The part of reviewing fragrances that I really enjoy is when you end up with connections that, until you stumble across them, hadn’t been mentioned before. This can be because journalists are nervous about veering too far from the company’s press release, for fear of upsetting the person that’s written it, or they’re financially tied in some way to the promotion of the scent. So, when the worlds of Netflix, perfume, and American fashioned collided spectacularly this week, I finally realised that I was sitting on a modern day classic. It’s time to revisit, or discover for the first time, the Ultrasuede styling of Nightscape by Ulrich Lang.
The whole perfume industry is currently going through one of its biggest ever upheavals. All of the established rules of launching, promoting, and selling fragrance have been thrown up in the air because our personal interactions have completely changed. With more of a reliance on the internet and social media, the way we view and experience scent has dramatically altered. This means that we're literally living life through somebody else’s lens, and it was this idea that brought to mind Ulrich Lang’s high definition Aperture. Originally launched in 2014, this seven year old photo-collaborative fragrance is the perfect example.
There’s an often repeated theory that the younger you manage to tempt a person to start using a company’s fragrance the more likely they are to stay loyal to that brand. Now, whether this still holds true in the current arena of thousands rather than hundreds of perfume companies is open to debate. The vast choice and availability of fragrance has made loyalty a prized possession in the industry, and that is one of the reasons why Carthusia has launched Junior. The scent is aimed squarely at the children’s market but it has also proved irresistible to adults who love their powdery floral scents.
I wonder how many bottles of fragrance end up languishing in the forgotten corner of a cupboard or get passed on to a friend with the greeting of “I think that this will suit you more than it does me.” When we find a perfume that we love it often becomes our signature and, understandably, others that are gifted or purchased can sometimes compare unfavourably next to it. Even the act of moving from an Eau de Toilette to an Eau de Parfum can prove problematic so, with this in mind, has Milano Cento successful managed to intensify its signature scent to match the expectations of a new decade?
One of the wonders of fragrance is that it allows perfume companies to weave elaborate stories that aim to entice and enthral their customers. Over time it often becomes difficult to separate the fact from the fiction but, if you like the fragrance that you’re smelling, does it really matter if the language is a little flowery? Exaggeration and embellishment are all part of the scented storytelling and it helps to weave a web of desire that draws us all in. Carthusia is a perfume company that is based on the island of Capri and, alongside a wonderfully colourful history, they also produce the impressive 1681.
I’ve said before that the constant quest for “newness” means that many perfumes are overlooked in favour of the latest, the biggest, the brightest and the loudest new releases. Companies have fragrances that gather loyal followers but sometimes these scents get overlooked in later years. One of these is Dark Heart Of Old Havana by 4160 Tuesdays. Roullier White described the company as putting “the fun and the feeling back into British perfume” and, with a whirlwind of a founder at the helm, this is a perfect description. So, four years after it launched, let’s revisit the dangerously seductive Dark Heart Of Old Havana.
Inspiration comes from many sources but our memories can provide some of the most unusual and exciting. There is something about the way our brains store information about a place or a situation that can result in quite an abstract recollection, and it's this that Nick Steward has used to create the debut range from Gallivant, his own perfume company. After a career spent working for some of the industry's top perfume brands, Nick felt that the time was right to branch out on his own. So, let's take a closer look at London, one of his first four fragrances, which is far more than just Earl Grey and sandwiches.
On 4th July 2016 the subject of “Stephan’s Six” was Lawrence Roullier-White. He had been a great supporter when I started my writing and I was determined to get him to open up about his own perfume choices. He was surrounded in his store by the most beautiful scents and so I was interested to see whether his choices of what to stock had been influenced by his fragrance memories. My interviewees usually give me far too much material to use and so it gets archived for future articles, but I never imagined that I would using his as a tribute. Lawrence died in January 2017 but just reading this material makes me remember a remarkable man.
East Dulwich is home to the famous perfume store Roullier White. Now in it’s eleventh year, it’s the passion of Lawrence Roullier-White, but it’s far more than just fragrance. A better description would be Lifestyle Emporium with everything to keep your home running smoothly, but we’ll just concentrate on the perfume side. A regular stop-off point for scent hunters, what would Lawrence reveal about his own fragrant memories during “Stephan’s Six”?
Many reviewers describe fragrance as a "time machine" which can take you on a journey into your past, but that is always dependent on your having a link to the fragrance in the first place. What if a perfume came along which catapulted you back to the eighties without ever having smelled it before? I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared of this beast initially because the late eighties and early nineties were not known for subtlety. However that is exactly the joy of this powerhouse, which is back after a twenty four year absence. Pick up your VHS, reach for your Dynasty shoulder pads, and let me reintroduce you to Milano Cento.
