At Henry & Co we are passionate about fragrance, and there is a certain nostalgia for fragrances during the Christmas season. Certain welcome home scents are those that take us back to our youth, of warm fires, Christmas baking, and the smell of the Christmas tree. Long, cold winter nights made cosy with fires lit, and candles burning.
All of our home fragrances are lovingly handcrafted in our specialist workshop by our Master Chandler, Jo, and her team. We spoke to Jo ahead of the Christmas rush, to find out what goes into creating a winter fragrance.
What do you have to consider when creating a new winter fragrance?
There are many different scents that awaken memories and emotions. Many winter and festive fragrances have distinct aromas attached to them, whether it is memories of a crackling log fire, toasting marshmallows, the smell of a fresh Christmas tree or the scent of freshly baked mince pies, most have us have special memories of this time of years.
When we select a new fragrance for our brand, it is important we have a balance of scents across our range that evoke happiness in the majority of people. At Christmas time we have fans of fresh, outdoor smells, we have people who love to be reminded of baking sweet treats, like gingerbread, and people who love the spicy, citrusy burst of Mulled Wine or the fruity punch of cranberries.
Adding layers to our fragrances helps each one appeal to a wider audience, so our fresh, clean White Christmas has an undertone of clove in it, to add a hint of warmth, while our Gingerbread has hints of Anise and Cinnamon in it to add a touch of spice.
For those who don’t understand what it means to create everything by hand, can you tell us more about what a difference hand-pouring makes to the finished product?
Hand-pouring in small batch production means we can quality check every product to ensure that every one of our home fragrance products is perfect. We take so much time and care over creating our products, I want our customers to really feel the love that goes into each one.
We can also control waste really effectively, which is important to us as we try to be as sustainable as possible in our production.
Do you have a favourite winter fragrance? Why do you love it so much?
My favourite Autumn/Winter fragrance is Black Plum & Rhubarb, a beautiful fruity fragrance that combines notes of juicy black plums and fresh-picked rhubarb with the sweet scent of peach and tart blackberries. It has such depth to the fragrance, and I just love its warmth and richness.
Which Henry & Co fragrance do you think most embodies Christmas?
For me, it is probably both White Christmas and Spiced Citrus & Clove. Both a quite different – one reminds me of fresh snow on Christmas morning (that’s the dream, right?), and one fills the house with the smell of Christmas baking.
