In 1883, Émile Zola paid the department store a literary tribute with “Au Bonheur des Dames”: a place where everything is available to everyone. To this day, the perfume department in major department stores is often right behind the entrance, the first temptation. Harrods has given this promise a motto that sounds like an incantation in Latin: “Omnia Omnibus Ubique”, everything for everyone, everywhere. In 2026, Memo Paris in turn dedicated an Eau de Parfum to the London department store, created by Gaël Montero and available exclusively at Harrods. I was suspicious. A fragrance meant to be everything to everyone sounds like a compromise, the lowest common denominator in a beautiful bottle.
The opening proves me wrong. As I spray it on, a warm, slightly leathery note leaps out at me, reminiscent of dried apricots: osmanthus, that Asian flower which, in its absolute form, can smell of fruit and leather at once. Saffron lays a spicy, almost metallic trail over it, while a rose keeps discreetly in the background. This isn't crowd-pleasing in the sense of being generic, but warm and a little glamorous, like a foyer where the lights are dimmed.
At the heart, iris takes over, and this is where the fragrance shows what it can do. Iris butter isn't an off-the-shelf natural product: the rhizomes of the iris are dried and sometimes aged for years before being distilled, and only then do they reveal their creamy, powdery, slightly violet aroma. That fits my impression: the iris drapes itself over the fragrance like a silk scarf. The jasmine beneath it is warm and perhaps just a tiny bit indolic, giving the whole thing a hint of “skin”.
In the base, oud, sandalwood and vanilla come together, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how beguiling the oud is here. It doesn't smell like a doctor's office or a stable, but woody, dark, slightly smoky, nestled in vanilla and musk. The sandalwood makes the whole thing very soft and creamy, while the vanilla rounds it out without becoming too sweet. A creamy floral oud that isn't overpowering, but enveloping.
The longevity is impressive: this fragrance lasts well over ten hours on my skin. By evening, it's still on my collar, just quieter, then mostly as vanilla and woods. The sillage is good without flooding the room. It leaves a trail, but not a furrow. The bottle is by Giles Deacon and features a botanical motif that alludes to Harrods' green awnings and Art Deco architecture. I have mixed feelings about the fragrance being available exclusively at Harrods: it fits the story, but makes it hard for many to get hold of - unless the fragrance is part of the Advent calendar and floods the Souk...
My verdict: The motto promises everything for everyone, and the fragrance only fulfils part of that promise. It's not for everyone, because anyone who doesn't like creaminess, iris and oud won't enjoy it. But it's a very well-made, enveloping and long-lasting fragrance for those who want to combine depth with softness. Everything for everyone, says the motto. I say: a lot for many, and quite a lot for me.
ElAttarine 2 hours ago 