It’s the last episode in the current season of ‘Man in the Mirror’ and this one is just me for a change! I wanted to highlight the Barnes Fragrance Fair that is taking place this Saturday 17th May 2025 in Barnes, West London. I’ll be hosting 2 talks during the fair, the first at 9.30a.m. is called ‘Scents & Songs’ and I’ll be hosting alongside Olympic Studios archivist Roger Miles. We’ll be delving into the rich legacy of the world famous Olympic Studios in Barnes and I’ll be matching a frag...
May 12, 2025•27 min•Season 9Ep. 8
When I heard about a collaboration between British menswear specialist MOSS (formerly Moss Bros) and Happy Paul, a mood-lifting skincare and fragrance brand, I thought it would be the perfect thing to discuss on Man in the Mirror. I was invited to record this episode at the MOSS HQ in Camden where I met Robbi Hicks, the MOSS Head of Visual Development and Paul Gerrard, Founder of Happy Paul. You’ll probably know MOSS for occasion wear and suits, but if you haven’t visited a store recently you ma...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Over the last few months I’ve seen posts from ‘Teddy the Perfumer’ crop up on my socials and have really enjoyed his videos and his take on the fragrance industry, so I got in touch and he kindly agreed to come on the show. Teddy Haugen is (unsurprisingly!) a perfumer and is the co-founder of the eponymous independent brand based just outside San Francisco. He’s unusual in that he’s compelling and instinctive on social media - Teddy doesn’t just plug his own creations, he lifts the curtain on hi...
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Season 9Ep. 6
You may remember a previous guest from season 7, the wonderful Adam Hurly, who is a journalist and the man behind the ‘Blue Print’ channel. He mentioned a U.S. grooming brand that I didn’t know called Brightside and then kindly connected us. Brightside have now launched in the UK and EU, so I took the opportunity to chat to co-founder Chris Hjerling about the inception and the ethos of the brand, the influence of his coastal location in San Diego, California and what’s next for Brightside (hint,...
Apr 10, 2025•52 min•Season 9Ep. 5
It was a real treat to talk to Thomas Dunckley this week on the podcast. He was one of the first accounts I followed when I got into fragrance and has an incredible ability to make his content accessible, relatable and fun. Thomas is a hugely experienced and knowledgeable writer, blogger, speaker and podcaster. He used to write using the name ‘the candy perfume boy’ (changing the gender of the title of a Madonna song!) but now goes under the name ‘making scents make sense.’ This seems to neatly ...
Mar 27, 2025•52 min•Season 9Ep. 4
This week I had the pleasure of talking to Rodrigo Nikaido who is co-owner and Global Growth Director at Mexican luxury interior fragrance brand Aromaria. Aromaria recently opened their flagship European store on Regent Street in London and it’s a stunning expression of Mexican creativity and flair fused with an elegant, minimalist aesthetic. The brand is known for candles, room sprays and giant ‘perfume sticks’, which are available as 50cm (M) & 1.2m (XL) incense sticks in a variety of scen...
Mar 19, 2025•37 min•Season 9Ep. 3
A very special episode this week with not one, but two hugely talented and in-demand perfumers. I am joined by (friend of the show!) Julien Rasquinet along with Paul Guerlain. The two of them were at Harrods in London to discuss ‘Lustre’, a fragrance they co-created for the house of Amouage. ‘Lustre’ is one of a trio of fragrances that make up ‘The Essences’ and each one is double-infused and aged for 6 months. The other two fragrances in the new collection are ‘Reasons’ and ‘Outlands.’ They hav...
Mar 12, 2025•48 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Welcome back! This is the first ‘Man in the Mirror’ of 2025, we’re in March so I’m WAY too late to say ‘Happy New Year’ to you, but I hope the year has got off to a great start. I’m delighted to be back with more new episodes, there’s some amazing guests to come this season… My guest in episode 1 is Stuart Williams-Philp, who describes himself as a ‘Liberty veteran and retail survivor!’ Stuart has been a sales specialist in the Ground Floor fragrance department at the world famous Liberty in Lon...
Mar 05, 2025•55 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Surprise! A cheeky Christmas mini-pod episode with me/Santa recommending a few festive gifts in fragrance and grooming at various price points. Hopefully there’s something to suit your budget to either buy for someone (or to ask for yourself!) I’ll be back with a brand new season in January with lots of great guests. Have a great Christmas break, thanks for listening in 2024 and I look forward to your company in the new year. Brioni - Suave EDP - £76 (60ml) https://www.debenhams.com/product/brio...
Dec 16, 2024•16 min•Season 8Ep. 9
My guest on the show this week is Sebastien Tissot, the founder of Nissaba, a Swiss fragrance brand that arrived in Selfridges here in the UK earlier this year. Each of the fragrances combines natural ingredients from a single origin and showcases that area or region in olfactory form. The range is absolutely stunning and my personal favourite is a beautiful example of a patchouli fragrance called ‘Sulawesi’. If you get chance to sample Nissaba near you, I really recommend you do so! I had a fas...
