Giveaway · US entries only · Closes September 14
Win a perfume bottle shaped like Elizabeth I
Filled with your pick of Immortal Perfumes’ historical scents.
I just spent 45 minutes talking with Jen Siems of Immortal Perfumes about what the Tudors actually smelled like, and I came out of it holding a written recipe for Henry VIII’s perfume from a book printed in 1608.
Jen has been doing this for fourteen years, entirely on her own, out of Seattle. She is a self-taught perfumer, which in the trade makes her a nose, and she was an English teacher with a history minor before any of this. She started the company after seeing a sign about Marie Antoinette’s perfume at the Petit Trianon on her honeymoon, which is the kind of origin story I fully endorse.
She has Elizabeth’s recipe too. It contains marjoram, which was the period remedy for headaches, and a truly unreasonable amount of sugar. We know Elizabeth had terrible headaches and a famous sweet tooth. So you are looking at a formula and seeing a person in it.
At the end of our call, Jen offered up something from her own collection, and I said yes before she finished the sentence.
What you’re entering to win
- A vintage Avon Queen Elizabeth I perfume bottle from sometime in the 1960s or 70s. The top half of her lifts off. The bottom half is her dress.
- Filled with whichever Immortal Perfumes fragrance you choose. The Henry VIII cologne is built on that 1608 recipe. There is also an Anne Boleyn, and a whole shelf of others.
- It comes from Jen’s own collection, and she’ll fill it with perfume she blended herself before sending it on.
So you could end up with Elizabeth holding her father’s cologne, which is not a sentence I expected to write today.
Enter the giveaway
Drop your email below and you’re in. I’ll draw a name on September 14th and email the winner. US mailing addresses only, sorry, Jen is posting it herself.
Giveaway closes 11:59pm Eastern on Monday, September 14, 2026. One winner drawn at random and notified by email within 48 hours. If I don’t hear back within a week I’ll draw again. Open to entrants in the United States only, as Jen is covering the postage. One entry per person. Must be 18 or older. No purchase necessary. Your email is only used for the Renaissance English History Podcast newsletter and you can leave any time. Not affiliated with Avon.
Go find Jen
She is one of the most interesting people I have talked to all year, and she blends every one of these perfumes herself. Her shop is at immortalperfumes.com, her perfume history videos are on Instagram and TikTok at @immortalperfumes, and her long-form writing is on the Immortal Perfumes Substack.