Barnes Fragrance Fair 2025 program photo Oli
The main take away from last weekend’s Barnes Fragrance Fair, held on May 17th, is that, happily, British perfumery is in decidedly great health. The main fair’s modest venue, a quintessentially English village hall-come-multipurpose space, was constantly fit to bursting throughout the day, with brands and excited fair goers alike spilling out happily onto the surrounding grassy parkland with blotters and coveted bottles in hand.
Set in the affluent, leafy south west London suburb of Barnes, Barnes Fragrance Fair 2025 is the event’s third year, offering a free to attend market, jam packed with independent British brands to talk to and purchase from and a selection of ticketed satellite talks, workshops and live podcast recordings. It’s the only event of its type in the UK currently and honestly, it was just a delight to see it all – the market and the talks, which were housed mainly in the local Methodist church – so well attended.
Consistent crowds inside the main hall Barnes Fragrance Fair 2025
“I had no desire at all to launch a fragrance fair,” offers the event’s founder and fragrance forecaster Amanda Carr speaking to the Smart Beauty podcast ahead of the event; “I just was in the right place, with the right skill set, knowing the right people, at the right time.”
Amanda Carr (photographed by Maya Glaser)
“It’s very, very important to me…” she continued a little later in the conversation; “I wanted [the Fair] to be as far from a beauty hall experience as I could possibly make it.” And it was, for hosting a fragrant event in such unassuming venues as these, just feels very normal, very approachable and frankly, very English.
Barnes Green Day Centre
A village hall is a place I’ve attended everything from weddings to underage discos, local council meetings, end of season football club presentations, village fetes and, most notably, ridiculously cheap plant sales. These buildings are there specifically for the community and they lend themselves to whatever needs be, which Amanda and team rightly deemed to be an expansive and unique celebration of independent British fragrance.
Eau de Boujee’s stand & Mabelle O’Rama (R) at the Barnes Fragrance Fair 2025
Exhibitors this year included brands like Beaufort London, Gallivant, Sarah McCartney’s 4160 Tuesdays, Eau de Boujee and Mabelle O’Rama – brands that we’ve been writing about for some time already here at ÇaFleureBon – but there were as many new discoveries as there were familiar faces. Scottish outfits Early Modern, perfumer Euan McCall’s Jorum Studio and Kingdom of Scotland were all intriguing highlights, with the array of wild fragrances proving that there is definitely something flamboyant and as dramatic as the scenery happening up there in the highlands.
Jorum Studio & Kingdom Scotland stands Barnes Fragrance Fair 2025
Jorum’s Spiritcask is a vivid, memorable, boozy vanilla, Boswellia Scotia, a subtle verve of incense and wood, but the faded floral Elegy proved most vibrant and haunting of what I can properly recall. Kingdom’s Portal, a well-named fragrance intended as a gateway to the Caledonian forest, was delightful company on my journey home through the back roads of south London, a purpled hue of mossy woods that kept catching my nose every time I raised my right arm to turn my car’s steering wheel to the left.
Olivia of Olfactive O (L) & Maya Nije
London based brands Maya Nije, Angela Flanders and Ostens provided modernist, classical and ingredient focused takes on fragrances respectively, with each offering something different but entirely complementary at the same time. Maya Nije’s Syren is a subtle peach and jasmine composition that caught my attention softly, in a room full of screeching senses whilst Ostens’ Impression Jasmine Absolute dewily delivered the brightest, cleanest dose of jasmine grandiflorum.
RNDL, a design focused home fragrance brand, were showing in a smaller, breakout room where they were quietly premiering their new fragrances. Midnight, a bolshy rush of fizzy amber and wormwood, proved to be something to revisit and research further at a later date. Olfactive O’s bold Floral Smoke already has a small piece of my heart with it being this strangely dense, leather clad, almost bready floral (that will be written about in depth shortly) but still, it was great to be able to shake hands with the creative director Olivia and chat, however briefly.
Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays workshop & assorted materials
As Amanda intended, this was entirely the point of the Barnes Fragrance Fair. Joining the dots between makers, critics and enthusiasts to educate and celebrate. The team organised perfume workshops (pictured above) where guests could smell raw materials in isolation and learn about the meticulous process of fragrance creation. Roja Dove ran his fabled ingredients masterclass, ingredient supplier IFF/LMR’s general director Bertrand de Préville joined a conversation exploring the multiple facets of rose materials and there were several illuminating conversations with perfume pundits like Suzy Nightingale, Persolaise and Alice du Parcq exploring their careers, perfume preferences and the blossoming male youth market.
L-R: Suzy Nightingale, Alice du Parcq, TJ Talks Scents, Persolaise at the Barnes Fragrance Fair 2025
It was lovely to put faces to names and stumble across old acquaintances. To secretly smell works in progress or to stand and smell the newer releases from 4160 Tuesdays whilst exchanging pleasantries with their perfumer, Sarah McCartney, whose Ginger Snap, No Mow May and Vianne’s Confession all offer delightfully eccentric takes on their forms. It really is testament to the foresight and drive of the organizers that Barnes Fragrance Fair proved to be so well executed and may I add well-needed.
– Oli Marlow, Contributor
All photos by Oli, unless otherwise stated.
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