Plus read on to get our top tips on the best order to try our scents...
At Thomas Clipper we believe that the key to choosing a new signature scent starts with trying a broad selection of fantastic scents on the way you'd really wear them - not a piece of card, but on your skin and clothes. Enter the Thomas Clipper Discovery Set, a selection of small format scents for you to audition, one by one, until you've found your perfect match.
So you'll have seen above that we recommend trying two or maximum three scents in one sitting. But does it matter which order you try them in? The short answer is yes. Put very simply, we'd always recommend starting with a more subtle scent and then moving on to a bolder fragrance.
What does that mean for the Thomas Clipper lineup? We've had a go at putting together an example testing order for you.
Day One: Atlantic + Terra Firma
Day Two: Country + City
Day Three: Polaris, Coast + Mountain
Trying the scents in this order will help you to make some very basic decisions on what sort of fragrance styles you like, allowing you to eliminate those that you don't quickly and helping you get towards your signature scent.
Of course, there's no 'right' way to try scents. Improvise. Mix it up. Blend the fragrances together to create custom blends (this is something we particularly recommend - indeed our whole range was designed for blending and we offer a discount if you buy two full size scents).
Most of all, enjoy your Thomas Clipper Discovery Set!
Matt and the team
PS if you haven't already, you can get your Discovery Set here and if you're ready to upgrade to a full size scent, you can do that right here.
]]>A Discovery Set is a selection of several scents from a fragrance house. Here are three reasons its become a bestseller for most quality fragrance brands.
]]>Here are three bulletproof reasons why it's a bestseller for so many premium fragrance brands...
An increasing tribe of men today are searching out unique interesting and boutique fragrances. But these independent scents aren't generally found at the big chains so most people will need to venture online to buy directly.
A Discovery Set allows men to try scents that they otherwise simply wouldn't have access to, rather than committing to a full size bottle based just on the description (also known as a 'blind buy').
Most men love receiving scents as a gift, but choosing something unique that he'll actually love is a challenge.
Instead we're increasingly seeing Discovery Sets chosen as gifts, with the promise of an upgrade to the recipient's favourite scent in full size form. Finding the fragrance house in the first place shows a great deal of consideration, but by passing the final decision into his hands you're eliminating the risk from the equation.
Some of our customers also buy a Discovery Set, choose their favourite scent and then buy the full size bottle. This sounds like an awful lot of organisation! But given the fast delivery times on offer across the board these days, I suppose it's only a week from beginning to end and the payoff is a genuinely thoughtful gift.
It's not rocket science, but having smaller bottles is better for travel. Many people look at a Discovery Set as a way to take all their favourites along with them wherever they go.
So there you have it, the Discovery Set has firmly staked a position in the world of premium men's fragrance as the way in to a new brand. You can give ours a try today right here.
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When it comes to testing fragrances, less is more. Limit yourself to sampling 3, maybe 4 scents in one go.
Bombarding your senses with too many options will muddle your olfactory judgment. Sure, you might be able to pick out that fragrance six was musky and fragrance seven had a woody vibe. But your ability to choose a preference goes out of the window after scent three or four. Your favourite after a long session is unlikely to remain in the top slot after the dust settles.
The key is to try a few scents one day, then try a few more the next. Note your favourites from each session and when you're ready go head to head with a top two or three.
Sampling scents isn't a paper exercise—quite literally. Dabbing them on a strip of paper is like judging a meal by an Instagram photo.
Instead, apply the fragrance on your skin and/or clothes, wherever you'll actually wear scents.
This is another reason to stick to 3 or 4 scents max as you'll soon find them blending naturally on your skin and clothes. But in some cases, this is no bad thing (see tip 3...).
Be patient between scents and always wait for the dry down. A fragrance's true character, its middle and base notes, emerge over time, offering the full narrative of the scent's journey.
Finding it tough to pick between two top contenders? Mix them. Layering scents can be a revelation, creating a bespoke blend that's uniquely yours.
It's an adventurous path that might lead to a personal signature no one else can claim—three distinct experiences from two bottles.
Above all, seek out joy.
A scent that delights you is a scent that's right for you. Forget the fragrance pyramid or the latest trends. Trust your own nose.
If it sparks a sense of bliss each time you catch a whiff, that's the one. After all, the pursuit of fragrance is the pursuit of happiness. Enjoy the journey.
Get a Thomas Clipper Discovery Set here, support independent British scent creators and begin your own fragrance journey.
]]>Discover why Thomas Clipper has chosen Kickstarter, the renowned crowdfunding website, to launch their extraordinary seventh scent.
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Discover why Thomas Clipper has chosen Kickstarter, the renowned crowdfunding website, to launch our extraordinary seventh scent.
Visit the project here or learn more below...
Kickstarter is the preeminent crowdfunding platform and has revolutionised the way entrepreneurs bring their creative projects to life.
Crowdfunding is a way for customers to pre-order products they love at a discounted price, directly supporting the creators and helping bring their ideas to life. By participating, customers become early backers and get exclusive access to exciting new products before they hit the market.
Thomas Clipper has had several successful projects on the website already, from our very first razor project to more recent scent releases like Atlantic and Mountain. Terra Firma will be our 6th Kickstarter to date, you can visit the project page here.
More than just a regular pre-order, at the heart of Kickstarter lies the "all or nothing" model.
This means that a project must reach its funding goal within a specified timeframe - in our case just a couple weeks - or no funds are collected. In other words, it's up to you if Terra Firma gets made or not. Find out how we're doing at the project page here.
Kickstarter provides a level playing field, allowing Thomas Clipper to reach a wider audience and connect directly with supporters who appreciate craftsmanship and authenticity. It offers a unique opportunity for the brand to engage with a community that shares their passion for remarkable scents and sustainable production.
Kickstarter also offers customers like you the chance to secure exclusive access to Terra Firma at special Kickstarter prices, but they also become part of a community that champions independent brands and celebrates the artistry and innovation behind their creations.
Also of note is the format: creators like Antonio and Matt, the co-founders of Thomas Clipper, speak directly to you - the customers - in an impassioned video explaining why Terra Firma is worth your time. You can watch the video here.
Terra Firma launches on Kickstarter on Thursday the 15th of June - visit the campaign here to check in and to back the project.
The campaign will run until midnight on the 2nd of July, giving you just a short window to back this project and be among the first to experience Terra Firma.
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The Fougère Fragrance: Revolution And Royalty
The fougère style of fragrance dates back to the late 19th century, with the introduction of Houbigant's 'Fougère Royale' in 1882. This milestone scent drew inspiration from the French word for "fern," due to its earthy, natural, and fresh aroma. Traditionally, fougères are characterised by a harmonious blend of lavender, oakmoss, and coumarin, creating a distinctively masculine and sophisticated scent.
We know it might seem ironic that a country that removed its monarchy in a somewhat unruly fashion is now considered the birthplace of the most royal of fragrances. But there we are. History doesn't always make sense, so we might as well make sure it smells fantastic.
