What amazes me after all those years of trying many new perfumes is that there will always be something new and innovative that will make me go “aha” or “aww” or even “wow” My latest “wow” moment came a few months ago when I had the opportunity to meet up with Lucy Akhurst and try her perfumes. Following a successful career in acting, writing and other creative endeavours, she channelled her creativity into making perfumes. La Maison Hédonique was created to tell stories, evo

Thameen London is a niche, luxury, British brand, which realises the founder’s vision of combining Eastern opulence with Western refinement. I recently visited their beautiful corner in Selfridges where all the perfumes are displayed and had an opportunity to try the gem inspired scents. Thameen, meaning precious, has been inspired by the close relationship of jewels and fragrance throughout the ages and has married them into beautiful creations . The Treasure Collection has

A new natural and organic perfume brand inspired by the patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry has introduced itself recently. Prosody harvests the beauty of plants and uses them as inspiration in their creations. Their fragrances and scented products are clean, safe and pure made with the finest ingredients sourced from around the world, from producers that are ethical and sustainable, certified by globally recognised authorities such as Ecocert and USDA. Their line lau

100BON is a new all natural perfume brand that launched in 2017, initially with 10 perfumes. The brand uses 100% natural ingredients in their compositions and they're also vegetal and vegan. The packaging is recyclable and the bottles (10ml and 50ml) are refillable with a 200ml ”refill bottle” which you can buy to top up your favourite scent while keeping the original packaging. The fragrances are creations by Robertet's master perfumers and each one revolves around 2 mai

Perfume is art and very much like music we tend to explain their compositions in notes. Many musicians I know are deeply interested in perfume so it wasn't a surprise for me to see some of them dip their toes in perfumery and actually coming up with some brilliant fragrances. Pierre Guguen, the founder of L' Orchestre Parfum introduces himself as perfumer and musician. His most intense memories were marked by the dialogue between these two arts so the brand was born to revive

Juliette Has a Gun was created by Romano Ricci in 2006. As his last name gives away, he was born into the famous Ricci family. Initiated into fashion by his great grandmother Nina and to perfumery by his grandfather Robert (creator of the famous ‘L’air du Temps’), Romano has been surrounded by fashion and creation since childhood. It was only natural to eventually launch his own brand inspired by Shakespeare’s Juliette, a heroin who uses perfume as her weapon and started laun

Le Jardin Retrouvé, founded in 1975 by Yuri Gutsatz, was the very first of what would later become known as “niche” perfume brands. Revived in 2016 by Yuri’s son, Michel, and his wife Clara they initially launched 7 perfumes. If you want to read a bit more about Le Jardin Retrouvé and my review on 2 of their perfumes please follow the link here. The decision to launch a new perfume to the collection was inspired by the discovery of Yuri Gutsatz’s record of over 2000 unused f

London is the latest release from Abu Dhabi based niche perfume House Widian. London is the first scent in the Sapphire Collection, which will be dedicated to cities around the world. The perfume itself wants to pay homage to the city's culture, art, fashion and of course the luxurious way of life London has to offer; a city where everything you could potentially desire is available to purchase and all the latest trends are born. Royal and yet contemporary London captures the

Esxence celebrated its 10th year on March and the extremely popular fragrance exhibition was dressed in gold. A magic place dedicated to the love of perfume where brands present their new creations, new brands / creators emerge along with a packed schedule of talks, panels and presentation about all things fragrance, art, markets, the Art and Oflaction Awards nominations make it Heaven on Earth for any confessed perfume lover. I visited the exhibition on the first 2 days when

May has finally arrived and since the sun is shinning (or will be soon anyway depending on where you live) I thought it'd be a good idea to introduce you to the new member of the Cheap an Chic family! The iconic Olive Oyl is wearing her Moschino summer dress designed by Jeremy Scott. With notes of bitter orange, raspberry and blackcurrant sorbet, Popeye’s girlfriend is feeling youthful, fruity and ready for her holiday. I was a big fan of the vintage Popeye series and found O