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr•Season 8Ep. 8
My guest on the show this week is James Read, founder of sunless tanning range ‘Self Glow by James Read.’ James started his career in retail, then went on to become one of the UK’s top tanning artists, working with celebrities, models and customers who wanted a healthy glow, applied using the best products. This lead to James creating his own brand using all the experience he amassed during his career. ‘Self Glow by James Read’ has a ’skincare-first’ philosophy and combines natural cacao with hi...
Nov 28, 2024•53 min•Season 8Ep. 7
My guest on the show this week is Forat Al Haider, who is Creative Director of Ghawali, a fragrance brand from the UAE. Ghawali combines the art of Middle Eastern perfumery with a modern, niche touch, crafting unique, long-lasting fragrances that evoke a sense of elegance and sophistication. It is part of the Chalhoub Group, which is a family owned luxury goods retailer and distributor and is the largest retail operator in the Middle East. I met Forat a couple of months ago in London when he was...
Nov 20, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Season 8Ep. 6
This week my guest is one of UK’s top hairdressers, Adam Reed. Adam has been nominated for Hairdresser of the Year multiple times, he has worked with superstars such as Madonna and One Direction as well as the great and good in fashion and editorial over the last 30 + years. He is also a brand ambassador for ghd and L’Oréal Professional. Adam has just launched 4 perfumes for hair & skin that are part of his 'Arkive Makes Scents' range. He is a huge fragrance fan and, in fact, has a ‘fragranc...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Season 8Ep. 5
This week my guest is Jun Lim, Creative Director and Founder of South Korean fragrance brand BORN TO STAND OUT. I met Jun a couple of months ago at Jovoy in London. He was introducing the brand to some of the UK media and I was struck by his singular vision and his mission to do things differently. It’s fair to say that South Korea is well known for skincare, but less so for niche fragrance brands. In just over 2 years BORN TO STAND OUT has made real waves, both in Jun’s home market and around t...
Oct 30, 2024•39 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Thanks for joining me for the third episode in the new series (8.) This week I'm building on a wonderful conversation I had over lunch at a Creed launch last month with model and content creator Ben James. We happened to be seated next to each other and I found him to be so engaging and illuminating I thought I had to ask him to come on the podcast! Ben is a ‘plus size’/‘big & tall’ model, which he explains in more depth in our chat. He is 6’ 6 and has a 42” chest, so is not traditional ’sam...
Oct 23, 2024•47 min•Season 8Ep. 3
Hi and thanks for checking out episode 2 of the new series. This one is a very freewheeling conversation that took place on a narrow boat (the ‘Disco Volante’) near King’s Cross, London. The Disco Volante is a floating lab and the spiritual home of new fragrance brand Vallense. I sat down with founder Will Borrell and discussed the brand, the debut collection, Will’s background, why he moved into perfume - and everything in between! I really hope you enjoy our chat, I found Will to be brilliant ...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 8Ep. 2
It’s the first episode of season 8, so ‘welcome back’ if you’re a regular listener and ‘hello’ if this is your first time! I recorded this episode in late August at Harrods, the world famous department store in London. I had the opportunity to host an event there with one of my favourite brands, Jusbox and to introduce their new fragrance ’54’ to press and to customers. The creative team who worked on the launch joined me on stage and so it seemed like the perfect chance to record this podcast w...
Oct 09, 2024•39 min•Season 8Ep. 1
It’s the final episode of season 7 and I’m ending with a guest I’ve wanted to get on the podcast for a long while. Adam Hurly is an American journalist (now based in Portugal) who writes about grooming, fragrance and lifestyle. As a grooming writer you will have seen Adan’s bylines in GQ, Robb Report, Forbes, to name but a few. He’s about to embark on his own brand new project called ‘Blue Print’, which is going to be a content hub and community for all things grooming and will launch in the aut...
Aug 19, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 7Ep. 8
My guest this week is Nick Buckley, the Co-founder and Commercial Director at fragrance & beauty distribution company, Phoenix Beauty. Sales & distribution is a key part of the industry and a company like Phoenix Beauty acts as the bridge between the brands, the retailers and us as the end-consumers. Much of the work goes on behind the scenes, but it was fascinating to spend some time with Nick where he shed light on how some of the process works - the retail exclusive products, working ...
Aug 13, 2024•54 min•Season 7Ep. 7
Thanks for joining me for the ‘Man in the Mirror’ podcast. My guest this week Arnaud Poulain, the Founder and Artistic Director of French fragrance brand Les Eaux Primordiales. I recently spent the morning with Arnaud, firstly listening to him being interviewed by my journalist friend Suzy Nightingale at Harrods and then the two of us got to spend some time recording this week’s episode at a nearby hotel. Arnaud was in London to talk about the new Harrods exclusive fragrance ‘Ambre Supermassive’...