Enduring Popularity: A Classic Choice for the Modern Man
For well over a century, fougère fragrances have been a popular choice among men for their versatility and timeless appeal. Their unique blend of aromatic and earthy notes allows them to effortlessly transition from daytime wear to evening sophistication. The fougère's unwavering popularity can be attributed to its ability to evoke a sense of confidence and refinement, making it the quintessential choice for the modern gentleman.
A Coronation Fit for a Fougère: Celebrate in Style
The upcoming coronation of King Charles III presents the perfect occasion to don a fougère fragrance. The historic and majestic nature of the event calls for a scent that is both distinguished and enduring. A fougère fragrance, with its deep-rooted history and regal connotations, is the ideal accompaniment to the pomp and circumstance of a royal coronation.
City by Thomas Clipper: Today's Fougère for the Modern Gentleman
City by Thomas Clipper reimagines the classic fougère for the contemporary man. This quietly confident British scent features subtle lavender floral notes and deep tonka, making it a modern classic men's cologne. Handcrafted in small batches, City is grounded in tonka bean and cedarwood, adding a contemporary twist to the traditional fougère formula.
Having been recommended by British GQ, Wallpaper, and Monocle magazine, City is a testament to Thomas Clipper's commitment to quality and craftsmanship. The modern and refined scent of City is the perfect tribute to the time-honoured tradition of fougère fragrances, making it the ideal choice for the coronation of King Charles III.
As we witness a new chapter in British history, let the timeless elegance of City by Thomas Clipper accompany you. Embrace the quiet confidence of this modern fougère and celebrate the coronation in true regal style.
]]>Replica aftershaves promise to be just as good as the famous originals they're duplicating at a fraction of the original price, but can they deliver?
If you love fragrance, the answer here is easy. You shouldn't buy dupe fragrances.
Dupes reward copycats, not creators. Supporting independent fragrance houses is the way to ensure that fantastic scents keep getting made and that they're created in a way that's ethical and, frankly, interesting.
"Dupes reward copycats, not creators."
But there's a bit more to it than that. So, here's the full story behind the rise of copycat fragrances for men...
A "dupe" in the world or men's aftershave refers to a fragrance that is similar to another, often more expensive, fragrance. The term is short for "duplicate," as in, a less expensive duplicate or copy of a luxury fragrance.
A dupe fragrance is usually created to have a similar scent, but at a lower price point, allowing consumers to enjoy a similar fragrance experience without paying a premium price. They've risen in popularity as e-commerce fragrance buying has become the norm. Most shops are wary of stocking fragrances that advertise in a legal 'grey area' (more on that later) but online, the barriers to entry are basically zero - pop up your shop and away you go.
For that reason, dupes are often referred to pejoratively as 'knockoff' and 'copycat' fragrances, but you can also find them called 'imitation', 'substitute', 'reproduction' or even 'inspired by (insert brand here)' fragrances. However they're sold, the basic premise is the same: it's a scent you've heard of, available for a much cheaper price. Sounds amazing. Is it?
The quality of a "dupe" fragrance can vary significantly, but as a rule of thumb you'd expect it to be lower than that of the original fragrance it is modelled after. This is due to the use of lower quality ingredients and less expensive production methods.
While some dupes can be close in scent to the original, the difference in quality is sometimes noticeable in the longevity and strength of the fragrance. But where they really fall down is in the more subtle elements of the scent. How does it change over time? What are the more sophisticated notes that separate it from the pack and made it a star to begin with? In short: what are the things that make the real scent something special? The first sniff might be very similar, but most dupes fall down in the longer run.
Of course, it's important to note that not all dupes are created equal and some can be closer in quality and scent to the original than others, but you're unlikely to find a perfect match - not least because that would entering some legal hot water...
The short answer in our opinion is, probably not. Here's why:
As mentioned, to achieve their extremely low price points, "dupe" fragrances are often made with lower quality ingredients and production methods, which can result in a weaker, shorter-lasting scent or a more chemically development over time. But let's say you get lucky and find a scent you really like. There are still a couple reasons you might want to think twice...
Dupe fragrances operate in a grey area: they're not claiming to be perfect clones, but they are often using brand names to advertise their products. Dealing with a company that isn't 100% above board in their marketing and legal compliance is something to think twice about. There might be a small risk involved, like no longer being able to get your favourite scent if the business is shut down. Or worse, legal action might happen suddenly, leaving your latest order stranded with no recourse for refund and your personal details on a server somewhere, likely about to be auctioned off as the company goes into administration. This is obviously a worst case scenario, it rarely happens, but it's worth being aware of.
Connected to the above point, if a company is willing to play fast and loose with the law in its marketing, whilst also trying to keep costs as low as possible, there's a chance they might also be cutting other corners.
By purchasing a dupe fragrance, you may be directly or indirectly supporting companies that engage in unethical practices, such as using animal testing, exploiting workers, or not being environmentally responsible.
Supporting the original fragrance company doesn't mean you avoid these issues automatically, but if you do your homework you can at least get a credible answer on some of these vital questions and make an informed choice.
Not only that, but by supporting independent fragrance makers you're helping to support creatives - not copycats. This drives the production of amazing new colognes and aftershaves and supports the small businesses that make that possible. For us that's reason enough to avoid the world of copycat scent - and if you've got this far, we imagine you might well agree.
PS If you've reached this far we're guessing you might be ready to explore the world of non-Dupe independent scents - to start why not try our Discovery Set, pictured above?
]]>Not quite - your usual scents are here to stay, but it's true that many popular and niche perfumers are moving into new territories and concentrating their existing fragrances into ‘intense’ versions, or developing brand new ones to satisfy a taste for more extreme base note heavy scents.
Wearing an intense aftershave versus a regular one doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll suddenly start dressing like a Parisian intellectual or feel a yearning for experimental jazz. So how does ‘intense’ aftershave differ exactly, and why do we need to try it? Can’t you just drench yourself in a bit more of your favourite fragrance?
Not quite. Intense aftershaves are a deeper version of a perfume that uses less volatile components in its recipe to create less floral and more musky, woody scent. Using a deeper profile means that often these scents are more long-lasting fragrance and will see you through the day and long into the night.
Some perfumers are creating ‘re-mixes’ of existing classic scents, amplifying certain base notes and dialling down top notes. Others are creating entirely new fragrances altogether, focussing on a rich and heady experience.
So how does that all fit in with Thomas Clipper? While Mountain - our scent collab with Supermundane - might be considered intense or extreme, we're generally known for our more subtle scents. But all this talk of deeper and headier scent profiles has got us experimenting and we're going to be announcing something really quite exciting in 2023.
We don't social media much anymore, but subscribe to our newsletter to find out first... we think you're going to be excited about what we've got in store.
]]>Just because everyone else does something, it might not be right. At least not right now. Plus obviously Twitter has gone bananas.
]]>This was initially because two of us had babies in quick succession (hoorah!) and there just wasn't time. But slowly it crept up on us that we weren't really sure why we were spending any time on social anymore.
Here's why we started on social media in the heady days of 2014:
1/ it's a great way to have conversations with customers
2/ it's a cost effective way for new people to find you
3/ you have to, everyone does it
Let's start with the first point and say, it ain't necessarily so. At least not for us.
