Penhaligon’s Terrible Teddy (Quentin Bisch) and Heartless Helen (Dominique Ropion) Reviews + Fragrant Safari Draw

September 10, 2019September 10, 2019

Penhaligon’s Terrible Teddy & Heartless Helen (photo courtesy of Penhaligon’s/digital effects: Despina Veneti)©

The fragrant saga of Penhaligon’s Portraits has just been enriched with a – rather ill-fated – couple, whose encounter takes place during an African safari: meet the compulsive seducers Heartless Helen and Terrible Teddy. As it is always the case with the Penhaligon’s Portraits Collection, the fragrance bottles are hefty and beautiful, and their sturdy boxes are illustrated by Kristjana S. Williams; Heartless Helen is depicted as an attractive, mischievous young woman in a sports suit, the animal head of her fragrance cap being that of a cockatoo, while Terrible Teddy, drawn as a handsome, sleek dandy, is represented by a rhinoceros. Both fragrances, in accordance to the characters they are meant to reflect, possess piquant charm and youthful sophistication.

Penhaligon’s Heartless Helen (photo/digital effects by Despina Veneti) & Flavia de Oliveira (photo by Pascal Chevallier for Elle Spain, 2009)©

Heartless Helen’s bio informs us that she is a conquistadora that loves to be adored, firmly believing that Romance is strictly for the Romantics (“and we all know how they end up – slightly depressed!”). “A woman clear about her own intentions, a woman sometimes her own invention”, Helen means everything to herself. On a fateful safari she meets Teddy, a man after her own heart. Could he also be the man after her?

Penhaligon’s Heartless Helen & Dominique Ropion of IFF

Composed by Master Perfumer Dominique Ropion, Penhaligon’s Portrait’s Heartless Helen is an excellent choice for those seeking an easily wearable, “well-mannered” tuberose, softly-spoken instead of roaring. The fragrance opens with sweet mandarin generously spiced up by pink peppercorn, with the tuberose – radiant and bubblegummy – present right from the start. As the initial juiciness tones down, the tuberose’s luscious floralcy becomes more prominent, aided by jasmine. The first impression of a rather innocent aura surrounding the white flowers proves to be as deceptive as Helen’s seemingly immaculate manners: a creamy, silky-smooth base of woods and cashmeran gives a fluid sensual dimension to the scent. Helen may be an avid seductress, but, at least according to her scent, her modus operandi seems to be based on elegance and finesse (perhaps to help her catch her “targets” off guard). And even though she’d never admit it, Heartless Helen’s scent reveals (alarming?) signs of a romantic heart beating underneath that aloof exterior.

Listed Notes: Mandarin, Tuberose, Creamy Woods.

Penhaligon’s Terrible Teddy (photo/digital effects by Despina Veneti) & Ben Hill (photo by Alexi Lubomirski for Vogue China, 2010)©

Terrible Teddy is “a born hunter, living for the thrill of the chase”. Love is to him just another prize to be won, and like all true professionals “he has a sharp eye, a keen wit and a detached attitude – the latter reserved for unsuspecting, usually female, souls”. It’s only appropriate that he meets Helen, another expert of the game, on a safari. Could he have met his match? Although he’s certainly intrigued, their romance won’t take off; the ambiguous Teddy will indeed fall in love, alas not with Helen, but with the Duke!

Penhaligon’s Terrible Teddy & Quentin Bisch of Givaudan

Perfumer Quentin Bisch envisioned Penhaligon’s Terrible Teddy, the fragrance of an enigmatic serial seducer constantly on the hunt, as a game of contrasts between dry and humid, inviting and mysterious. Character-wise, his composition is spot-on: Terrible Teddy is one of the most accurate (in relation to the corresponding written character) olfactory interpretations in the whole Penhaligon’s Portraits series. The seriously sexy combination of sweet/smoky incense and soft suede leather is aromatically enhanced by a blast of pink peppercorn (a fragrant “weapon” of seduction that Teddy apparently shares with Helen). The scent’s woody/earthy base includes cedar, vetiver and patchouli; however, it’s the ambroxan that emerges as the true catalyst, defining the fragrance’s long drydown with an intensely mineral effect and warm-skin muskiness. I personally wish that the very first stage of Penhaligon’s Terrible Teddy, would last – as such – for just a bit longer; but then again, most of Teddy’s “victims” must have wished that his initial smooth, irresistible charm could have lasted forever.

Listed Notes: Incense, Leather, Ambroxan.

Disclaimer: I’d like to thank Penhaligon’s for my bottles of Penhaligon’s Heartless Helen and Terrible Teddy. The opinions are my own.

– Despina Veneti, Senior Editor

Penhaligon’s Heartless Helen & Terrible Teddy travel sprays (photos courtesy of Penhaligon’s)

Thanks to the generosity of Penhaligon’s, we have a draw for a set of a 10ml travel spray of Penhaligon’s Portraits Heartless Helen and a 10ml travel spray of Penhaligon’s Portraits Terrible Teddy for one registered reader in USA or Europe. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what you enjoyed most about Despina’s review, if you have a favorite from the Penhaligon’s Portraits Collection, and where you live. Draw closes 9/13/2019

We announce the winners only on our site and on our Facebook page, so like Çafleurebon and use our blog feed… or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

Note: In honour of Terrible Teddy, Penhaligon’s will donate £2 for every purchase to support Tusk charity to help conserve the black rhino population in Africa.