Stephan Matthews

Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Monday, 13 October 2025

HERMITAGE NOEL POURRI MOUILLÉ by Jonathan Ward

The Jonathan Ward Hermitage Noel Pourri Mouillé

There are certain products that, with the best will in the world, seem to defy reinvention. Companies are constantly tweaking bestsellers, adapting award-winners, even persuading customers that the same offering is somehow “new and improved”. It takes a real visionary to look beyond the tried-and-tested, and create something that pushes the accepted norm into a whole new realm. Unsurprisingly, the latest break-through product comes from an independent creator. Jonathan Ward has reinvented the diffuser, thrown in a generous splash of creativity, and is set to scent the season with his new Hermitage Noel Pourri Mouillé.

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Monday, 30 November 2020

TRUST ME by 4160 Tuesdays

As we approach Christmas I think that it’s fair to say that we’re all grabbing hold of anything that could offer us the slightest piece of positivity after this rollercoaster of a year. Looking back over the past nine months of broken promises, shattered dreams, and worldwide chaos, wouldn’t it be great to just have somebody say “Trust me” and actually deliver? Well that’s exactly what the perfume industry's very own scented scientist Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays has done. She has skilfully combined both style and substance in a fantastic new diffuser that breaks all of the established rules, and is simply called Trust Me.

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Monday, 16 November 2020

PRECIOUS by Jonathan Ward

When we’re still very much in the eye of a pandemic storm, and witnessing the worldwide fallout that is going along with it, the phrase “we’re not in Kansas anymore” takes on a whole new relevance. Many of our ideals and beliefs have shifted over the past eleven months, and that has also extended to the way we shop. Christmas has always been about festive limited editions but, even though we all long for a slice of “old world normality”, achieving a respectful balance this year was always going to be a challenge. However, Jonathan Ward is showing the industry just how it should be done with his perfectly Precious collection.

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Monday, 31 August 2020

STEPHAN'S SIX - GAY SOPER

There are few actresses that deserve the title of “The Queen of the West End” more than Gay Soper. With an incredible career that has spanned more than fifty-five years, including a definitive performance as Madame Thenardier in Les Misérables, Gay is a welcome fixture of London’s theatre scene. A member of the original London production of Godspell, and the iconic voice of BBC Television’s The Flumps, I thought it was time to find out her scented secrets during “Stephan's Six.”

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Thursday, 12 December 2019

What’s Really Happening On The High Street?

With the run up to Christmas now in full swing you’ll often hear how important this time of the year is for retailers. November and December sees businesses take upwards of 30% of their yearly money in just two months, so you can understand just how much importance is placed upon the festive period. There has been a lot of talk about the death of the high street and the end of retail “as we know it” but what is it really like on the front line? In an effort to understand what is actually happening on the shop floor I temporarily returned to my retail roots and became, once again, one of the many beacons in black.

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Thursday, 5 December 2019

My Top Three Diffusers For Christmas 2019

Christmas has always focussed on candles to provide the homely scented warmth that, for many, typifies the festive season. However, the fashion for diffusers is now starting to take a real chunk out of the candle market as customers turn to a more constant way to scent their tree-dominated rooms. The advantage of diffusers is that you don’t need to worry about blowing them out and, once Christmas is over, they can even be packed away with the decorations. With the hundreds out there to choose from I thought that it would be fun to pick my favourites in my first ever Top Three Diffusers For Christmas.

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Monday, 4 November 2019

A Christmas Trio by JOIK

One of the concerns that many companies face at this time of the year is how to offer their customers exciting products that are “festive” and yet still maintain their core values. After all, it’s very easy to sell out and produce a beautiful box containing questionable novelties or repackaged favourites with an increased price tag. One company that has truly excelled again this year is also one that may be unfamiliar to you but, if you’re a fan of scented candles, is a sure-fire hit for some fragranced ambiance. Joik have rereleased their trio of Christmas candles and your hardest decision will be which one to light first.

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Monday, 2 September 2019

MARARI by Thomas O'Brien

For every perfume release that is trumpeted as the latest “must have” fragrance there are thousands that, for one reason or another, never get to see the light of day. These can be rejected submissions, modifications of the same scent, or even creations that the perfumer chooses not to release. However, during a perfumer’s training they also make fragrances as experiments and these rarely get to be tried by anyone outside of the course. One such perfume is Marari by Thomas O’Brien, his graduation piece from The Perfumery Art School. So, it’s time to discover what secrets this unreleased oriental fragrance holds.