Most often we get replies to our fantastic newsletter or their order confirmation emails, and we have a chat over email. Sometimes when we want to get to the bottom of something we'll reach out over the phone. And of course, the on-site chat button is a perennial source of new customers asking - rightly - what on earth a heart note is, what Atlantic smells like and so on...
"But you've not been posting, so of course you don't have messages" you (rightly) point out. Fair enough, but when we were on social all the time it was the same story really, except when we had something really specific to get your opinion on eg on packaging design options. Even then, the response rate was better via our newsletter.
On to the second point: showing new people our fantastic fragrances. Now, it's true that if we spend money advertising our products on social media we see an uptick on site visits. But the return on our investment is nowhere near as good as we see on search engine advertising. So if it's pay to play, why go for the more expensive option?
And as for the organic reach of our posts, as of a few years ago there is almost none. To give you an idea, when we were posting a lot last year we got an average of 5 customers a week visit us from social media. Now that we never post, we get an average of 2. When we posted yesterday that we were likely going to drop off social for a while, we were apparently reaching about 6,000 different people. In the 24 hours since the post was made, we've had 3 interactions (including one vote on our Twitter poll agreeing that it was a good idea!). This is typical.
Social media used to be your 'shopfront', it was important to keep it fresh and people passing by would inevitably come inside.
If that's still the case at all, it's like renting a shop space down a dark alley. Somebody might get lost and wander through the doors, or stumble in late at night after a few too many beers, but are these really the customers we're spending hours of time posting for?
And when you think about it, it makes sense. Personally I go on social media to see what my friends have been up to and share photos. I never open Instagram to browse new businesses, and judging by our traffic from social media, I'm not alone.
So onto the final point: everyone is doing it.
Well, dear reader, as of the past 5 or 6 months we've been experimenting with not doing it and it's made no difference at all. Plus, just doing something because everyone else is isn't really what we're about. Like my mum used to say, 'if Simon jumped off a cliff would you do that too?'
Note that in this comparison 'Simon' is every other business and 'jumping off a cliff' is producing and posting regular high quality content on social media and... I guess I'm my mum? I think you get the picture.
In short: we just don't think it's working for us anymore. At least not right now. Plus obviously Twitter has gone bananas.
So we're moving from an unintentional pause to a more considered hiatus. We might be back on social, who knows. But instead of scheduling posts, we're focusing on our next amazing fragrance (yes this was a low key new fragrance announcement for the megafans!) and on growing our mailing list which is really the only place that we have meaningful connections with our customers.
If you want to hear from us, you can subscribe to our mailing list - that's how we're going to keep you in the loop about new fragrances, offers and everything Thomas Clipper. The signup form is at the bottom of every page of our website, and on the popup that I'm sorry to say works very well (even though, everybody hates popups, so sorry!).
If you ever want to contact us we're here - just email me directly at matt@thomasclipper.com - I can't wait to hear from you.
]]>You might have heard about boutique scents, small batch fragrance, handmade cologne and so on. But what is niche perfume, and why should you care?
First off, we should declare more than a small interest in the world of niche men's scent: after all Thomas Clipper creates some of Britain's best respected handmade scents for men. Niche men's fragrance means a lot to us.
So what does 'niche' mean in relation to men's cologne? It doesn't mean 'unusual', or 'weird'. It absolutely doesn't mean 'only to be enjoyed by a few connoisseurs or collectors'.
Instead, niche men's fragrance simply means scents that are created in small quantities. That's it. Sort of. Actually there's more, here it is...
As with craft beer, or handmade bicycles there are certain implications that come with small batch production.
People like us spend our lives immersed in creating meaningful scents for your enjoyment. We're not interested in hitting the 'lowest common denominator', trying to craft a scent that's as inoffensive as possible to the largest number of people. We want to evoke emotion and at the end of the day that comes through in a set of scents that are a cut above.
Don't believe us? Ask British GQ, Monocle, Wallpaper, The Guardian, The Telegraph and so on - just because we're small doesn't mean we're not making waves. Sort of like a tug boat, or somebody learning butterfly in a small pool, or a wave machine but a small one. Look, we said we were good at cologne, not aquatic analogies.
Small batch fragrances are just that: made in smaller numbers. So if you're sporting an artisan British cologne you're not likely to bump into anyone wearing your scent. You can express your individuality in your aftershave.
Even better, if you're shopping for a niche fragrance you're more than likely to find a signature scent that you can make your own. Something that you can be remembered for, that's utterly unique to you and that's going to turn heads. After all, you're more likely to get a compliment for a scent that's new to somebody than a commercial cologne they smell half a dozen times a day on every other chap that walks by.
Plus if being small batch manufactured isn't enough, the Thomas Clipper Unite range of City, Coast and Country are specifically made to be blended together giving you another layer (perfume pun intended...) of personality.
Handmade men's colognes are rare these days. By buying a real niche men's scent you're supporting authentic small British businesses. In our case, that's not just us (although, obviously, it is - thanks). It's also our box makers who make our packaging out of FSC certified card. It's our bottling partners who carefully pour each scent. It's our network of independent retailers who stock our products. And so on... each bottle is giving a leg up to a dozen small businesses.
On top of that, we make in small numbers and sell online only, which means there's less waste. We're not in the business of making two million units only to throw half of them away because the celebrity on the box is no longer fashionable.
We hope that's been useful, except the tug boat analogy which patently wasn't. If you want to learn more about the fantastic world of small batch men's aftershave we'd encourage you to have a sniff around our blog (yes, intended), or jump right in and try our Discovery Set to see what all the fuss is about.
]]>For many customers the main selling point of any Thomas Clipper soap will be that they feature our range of incredible men's fragrances.
Developed in Grasse, France, the home of fragrance, each of our bars features the original Thomas Clipper scents that you can find in our men's colognes, making them the only way to enjoy your morning shower with the same sophisticated, subtle and characterful scents that we offer bottled on our website and across the world.
Add to that our unique minimalist design and small-batch production and it's perhaps not a surprise that our first batch of soaps sold out just a few days after release. But there's more to our newest product line than good looks and world class fragrance...
At Thomas Clipper the first concern is always performance. So in developing our soap, our mission was to find a formula that cleansed thoroughly without leaving the skin dry, the holy grail in the jui-jitsu of soap creation. So to speak.
Many ingredients go into making a quality soap, but one reason that the Thomas Clipper formula is better for your skin is that it doesn't contain any Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS). Incidentally, many brands would say this means our soaps are in fact 'body bars' or 'cleansing bricks' or some other soap-but-not-soap name. We prefer to keep things simple and just call them 'soaps', but they are made in a completely different way to your normal mass market bar.
To go into the weeds a little, SLS is a surfactant - simply put it's used to make soaps lather, which is great because we all love bubbly soap. But it has the undesirable side effect of drying out your skin. Nobody likes the feeling of washing his hands with a bar of sub par soap and feeling somehow dry, even as our hands are dripping wet. That feeling is caused by SLS.
Of course you can't just remove SLS and leave it at that. Our soaps use lots of other clever ingredients to achieve superior performance without the drying effect. In the hunt for alternatives, there are minefields. We know you demand impeccable sourcing, so we've been as uncompromising with our material choice as we are with our performance requirements.