Phuong Dang is a perfume brand that I've wanted to write about for a while now. In the UK they are available only in Harrods's 6th floor "perfume heaven". This artistic fragrance collection includes scents that express emotions in a liquid form. In collaboration with perfumers Bertrand Duchaufur and Mark Buxton, classically trained artist Phuong Dang has managed to bottle her emotions, experiences and creative journeys using scent as the art medium. The initial collection inc

Dylan Blue pour femme, the new perfume by Versace will be available nationwide in 10 days; for now it’s only available in Harrods and it already has caused a sensation. "Dylan Blue pour femme is my tribute to femininity. So I created a strong, sensuous yet refined fragrance for a woman who knows her own power." Donatella Versace Unique, strong and captivating with an elegant sensuality, it carries the character of Donatella’s personality and I can smell a hint of Versace Blon

Every New Year should start with a new perfume. One of the fragrances that captivated my senses last year was Rose Millésimée by Jovoy Paris. Built as the embodiment of the Centifolia Rose, Rose Millésimée is an olfactory metaphor for a moment frozen in time, the reflection of a story, a region and a tradition of craftsmanship. To the Grasse region’s native blossom, Vanina Muracciole has added a dash of spices, candied apples, essence of Bulgarian rose and white musc to creat

If you’re still struggling to find a great and original gift for your perfume loving friends you definitely have to take a look at Secret Scent Box. The latest trend in perfume subscription boxes I had the opportunity to try, Secret Scent Box, is a new designer fragrance subscription service for women and men that allows you to discover 3 new fragrances each month. Once you subscribe you will receive a letterbox friendly package with 3 designer fragrances enough to last 30 da

Tuberose is very popular lately and I'm really happy about it. A note that was considered old fashioned and "heavy" in the last couple of decades when everything was supposed to smell "clean" is making a major comeback and has managed to transcend from the niche perfume houses and sneak into the mainstream perfume bottles; quite masterfully as well. The latest creation by Gucci's new creative director Alessandro Michele in collaboration with perfumer Alberto Morillas is calle

My review might come a bit late since Mon Guerlain has been out for quite some time but I’ve worn it a lot lately and it has grown on me. Housed in the beautiful quadrilobe bottle and coloured pink, it’s been heavily featured thanks to the muse Guerlain has chosen, the exquisite Angelina Jolie. An invisible tattoo, Mon Guerlain is a combination of exceptional quality raw materials: Carla Lavender from Provence, Sambac Jasmine from India, Album Sandalwood from Australia and Va

Henrik Lestreus is the perfumer behind the new Swedish perfume brand Svensk Parfym. He introduced the first trio of perfumes a few months ago and very recently a second trio of perfumes followed. All of them are celebrating Sweden‘s multidimensional landscape, nature, people, history, the present and the future in a unique olfactory way. The first trio includes Prakt, Stilla and Virke Prakt is the Swedish word for magnificence and was created with inspiration from the uniquen

OH, IT’S GOLD! Moschino Gold Fresh Couture is the third surprising edition of the iconic cleaning spray bottle, a luxurious object of desire, of unique, unparalleled contemporary design. The ingenious, ironic and surprising bottle, painted in gold this time is just perfect for Christmas and launches nationwide on December 1st This fragrance is a real ode to femininity, intoxicating, and conveying delicious sensations. A juicy, floral fruity fragrance with top notes of grapefr

Manos Gerakinis is a young Greek entrepreneur & founder of Closet on the Go whose travels and large collection of fragrances made him seek a signature scent with this vision; he wanted the wearer to become the pole of attraction for those around him and to be remembered long after gone. The vision became a perfume that had such great success that he finally decided to release it to the market. Soon many more fragrances followed, all of which have very loyal following. The fir

Christmas is just around the corner; my tree is up, I’m slowly writing my Christmas cards and generally I’m getting into festive mood. I’m a bit behind with my gift shopping, mainly because this year I really want to put some extra thought into them. I never buy just one gift for someone, I always get a main one and then other little things to complement it, stocking stuffers, a card and maybe some chocolate too. This “gift package” will definitely include perfume as you migh