Tag: charity

Save Me – Brian May + Xerjoff launch a ‘badger & sandalwood’ fragrance

Just when you thought the ’20’s couldn’t get any stranger, we hear news of a badger fragrance called Save Me, with Queen’s own guitar legend, Brian May, behind the release.

Okay then.

At first, we must admit our faces resembled that meme of a confused woman with mathematical equations scrolling past her face, but a little more digging revealed that it’s neither a perfume for a badger to wear (because good luck with that) or containing any badger-sourced ingredients. Gotcha.

Well hold on to your, er, badgers, because apprently it does actually smell like them…

In fact the fragrance is made in collaboration with the niche house of Xerjoff, founded by May’s friend, Sergio Momo, and is being sold to help raise money for wildlife, through the ‘Save Me’ animal welfare trust May set up in 2010, which is named after Queen’s 1980 hit. Indeed, the fragrance is also named after the trust/record and, according to May, the Save Me scent smells ‘amazing’ and ‘like sandalwood and badger’.

Cue the confused face/equations. And while that leaves us no clearer on the other fragrance notes, other than perhaps imagining something rather brusque up top that gradually reveals a softer side; a source apparently told The Sun that May was directly involved in the research for the creation, revealing that he ‘…did a lot of smellings before he was happy’ and going on to describe the scent as having ‘…deliberately earthy overtones — a hint of clean badger fur, some sandalwood and something a bit limey. It’s surprisingly refreshing and hopefully will fly off the shelves.’

Is there not something rather wonderful about the image of Brian May sniffing a freshly washed badger? Anyway, with that striking image in your mind, let’s hear May elaborate on YouTube…

 

 

Speaking about the fragrance, May said that he was ‘…excited about this unique collaboration. My great friend Sergio Momo has, with great generosity, designed a new perfume to benefit wildlife… Compassion has never smelled so sweet!’

May (Dr. May, in fact – many strings to his bow! Well, guitar) has done a huge amount to raise animal welfare over the past decade, and has previously commented that he’d rather be remembered for the work he’s done to save wildlife than for his music. And now he can add a scent memory to that legacy…

 

 

Limited edition, autographed 50ml bottles of ‘Save Me’ are on sale for €410 (£370), regular bottles are €197 (£177) at xerjoffuniverse.com. And you’ll be happy to hear they can be purchased singly, they don’t come as a sett. [Ed: SORRY!]

By Suzy Nightingale

 

The scent of hope – kindness with a cause

The scent of hope is in the air… While we’ve all been fragrancing our homes – and ourselves – to revive flagging spirits or give us a perfumed pep of much-needed energy; we’ve been so heartened to see some of the fragrance houses responding to the Covid-19 crisis by giving back to charity.

At a time when many smaller businesses and retail shops are struggling to survive, through various lockdowns and economic uncertaintly; their philanthropy is all the kinder, so therefore all the more meaningful to support.

 

Many fragrance houses halted production of perfumes during the very first lockdown, last year – LVMH using their factories and perfumer’s alcohol to make bottles of hand sanitiser instead of their usual scents – and  Miller Harris incredibly donated their entire stock of handwash, hand lotion and soaps to Age U.K.

Back in April, Acqua di Parma launched a #stayhome charity, donating 100% of their online revenue for the month to help fight Covid-19. Then Symrise stepped up and asked nineteen of their perfumers to collab on a Hero Cologne they gifted to frontline workers; and a little while ago, Fragrance Du Bois gave a super-glitzy rainbow-jewelled bottle of of their Oud Bleu Intrense fragrance (worth £5,000!) as an NHS raffle prize.

 

 

Floris found a cause close to their hearts (and heritage) by setting up the Florence Nightingale White Rose Appeal – donating 15% of profits from their iconic White Rose fragrance, a favourite of the famed nurse, who reportedly had bottles shipped to her during the Crimea War. We’re sure she found much solace in the classic scent of velvety roses swathed in cool, powdery iris and musk. In addition, an actual white rose for a nurse can be purchased at £5, as part of a display at Westminster Abbey the appeal are creating.

 

 

Currently, we’re also loving the limited edition Speranza (Italian for ‘hope’) fragrance that Sarah Ireland‘s created in aid of NHS Charities Together. Taking inspiration from the Amalfi Coast, we follow a perfumed coastal path to a fizz of sun-warmed pink grapefruit and juniper berries, gently enlivened with black pepper, as hyacinth and jasmine blossom amidst a warm hug of amber and blissful lavender.

