My BFF
Notes and notable juices from my first trip to the Barnes Fragrance Fair
Two Saturdays ago, I got my intentionally un-scented wrists behind the wheel and drove to luscious, leafy West London for the third annual Barnes Fragrance Fair – although, rather shamefully, my first. Founded by expert-on-all-things-olfactive and founder of We Wear Perfume, Amanda Carr, the event is gaining ever-more traction with the perfume crowd as a one-stop shop to discover cool independent perfume houses and new niche juices alike.
The whole event reminded me of the days when I used to go to the Pitti Uomo menswear fair in Florence back in my GQ days – everyone passionate about the same subject, keen to chat in geek-level detail and, crucially, there to find out all about the new, the now, the next. In short, good vibes all round. However, in positive contrast to Pitti, it’s also open to the public, so no industry gatekeeping – and there far fewer men wearing dub-monks without socks. Bonus.
While sampling scents, at least for me, was very much the order of the day, I was also impressed to experience a few things outside of that. I experienced an AI-powered fragrance consultation courtesy of Kaornum using a selection of 4160 Tuesdays’ fragrances (I got matched with the warm and watery Butterlily Damselfly) and got to catch up with Samuel Gearing, one of the co-founders of online fine fragrance store Fiole (which, FYI, is currently having an incredible spring clearance sale I’d suggest fragrance fans check out sooner rather than later).
Of course, the real highlight was getting around the stands, meeting the perfumers and getting my nose on the juices. I have listed a few of my favourites below, but there were quite frankly too many to list. That said, there were some definite trends I noticed that I’d suggest any person wishing to be on the pulse (point) might like to be aware of if they’re in the market for their next scent.
You’ll see a few of these manifest in the memos about each of my standout scents from the fair below, but the trend TLDR is:
Wet, mossy fragrances will be having a moment over the coming year. Look out for notes of tangled, leafy vines mingling with either hot steam or cool marine notes – perhaps with a fantasy note of chalky stone or concrete thrown in there. Rocks by a river or petrichor on pavements feels like the smell of the summer.
Fabrics are trending hard. Whether as the name of a scent or as a suede, cotton or light leather note, there’s a thread of tactility in a few new fragrances hitting the market – clean, soft, comforting, close, but not cloying.
Caffeine is king. Green tea, matcha and coffee are piping hot with perfumers right now. Of course, both of these have a completely different vibe (verdant and creamy vs. savoury and rich), but they potentially signal a wider ‘gourmandising’, softening effect for green scents and an amping up of intensity for darker ones with their additions.
We’re in the era of subtle musks. If the musks we knew from the Seventies through to the Nineties were the equivalent of a sweaty, bare chest with a medallion thwaking against it on the dancefloor in Studio 54, this new generation are more like a T-shirt whose sleeve hits at just that right point of your bicep to catch an admiring eye. Musks right now are about the conceal rather than the reveal, a real skin-on-skin effect – piquing interest and adding a mysterious sexiness you can’t put your finger on.
So without further ado, here are a few of the brands and scents that caught my eye (nose?). Please excuse all the gratuitous hand shots.
Nyita
Founded only last year by Rebecca Jaquest, Nyita’s USP is its concentration on ethically sourced ingredients. This attention to detail goes deeper than the vast majority of other fragrance houses on the market – for example, I was patricianly impressed that rather than paraffin wax (usually derived from fossil fuels) or soy wax (which, while a natural product itself, is often extracted using petrochemicals), Nyita’s candles are made from an all-natural sunflower wax. They’re also housed in rather beautiful, undulating, hand-blown glass vessels. Fragrance-wise, the collection features just seven offerings as it stands – all crafted using cold-pressed, organic oils designed to be massaged into the skin. My favourite was zingy, tart Yuzu Noir, featuring a comfortingly crisp blend of neroli flowers and near-salty yuzu citrus.
BeauFort
Super-late to the party on this house as it’s been making fragrances for a decade now. The man behind the brand is musician Leo Crabtree, who gave me an incredible guided tour of the entire range. I loved one of his latest: Cape Wrath. This is petrichor in a bottle – all damp and mossy, briny and cooling, like foaming waves crashing over rocks at the edge of a pine forest (notes include salty-green seaweed, resiny elemi, pink peppercorns and oak moss on the dry down with aromatic geranium thrown in). However, his 2015 release Tonnere was a proper showstopper. Ballsy and bold, this fragrance was inspired by the Battle of Trafalgar – gritty notes of gunpowder and hyperrealistic burning wood mingle with sea water, tangy lime and fresh ceadarwood. There’s a little sweet comfort in the mixture from rich brandy and amber, but the overall effect is brutal and beautiful.
Jorum Studio
The scents from independent Scottish fragrance house Jorum Studio are masterminded by perfumer Euan McCall – who, upon further research, is also the man behind BeauFort’s Cape Wrath above. Knew I liked him. Jorum Studio has a selection of super-interesting juices on offer, but Fantosmia was a personal favourite. As regular readers will know, I adore a pepper-centric scent – and this has two types in the mix, both freshly cracked black peppercorns and pimento. This is cut with smashed cardamom pods, taninn-tastic mate tea and tobacco leaves, and creamy saffron to create an indescribably light-yet-deep leather scent that’s metallic and cooly-spicy.
Olfactive O
The idea of ‘fragrance enhancers’ – scents specifically designed to layer over or under another scent to boost certain facets of said scent – has intrigued me since I tried DS & Durga’s I Don’t Know What back in my GQ days. As a general rule, these juices tend to be pretty pared back in formulation and often are, more or less, a big hit of Iso-E-Super that brings a sort of sparkling clarity to what you’re already wearing – but that means they are often not something that stands up to being worn solo. Olfactive O’s Skin is different. Its formulation relies on orris root, ambrette (a delicate, more floral musk), magnolia and beeswax alongside a splash of Iso to create a scent that develops a personality on your skin whether layered with another or not. Sexy, velvety and seductively floral, it’s a beauty that will smell unique on you (as referenced by the plain label, designed to personalise with your fingerprint using the included ink pad).
Gallivant
After founding L’Artisan Parfumeur, Nick Steward set up Gallivant in Hackney, London in 2017 with the intention of creating scents inspired by travel – formulations that transport you to climes both Arcadian and urban. At the fair, Nick unveiled his three latest scents, all fragrant odes to the Middle East. They’re not out yet, so can’t put a link to purchase in here, but Ar Riyad, named after the Saudi Arabian capital, was a real treat: all sunny orange blossom and woody spices.
Nancy Meiland
Based down in Brighton, perfumer Nancy Meiland’s offerings draw inspiration from the botanical world. Lupin Meadow is her latest, created to evoke the herbaceous scent of the English countryside. The result is a scent that feels like walking through a waist-high field of wildflowers as the summer sun beats down overhead: clean, floral lavender and lupins mingle with grassy patchouli and eucalyptus, gently musty papyrus and subtly woody carrot seed. A calm and glorious fragrance, delicate yet with a defined personality, and perfect for the warmer months.
Altra
When I got home after the fair, I realised that a few of the fragrances I liked featured the same note somewhere in the mix – clearly I’m having a mate moment. This distinctively bitter tea leaf is also prominent in Stone Cold Heart by Altra (a perfume house whose eye-catching, undulating bottles are refillable). Inside this notably green-brown liquid (all the brand’s perfumes are different colours), you’ll find a big hit of mate spliced with powdery vetiver, smoothed with a little orris. Herbaceous, green and gorgeous.