A Creative Model with Couturier and Fragrance Brand Founder Marc-Antoine Barrois Links. Available on all popular platforms.

Season 2 of the Making Scents Make Sense Podcast is here! My first guest this season is none other than Marc-Antoine Barrois. Marc-Antoine Barrois is the man behind one of the most groundbreaking niche fragrance brands on the market today. Coming from a background in couture, Marc-Antoine has worked exclusively with Givaudan perfumer Quentin Bisch to create a collection of fascinating, bold, and novel fragrances that are unlike any others - fragrances like Ganymede and Tilia. In this episode Marc-Antoine discusses his roots in couture, his creative partnership with Quentin Bisch, and how authenticity is important in his work.

Can scent help with grief? When my mother passed away I found solace in the four perfumes that she loved. Fragrance was a shared connection when we shared so little else in life and by revisiting her signature fragrances, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of who she was and how to manage my grief.

Check out my review of the BORNTOSTANDOUT Eau Intimité collection on my substack.

Can a material that's been here forever still surprise us in 2025?

If you're following me over on instagram you'll know that I've had a bit of a rebrand to 'Making Scents Make Sense' (I will get around to changing the blog name at some point....). With that comes an exciting new venture: a podcast! Making Scents Make Sense the podcast is a series that is all about demystifying the world of fragrance. My aim is to talk fragrance in a fun, accessible way with no snobbery and no gatekeeping. The first episode is now live and you can listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

Making Scents Make Sense with Alice du Parcq Links. Available on all popular platforms.

Barnes Fragrance Fair is returning on Saturday 17 May 2025 and it’s bigger than ever. If you’re not familiar with the fair, it was created in 2023 by Amanda Carr, one half of popular fragrance blog We Wear Perfume, and aims to celebrate the importance of fragrance in our everyday lives. Now in its third year, Barnes has even more to offer, with more brands, more talks, and more workshops. It’s going to be great. The fair runs from 09:30-17:00 at the Barnes Green Centre, with talks and workshops hosted at nearby venues (full details…

“It’s chic to be drab” DS & Durga tells us in the tagline for their new fragrance, Brown Flowers. It’s an unusual statement from a fragrance brand, but DS & Durga is not your typical outfit and rather than trying to crowd please, like much of the fragrance industry, they’re not afraid to be different. The tagline and name of the fragrance come with tongue pressed firmly in cheek (Brown Flowers is so off-putting it comes full circle). But let’s not mistake DS & Durga for not being serious - they may not take themselves seriously (they have fun with what they do), but they certainly do take the creation of unique perfumes very seriously indeed.

I was recently asked to join an episode of Impact Makers, a podcast that rummages the supermarket shelves to discuss products that are pushing boundaries and elevating product experiences. The episode is all about the future of fragrance and I share some thoughts on how fragrance has changed, fragrance trends, AI, and dupes. It’s a fun episode and there are other guests from MANE and more! Well worth a listen.

I’m a firm believer that fragrance should be approached much in the same way as fashion. You would not dream of having only one outfit for every single occasion or season, so why would you do the same with your scent? There is literally a fragrance for everything and I always try and match my scent to my outfit, whatever it is I may be doing, and the season of the time. For these reasons I’ve got into a cycle of curating a seasonal fragrance wardrobe which sits on a lovely little marble tray in my bedroom.

Controversial fragrance opinion ahoy: I think the Tom Ford Signature Collection (i.e. the more mainstream, slightly lower priced collection that includes the likes of Black Orchid, White Patchouli, and Noir etc) has better fragrances than the higher-priced Private Blends. Maybe it’s the (slightly) more reasonable price point that attracts me but the Signature Collection is where the Tom Ford brand executes its most interesting ideas in the most successful way. In fact, they even tend to move some of their better Private Blends into the Signature Collection after a period of time (see 

Multi-Award-Winning Fragrance Expert communicating scents in a fun and accessible way to help you make scents make sense. Freelance Copywriter, Trainer, Event Host and Speaker.

I always wondered whether the noses and minds behind classic fragrances such as Shalimar, Nº5, Poison, Opium, CK One etc. had any inkling that these creations would be considered as masterpieces. Did they know they were making history at the time? Or was it years later that the classic status was bestowed upon them? If so, how quickly did this happen? I think the answer varies but the moniker of classic is something that is most often awarded in hindsight and it really is the test of time that is the true decider.

I do not think that for one single day in my 37 years of life I have been cool (0/13,745 is an impressively poor hit rate, let’s be real). I do not say this to fish for compliments or to garner sympathy, I say it as a stone cold fact: I am not cool. Cool people set trends and operate without really caring about what others think about them. I am not that kind of person. I barely follow trends, let alone set them, and I care far too much about what people think about me.

When I think of brands that have mastered the very concept of “aesthetic” I immediately think of Aesop. Presented as a sort of modern apothecary, the Australian skin, hair, and body care brand has managed to strike that balance of style and substance with effective, high quality products that look good. Yes, OK, people would maybe judge you for having an Aesop hand soap in your bathroom these days because they’d perceive you as wanting to look cool, but also those people are dumb, snobby, and stupid and we should not listen to them.

Multi-Award-Winning Fragrance Expert communicating scents in a fun and accessible way to help you making scents make sense. Freelance Copywriter, Trainer, Event Host and Speaker.

There's something to be said about beauty in simplicity and the latest launch from eco- and ethically-conscious fragrance brand Sana Jardin is a perfect example. It arrived on my doorstep after a long day working, followed by a long commute home. I spritzed some on after I'd got in, changed (sweats and slippers, if you must know), and had dinner. One sniff and I felt my whole body relax: there was nothing fussy, gimmicky or overly complicated, just a really beautiful scent to enjoy. Air of Aquarius was inspired by cosmic alignment, specifically the…