Our bars are all organic, meaning they've got a lower footprint on the environment. The palm derived oils used are certified sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
The question of palm oil is complex, and we'd be the first to argue that clear cut palm oil is overused in everything from food to cosmetics: as a rule, if it's not sustainably certified, avoid it. But if it's farmed sustainably, palm oil can bring economic advantages to communities in developing countries and, because it's such an efficient crop, it can be farmed with a lower physical footprint than alternatives. As such, choosing RSPO certified and organic palm ingredients was, in our opinion, the most sustainable option. We're paying a little extra and that encourages communities to farm sustainably, creating a virtuous cycle.
We know that many people use shower gels, but you might be aware that solid skincare - which includes soaps and solid body scrubs like ours - is on the rise. Solid products (instead of liquid gels etc.) perform better with less water or waste, and use far less CO2 in production.
All in, a study carried out by the Institute of Environmental Engineering in Zurich suggests that solid skincare has around ten times less environmental impact. Let that sink in: ten times less impact. Golly.
We actually emailed the authors of the study to make sure we'd understood correctly, and a representative sent us a copy of the study with the following statement:
"According to figure 2c ... the statement of „factor 10“ (approx.) is confirmed."
Well that's that settled. We love Swiss accuracy!
By working with small businesses in the UK, we're able to get the highest possible quality product. Each bar is slightly different, showing the marks of the making process and adding a personal touch.
More than that we're helping to build up local artisans and reduce our waste in production by only making what we need (this is why we are sold out sometimes on the site, for which we apologise - demand has been consistently higher than we've expected, but we're catching up!).
]]>Why? In all honesty, to explore the boundaries of what was possible for us. We've always tried to be innovative - we created the world's first men's blending cologne set - and stretch ourselves. So when we decided that our latest scent would be inspired by the North Star, Polaris, we wondered if this was even possible. When we realised that Thomas Clipper, a British fragrance house, could do so using the amazing capabilities of the British space sector, it became a no-brainer.
How did we do it? We teamed up with our friends Andy and Cameron at AltaRange, a British space launch company. We discussed the options and agreed we wanted to test the viability of sending a cologne into the upper atmosphere (we'll need colognes on Mars...) whilst doing so in a responsible and safe way. So this meant using an advanced weather balloon system which could retrieve the payload on landing.
Where did it go? Well it launched from Thornhill in Scotland, reached heights of around 30,000m before descending down on the east coast of Scotland: Cocksburnpath. If you want to check out the GPS coordinates (which are engraved on our Heritage Bowl, you may recall!), it's at: 55.900540, -2.417450
You can get Polaris delivered direct from space (or our warehouse... likely our warehouse) to your door. Polaris is available online right here.
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City for the urbanist. Coast for the sea lover. Country for the rustic. Mountain for the adventurous. And Atlantic for the globetrotter.
Most importantly, our colognes are designed to be blended together. That means you can create a combination to suit all tastes: whether light and sprightly or deepy and woody. Our Discovery set is perfect for that.
It’s why people keep coming back for more. So give him something special this Christmas.
City, with its subtle lavender and tonka notes, takes you to a stylish yet demure urban barbershop. Coast, with clean, mandarin and amber scents evokes more of a refreshing coastal voyage.
The two together? A brilliant party that fuses the best of urbanism with the joys of the seaside. If you’re thinking hip-Margate, you could be thinking worse.
Coast and City make for a "brilliant party that fuses the best of urbanism with the joys of the seaside."
The blend works because Thomas Clipper have chosen complementary notes: in particular, the heart notes - aka middle notes - are particularly aromatic and these help to gel together the freshness of Coast with the spark and vitality of City.
The amount you spray matters too: the more City, the sweeter, the more Coast, the lighter. Try it up. Mix it up. Become your own cologne mixologist and master your destiny.
The complexity that you can get from layering - or as we prefer to call it, blending - scents is enchanting. When we first created City, Coast and Country - the Unite Trio - we had layering and blending very much in mind. We thought: if it works well for women, why can’t it for men?
At the risk of patting ourselves on the back (but here goes), it turns out we were onto something. Mintel - the leading research agency - praised our Unite collection for being the first men’s blending cologne collection.
We were excited by the opportunities this could afford any man. Essentially, blending colognes given you the power to be your own cologne mixologist. Country is designed as a beautiful, deeper base blend, with hearty, woody notes. City has a sweeter, lighter air and Coast is thoroughly refreshing. We chose complementary notes - particularly around the heart, or middle of the scent pyramid - so that the blends would tie together.
Blending gives you the tools to be the creator of your own bespoke scent. You don’t need to blend every time. City, Coast and Country are designed to also work beautifully on their own. So if you’re in a rush and you know what mood you’re in, just go for a solo spritz. But if you’ve got some time to enjoy and experiment then blend away.
Try it in our Discovery Set. You won’t regret it.
Absolutely, says Grooming Expert Lee Kynaston, as long as you always smell better than the main and not as strong as the cheeseboard...
]]>Both Thomas Clipper’s Coast and Mountain, for example, feature cardamom, while City and Atlantic share a sweet-and-spicy nutmeg note, with the latter also incorporating a deliciously creamy hit of vanilla too. My personal favourite, Country, meanwhile, utilises ginger and black pepper to add a piquant zing and also features saffron which adds a slightly leathery, honeyed softness. So popular are ‘foodie’ notes in perfumery that there’s even a whole category of fragrances – known as ‘gourmands’ – which place edible notes like chocolate, vanilla and honey at their heart.
Wearing fragrance in a food setting, however, is an etiquette minefield every scent-loving man needs to know how to navigate. The appeal of fragrance, after all, is largely contextual and what works well on a date in a nightclub or bar, when you want to stand out from the crowd and make an impact, doesn’t necessarily work for a date in a restaurant – a place already full of exciting, nostril-teasing aromas and one packed with people there to savour their food, not your cologne.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t wear fragrance on a dinner date, of course, just that you need to be mindful of what you wear and how you wear it. The trick here is to smell good but not too good.
First rule then, should be to go easy on the application because applying fragrance is a lot like enjoying a fine wine: a glass or two will make you confident and uninhibited; a bottle and half, however, and you’re suddenly that guy talking VERY, VERY LOUDLY that nobody wants to be near.
Which is why it’s just as important to spray responsibility as it is to drink responsibly. Most fragrance experts suggest applying no more than 2-3 sprays to stay on the right side of intoxicating (if you’re blending your Thomas Clipper colognes try one spray of each). For a restaurant date, try applying to areas not exposed to the air – like your chest or collar bones – rather than your neck or wrists and the effect will be subtler (as well as slightly longer lasting) and will also encourage your date to get closer to check out what you’re wearing. Ideally, they shouldn’t be able to smell you beyond an arm’s length.
As Debrett’s A-Z of Modern Manners wisely puts it, ‘People don’t want to be able to smell you before they see you.’ They certainly don’t want to smell you over the smell of their starter.
You might also want to try matching your fragrance to the mood of your food so that it complements rather than clashes with your dining experience. Given their understated, minimalist freshness, Atlantic and Coast (or a combo of the two) would be great for a lunch date, while the spicy Country perfectly suits more exotic cuisine and Mountain has a more opulent vibe (think secret-assignation in a cosy, private, low lit restaurant booth).