Aug 04, 2024•48 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Thanks for checking out the latest ‘Man in the Mirror’ podcast. My guest this week is Graham Clarke, the CEO of British barbershop brand Murdock London. I met Graham a few months back and had such an interesting conversation with him that I thought I need to get him on the show! If you’re a regular listener, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of the brand and I use many Murdock London items in my own daily routines. Graham talked about his morning and evening routines, the new products coming down the l...
Jul 28, 2024•56 min•Season 7Ep. 5
Thanks for checking out this episode of ‘Man in the Mirror’ podcast. My guest this week is self-styled ‘perfume author’ Jonathan Ward, who is founder of his eponymous brand, well known for exquisite home fragrance and now fine fragrance too. I first got a Jonathan Ward ‘Kartushya’ candle a few years ago and now and I think it’s still one of the best I’ve ever had. A room-filling, rich fragrance, aesthetically beautiful, a smooth, even burn and using only the finest organic waxes. It’s no wonder ...
Jul 21, 2024•47 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Welcome to episode 3 of the latest season of ‘Man in the Mirror.’ My guest this week is creative, designer, entrepreneur and founder of anatomē, Brendan Murdock. anatomē are a wellness brand and a contemporary take on the apothecary. The formulations and products support sleep, gut health, and emotional wellbeing and attempt to bring balance to modern lifestyles. The brand has just launched a range of wellbeing parfums with four available now and 2 more to come in mid-August 2024. Brendan has al...
Jul 14, 2024•40 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Thanks for listening to episode 2 of the new series! My guest this week is Austin Mutti-Mewse, the brand manager at the oldest barbershop in the world, Truefitt & Hill. The brand has served monarchs, prime ministers, military leaders and the great and the good for over 200 years. They are now based in the St James area of central London. Truefitt & Hill are known for their range of colognes, splashes and grooming products, as well as the barbering services. I was lucky enough to get my h...
Jul 04, 2024•47 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Welcome back to Season 7! Something a bit different to kick things off - I recorded this first episode in front of an audience of fragrance lovers at the world famous Liberty department store, London in June 2024. I was lucky enough to get some time with world renowned perfumer Pierre Negrin, the man behind Black Orchid for Tom Ford, many fragrances for Amouage and Ralph Lauren - and he has now created ‘Tudor’ for Liberty’s LBTY fragrance line. It seemed appropriate to talk about the fragrance i...
Jun 27, 2024•48 min•Season 7Ep. 1
My guest this week is, err, me! I thought as an ‘end of term’ episode I could tell you a bit more about me - and some of the products I’ve been enjoying recently. Rather than talk to myself, which might be weird, I remembered that I’m married to an ex-radio DJ, so I enlisted the help of my wife Ali to turn the tables and pose the questions for one week only. She also has the honour of being the first female voice on the podcast, ha ha! Huge thanks to Ali - she did a great job and if I don’t watc...
Apr 04, 2024•36 min•Season 6Ep. 8
My guest this week is Alex Oprey, who is the Marketing and E-Commerce Director at British fragrance brand Miller Harris. Alex lifts the lid on the creative process once the actual perfume is made. We speak about the task of bringing the product to life and inspiring customers to find out more - and then ultimately purchase! It’s quite a challenge, if the work is too enigmatic and vague it risks saying nothing, if it’s too specific there’s a danger it won’t ’speak’ to a broad enough audience. Ale...
Mar 24, 2024•1 hr•Season 6Ep. 7
My guest this week on ‘Man in the Mirror’ is Carlos Huber, who is the fragrance developer and founder of fragrance brand Arquiste. I met Carlos earlier this year when he hosted an event with Fiole and I knew I needed to get him on the podcast to find out more about the brand - and the man himself! Arquiste is the result of the inquisitive and thoughtful approach that Carlos takes to fragrance. It is definitely infused with his fascination and knowledge of history, architecture and historic prese...
Mar 14, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 6Ep. 6
My guest this week on ‘Man in the Mirror’ is Tajinder Hayer (Taj), the founder and editor of print & digital luxury mens fashion magazine, ‘The Rakish Gent’. I’ve always loved reading the magazine. Taj has a clear sense of his audience and he super-serves them with beautifully shot fashion, grooming and lifestyle content. Taj has South-Asian heritage and it’s important to him that the brand showcases diverse faces and stories - and that it is representative of contemporary Britain. So for ex...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Thanks for joining me for episode 4 in season 6 of ‘Man in the Mirror.’ My guest this week is Vesa Kalho, the Head of Beauty Buying for UK department store group, Fenwick. Vesa is originally from Finland, but moved to the UK over 20 years ago and had a long career at Harrods, working his way up through various retail & buying roles before his current position at Fenwick. Buying is an area of the industry I don’t know much about and always seems quite mysterious! Who better to lift the lid on...
Mar 01, 2024•49 min•Season 6Ep. 4
