Penhaligon's Covent Garden — Local services in London

I took a long time to make sure that I'm giving the brand and the store a fair chance before posting this. If you are a POC, I recommend reconsidering shopping at Penhaligon's because their behavior will be atrocious. I went to this location with my family late August and I was surprised to see that being blatantly racist is common in their customer service. I went with my mother and sister, and was looking forward to sampling new perfumes since this was my first shopping experience at Penhaligon's. The man that was  "helping" looked absolutely disgusted with us. The entire time he kept side-eyeing my family. Did not ask me what notes I liked, disliked, did not look warm or act pleasantly at all. I smelled a total of four perfumes in the store before I had to make a choice on which one I wanted because it became clear he had no interest in showing me more. The entire time my family stood on the side and he hadn't bothered acknowledging them once or asking if they would like to sample something, even when they said what notes they liked or didn't like in the ones I was sampling. I asked for a 1oz of Solaris, and he kept repeatedly asking if I wanted the 1oz and was annoyed that he wasn't getting more of a commission that would have come had I purchased a bigger bottle. I asked if I can pay cash, and despite saying yes initially he switched his mind at the register. Kept insisting I needed to pay with card but I had cash on hand. Did not bother adding in samples, no pleasantries when we were leaving (still hadn't acknowledged my family other than side eyeing them). I have never walked out feeling the way I did that day, and no one should have to go through that.

What makes this entire experience way worse is how their corporate and their management has handled the situation. I reached out to Penhaligon's customer service to complain about the behavior and they had connected me to the store manager. The manager asked if I'm available to speak to her and I've provided my availability and phone number, and all I've gotten so far are sporadic emails every few days. The last email asked if I can call her ...even though it was her who wanted to speak with me and understand the situation. I came back from my trip over a month ago and the manager still hasn't been able to find time to rectify the situation. A customer shouldn't have to go out of their way to resolve something which was inflicted on them by their employees. It's not surprising now why that associate behaved the way he did because it's clearly accepted and practiced in Penhaligon's. So if you are a POC, I recommend doing your due diligence and shopping with perfumeries that will treat you with respect and make your experience pleasant. Perfumes are luxury and your money shouldn't be wasted on a brand who can't even treat you with...

Visiting the shop looking mostly unassuming is pretty funny. The staff were pleasant without trying to push any sales. Whether that's because they didn't think i would be leaving with anything or were taught not to I can't tell, however Łukasz who attended to me was pleasant to deal with (if initially a little distant perhaps), patient with me exploring my options and, once it was clear I decided to make a purchase (more on that in a bit), went out of his way to ensure I had as good a value out of my visit as I would have online. Going in, I wanted something similar to Juniper Sling which I fell in love with almost a decade before and just like during my initial visit when I said I was looking for something similar I was shown Lothair which I already (still) own and love. Only when prompted that I already owned the initial suggestion, was I offered the more expensive range. The main downside at this point was the lack of coffee beans to reset my nose after trying a few fragrances which made it a little difficult to tell whether I'm taking the specific scent in, or if it has already layered itself with other fragrances. On this note - the paper tester only takes you so far! You really need to smell the fragrance on your skin to see how it will sit, which thankfully Łukasz did do after I narrowed my selection to just two. This may have been an intentional decision on his part, but offering some insight in dealing with me ("I'll show you a few fragrances on paper then apply the ones you like the most to your skin") would have been welcome - as is, it came across like he wasn't sure if he's going to convert the sampling into a sale initially. As to the choice - it was a toss up between Fortuitous Finley and Much Ado About the Duke. Both pleasant on the nose but the initial sweet (which i assume to be pistachio but i could pick up gentle plum hints) notes of Finley won me over. Over time the sweetness gave way to leathery notes of suede. I feel like Duke's pepper notes may have impacted my decision on what to pair Finley with as the pepper notes lingered on while I was checking out the 3 travel sized samples to accompany my purchase (for better or worse went with Luna). Am I happy with the overall experience? Mostly! The fragrance is a unique addition to my current range - Łukasz was spot on with his suggestion (and in fairness I would have been just a happy with the Duke had I made that choice instead). I would have liked to see a little less distant initial approach regardless of how out of place I may have looked in the store and the lack of coffee beans struck me as...

I went to the Penhaligon’s Wellington St store yesterday with my mother and had an absolutely wonderful experience, so much so that I had to share. Just a note — this is the flagship store! There is a separate Penhaligon’s location in Covent Garden proper. Don’t let the name fool you!

I have been a bit of a perfume fan for quite a few years now and have wanted to come to the flagship store for some time but had some reservations based upon a few terrible reviews, but I am happy to assure anyone reading with the same reservations that the service at Penhaligon’s is still excellent to the extreme.

My mother and I were greeted by Nicola (say hi if you see her!), a very lovely salt and pepper-haired sales associate who very clearly has a passion for all things fragrance. She took down my scent preferences and proceeded to give me a blind sniffing experience, narrowing down my perfume choices to what I loved the most without seeing the bottles. During this, we were also treated to a little bit of Penhaligon’s (and this specific location’s) history. The security guard at the door roped off the door for the ten or so minutes our personal experience took so that the entire store was ours to enjoy. It was a real joy.

I ended up selecting a bottle of Halfeti (It’s apparently popular for a reason!) to be engraved with a matching lotion and an accompanying travel atomizer. My mother, who is not nearly as excited about perfume, even picked up a bottle of Solaris while swept up in the excitement. Our bag was also absolutely filled with goodies. Join that mailing list for those!

All in all, it was an amazing experience. If you want your “Pretty Woman” moment, be sure to stop here when you...