Of course, one of the big pluses of the Thomas Clipper range is that the fragrances are designed to be combined, allowing you a more bespoke, individual to approach to fragrance wearing – a big plus in my book if you want to make an impression on a dinner date and don’t want to smell like every other man on the street. In a sense, it’s similar to the ‘fusion’ trend in food, where two established cuisines are combined to create something new - and even tastier - in the process.
One final suggestion, before I rush off to my own dinner date (wearing the sensual, smoky Country): keep your fragrance choice consistent. Having a ‘signature’ scent you wear on consecutive dates helps build up an emotional association for the person smelling it - and is especially important at the start of relationships when consistency, familiarity and reliability are fundamentals. Mix things up too much, too often, and you’ll come across as flighty and capricious. After all, when someone has a favourite dish in a restaurant they hate it when the recipe changes all the time – and you want to remain that favourite dish right?
]]>In a country like mine, where it might snow twice a year, there is no need for such a rich vocabulary and there is less opportunity to even notice the wide variation in types of snow.
What has this got to do with the power of scent? I occasionally write for my blog and elsewhere about men’s fragrances - colognes, aftershaves, toilet water, scents. I’m often struck by how few words we have to describe smells.
After writing a few lines about a product it’s hard not to start repeating words like ‘fragrance’, ‘aroma’, ‘perfume’, ’scent’, ‘nose’, ‘bouquet’ and (boringly) ‘smell’. Frustratingly there are probably more words for unpleasant smells like ‘stench’, ‘odour’, ‘reek’, ‘miasma’, ‘pong’, whiff’ but it’s generally best to avoid these when reviewing a man’s cologne.
Smell is so central to our lives that you’d expect us to have at least fifty words to describe different sorts of scent, as the Inuit do with snow. Those who suffered a loss of smell as a result of covid soon realised what a loss this is.
Not only is the world a flat, uninteresting place without its smells, but the loss of the sense means we cannot taste our food properly. The sense of smell is powerfully central to my experience of life.
How often does a memory of a person or an event come unbidden into your head when, quite unexpectedly, you smell a familiar scent that vividly revives a moment long buried in the deepest archives of your mind?
A sudden whiff can have the power of resurrecting detailed experiences of love, confusion, dislike, fear, greed, excitement and pleasure. A lover, long forgotten, is suddenly at your side again as his or her favourite perfume wafts by you in the street. The sweet aroma of baby oil brings back memories of childhood, of cooking sausages of an idyllic barbecue on the beach and of warm cedar-laden sea breezes a holiday long ago.
For me the scents of loved ones and family are most vivid. The perfume of the sun on bare flesh, the sweet scent of a little baby or the fragrance left by a lover. A vivid olfactory memory for me was the experience of taking my turn to use the bathroom in the morning after my father had shaved.
I remember the comforting creamy fragrance of his Palmolive shaving soap, squeezed from a tube and applied with a brush before he shaved with a double-edged razor. Mingled with this was the spicy Old Spice aftershave he used, in its iconic red container shaped rather like a small milk bottle, or that classic cologne in the turquoise bottle covered in writing, ‘4711 Original Eau de Cologne’ with its citrus clean scent.
The power of smell on the memory is incalculable. It can revive experiences and memories of people and places not thought about for decades. We can harness the power of smell by subtly using quality fragrances to ensure that others remember us. To do this it’s best to stick to one or two fragrances rather than diluting the sensory message with too great a variety. The memories evoked by smell are more durable and vivid than even a photograph.
Editor's note & shameless plug: if David's tips have you yearning to discover your perfect fragrance or start your own tradition, perhaps you might consider the Thomas Clipper Discovery Set?
]]>The moral of this story is: scent in the workplace matters - not just for yourself, but for those around you.
Fishy decisions in the office: to be avoided.
It might feel odd for me to start an article about the politics of wearing scent in the office with this example, but stay with me. Of course, I am aware that microwaving a fish sandwich and spritzing on a cologne are two vastly different things (at least, I hope they are).
What I mean to illustrate is that what brings you pleasure might not bring the same pleasure for others. Unlike many other situations where you apply scent, choosing a juice for the office should not just be something that makes you feel your most confident self, but also respect the olfactory boundaries of others who you come in contact with throughout the working day.
Your scent decisions matter.
However, rather than any sort of limitation of personal expression, I think that bearing these two factors in mind should help any person push the boundaries of what they wear and explore some new fragrance options that perhaps they haven’t thought about before.
The core difference between your work scent and, say, a scent you wear on a date, is that the latter is specifically to communicate a certain aspect of your personality to one other person. Your work scent, on the other hand, should communicate a broader overview of your personality to many people - above all, it should highlight that you’re a team player.
Workplace scents - a challenge and an opportunity.
Let’s say you’re the type of person that loves a big, assertive note like tobacco. A fragrance that mixes rich woods and deep spices with tobacco would be too heavy and probably too dominant for the office - it would fill the room, especially if sprayed on just before a meeting. A tobacco-forward scent blended with lighter, greener notes will be far more approachable, and still highlight the unmistakable warmth that makes the note so addictive.
Smokey fragrances might be a tough sell in the workplace.
That’s why, for an ideal office fragrance, it’s best to plump for something that has the qualities of an ideal colleague. It should be amiable and appeal to a wide range of colleagues, but also has an interesting point of view. These two things are not mutually exclusive, nor do they rule out wearing something you love.
While it would be impossible for me to recommend certain notes or combinations of notes for something so personal as scent, the best way to navigate work-based scent is with ingredients that err towards the light and fresh: citruses, florals, green and ozonic (aquatic) notes (editor's note/plug: perhaps the fresh Coast or the citric Atlantic might fit the bill?).
Aquatic scents work well. Important note: no fish are present in this photo.
Even if these aren’t the thrust of the fragrance itself, a solid base of crisp, sparkling notes resonate well with a broad spectrum of people. The presence of these notes dial down the seriousness of other richer notes and give an instant uplifting feeling not just to the wearer but to whomever the wearing might be interacting with, whether that’s shaking hands before a meeting or simply walking past in the hallway.
And that’s the person you want to be in the office: someone who both feels great about themselves and someone who can help others feel more positive about their day by simply walking into a room - not by leaving it to go eat your Filet ‘O’ Fish.
As many of you will have seen, we're running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of Atlantic, our fantastic new summer neroli aftershave. In fact, we're already at double our initial goal for the campaign, so thank you all for backing.
'Add-Ons' give us an opportunity to give you an even better deal.
You can add Thomas Clipper fragrances to your pledge at discounted prices and you will pay no additional shipping charge (because, as you'd expect, we'll just pop them in with your parcel). Brilliant!
'Add-ons' are visible right after you select your pledge level.
Absolutely! There are three simple steps to follow:
1. Get on Kickstarter
Visit the Atlantic Kickstarter page (make sure you're logged in to Kickstarter) and select the Manage My Pledge option at the top of the page.
