Monday, 12 October 2020

Credit Where Credit Is Due

The feeling of pride that we all experience when we do, or create, something special is instilled in us from childhood. However, we’re also taught the flip side of this, and that is that taking the credit for someone else’s work is wrong. The perfume industry’s history is littered with misappropriations, and we’ll never know the perfumers who created some of the world’s most famous fragrances, but it surely can’t still be happening? The short answer is yes, it does, and that was unfortunately highlighted in Too Good To Go’s latest campaign. So, let’s take a look at why the old-fashioned “credit where credit is due” is being ignored.

Thursday, 8 October 2020

AURELIA by Filigree & Shadow

We’re all guilty of judging a book by its cover, a restaurant by its reviews, or even a fragrance by its name. We form preconceived ideas based on the information that we’re given and, more often than not, find ourselves disagreeing with our first impression. This becomes doubly hard when you’re trying to pick a fragrance from a choice of thirty-three, but that’s exactly what I had to do with Seattle based perfume house Filigree & Shadow. Unknown to me the founder also included a Lucky Strike extra with my final choice and, powerless to resist, I’ve actually fallen under the spell of the musically inspired Aurelia.

Monday, 5 October 2020

An Autumnal Soap Duo from Te Cosmetics

If there’s one thing that has truly changed in 2020 then it’s surely that the world has rediscovered the humble bar of soap. When antibacterial gels and hand washes started to disappear from the shops there was a sudden realisation that these gloriously scented bars still lived on the supermarket shelves, although often relegated to the bottom. The resurgence of soap has been picking up speed in recent years but it rapidly accelerated, and many independent companies were also suddenly spotlighted. One such brand was Te Cosmetics, and their range of glacial clay soaps make hand washing an absolute joy.

Thursday, 1 October 2020

SPERANZA by Sarah Ireland

There are certain regions of the world that seem to feature heavily as the inspiration for fragrances, and it’s often a fine line between originality and riding on the coattails of someone else’s success. A perfume with a huge dose of citrus for example can regularly be found sporting a reference to the Amalfi Coast, but these hesperidic uplifts often fail to excite as the scent develops on the skin. However, Sarah Ireland has gone in a wonderfully diverting direction with her interpretation of the region, and Speranza Eau de Cologne succeeds wonderfully in transporting you to the historic hillsides around the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Monday, 28 September 2020

SPITE by Chronotope

Launching a perfume brand is a delicate balance of luck and judgement. You’re at the mercy of an audience that is constantly being bombarded by the newest, the biggest, and the brightest fragrance releases. Trying to capture a small part of this market has been attempted many times, and so it was a huge gamble when Carter Weeks Maddox decided to launch his delayed Chronotope brand right in the middle of a global pandemic. He needn’t have worried though because his blend of originality and transparency has taken the niche sector by storm, and Spite will definitely be clawing its way into your collection.

Thursday, 24 September 2020

USE ABUSE by Jusbox Perfumes

The routine of tuning into Radio 1, flicking through the latest issue of Smash Hits, or eagerly awaiting the next episode of Top Of The Pops was the only way that the majority of us found the latest music in the 1980s. We were in the pre-internet age, bedroom walls were covered with posters of your favourite bands, and there were many attempts at a Morten Harket haircut! The explosive colours matched the wonderfully outrageous wardrobes, and this was a real period of “excess all areas.” So, hold onto your hats because it’s time to discover Use Abuse, the eighties-inspired powerhouse fragrance from Jusbox Perfumes.

Monday, 21 September 2020

BÅRE by ånd

An aspect of daily life that recent months has highlighted is one of community. Neighbourly support mechanisms were suddenly brought back into service, and many wondered why we had allowed them to disappear in the first place. When it comes to business, this idea of support is called Corporate Social Responsibility, but often amounts to nothing more than bucket rattling. One company that's shaking up the perfume industry’s perception of “giving back” is ånd. Under the direction of Simon Constantine, it’s time to discover how fragrance can offer independence and also bask in the beauty of Båre.

Thursday, 17 September 2020

BUKHARA by Gallivant

Experiencing the sights, sounds, and smells of an unknown country is one of the things that I love so much about travelling. Being in a totally unknown environment, and veering away from the tourist route, always creates incredible memories. With restrictions still in place on which countries we can visit, it’s thanks to ingenious perfumers and visionary creative directors that we can be transported instead through scent. Step forward Nick Steward, who is continuing his anthology of inspirational cities with the release of his latest Gallivant fragrance. So, grab your passport because we’re about to discover the magic of Bukhara.

Monday, 14 September 2020

STEPHAN'S SIX - SIMON CONSTANTINE


Following in the footsteps of a parental duo that redefined scented bath and body products is an enormous challenge, but it’s one that Simon Constantine has fully embraced. LUSH was the family firm and it’s where he created the successful Gorilla Perfumes, but in September he announced that he was leaving to concentrate on his latest project, ånd fragrances. So, with a renewed desire to encourage accountability and sustainability through scent, I thought that it was time to discover his perfumed memories during “Stephan’s Six”.