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.
In 1981 Sophia Loren declined an offer to play the iconic role of Alexis Colby in "Dynasty", and so the part famously went to Joan Collins. However, the same year did see the release of the perfume SOPHIA by Coty. Described as “the fragrance of living and loving”, Sophia Loren told women to “wear it with a passion”. With an Italian sexuality that she was famous for, that message was clear. Thirty-five years later she would return to the world of fragrance in Dolce & Gabbana's Rosa Excelsa campaign, but for now, after a cold shower, I gently caressed the bottle to see whether the original passion could be rekindled!
With Dynasty about to finish its nine series reign over prime-time television, Joan Collins decided the time was right to launch her first fragrance. No stranger to perfume promotion, Joan had been the face of Revlon's Scoundrel from 1983-1986, but this time she was very firmly in charge. Under the name of "The Design House of Joan Collins", but actually produced by Parlux Fragrances Ltd, the first perfume in a planned line was Spectacular. At the time of the launch Joan was very open about the fact that she wanted an independent income and, alongside other "Design House" ventures, Spectacular came with very high expectations.