 

 

Whichever of the fragrance houses supporting charities and key workers you want to explore, there really hasn’t been a better time to try some uplifting scents at home – a kindness to yourself and the causes you’ll be supporting…

By Suzy Nightingale

 

‘Scents of Normality’ – candle collections evokes places we miss

Earl of East‘s ‘Scents of Normality‘ just-launched candles have the tagline ‘Buy for charity. Burn for Normality.’ They promise to evoke the ‘places we miss the most during lockdown’ – and you just HAVE to read the so-witty descriptions!

This limited-edition series sees Earl of East partnering with Uncommon Creative Studio to create an exclusive range of candles, with ALL proceeds from sales of the candles donated to the charity, Hospitality Action. And Earl of East say they chose the charity because, ‘While the impact of Covid-19 continues to affect many businesses across the UK, the hospitality industry faces a particularly uncertain future, having sustained lasting impact from the pandemic including widespread closures, job losses, reduced hours and reduction in pay. We are honoured to be able to lend our support in collaboration with Uncommon Creative Studio to help support these workers who are suddenly facing hardship‘

Available in three evocative scents, ‘reflecting some of the nation’s favourite hangouts’ – The Local, The Cinema and The Festival‘ – we love the colourful imagery, by a group of artists collaborating together around the world, but we have to admit falling particularly hard for the hilarious tongue-in-cheek descriptions of each candle…

 

 

 

‘Scent has a unique way of conjuring memories and transporting us to places we’d love to be. From the cobbled streets of Copenhagen to the Onsen baths of Japan, our scented candles are all inspired by travel. Whilst we can still dream about these far flung destinations it’s actually the places closer to home that we miss the most.
Having the opportunity to recreate the essence of these familiar haunts whilst also supporting an industry that has been hit so hard by the crisis is a real honour.’
~ Niko Dafkos, Earl of East Co-founder

Scents of Normality candles £45 each for 220ml
earlofeast.com

By Suzy Nightingale

And all that jazz… Fragrance writer’s musical talents raising money for charity

Stephan Matthews, is a fragrance writer and long-time friend of The Perfume Society, and of course a man who’s been obsessed with scent for many years, and he has revealed another talent: music!

Stephan got in touch with us after he saw the theme of our just-published Scented Letter magazine: Music & Perfume, commenting that there must be something musical and fragrant wafting in the air, as ‘…the timing of this is a little spooky! I’ve just rereleased my Jazz album from 2006 to raise money for NHS Charities Together.’

Stephan explains: ‘We’re all trying our best to support each other during these challenging times, but one of the areas that is still under so much pressure is the NHS. We have so much to thank them for, so I wanted to help in some small way.

Back in 2006, I released a successful jazz album called Call Me Irresponsible. It was only available as a CD (remember those?) and went out of print in 2010. I changed career and went back to my real name, swapping the acting business for the perfume industry, and the recording was archived.

 

 

Spending so much time at home recently gave me the chance to finally go through the last few boxes that were never opened when we moved and, in one of them, I found all of the original paperwork and masters.

So, after fourteen years and with the help of my original producer Richard Niles, Call Me Irresponsible is available to download and stream with all of the profits going to NHS Charities Together. It’s been great fun to revisit these recordings, and I can’t believe it was fourteen years ago!’

The recordings are now available to download or stream on iTunes, Apple Music, and Spotify.

We were hugely impressed, on listening, and with music and fragrance definitely filling the airwaves right now, it’s a great way to support NHS Charities Together – and the way this fragrance writer is helping – in such a toe-tapping, enjoyable way…

By Suzy Nightingale

Miller Harris shout-out for brand’s soap donations

Miller Harris have announced they’re donating hand wash, hand lotion and soaps to those most vulnerable in the UK – and are calling for other brands to join in if they can…

In these unprecedented and troubling times, amidst much worry, people ARE doing good things. We’ve already highlighted how some beauty and fragrance brands are helping, and will be showcasing some more next week. But right now we want to join Miller Harris and their shout-out for brands to donate soap, where possible, to help the most vulnerable in our community.

We’ve just spoken to Sarah Rotheram, CEO of Miller Harris, and she explained this felt like a positive thing they could give back to the community – to ensure those most vulnerable – the elderly and the poor – can wash their hands. We know that soap and water and good hand hygeine can destroy the virus. We’ve been contacting brands ourselves, but we’d also like to post this shout-out so that if there are ANY brands out there who’d like to get involved…

In a letter sent to fellow brands, Sarah says:

‘Dear Friends and Colleagues.

