Stephan Matthews

Showing posts with label Leighton Denny. Show all posts

Monday, 19 December 2022

My Favourite Five From 2022

My Favourite Five launches that have been featured on stephanmatthews.com

Every year brings its share of triumphs and disasters, with the latter currently being solely reserved for the revolving door of Prime Ministers that the UK has recently had to endure, but the perfume industry always manages to shine a light in the darkness. 2022 was the first year since lockdown that every company's plans could be relied on to go full steam ahead, and the results have been well worth the wait. So, as we approach the end of 2022, 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.

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Monday, 24 January 2022

THE CONFIDENCE COLLECTION by Leighton Denny

Fragrances always used to come with a massive amount of “upper class” baggage and about as much fun as a wet weekend in Woking. So, as the celebrity scents started to break the monopoly on the big high street regulars, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the playfulness finally arrived. Now, celebrity fragrances have dramatically altered over the years, with many now having no direct involvement from the actual "name", but that is certainly not true of the latest trio from the King of Nails, Leighton Denny. With a FiFi award already under his belt, it’s time to discover his new Confidence Collection.

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Monday, 19 June 2017

LEIGHTON DENNY Gets Us Ready For Summer

Marilyn Monroe famously sang, “we’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave”, and those words couldn’t be truer of the last few days in Britain. Spring is finally gone and we are now basking in the glorious summer sunshine. Alongside the heat though is the ever present goal of the perfect tan and unfortunately, if you’re like me, something to soothe a sunburn. The majority of summer products have the usual aroma of tiare flower and ylang-ylang, which make them difficult to use underneath your favourite fragrance, but Leighton Denny has solved this problem with two products from his Sunbelievable range.

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Thursday, 8 December 2016

FIVE OF THE BEST

So we’re well and truly into the Christmas season now with queues starting to form and products selling out. Are you still looking for inspiration? Well, every day in the run up to Christmas I’m posting things on Twitter which might be helpful for the perfumistas that you need to buy for, but there’s also twelve months of reviews on here for you to look through. I guessed that you probably don’t have much time so I’ve had a rummage thought the files myself and picked out five of my favourite products which I think would make excellent gifts. Hopefully one of these might be added to your cart by the end of the day.

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Thursday, 3 November 2016

The "Delightful" Leighton Denny

The wait is over! LIGHT & DARK DELIGHTFUL, Leighton Denny’s fourth fragrance, is finally released in its 70ml size on Monday. You probably already know that LIGHT & DARK DESIRE won a coveted Fragrance Foundation award this year, but did you know that his whole perfume range was almost never made? Now, I've known Leighton since 2006, when we were both based in Harrods, but I thought it was time to find out more about his “perfume journey” over a good old-fashioned Sunday roast.

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Thursday, 4 August 2016

LIGHT & DARK DELIGHTFUL by Leighton Denny

A company’s first fragrance can be a make or break release. It’s the perfume that customers will often associate the brand with long after it first appears, and so you want it to be a good one. If number one goes to plan then the next challenge is the follow up, and this is sometimes where things can go horribly wrong. In a quest for novelty this successor can often go off on a tangent, but thankfully that didn’t happen with Leighton Denny and the LIGHT & DARK range. With his fourth perfume launching tomorrow, let’s take a quick recap of the previous three releases before we look at the new LIGHT & DARK DELIGHTFUL.

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Thursday, 12 May 2016

LEIGHTON'S DESIRE

When a company launches its first fragrance a lot hangs in the balance. One of the biggest gambles is whether it will gain an audience in an ever expanding perfume market. Some excellent scents come and go without making an impact, some novelties are badly judged, and some of the breakthroughs surprise everyone. An existing customer following is an advantage, but not a guarantee, so it was still a gamble when Leighton Denny launched LIGHT & DARK in 2014. With a further two fragrances arriving at the end of 2015 it's now time to look at the complete set of three, and see whether Leighton's fragrances offer the same variety as his celebrated nail varnishes.

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Wednesday, 11 May 2016

STEPHAN'S SIX - FRAGRANCE FOUNDATION NOMINEES 2016

On Thursday 12th May the results will be announced for the UK Fragrance Foundation Awards 2016. Four of the nominees were featured on "Stephan's Six" during 2015, and I am thrilled that 4160 Tuesdays and Papillon Artisan Perfumery are on the list alongside the usual big hitters. Leighton Denny is back for another year, along with the regular addition of Roja Dove, so let's look at these nominees and revisit the secrets that they revealed when they succumbed to "Stephan's Six".

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Monday, 28 March 2016

STEPHAN'S SIX - LEIGHTON DENNY

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".

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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, 19 December 2022

Monday, 24 January 2022

Monday, 19 June 2017

Thursday, 8 December 2016

Thursday, 3 November 2016

Thursday, 4 August 2016

Thursday, 12 May 2016

Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Monday, 28 March 2016