2. Select 'Change My Pledge'
Scroll down and select Change My Pledge. Don't worry, despite the name you don't actually have to change your pledge and you won't lose any special 'early' offers.
3. Add Your Add-Ons!
Keep your existing pledge selected and hit the green button to visit the Add-Ons screen where you can add a host of fantastic Thomas Clipper products.
As you'll see when you log in, there are a host of brilliant add-ons available. All of our 50ml fragrances can be selected at some fantastic Kickstarter only pricing and you can also get your hands on our Discovery Set and a 2ml vial of Atlantic for travel use.
A fantastic excuse to get Atlantic first, to support our campaign and to stock up on some of our classics. Enjoy!
Any questions at all don't hesitate to get in touch with me directly - matt@thomasclipper.com
]]>
With your help, we did it! After just seven hours, Atlantic has been fully funded on Kickstarter. As far as we're aware, this is the fastest-ever funded British fragrance on the platform (please tell us if we're wrong)!
Thank you for all your help and support. There's still ten days to go so please keep liking, sharing and pledging.
Thank you! Team TC x
]]>What does fragrance sound like?
Well, not exactly answering this question, but in the latest podcast episode we were thrilled to talk to our brilliant guest designer for Atlantic, Rob Turpin, aka This Northern Boy. Rob's brilliant imaging of escapes, islands and new futures and lands has won him a legion of devoted followers, including ourselves!
And so for this podcast, amongst many things we asked "what song reminds you of the beautiful and complex neroli notes of Atlantic?"
Want to listen?
You can! We devised a special Atlantic playlist available on Spotify. So check it out now.
]]>In this new blog post series, we talk you through the process of how we've developed our fifth cologne: Atlantic. There's also an accompanying podcast you can check out whilst exercising, chillaxing or trying to ignore the kids in the house. In this blog post, we lift the lid on how we chose our latest scent: Atlantic.
Where do we develop our fragrances?
Grasse, France. The home of fragrance. Grasse as some of you might well know is a small town on the south coast of France near the Italian border. It’s full of beautiful cafes and bistros where you can sit outside and enjoy the sun with a nice glass of rose.
The Mediterranean climate isn’t just perfect for relaxing though, it’s also ideal for growing the fragrant flowers and fruit.
That’s important because throughout modern history the first step in making a cologne is finding the perfect raw materials and distilling them down to their essential oils. Grasse has always been ideally situated to take advantage of some incredible raw materials.
But what really put Grasse on the map was the development of technology that made distillation of scent possible on a mass scale in the 18th century. Grasse was the first to get there, and this little has been known as the home of fragrance ever since. Specialisation has made for network effects that keep Grasse relevant today, even when the tech and raw materials are less important than they used to be.
Put simply, that means it’s been able to attract the world’s best talent, a bit like silicon valley for tech, or Milan for fashion. If you want to surround yourself with the best people in fragrance, go to Grasse. And of course all the rose and Mediterranean swimming doesn’t makes it quite nice for a trip.
What's the process?
In the last blog post we discussed how we briefed our nose.
From Grasse, we - the Thomas Clipper team - received a longlist of six delicious and delectable scents to choose from; three amber, and three neroli-forward.
In short, here we test, try, develop, wear and get a "feel" for the scents. It's a bit hard to describe in words, so if you want to get a sense of how we debated the choice, check out our Behind the Fragrance podcast!
So what does the winning scent, Atlantic, smell like?
So for the fragrance lovers amongst us here, let's breakdown the winning scent. We use something called the ‘scent pyramid’ to describe fragrance. Made up of top notes, heart notes and base notes, the scent pyramid is a simple way to describe the different elements that make up a fragrance.
The structure is determined by the weight of the molecules that make up the notes: lighter molecules evaporate more quickly and so the notes which they form hit you sooner. They form the 'top' part of the pyramid.
Slightly denser and heavier molecules take longer to evaporate, and so emerge after the 'top' notes - these are known as the 'heart' or 'middle' notes. And the most dense notes which evaporate last, are known as 'base' notes.
Broadly speaking, 'top' notes are light and green in nature: citrus, green notes and aldehydic notes abound. 'Middle' notes tend to be more floral and aromatic: jasmin, orange, and lavender are commonly found. And 'base' notes are the woodiest: ambers, musks, resins and ambergris frequent this part of the pyramid.
So for Atlantic, the top notes are elmi, lemon and neroli, giving it a smooth citrus opening, and that’s balanced by a little cinnamon. That’s what makes it a little bit more modern I think. It’s clearly fresh and citric, but there’s depth to it.
The heart notes feature orange blossom, which for the observant amongst you might be a bit confusing given that neroli is also orange blossom. The difference here is about how the scent is produced from the blossom: in the neroli we’ve got in the top notes it’s steam distilled, making for a slightly spicier top note. But in the heart note we’ve got orange blossom that’s been extracted rather than distilled, giving it a warmer and more floral scent better suited to the slightly slower development of the heart.
Also in the heart notes Atlantic features nutmeg, patchouli and cedarwood, but they’re in supporting roles to that really beautifully developed orange blossom. They’re what ground the fragrance and give it its masculine heart.
Finally the vital bottom notes. We’ve got some really nice smooth tonka bean, a little vanilla which you only really notice right at the end of the day we’ve found, some vegan musk notes and benzoin, which is another warm balsamic bookending the elmi in the top notes.
So the fragrance heads amongst you will be able to use that to imagine a little bit how Atlantic is going to smell. But for the rest of you, in short we’re looking at a fresh, summery and classic masculine citric.
To be honest, for this time of year it’s a tiny bit out of place, but saying that there’s been a little bit of sun the past couple days and spraying this on you’re really transported to the height of summer.
We’ve gone with this one as much for how it makes us feel as for how it smells on a more technical level. It’s basically really optimistic, sophisticated and - well it just smells really nice.
In the following blog, we'll reveal more on the all important design process. Form and function, and all that...
If you've enjoyed reading this and want to hear the sound of our voices, check out our podcast 'Behind the Fragrance' now.
]]>In this new blog post series, we talk you through the process of how we've developed our fifth cologne: Atlantic. There's also an accompanying podcast you can check out whilst exercising, chillaxing or trying to ignore the kids in the house.
Why do we care about scent?
Let’s start at the beginning.
The first single celled organisms didn’t have eyes or ears. But they were able to sense changes in the chemicals in their environment so they could find food and avoid predators. This, in a nutshell, is what smelling is: though some magic that we only barely understand, we’re all able to pick up tiny chemical changes in the air.
If that sounds amazing, well, it is. The source of the word 'inspire' (Latin, obvs) literally means ‘breathe in'. Some of the earliest religious rites involved burning scented herbs, spices and barks - indeed perfume means ‘through the smoke’ and comes from this root.
At a physiological level, scent is unique. It’s the only sense to connect directly to the limbic system in the brain. The limbic system shapes mood, memory, behaviour and emotion.
All our other senses are pre-processed before arriving, but not scent. It goes in like a firehose, often leaving us in no control of our reaction. We’ve all experienced the feeling of being transported to a memory by a scent, quite by surprise. Or feeling suddenly ‘at home’ when we smell the scent of fresh bread.
