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