There is a written recipe for Henry VIII's perfume. It's in a 1608 book called A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, and it's rosewater, sugar, musk, ambergris, and civet, boiled down softly for an entire day. I had no idea that existed until I sat down with Jen Siems of Immortal Perfumes, who has spent 14 years building fragrances out of archival research.
Jen is a self-taught perfumer and a former English teacher, which means she talks about rare book rooms the way most people talk about their favorite TV show. She also has Elizabeth's recipe, which includes marjoram for headaches and a truly unreasonable amount of sugar. If you know anything about Elizabeth's teeth, that tracks.
We get into:
Where ambergris actually comes from, and why a kid walking on an English beach can stumble onto $50,000 worth of it
Whether the Tudors really stank, and how much of that reputation we've made up
Miasma theory, and why smelling magnificent was a health strategy and a PR strategy at the same time
Catherine de' Medici, perfumed gloves, and how French perfume as we know it started with a Florentine bride
Mary Queen of Scots' golden pomanders, and the violets-and-sparkling-wine legend that got misattributed to Anne Boleyn for years
What Jude Law wore on the set of Firebrand to play a dying Henry, and why Alicia Vikander couldn't stand to be near him
Fair warning, Jen explains how civet gets harvested and it involves a comparison to taking your dog to the vet. I was not ready.
GIVEAWAY: Jen is giving away a vintage Avon Queen Elizabeth bottle (her torso lifts off, it's wonderful) filled with the Immortal Perfumes scent of the winner's choice. Enter here: https://www.englandcast.com/immortal-perfumes-giveaway/. Closes September 14, US shipping, 18+.
Find Jen: immortalperfumes.com | Immortal Perfumes on Instagram and TikTok | the Immortal Perfumes Substack
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
