Twelve months is a long time in the world of perfume, where fragrance trends really can change overnight depending on the latest celebrity or influencer endorsement, but the quality of the launches this year has been incredible. We were treated to a real resurgence of violet, with the ingredient appearing in many successful releases, and also a happily renewed interest in the independent side of the industry. So, as we approach the end of 2024, it’s time to look back at twelve months of reviews on stephanmatthews.com and, while once again channelling my inner Blyton, pick My Favourite Five.
With the warmer weather starting to subside in favour of more autumnal temperatures, it’s a good time to begin thinking about the fashion for changing your fragrance to suit the season. If I’m honest, I’ve always been a bit smorgasbord when it comes to perfume, and wear my favourites throughout the year regardless of weather. However, one fragrance that really comes into its own as we exit summer is James by Atkinsons. This celebratory scent perfectly straddles the troublesome seasonal divide, because it actually suits every season, but it’s woody and earthy undertones really shine through as an autumnal must-have.
The sunlight is finally starting to break through the grey clouds of winter, which definitely seem to have lasted far too long into spring, and so our thoughts start to eagerly jump forward to sandy beaches and chilled cocktails. Us Brits have an innate habit of declaring any temperature above 10°C as a warm day, and so it’s the perfect time to discover a fragrance that seamlessly suits the exit of spring and the coming of summer. Atkinsons is a company that has always managed to offer both the effervescent uplifters at the same time as the more resinous raunchies, and Mint & Tonic perfectly sparkles into the former.
As hard as we try, time can often be cruel to both people and companies. The first flush of youth or success can be replaced by a faded lustre and an ageing appearance. Now, people can have a little bit of cosmetic help to regain their sparkle, but reviving a company is a much bigger challenge. Corporate takeovers, selling the company outside of the founder’s family, both of these can see the original ethos reduced to a shadow of its former self. So, when it was announced that Atkinsons was going to get a facelift it was met with a wave of excitement, and 24 Old Bond Street was the glorious result.
It’s impossible to predict which fragrance will become the iconic scent in a company’s range and it’s even harder when the perfume company has fans across the world, but that is exactly the case with Atkinsons. The company recently went through a major rebrand worldwide but its Italian market still demands some of the original packaging and scents, including the legendary English Lavender. By combining fashionability with familiarity, Atkinsons have succeeded in rejuvenating the legacy for their existing customers whilst still managing to attract new ones. Happily, there’s even room for a little bit of retro.
They arrive in a blaze of publicity and either hold onto their market share or silently disappear. I'm talking about CELEBRITY FRAGRANCES. There has been a lot of talk about the scourge of this genre recently, but in my opinion the reviewers are missing the point. The world has changed since Guerlain launched Mitsouko in 1919 and L.T. Piver gave us Rêve D'Or in 1889, not least because of the number of releases every year, so are Beyoncé and Rihanna being unfairly criticised? Let's compare a century of perfume habits and see whether twelve months might actually become the norm for a fragrance's life.
