With a start in photography and music, Hans Hendley was flexing his creative muscle from an early age. Pretty soon he realised that his philosophies and ideals didn’t really fit the strict commercial path and so he moved to New York to begin working with what he described as “small spirited brands”. Always fascinated by perfume, he launched his own range in October 2014. With the recent release of his ninth fragrance, Mown, I thought that it was time to find out a little more about Hans Hendley as I asked him “Stephan’s Six”.
Monday, 11 September 2017
Thursday, 7 September 2017
"C" by The Perfumer's Story
Creating fragrances for specific people takes away any necessity for a “brief” or a “marketing strategy” because you are translating that person’s wishes or character into a perfume. This means that you can end up with a library of scents that only have one thing in common; they are not designed to be “commercial”. After creating for personalities, friends, organisations and companies, Azzi Glasser had a back catalogue of very individual scents. So, with the muses’ permission, she created The Perfumer’s Story as a way of sharing her fragrances with the public. One of these original scents was simply titled “C”.
Monday, 4 September 2017
FIREDANCE by Ruth Mastenbroek
Autumn feels as though it is well and truly here with the first leaves starting to change colour, the weather getting cooler and the nights beginning to draw in. With wood stocks starting to be replenished ready for open fires and thoughts turning to bonfire night, the timing of the latest perfume release from Ruth Mastenbroek couldn't be more perfect. The combination of leather, rose and oudh is nothing new, but in her talented hands the results are devilishly sensual, delightfully mysterious and truly intoxicating. With the release of Firedance, Ruth Mastenbroek shows once again why she is at the top of her profession.
Monday, 28 August 2017
STEPHAN'S SIX - VICTOR WONG
The links between a former video game artist and the world of niche perfumery are not very obvious, but that is exactly what happened with Victor Wong. In 2013 he formed Toronto based Zoologist Perfumes with the notion to capture the “idiosyncrasies of the animal kingdom and transform them into scents.” With nine fragrances now in the range I thought that it was time to find out about his own “idiosyncrasies” as I ask him “Stephan’s Six”.
Thursday, 24 August 2017
"All Natural Perfumes Smell Like Mud"
I don't usually do follow ups to articles that I write because I like them to stand on their own merits, and I've always been pretty good at not flying off the handle and committing an opinion to the internet without fact checking and researching it first. It's for this reason that I was really disappointed with something that I read on Facebook this week. It concerned 100% natural perfumes and the gist of what the person said was that "all natural perfumes smell like mud". There's nothing like a sweeping generalisation to get yourself noticed, maybe that was the person's intention, but let's get a few things clear.
Monday, 21 August 2017
STEPHAN'S SIX - AZZI GLASSER
Azzi Glasser was born in North London and is no stranger to the perfume industry. She started her career with CPL Aromas in 1991 and very quickly became a sought after perfume designer. A FiFi Award Winner for her Agent Provocateur fragrance, Azzi went on to found The Perfumer’s Story in 2015 and currently has thirteen fragrances in her collection. With such an enviable career already, it was time to discover her own perfume memories as I asked her “Stephan’s Six”.
Labels:
Agua Brava,
Azzi Glasser,
Brut,
C,
Guerlain,
House Of Worth,
Je Reviens,
Magie Noire,
Musc de Cartier,
Old Spice,
PUIG,
Rain on Earth,
Sequoia Wood,
Stephan's Six,
The Perfumer's Story,
Twisted Iris,
Vetiver
Thursday, 17 August 2017
SANDALWOOD & CLOVE COLOGNE by Pall Mall Barbers
My diary of memorable dates used to be much simpler, everything just revolved around traditional holidays. This has all recently changed with the addition of events such as National Fragrance Day, National Relaxation Day, even National Lipstick Day. One new celebration that I'm very pleased about though is National Men’s Grooming Day. It falls on August 18th and celebrates every form of male grooming, from shaving right through to scent. This year I've chosen Pall Mall Barbers’ Sandalwood & Clove Cologne as an example of grooming at its finest, and it’s time to discover one of London's best-kept secrets.
Thursday, 10 August 2017
MISSONI PARFUM POUR HOMME by Euroitalia
In the wonderful world of fragrance we see companies come and go with regularity. The top-selling brand one year can be almost forgotten a mere twelve months later. It becomes even harder when the “brand” is actually a designer name that has been franchised out to a perfume producer. This was the case with Missoni. A fashion house that was founded in 1953, its fragrance license has passed around a few companies over the years but in 2015 it transferred to Euroitalia. This month sees the release of Missoni Parfum Pour Homme, the first male fragrance for twenty years, but have the years been kind?
Thursday, 3 August 2017
IRIS & WILD CASSIS by Bronnley
A company’s follow up fragrance is always a bit of an unknown quantity in the perfume market. They desperately try to work out what made the first one so popular and how that information can be translated into number two. Bronnley found themselves in just this position after last year’s successful Pink Peony & Rhubarb and their approach is refreshingly “old fashioned”. Rather than create a variant on the first fragrance they have taken the original idea and applied it to a new combination of ingredients. Keeping the fruity floral pairing, but adding a contemporary twist, it’s time to welcome Iris & Wild Cassis.
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