Thursday 29 October 2020

The Car Freshener Collection from Lynx

When we think about scent the first things that usually come to our mind are perfumes and candles. We’re so used to wearing our favourite fragrance, or filling a room with the aroma of everything from Yankee Candle’s vanilla through to Gwyneth Paltrow’s fabled vagina, that we’ve forgotten a vital space that really benefits from some scent. We generally spend around four years of our lives behind the wheel of a car and so it’s time we started enjoying it. There are many car fresheners on the market, but one of the most novel must surely be the collection from Lynx. So, as we celebrate its first birthday, let’s go for a drive.

Monday 26 October 2020

ASHTON by Olfactory NYC

One of the current fashions in the world of fragrance is giving the customer the ability to literally customise their perfume. This has an obvious major advantage over creating one from scratch, namely that it is significantly cheaper, but how the process is managed varies dramatically from company to company. It can often feel a little lacklustre, with few options, and so it makes you wonder just how “customisable” it really is. One of the companies to venture into this area is Olfactory NYC, and their method is a discovery experience in itself. So, let’s travel stateside as I introduce you to the sun and surf inspired Ashton.

Thursday 22 October 2020

LINDERHOF AM MORGEN by Charles Wong

Creating the follow up fragrance to your debut scent is arguably one of the hardest feats that any company will ever have to do. The need to balance your existing customers’ expectations alongside a desire to attract new followers to the brand is often a difficult road to navigate. Veer too far away from the original and you might find yourself having to start again from scratch. The latest person to attempt this is Charles Wong. After successfully launching the elegantly refined Aurora back in 2018, he has taken inspiration from the Swan King himself and journeyed to Bavaria to realise the romantically extravagant Linderhof am Morgen.

Monday 19 October 2020

Keeping A Light Shining On Broadway

If there’s one thing that this pandemic has taught us it’s that every ounce of security can be ripped away at a moment’s notice. One of the sectors that has been particularly hit is theatre and, as someone who was an actor for twenty years, it is devastating to see friends and ex-colleagues suddenly left with no means of financial support. However, in an industry where “the show must go on”, a Broadway duo has come up with an inventive way to provide income for themselves and also other abandoned creatives. We Light literally is a "light in the darkness” and their Cast Party Candle is helping to keep the Broadway spirit alive.

Thursday 15 October 2020

GRAVITAS by Naughton and Wilson

Can you imagine releasing your own fragrance into an already oversaturated market? Will anybody buy it? Will the reviewers like it? These are important concerns for the large corporations that launch thousands of perfumes every year, but it’s even more nerve wracking when you’re an independent company. Someone who knows all too well about the sleepless nights is Dan Naughton, one half of Naughton and Wilson. Known to the world as YouTube’s MrSmelly1977, he launched the classically-inspired Gravitas in January 2020 and, in a world that is definitely out of sync, it provides a well needed dose of yesteryear refinement.

Monday 12 October 2020

Credit Where Credit Is Due

The feeling of pride that we all experience when we do, or create, something special is instilled in us from childhood. However, we’re also taught the flip side of this, and that is that taking the credit for someone else’s work is wrong. The perfume industry’s history is littered with misappropriations, and we’ll never know the perfumers who created some of the world’s most famous fragrances, but it surely can’t still be happening? The short answer is yes, it does, and that was unfortunately highlighted in Too Good To Go’s latest campaign. So, let’s take a look at why the old-fashioned “credit where credit is due” is being ignored.

Thursday 8 October 2020

AURELIA by Filigree & Shadow

We’re all guilty of judging a book by its cover, a restaurant by its reviews, or even a fragrance by its name. We form preconceived ideas based on the information that we’re given and, more often than not, find ourselves disagreeing with our first impression. This becomes doubly hard when you’re trying to pick a fragrance from a choice of thirty-three, but that’s exactly what I had to do with Seattle based perfume house Filigree & Shadow. Unknown to me the founder also included a Lucky Strike extra with my final choice and, powerless to resist, I’ve actually fallen under the spell of the musically inspired Aurelia.

Monday 5 October 2020

An Autumnal Soap Duo from Te Cosmetics

If there’s one thing that has truly changed in 2020 then it’s surely that the world has rediscovered the humble bar of soap. When antibacterial gels and hand washes started to disappear from the shops there was a sudden realisation that these gloriously scented bars still lived on the supermarket shelves, although often relegated to the bottom. The resurgence of soap has been picking up speed in recent years but it rapidly accelerated, and many independent companies were also suddenly spotlighted. One such brand was Te Cosmetics, and their range of glacial clay soaps make hand washing an absolute joy.

Thursday 1 October 2020

SPERANZA by Sarah Ireland

There are certain regions of the world that seem to feature heavily as the inspiration for fragrances, and it’s often a fine line between originality and riding on the coattails of someone else’s success. A perfume with a huge dose of citrus for example can regularly be found sporting a reference to the Amalfi Coast, but these hesperidic uplifts often fail to excite as the scent develops on the skin. However, Sarah Ireland has gone in a wonderfully diverting direction with her interpretation of the region, and Speranza Eau de Cologne succeeds wonderfully in transporting you to the historic hillsides around the Tyrrhenian Sea.