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Monday, 24 December 2018

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Well, that’s me signing off for another year. I’ve been lucky enough to experience some wonderful fragrance launches in 2018 and have also met the most incredible perfumers, writers, owners, and readers of this blog. There are lots of exciting things planned for 2019 but, after writing sixty-eight articles for this website alone, it’s time for me to take a few weeks off. Thank you all for your continued support and for your wonderful emails, I'll always reply even if it takes me a few weeks. So, have a wonderfully fragrant Christmas and New Year, and I’ll see you all again on 7th January 2019. Best wishes, Stephan x

Monday, 26 November 2018

Fragonard's Patchouli Scented Christmas

With the arrival of Christmas, perfume companies are always looking for inspiration for their festive offering. This can go off in many unusual directions and, whilst some hit the mark perfectly, others are often earmarked for the January sales before the first present is even unwrapped. One company that has excelled this year is Fragonard. From design through to product selections, and obviously a beautiful scent, they have released a patchouli inspired collection that offers customers an alternative to the ruby red and pine aromas that you usually get at this time of the year, and this is why it’s my recommended collection for Christmas 2018.

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Thursday, 14 December 2017

Can Fragrance Give Back This Christmas?

Christmas is the time for giving and receiving, but how about expanding that to “giving back”? The fragrance industry makes upwards of 20% of their annual income from the festive season, with some hitting 30%, and most Christmas trees this year will have a bottle of the latest Chanel, a Guerlain classic, a Jo Malone original or even something from one of the independent perfumeries nestled underneath it. Imagine the difference that we could make if for every bottle of perfume you purchase you also made a donation of just £1 to Shelter. How can we ensure that our fragranced frivolity truly makes a difference this year?

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Thursday, 7 December 2017

TREE PRESENCE by 4160 Tuesdays

Some perfume companies continue to surprise and delight us with a seemingly never-ending imaginative output. Not subject to the shackles of the commercial sector, these independent perfumeries are able to experiment and, in the process, create some wonderfully abstract scents that can truly challenge. One of these is 4160 Tuesdays, which was founded by Sarah McCartney, and this Christmas they have released a limited edition room spray called Tree Presence. Festive offerings sometimes end up with a tinge of “pine fresh” lavatory cleaner, but nothing could be further from the truth with this evocative marvel.

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Monday, 19 December 2016

The Christmas Panic

Hands up anyone who's now started to panic that Christmas is on Sunday? You've had fifty-one weeks to get ready for the big day, but I appreciate that real life can often get in the way. So, unless you're going to plump for next day delivery on internet purchases, and risk them not arriving, then your best bet is to brace yourself for some old fashioned high street shopping. There are three things to remember; try to stay calm, queue politely and don't be swayed by desperate shop assistants. To help you along I've chosen four fragrances that can be found in any department store that are guaranteed to impress on Christmas Day.

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Thursday, 20 October 2016

Jo Malone Scent Christmas

"We've got Christmas all wrapped up". It's a phrase that you're going to hear a lot in the coming months, but there is still only one company that can truly can claim it as their own. When Estée Lauder purchased Jo Malone in 1999 they provided the expansion and distribution expertise that was desperately needed, and even after Jo left in 2006 they still held close to her original ethos of producing simple creations that blended effortlessly together to create something bespoke, but there is nothing "simple" about them. They are cleverly created to resonate with the wearer, and that also applies to this year's "Merry Mischief".

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Thursday, 29 September 2016

MODERN MUSE NUIT by Estée Lauder

October is the month for the Winter blockbuster to launch. I'm talking about fragrance rather than film, although both share a similar strategy. A film's trailer is designed to excite an audience into attending, whilst an October fragrance launch is intended to make it onto that all important Christmas list. One of the first cabs off the rank this year is MODERN MUSE NUIT by Estée Lauder. It continues the popular series and is described as "Modern Muse at her most glamorous and mysterious", but is it really? There's only one way to find out ... dim the lights, grab your sequins, and experience the night.

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Thursday, 24 December 2015

Scented Christmas Memories

When I was a child the scent of Christmas was something that I didn't give a second thought to, I was more concerned with whether I was going to get He-Man's Castle Grayskull. Look, cartoons and action figures were big business in the eighties. As I grew up however I realised that those scents had become part of me, and within them the memories of my childhood were stored. Christmas was a big thing in my house, I even spoke to my brother for one day a year, although it was probably a grunt. My parents gave us everything that we could have wanted, but what are the scents that have stuck in my head twenty years later?

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Thursday, 9 July 2015

The Scent Of Moving

With a life crammed full of scents, what happens when you move house and disturb your carefully stored fragrance memories? On 3rd July 2015 it happened to me. My boxed up past became alive again, and each lid that I opened brought back a myriad of emotions. They always say that the act of moving house can be cathartic, and what I found was that every item stirred a memory, not all of them good, and each of these also revealed up a scent. When I last moved in 2003 I didn't work in perfume, I was still an actor, and I didn't "think" so much about fragrance. This meant that I didn't have such a connection with my belongings.

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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, 13 October 2025

Monday, 30 November 2020

Monday, 16 November 2020

Monday, 31 August 2020

Thursday, 12 December 2019

Thursday, 5 December 2019

Monday, 4 November 2019

Monday, 2 September 2019

Monday, 24 December 2018

Monday, 26 November 2018

Thursday, 14 December 2017

Thursday, 7 December 2017

Monday, 19 December 2016

Thursday, 20 October 2016

Thursday, 29 September 2016

Thursday, 24 December 2015

Thursday, 9 July 2015