About

Who?

My name is Nick.
I love fragrance. I have sold fragrance for 8 years for a large British chemist chain, and if anything, it’s made me love fragrance more. It’s also made me judge fragrances quite quickly. I notice similarities to other fragrances, then need to find the reason for that similarity. It’s just one of my quirks. I like finding notes and effects that are “different”.
As well as selling and being generally obsessed with fragrance, I study Japanese language.

Why?
I feel that I need to explore whatever fragrances are out there. There isn’t really a reason. And as new fragrances are constantly launched, it is important to decide what is and isn’t worthy of joining my ever-increasing collection.

What?

I review mainly Designer and High Street fragrance releases. This is what is available to me in my store, as part of my collection, and locally.

How?

My reviews are based on my personal observations of a fragrance.
My method is to apply to the back of my hand, and to a card blotter. I then write (mostly illegible) notes at length about what I can smell, what it makes me think of, and try and convert that into something that makes sense and describes the fragrance adequately.

Where?
Nioi (匂い) comes from the Japanese for ’smell’. Perfume is Kousui (香水) – literally “incensed water”. Fragrance/ incense is Kaori/Kou (香).

When?
Hopefully before anyone else. Not always the case, though.