Stephan Matthews

Showing posts with label Bergamot. Show all posts

Monday, 30 August 2021

BERGAMOT by Kitty's Herbery

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.

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Monday, 1 June 2020

ATTUNE SKINCARE - An Aromatic Explosion

The scent that you get when you open a face cream, or any beauty product for that matter, is seen by many as being just as important as the promised effects. It’s like the thrill of breaking the foil on a new jar of coffee, and being the first person to experience that aroma as it escapes from the sealed compartment. The fragrances within these potions and preparations can invigorate or relax, depending on what ingredients are chosen, but they can also be designed to appeal to a specific market. Attune Skincare is one of the latest to focus on the power of scent, and their citrus aromatic offering is absolutely stunning.

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Monday, 18 February 2019

BERGAMOT by Herba London

Independent perfumers seem to be multiplying at an astonishing rate in the United Kingdom but “quantity” doesn’t seem to have diminished “quality” in this ever-expanding market. Whilst some have a small team to help with every aspect of the production, others really are one-person operations. However, being independent from large corporations means that these perfumers are free to create without the constraints of trend or fashion, and the results are often remarkable. Last year saw the launch of Herba London, founded by Peter de Bique, and his debut collection of eight fragrances was outstanding.

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Monday, 5 November 2018

THE MODERNIST by John Evans

The fashion for having a “fragrance wardrobe” shows no signs of disappearing anytime soon and, indeed, you almost feel out of place if you have one perfume that you always fall back on. The idea of having a signature scent that you become known for has been replaced with the expectation of owning all of the latest niche and mainstream fragrances. This was the realisation that John Evans came to when he suddenly found that he had fallen into the trap of ping ponging between the current perfume trends. So, he decided to create his own personal signature scent and The Modernist is the result.

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Monday, 30 April 2018

Perfume's Passage of Time

It’s like the quest for the Holy Grail. Perfume collectors are constantly searching for a lost fragrance, a “vintage” formulation, or even a different edition of an original bottle. While the latter doesn’t pose too much of an issue, the first two can be problematic to say the very least. Everything gets older, including me, and it’s this ageing process that can have profound effects upon your “vintage” scent. What you end up buying may smell wonderfully resinous, with vanilla laden qualities, and have a depth of richness that is missing in current fragrances, but are you smelling what the perfumer really intended?

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Thursday, 18 January 2018

Fragonard’s Perfume Apprentice Workshop

The idea of creating your very own fragrance is something that we constantly read about in magazines and online but, realistically, with prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of pounds it is a costly exercise if you get it wrong. In an attempt to strip back the layers and present an experience that is very accessible, Fragonard has recently relaunched their Atelier Apprenti Parfumeur. Over the course of ninety minutes you learn about the classic cologne structure and its history before creating your own. So, is Fragonard’s Perfume Apprentice Workshop really the “fantastic olfactive experience” that it claims to be?

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Thursday, 28 July 2016

ROSA RIBES by 4160 Tuesdays

The advantage of being a small, independent perfumery is that you can sometimes make a fragrance "just for fun" and in small quantities. After all, the ingredients are already on the shelves and you have a stack of empty bottles. Well, this is exactly what Sarah McCartney has done with her latest, semi-secret, Rosa Ribes. In essence it's a sort of "crowd funded" fragrance, but in actual fact you are buying something far more personal. With an initial run of just five litres there is not much to go around. So with that in mind, read on, get your credit card ready and discover something truly special from 4160 Tuesdays.

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Wednesday, 30 September 2015

JICKY by Guerlain

In our constant quest for "newness" and originality we sometimes forget some of the classic creations from the past. These evergreens manage to hold onto their reputation through a mixture of rediscovery and loyalty. Maybe it's time to start revisiting these icons, and where better to start than with the one that changed the face of perfumery for ever.