Scents leave us with a memory that never goes away. They enrich our lives. The French writer Marcel Proust, in his epic seven-part novel 'In Search of Lost Time' published in 1927, beautifully articulated the power of smell to evoke powerful and distant memories. For Proust, the scent of madeleine cakes conjured an overwhelming sense of memory and nostalgia for his life gone by.
Subsequent researchers and scientists have tested Proust’s theory and and found it to be true. A study at Utrecht University in the Netherlands demonstrated how memory recall was enhanced when cassis was pumped into a room showing footage to participants.
This makes complete sense: we know what we smell and how we smell is one of the incredible human experiences.
How can a fragrance capture the magic of scent?
In this first post, we explore what it means to create a fragrance brief. This is the very first thing you do when creating a scent.
For us, it all starts in Grasse, France, where we develop our scents and this time, with a Zoom call with our nose there.
The nose, slightly confusingly, is an industry term for the person who develops scents. Or more precisely, the person who leads the team that develops scents: in most cases there are half a dozen people who have a hand in the development of our fragrance shortlist before we even get to sniff the first prototype.
We briefed our nose with the task to create Atlantic. We asked for two directions. The first was a sort of mid Atlantic deep water direction. We wanted a salty rugged feel anchored in a deep base note. For the men’s fragrance lovers amongst you, we were asking broadly for a balanced, sophisticated amber.
The second was drawing more on the origin of the word Atlantic: the straits of Gibraltar, the edge of the world as held up by the unfortunate titan Atlas. This direction focused more on that fresh, sunny and citric interpretation of Atlantic. Our references were mostly neroli forward.
If you’ve got no idea what amber or neroli are, don’t worry. All of these descriptions are so limited anyway that until you smell the scent you’re in the dark. But suffice to say, they’re fairly different scents. The amber is generally fairly animalistic and musky while neroli is orange blossom, so scents based around that are fresher.
Matching the brief to the range
The final bit we needed to add to the brief was that it had to sit well in our existing range. We’ve currently got four colognes under the Thomas Clipper name - City, Coast, Country and Mountain. All four represent different styles, but are joined together by the fact that they take classic men’s scents and give them a modern twist. So we wanted to make sure that the new scent didn’t step on too many toes, so to speak.
Brief briefed, the team in Grasse set about working hard to develop, refine, compare and shortlist between 5 and 10 fragrances.
In the following blog, we'll reveal what happens next...
If you've enjoyed reading this and want to hear the sound of our voices, check out our podcast 'Behind the Fragrance' now.
]]>
But as with all fragrances - whether men's aftershaves like the ones we make, or women's perfumes - there are a few simple tricks to make them last longer.
It's normal to get used to a fragrance over time: it's the reason we all remember an older friend or relative who has a particularly punchy perfume.
You'll likely stop being able to smell the fragrance you're wearing after a fairly short time - between 5 minutes and an hour - as your nose simply gets used to it. So before reading on, consider this: you might think your fragrance has 'run out' but the people around you might well be able to smell it perfectly.
"consider this: you might think your fragrance has 'run out' but the people around you might well be able to smell it perfectly"
That said, if you're keen to enjoy your own fragrances during the day, the simple answer is variation. Our Unite Cologne Collection is designed to be blended, so for example you could start the day with Coast, add a little Country after your mid morning coffee, and a spritz of City before a glass of wine to round off the day.
Alternatively, you could spray items of clothing as well as yourself. That means if you're wearing City but your scarf is Mountain scented, when you put it on you'll get a refreshed scent experience. Of course this works better in the winter, but for the summer the story is a little different anyway (see below...).
In the summer, the warmer weather means more evaporation and more natural body sweat as you cool yourself down. Both of these factors reduce longevity in fragrance.
The only real answer, short of enclosing yourself in an air conditioned capsule, is more regular application of fragrance - especially after physical activity or, perhaps somewhat obviously, submersion in clear blue seas...
As in Tip 1 though, you may well find you need less than you think: we all get used to our own scents remarkably quickly.
The cooler months present a different problem. Although fragrance lasts longer, it's more likely to be covered by various layers of clothing. Wearing colognes on your wrists is not likely to make much difference under a ski jacket...
The trick here is to ensure that you not only apply fragrance to your neck and wrists (or wherever else you normally apply your cologne) but also to your outer layer - whether that's an overcoat or a nice jumper.
"...we're all washing our hands far more often than we used to. So if you usually apply on the wrist, perhaps consider the back of the neck."
Finally a note on our slightly unusual times: we're all washing our hands far more often than we used to. So if you usually apply on the wrist, perhaps consider the back of the neck. This will let the fragrance develop free from constant attack by hand scrubbing.
If you're looking for a cologne that stands out in a crowded bar, it may well have very different characteristics to a fragrance designed to subtly enhance your natural scent.
Similarly, if you're travelling for 24 hours, your ideal fragrance may well differ from something you spritz on before drinks after a day at the beach. They're doing different jobs, and the only real way to work out which is right for you is to try them in context.
As far as Thomas Clipper's range is concerned, you'll find that our men's fragrances are more suited to a nice restaurant than a crowded nightclub or airport international arrivals terminal.
They're meant to be enjoyed as a subtle and layered scent, not to turn heads immediately or last for days. This allows us to craft scents that have more than one dimension, fragrances that create memories in the minds of loved ones and close friends. Which, in our opinion, is what it's all about.
]]>"fragrances that create memories in the minds of loved ones and close friends"
When we briefed our 'nose' (fragrance creator) in Grasse, France, we asked for something that evoked the timber used in our shaving range, the leather used in our wash bags and the fresh air of the great outdoors. Indeed we brought samples of our range of products to Grasse so that the scents we wanted to reflect could be experienced by our team first hand.
That said, Country was never supposed to be an overtly leathery or woody scent. Instead like all of our range we were looking for balance and sophistication. Inspired by, not directly reflecting, the ingredients that make up our range.
Nick Carvell, the journalist and fragrance expert, described the end result in evocative terms:
"Country brings to mind long summer evenings spent with friends away from the hustle and bustle of the big smoke - possibly with a pint of something at a tumbledown pub somewhere. The fragrance is subtle and balanced: vetiver, guaiac and saffron give add smokiness, while sandalwood adds a contrasting powdery effect. Ginger and black pepper bring fresh spiciness to lift the scent."
Creating a scent to evoke something as etherial as the countryside is tough. So it's all the more satisfying when we get customer reviews like this from Dr A Ward:
"Like stepping into a wild English garden at dawn, the morning after a violent storm. The air is crisp and fresh, sharp with the scent of greenery invigorated by the rain and a hint of spicy woodsmoke from the lingering ashes of last night’s warming fire."
Visit the Country product page to learn more and to buy direct from Thomas Clipper.
]]>The least a man can can do this year is make sure he smells his best. Fortunately for you (and, by no small coincidence, us) we have the perfect solution. Romance with free 2-3 day shipping in the UK? Read on...
]]>"the least a man can can do is make sure he smells his best"
So the least a man can can do this year is make sure he smells his best. Fortunately for you (and, by no small coincidence, us) we have the perfect solution. Romance with free 2-3 day shipping in the UK? Read on...
