When you hear the words “new release” it’s usually accompanied by a sinking feeling as you realise that there’s a hefty price tag attached to it. The majority of the latest perfume launches start from around £50 if you’re lucky and so, in the current climate of uncertainty, they're out of the reach of many people’s budgets. Happily there is one company that always treats us to an affordable release every year, and that’s Fragonard. Their highly successful Flower of the Year series is now in its second decade, and this year they’ve chosen to spotlight the delicious Fleur de la Passion by series regular Celine Ellena.
One thing that's guaranteed to get people thinking about home scents is surely the changing of the seasons. We naturally mark these moments with different aromas, whether that’s a new perfume or even a shower gel, but the options for scenting our homes are a little more limited. Everyone has their opinion on the effectiveness of either a candle or a room spray, but when Le Jardin Retrouvé announced that they were launching a diffuser it came with an expectation of excellence. The company have a history of successfully challenging the way things are done, and that continues with their new Scented Stem Diffuser.
There are many fragrances that have stood the test of time and, against all the odds, have continued to appeal to both old and new fans. These are often under-appreciated gems because, after being on the market for such a long time, they can easily be seen as old fashioned or out of date. However, all it usually needs is a friendly nudge to bring them back into the spotlight. When Avon launched Timeless back in 1974 they could never have imagined that forty-seven years later it would still be such a firm favourite with their customers, or that it would share its famous birthday with pop supergroup ABBA.
Geza Schoen is best known as the genius behind the 2006 phenomenon that was Molecule 01. To call it a worldwide bestseller would be an understatement, this was a ground-breaking moment in the history of fragrance. Whilst success was a wonderful thing to achieve, it did mean that an inspirational second collection of scents went largely unrecognised. The Beautiful Mind Series was an honest appreciation for, and a celebration of, women. For too long they had been judged solely on appearance, but Geza wanted to do something different. So, leave your stereotypes behind as we rediscover this inspirational pairing.
The news that your favourite shop is closing, a personal fragrance is being discontinued, or even just the realisation that change is inevitable is something that we all have to deal with on a pretty regular basis at the moment. We like familiarity, and it throws us off kilter when we don’t have it. So, when I saw that a Cornish staple had closed its doors after nineteen years my heart sank. However, they were quickly lifted when I read that there was a new company in town that was paying homage to the original but had a definite eye on the future. It’s time to discover Kitty’s Herbery, and their beautiful Bergamot fragrance.
The idea of being left to our own devices is something that we’ve all had to embrace over the past year, and people have dealt with it in very different ways. There was a lot of time to fill and, while some of us caught up with the mountain of Blu-rays that had magically appeared, many perfumers knuckled down and used the opportunity to concentrate on long anticipated projects. Hitting the pause button changed the schedules and space appeared in the diary. Choreograph is one such example, and Adey Zookrow’s fusion of experimental fragrance with original music has come at just the right moment.
After an impressive career working with some of the world’s finest fragrance and beauty houses, Rebecca Harrison decided that the time was right to launch her own perfume company, Vines House Parfum. Having split her time between Dorset and the southwest of France, the collection drew on the parallels between the wine and fragrance industries, and proved an instant hit with customers that were looking for perfumes with a story. So, as they celebrate their second birthday, I thought it was time to learn a little more about Rebecca during “Stephan’s Six”.
The fact that many truly niche perfume companies are actually a one or two-person operation is exactly the reason why they’ve managed to survive the difficulties of recent times. The ability to quickly pivot, and either focus their energies on a temporary line or pause production altogether, has meant that the final easing of restrictions has allowed them to re-emerge and take up where they left off. Ilyas Kakis, the founder of Ilya Parfums, has been refreshingly open about how the past year gave him time to reassess the brand. With the collection now numbering three, it’s time to discover the magic of Green Velvet.