The fascination in the early nineteenth century was the beautiful soliflor fragrance or the ever popular lavender. Some scents were simply single flower preparations, or if they did have additional ingredients then they were only present to extend the life of the fragrance, or boost the central ingredient. That was until 1889, when Aimé Guerlain created a truly iconic perfume.

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Wednesday, 10 June 2015

ENJOLI - A Woman CAN Have Everything

A fragrance for the modern woman who wanted it all; a career, a husband, and to still look sexy as she read her children a bed-time story. My personal experience of the latter is that you're usually exhausted and covered in baked beans! Created by Charles of the Ritz in 1978, Enjoli promised an "eight hour perfume for the twenty-four hour woman". Boasting the female ability to "bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never, never, never let you forget you're a man", the Enjoli woman allowed her husband to think he was in charge, although really she was. So, thirty seven years later, has the perfume stood up to changing tastes?

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Thursday, 28 May 2015

CHIQUE Chypre

The chypre fragrance was to the seventies what the Floral Oriental would be to the eighties, and there were lots to choose from. With a complete contrast to the emerging "youth" scents, that were full of bouncy freshness, and even the gloriously "simple" Penhaligon's florals, which were actually far from simple, the chypre provided a scent full of maturity and elegance. The most famous chypre of the Seventies was surely Charlie by Revlon, although it was marketed as an Aldehydic Floral, but Yardley wanted a piece of the action. Their release was the powerful CHIQUE, and this oakmoss overdose is still in production.

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Saturday, 16 May 2015

NAPOLEON by Galimard

When Galimard were approached by "L’Association Action Nationale des élus pour la Route Napoléon" to create a perfume to celebrate the bicentenary of the passage of the Emperor from Golfe-Juan to Grenoble, Chantal Roux, Galimard’s co-owner, began by researching the man himself. Interestingly she found that Napoleon possessed an excellent sense of smell. He loved the scent of rose, orange water and violet, and as he was from Corsica had also grown up with the aroma of the scrubland. Any research on Napoleon will always reveal his love of the ladies, so Chantal thought it important to bring feminine notes into the fragrance in a way that meant it could be enjoyed by both men and women. On the 20th February 2015 Napoléon was launched at Galimard’s factory in Grasse.

So, a perfume inspired by a man who adored Eau de Colognes. Can it work?

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Friday, 15 May 2015

FOREVER KRYSTLE by Charles of the Ritz

The 1980s was the decade of shoulder pads and big hair, and it also gave rise to many perfumes that matched. Those ten years saw an incredible output of fragrances and it was impossible to keep up with each one. This meant that so many slipped under the radar. One that proved incredibly popular however was Forever Krystle from Charles of the Ritz. It was created to tap into the success that the television series Dynasty was enjoying at the time and the heroine, Krystle Carrington, was chosen to be the inspiration. Originally released in 1984, it’s time to see if the years have been kind.

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After twenty successful years as an actor, I decided the time was right to begin a new career, and that was in the perfume industry. Scent had always been a passion of mine, and working alongside a new group of creative minds ended up being the perfect fit.

As a Brand Consultant, Evaluator, Copywriter and New Business Advisor, the variety of work is exciting, and definitely draws on my acting background. Every day brings new challenges, experiences and delights to a workplace that is crammed full of new releases, evergreens, and fading classics.

This website brings together my ramblings on all aspects of the perfume industry from bottle design to fragrance, companies to noses, and everything in between.

Opinions are my own and do not in any way represent the views of the companies mentioned. Where products or services have been provided by the companies it is stated at the end of the article.

Companies and readers are welcome to contact me by using the Send Me A Message option below.

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Monday, 30 August 2021

Monday, 1 June 2020

Monday, 18 February 2019

Monday, 5 November 2018

Monday, 30 April 2018

Thursday, 18 January 2018

Thursday, 28 July 2016

Wednesday, 30 September 2015

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

Thursday, 28 May 2015

Saturday, 16 May 2015

Friday, 15 May 2015