Category Archive: Article
I’ve recently undertaken a rebrand of my social channels, moving away from The Candy Perfume Boy to something new. Whilst the blog will remain under TCPB (it’s too SEO-embedded to change now), I’ve updated the website’s tagline to match my socials and my overall mission statement. But why the change? Well, after taking a two year break from all things perfume-related I’ve come back and re-evaluated what it is I want to do in the world of fragrance, or to be more accurate, what I want to keep continuing doing. It became clear to me that The Candy Perfume Boy no longer fit and I needed something to sum up my approach to fragrance writing and communication – a new manifesto:
‘Making Scents Make Sense’
I’ve always taken a conversational approach to speaking and writing about fragrance, holding the firm belief that perfume should not be exclusionary. It is something for everyone to enjoy regardless of how much knowledge they hold. So Making Scents Make Sense just seemed to fit. I’m here to make sense of a world that is often hidden, secretive, mysterious, and shrouded in complexity. It’s my goal to demystify this world in a way that makes sense to everyone. With that in mind, here are my five key missions.
As the year draws to a close it’s time to reflect on all that 2024 was. Personally 2024 was a year that can only be described as ‘hot garbage’ but we get through these things, as we do. We move. From an olfactory standpoint things were more positive and whilst I haven’t been writing about fragrance for some time, I have been keeping my finger on the pulse, or nose on the scent as it were. Yes, there is a lot of crap out there still (and dupes, so, so many dupes!!) but amongst the not so good there were lots of beautiful things that piqued my interest.
So what stood out to me in 2024? The answer is a few, very varied things. I discovered a new (to me) brand, fell in love with a perfectly-executed flanker, fanboyed over one of my favourite perfumers, was surprised by daring olfactory exploits, bought things on a whim, and loved yet another instalment in a fragrance franchise I already love. I think that’s a pretty good summary, so without further ado here are my six favourite fragrance launches of 2024! Please note that I fully intended to pick only five but I wasn’t able to be that strict with myself, soz.
What does it take to be a good fragrance or even a great one?
By far the most common question I get asked when I reveal myself to be a perfume nerd, other than “have you heard of Santal 33?” (sigh, yes I have, we all have) or “what is your favourite fragrance of all time?” (it is and always will be Angel, I’m hoping to do a Warhol and be buried with a bottle, instructions are in my will) is “what makes a fragrance good?” I like this question because it doesn’t have a simple answer and a response of “err, well, you see, actually many things make a scent good” doesn’t really cut the mustard. In fact it puts one’s olfactory poindexter status on the line and we simply cannot have that now, can we?
To avoid being booted out of the Perfumerati, I wanted to ponder this question in detail. But actually, the real reason I want to explore it is because fragrance can so often be unnecessarily mysterious. It’s usually a case of “pay no attention to the man behind the green curtain” where all of the inner-workings are hidden from view and as a consumer it can be completely overwhelming, with thousands of launches per year. So the real reason I want to answer what makes a fragrance good is to help point you in the right direction. To help you to know what to look for and most importantly, to guide you to find the right fragrance that is good for you.
So let’s hold the mirror up to the world of fragrance, take a long hard look and ask “what’s good?”
…and I’m here for it.
Trend alert: the note du jour for perfume brands at the moment is osmanthus. This humble little flower, which possesses a very complex and unique odour profile, whilst also appearing sunny and pretty to look at, is working its way into many fragrances, both mainstream and niche. But what is it? What does it smell like? Why is it having a moment? And where can you smell it? Well, read on to find out…
Please note that this post may contain indirect references to trauma and abuse that certain readers may find triggering.
I can recall the image so vividly. She stood there, framed by the deep oak of our front door. Her hair, bobbed and big in that ’90s style (not quite a ‘Rachel’, but almost), fizzed with hairspray. The dress was an event – a floor length Lacroix gown, in black with panels of lace (also black, of course). Her ears and her left shoulder sparkled with giant Butler & Wilson spiders – costume jewels that made me think of Morticia Addams. I can see their diamond-cut shapes catching the light, even now. But what I remember the most is the scent – an atomic cloud of Chanel’s Allure that announced her arrival and made sure she was present, in some way, long after her departure.
This is the most prominent memory I hold of my mother. It is bathed in scent – she is framed by a silhouette of Chanel, and if you remove the dress, the jewels and the person, what’s left is still a vivid picture of the person I remember. The shadow of a person painted by the fragrance she wore, almost like an olfactory negative of the space she filled at that time. In this image she is glamorous, she is smiling, she is kind, she is a mother.
The memory is not real.
Love it or loathe it, the power of instagram cannot be denied. The platform has become a massive force in setting the trends of what we do and buy. Sure, there is lots of fakery and over-polished world views, and don’t get me started on the influencer culture, but what I admire about instagram is that it has become a really fantastic way to communicate fragrance.
Translating fragrance into a visual medium can be really effective and can take something so intangible and make it real. Some fragrance brands are really adept at getting the spirit of their scents (not to mention their brand) across, creating entirely unique visuals that are fun and exciting. Here are five fragrance brands that I think are killing it on instagram right now.
It’s National Fragrance Day and for the fifth year running, The Perfume Society are challenging us fragrance lovers to show them a #Smellfie!
Madonna turns 60 today – Happy Birthday, HRH Madonna! To celebrate, I thought I would resurrect my much-loved ‘Scent a Celebrity Series’, in which I ‘scent’ (pick fragrances for) some of my favourite celebrities. So let’s jump right back in with none other than the Queen of Pop!
Madonna; no other name is more instantly recognisable and no person is more likely to divide opinion. Arguably the most famous woman on the planet and factually the best selling female recording artist of all time, Madonna is a force that is hard to define; singer, dancer, performer, entertainer, provocateur, feminist, business woman, calculating she-devil – love her or hate her, whatever moniker you throw at her will most likely apply. She has done what many other icons fail to do – achieve longevity and on her 60th birthday, we celebrate her phenomenal four decades in music.
The fascinating thing about Madonna is that her ratio of talent to fame is perhaps slightly off balance. She’s not the greatest singer or dancer in the world, or even the best looking, but she has that je ne sais quoi that makes a person a star – the x factor, as they call it. Some say that she’s just a good business woman and I’m sure she is but that does not make for such longevity. By pushing people’s buttons and having something to say (and saying it well) Madonna has ensured that she is more than a just a star, she’s that rare commodity: an icon.
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