Disappearing into a book is something that was instilled into me from childhood, and it’s still a wonderful alternative to costly airfares and long journeys. Jane Johnson is a Cornish author who splits her time between Mousehole and Morocco, and is lucky enough to work from home as a Fiction Publishing Director for HarperCollins. Her latest book, The Black Crescent, uses scented descriptions to help conjure emotions and locations, and so it’s the perfect time to discover her own fragrance memories in “Stephan’s Six”.
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”.
Creativity shows itself in many ways and, for Jonathan Ward, it’s the second bite of the cherry that has proved to be the sweetest. After a successful career in fashion, Jonathan launched the attention-grabbing Scent of Time candle collection in 2018 and expanded it last month to include the accompanying diffusers. After creating aromas for others I thought it was about time to discover his own scented secrets during “Stephan’s Six”.
Born into a famous literary family, Daisy Waugh forged an enviable career both as a journalist and author before starting to write under the pseudonym of E. V. Harte. The first of her Dolly Greene books featured cheap scent and tarot cards but what fragrances hold special memories for Daisy? I caught up with her at the launch of her new book, The Case Of The Fool, and managed to unearth some scented secrets for “Stephan’s Six”.
Leanne Hirsh is the co-founder of Perfumera Curandera, a natural fragrance company based in Malibu. She started her career as a makeup artist working with the likes of Vivienne Westwood and David Bailey before launching Hirsh Skincare at Bergdorf Goodman in 1998. With contributions to Vogue, Tatler and Vanity Fair, I wondered what perfume secrets she would reveal about herself during “Stephan’s Six”.
In 2009 Helen Campbell picked up a paintbrush for the first time and within a year was commissioned to catalogue the orchard fruits that Westons Cider used at their factory in Much Marcle, Herefordshire. These beautiful botanical paintings eventually came to the attention of Bronnley and her image of the peony was used on last year’s Pink Peony & Rhubarb. Now living in Spain, and with her latest collaboration with Bronnley about to launch, I though it was time to find out a little bit more about Helen during “Stephan’s Six”.
Susie Willis is no stranger to success. She sold her first company, Plum Baby, in 2010 for £10m but she still had a desire to further investigate the natural ingredient market. So, in 2016 she launched the skincare range Romilly Wilde and their first fragrance, Idle, was listed in two categories in the 2017 Fragrance Foundation Awards. With nominations for Best New Fragrance In Limited Distribution and Best New Independent Fragrance, I wanted to find out Susie's own perfume memories during "Stephan's Six".
You might not have heard of Marina Barcenilla, but you've probably heard of her award winning perfume, India, which won Best Independent Fragrance at last week’s Fragrance Foundation Awards. Born in Spain, her desire was to try and create a perfume range grounded solely in traditionally extracted ingredients. Would her perfume memories for "Stephan's Six" include any surprise synthetics?
Leighton Denny is far more than just the man behind the worldwide hit that shares his name. Originally a forklift truck driver in Bradford, you read that correctly, he quickly became one of the UK’s leading nail and beauty experts, also releasing a suncare and lip colour range. In 2014 Leighton was awarded the MBE for his achievements within the industry, published his autobiography entitled How I Nailed It, and launched his first fragrance called LIGHT & DARK. A busy man, 2015 saw two more fragrances added to his collection, but he still found time to answer "Stephan's Six".
Britain’s favourite “Battleaxe” Christine Hamilton has left behind the world of politics to become a “Media Butterfly”. Her childhood was spent in the New Forest before becoming a research assistant at the House of Commons. Christine is always ready and willing to stand up for her beliefs and principles, which makes her a favourite on TV and in the press, but what would she make of “Stephan’s Six”?
