The fragrances created at Laboratory Perfumes often start with a single aroma. In Samphire’s case, it was a young leaf of verbena plucked from a friend’s garden on a spring afternoon. The scent was so arrestingly fresh, they decided to find a way to capture its zesty rush for their third fragrance. They crushed a sprig of that verbena with a pinch of juniper berries from the spice rack – and Samphire began to take shape. Moving from the kitchen to the lab, they blended in citrus oil, flourishes of lavender, basil and rosemary, and base notes of white amber and oak moss to create a bright, cool, aromatic scent with a lightness of touch that belies its complexity and longevity on the skin. The finished scent was so clearly evocative of the seashore it could only be called Samphire. Founded in 2011, British scent specialists Laboratory Perfumes craft unique, gender-free fragrances, scientifically formulated to react to the wearer and evolve over the day. Inspired by the natural flowers, herbs and aromatic botanicals of Britain and beyond, the range of scents and candles is made from natural oils, selected with care and blended with precision. It’s a new method of making perfume the old-fashioned way.