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”.

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.