In our humble opinion all our aftershaves a look. And if you want to do just that, visit here to explore the whole range in our Discovery Set.
But to make things simple we've drilled down to two fragrances: City, designed to our most sensual scent and Coast, our most recommended by the publications that your other half reads (including two recent nods from Grazia).
We started the development of City as an ode to London. It had to reflect the city's style: magnetic, timeless, understated and confident.
"What Thomas Clipper has done with City is to make it all a bit sexier by anchoring the lavender and grassy aromatic notes with warm wood and spices."
Nick Carvell, journalist
We think it's the perfect answer to the question of how to make things a little bit more interesting on a fairly unorthodox Valentine's day. Learn more and shop City here.
But it's not your only option. Enter Coast...
As we mentioned above, GRAZIA UK recently featured Coast in their guide to Valentine's fragrances for men (after already having given us the nod in their Christmas guide - thank you GRAZIA UK!).
In their own words, GRAZIA go on to say that Coast is:
"a transportive fragrance - the salty, marine, bracing aromas give a real sense of escape. There is a real green, outdoorsy opening, along with mandarin, and cardamom. The dry down reveals more of the musky, woody, violet and ambergris notes."
GRAZIA UK
For more, read the whole GRAZIA article or shop Coast directly on our website here.
At this point it's fair to say we're all getting used to the new normal. And while we can't promise to make this year's Valentine's day as wonderful as your last trip to a Moroccan riad, or a Greek sailing holiday, or even just a glass of wine at a nice restaurant, we can do something.
At Thomas Clipper our mission this year is simple: to make sure the new normal smells fantastic. We hope you'll join us.
]]>"What Thomas Clipper has done with City is to make it all a bit sexier by anchoring the lavender and grassy aromatic notes with warm wood and spices."
Nick Carvell, journalist
Most of all we wanted City to project a modern and sensual masculinity, refined and sophisticated but unafraid to show some personality.
"I’ve not had the pleasure of smelling any scent quite like it on the market, which makes this so different and gives you confidence. Perfect for any occasion, especially date night."
Men's fragrance can often be pigeonholed into a one-dimensional territory, but at Thomas Clipper we think men deserve sophistication, complexity and balance.
After several rounds and refinements by our expert nose in Grasse, the style we settled on was a French classic, twisted. The final fragrance is blended in the UK with 100% organic alcohol.
Expanding on the quote leading this blog, Nick Carvell notes:
"It’s a fougère - which are a group of scents originally designed for French royalty in the 17th century to evoke nature. Today it generally means a fresh, green scent with a decent hit of lavender."
The thing that sets City apart is that this classic lavender fragrance is grounded in more masculine notes, adding a level of sensuality to the scent.
This balance of masculine sexuality with a modern sophistication is what makes City from Thomas Clipper so unique.
A fougère, made contemporary, magnetic and sophisticated, like the men who wear it.
Available now directly from Thomas Clipper.
]]>Should you look for an "all-natural fragrance", or is it better for your scent choice (and the planet) to go synthetic? The answer might surprise you.
]]>So perhaps that means you should be looking for an 'all-natural' fragrance? We think not. Here's why.
There have been amazing developments in scent science of the past decades that help us bring new notes, an extra level of sophistication and increased subtly to fragrances.
Using these new notes, we have the broad palette required to create transportative and inspiring men's aftershaves. Leaving them out of the mix would do you, and our aftershaves, a disservice.
Scents like ambergris and musks are perfect for making sophisticated modern men's colognes. But they're traditionally extracted from animals. So out of respect for animal rights, they're banned in their natural form in many markets, including within the EU.
Our fragrances are vegan, so even if these materials were available they'd be off the shopping list for us. But fortunately synthetics allow us to tap into these amazing scents while leaving the animals entirely free from the process.
In some cases, natural oils can be easily extracted from plants, flowers, barks and so on. But in others, it can require a vast agricultural operation just to create a few drops of essential oil.
This happens on land, often in developing countries, that could be dedicated to food crops or less intensive agriculture. Using small amounts of synthetics saves millions of gallons of water, pesticides and petrol. It's a small step, but one that's important.
We're not perfect, but we're doing our best to consider our impact and improve where we can. And we do have a preference for natural scents if they can be extracted with respect - indeed the alcohol blend that makes up a large proportion of our finished fragrance is 100% organic.
So where it makes for a better men's fragrance for you and a better environmental impact, we use a blend of the best materials on the market - whether that's natural, naturally inspired and completely new.
]]>- Our fragrances are Eau de Toilettes or, in some cases Eau de Parfums but...
- ...we call them colognes and aftershaves, because that's what almost everyone outside the 'perfume world' calls fragrances for men.
- If anyone tries to tell you that the higher % a fragrance has the stronger it is, they're wrong. Sort of. It's complicated. More below...
In short, not as much as you might think.
All of the terms above are more marketing than science. So why do we call our fragrances 'colognes' and 'aftershaves' interchangeably?
The below graph shows searches on Google for several men's fragrance terms:
Worldwide searches for men's cologne outpace those for men's aftershave (although interestingly that looks to be slightly shifting this year). Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum barely feature.
What cologne and aftershave mean to you will most likely depend on where you live. They both mean 'scents for men', but aftershave really only has that meaning in the UK and a few markets in South East Asia as shown in blue on the below map. In contrast, the red bits in the below map represent markets where people are generally use cologne to refer to men's fragrance.
As we're Brits (and love pho, except for Antonio who can't eat coriander... I digress) we do use aftershave fairly often to describe our range of men's fragrances. But as we're globally minded, cologne's what we've got on the bottles.
Very good. Yes, there's more. We've not mentioned the Eau de Toilettes (EdTs) and Eau de Parfums (EdPs) that perfume experts often discuss. So what's the difference?
It comes down to concentration or 'inclusion level'. The higher the inclusion, the more concentrated fragrance oil is in the product. In general EdTs have a lower inclusion level than EdPs.
You often hear around 7-15% for an EdT and around 15-20% for and EdP, but there are no hard and fast rules. Generally you'd expect something marketed as an EdP to be stronger and / or last longer than an EdT.
Cologne and aftershave have historically had a lower inclusion level than EdTs, although as you can see in the above graph and map, today both terms are used by normal people just about everywhere to mean 'anything that makes a man smell great'.
We design our fragrances to blend together so it's important they have roughly the same potency and longevity. You'd expect that to mean using the same inclusion level, but it doesn't at all. To achieve the same strength the inclusion level can vary by as much as 50% from one fragrance to another.
The goal is always to have a scent that is simple to blend, doesn't overpower and lasts well. Our inclusion levels sometimes tip over 15%, and are sometimes under, meaning that they could be referred to as Eau de Toilettes or Eau de Parfums.
To keep things simple, we just say cologne.
Relax. The important thing is to find the perfect fragrance and not get too worried about the technical details. To do that we'd always recommend trying fragrances on your skin, live with them a little while and base your decisions on personal taste not terminology.
And we have just the thing to help you make your choice (of course...) The Thomas Clipper Discovery Set.
So, less talk, more cologne. Or aftershave. Or EdT. Or EdP...
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