LETS GET SOAP MOVING!

As the apprehension around the COVID-19 virus spreads globally, I felt compelled to write and try to help in anyway that we possibly can. Our thoughts go out to everyone affected, our friends in China, Asia and Italy who have been affected for some time, and everyone globally now feeling the shock of the virus.

We do believe that the pause on the world is here for a reason and to remind us we are ‘all one world’ and together is how we will overcome this pandemic. As you all know, I am a huge optimist and there will be a silver lining as the world emerges from this a different place.

We are seeing huge acts of kindness amongst the gloom of the news, and it is these acts of kindness that bring us hope. As a small business we are aware that the next few weeks and months will be a huge challenge for us and all of our staff and partners and we will look to work together through this crisis.

We are partnering with Age UK to address the demand in the most at-risk sector and whilst we await more detailed stats, what we do want to do is urge other businesses who can help, to act now.

As a brand we will be donating our entire stock of hand wash, hand lotion and soaps to those most vulnerable in the UK. Our soaps will leave the warehouse tomorrow to reach the elderly and we are asking other brands to join us. It will be a sin if soap is sat in warehouses rather than reaching people where it can be of some help. The most venerable in our society will be the most affected and the best advice is to wash your hands regularly, so we need to donate what we can and get soap to those in need.

If others join us we can make a much bigger difference.

Our larger beauty colleagues are generously giving to hospitals and assisting governments and often as a small brand we can feel that it is hard to make a difference. Collectively we can have a huge impact.

We are a small brand so have 11,000 units, but I am writing to other small businesses to request if you can join us in making a positive difference to lives. Its time to give back and I think as a community we can make a difference.

This week we have already donated soaps and shower gels to food banks, as they are also facing shortages of supplies as people stock pile. They need support. Again, I am writing to see if you can possibly spare some soap to these organizations that are caring for those in need in these uncertain times.

Please join me in donating generously, and lets get the soap moving. If you are able to help please get in contact with Emma, Laurel and SJ via [email protected] who will share logistical information and link you with Age UK.

Best wishes,

Sarah Rotheram
CEO, Miller Harris‘

If you are a small brand with stock to spare, or know of brands that might be able to get involved, please do share this information with them. Let’s all pull together in this troubling time and make sure the most vulnerable are helped.

By Suzy Nightingale

Fifth Sense seek 'top tips' for their smell disorder survey

Our sense of smell remains the least explored and perhaps still most misunderstood of all our senses, despite being so important to our every day lives. Smell isn’t simply a pleasure, it makes up a huge percentage of how we taste, helps us navigate our understanding of the world we live in and form connections and relationships with those closest to us.
When people lose their sense of smell – through injury, illness or because of the medication they’re taking – it can be a life-changing and deeply disorientating time, and we refer to this as experiencing ‘anosmia’. Fifth Sense is a UK charity specifically for people affected by smell and taste disorders, and they’ve launched a nationwide survey collecting tips and experiences to develop what will be (remarkably) the first-ever exchange of coping strategies and ideas for better living.
The ‘Top Tips’ survey will be circulated amongst Fifth Sense’s 2000+ members, but they’re reaching out to the wider smell and taste disorder community, and the tips they’re putting together will cover medical, psychological and lifestyle categories, such as:

  • Getting advice from the medical profession
  • Coping with the emotional impact of smell and taste impairments
  • Eating, drinking and cooking
  • Smell training
  • Top rants – what frustrates you the most about having a smell or taste disorder?

Fifth Sense founder and Chair, Duncan Boak, who lost his sense of smell and taste following a head injury in 2005, explained why he thought this was so important, saying ‘This is a great opportunity for the smell and taste disorder community to share ways they have found of coping with specific aspects of their condition. A key part of Fifth Sense’s work is creating opportunities for people to share their experiences and support each other, and our Top Tips survey is an important next step in this.’
The results of the survey will be shared via social media and published on the charity’s website  as a series of downloadable information sheets, and will continue to serve as an ever-evolving resource for those seeking advice and tactics for living well, and – equally important, as Boak points out – a place where the smell and taste disorder community can share experiences of what it’s really like to live with an impaired sense of smell or taste.
Have you had a smell disorder, live with someone who does or simply want to find out more? Get in touch with Fifth Sense and join in the discussion!
fifthsense.org.uk
Written by Suzy Nightingale