Aretha is one of the greats and I’ve been feeling reflective while listening to her music this week. I’ll keep it brief but The Queen of Soul has an incredibly powerful musical legacy that starts in the 50’s. Her voice had the ability to touch […]
Mood Scent 4 : Relaxing Perfumes
Welcome back to another session of Mood Scent 4 with my perfume blogging friends, I Scent You A Day, A Bottled Rose and L‘Esperessence who is here with us today after a leave of absence. This instalment features our most relaxing perfumes. So when do you feel relaxed? […]
Fragrant Hommes : Interview with Christophe Laudamiel : Part 2
We’re happy to welcome back Christophe Laudamiel for the second part of this Fragrant Hommes interview where he talks candidly about his experiences in the perfume industry. We also delve into his work with different brands and his own endeavours. Laudamiel’s career began at Procter & Gamble […]
The French Big Weekend : Bastille Day / La Fête Nationale + Champions du Monde in the Football
Hello everyone. I do hope your summer / winter is progressing smoothly. I wanted to do a quick post on the huge weekend that France has just seen. It was truly memorable for the spirit and joie de vivre that illuminated the small town I […]
Fragrant Hommes: Interview with Christophe Laudamiel : Disruption and Transparency in the Perfume Industry: Part 1
Perfume interviews have become my favourite activity on this blog and today we’re taking a deep dive / behind the scenes look into the fragrance world with Christophe Laudamiel, a perfumer who for most of you probably needs no introduction. He is an independent perfumer with a […]
World Perfumery Congress : Here We Come
Just a quick note to tell you that I’ll be heading along to the World Perfumery Congress today. This event is held in Nice France this time around and I’m looking forward to experiencing everything it has to offer. There are a number of conference […]
Mood Scent 4 : Scents of Place
Welcome to another edition of Mood Scent 4 with my perfume blogging friends, I Scent You A Day and A Bottled Rose. We’re here to scent moods and occasions and today we’ll be writing about Scents of Place. L’Esperessence is currently taking a break but […]
Wake Up and Smell the Roses // A Visit To the Rose Centifolia Fields in Fayence
Have you smelt the Rose Centifolia (Rose de Mai) in Grasse? Well if you haven’t yet done so, I can take you on a short armchair tour of a recent visit to the fragrant fields of Fayence (in the Grasse area) where the sweet smell of […]
Aftelier Perfumes : Part 2 : The Scents of Natural Fragrant Wonder : Oud Luban, Cepes and Tuberose and Amber Tapestry
Aftelier Perfumes is based in Berkeley and it’s there that Mandy Aftel crafts her wonderful fragrances. Aftel makes not only natural perfumes but also scented teas, chef’s essences and body products. If you wander over and take a look at her website you will find […]
May Day Muguet
This is a post that I had planned for earlier in the week but my house moving completely took over my life. There was a lot of physical labour involved from dawn to the early hours and a fair bit of angst over what to […]
Fifi Award Winners 2018 : French Perfume Awards
The Fifi Awards run by The Fragrance Foundation France were held last Wednesday evening, the 11th of April in Paris. It’s the major perfume award ceremony in France and there are a range of prizes to be won. There is the Fifi d’Or (judged by a panel of artists), the Prix […]
Aftelier Perfumes : Part 1 : The Scents of Natural Fragrant Wonder : Vanilla Smoke, Velvet Tuberose, Palimpsest and Cuir de Gardenia
When I wrapped up my favourite perfumes for 2017 one of the olfactory adventures that needed to be ticked off the list was the exploration of the Aftelier Perfumes collection. So many lovely words are written about Mandy Aftel‘s natural range of perfumes that I really felt […]
