Better-Know-A-Niche Perfumery: The Bermuda Perfumery

During the increasingly cold days of this season, when the days are short, the nights are long, and the sun seems far away, it is with great pleasure that I learned about the The Bermuda Perfumery, the house of the Lili Bermuda perfumes. This bright little niche perfumery was founded in 1928 by William Blackburn Smith and his daughter Madeline Scott. It was acquired by the Brackstone family in 2004. The sweet-smelling, distinctly Bermudian perfumes were originally made from the local flowers of the island and now contain essential oils from around the world. Visitors to the perfumery are encouraged to stroll through the beautiful garden behind the building and to visit the old cottage, where the perfumes are actually made. All their perfumes are still bottled and packaged individually by hand on-site at the Perfumery.

The line consists of 7 fragrances for women and 2 fragrances for men.

• Lily: wild muguet, tamarine and pear flower


• Jasmine: romantic jasmine, freesia and magnolia


• Oleander: delicate Bermuda oleander, muguet and white orris


• Passion Flower: heady gardenia, passion flower and mimosa


• Frangipanni: captivating orange blossom, ylang ylang, patchouli and jasmine


• Paradise: subtle and warm bergamot, warm spices, vanilla and patchouli


• Coral: Fusion of clementine, freesia, nectar of rose and ginger



• Cedar: warm cedar, bergamot, rosemary and juniper


• Navy: fresh bergamot, mandarine and green lime

I tested two scents. Coral is their newest fragrance, introduced last spring. It smells very fresh and clean, with the freesia adding just the right note of sweetness to balance the spice of the ginger. For a relatively light scent, it has very good staying-power.

The second fragrance I tested is Lily. Catching a whiff of this very feminine, elegant-without-being-stuffy scent is like thrusting your nose into a freshly-picked bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley. It is quite lovely, and would be appropriate for a formal evening affair, or when you just want to be reminded of springtime in the middle of winter. While I like them both, Lily is my favorite of the two.




A wonderful way to try this line is by ordering The Perfume Library. This sample box contains vials of all seven women's' perfumes and two men's eaux de toilette for $22.

Each fragrance is offered in the form of a perfume, eau de toilette, body lotion and shower gel. For more information, please go to their website.

perfume images source: bermuda perfumery
lilies-of-the-valley image source: wikipedia