Pitch Festival- Amsterdam

Amsterdam, a city of narrow cobblestone streets, wide canals, half naked women and a liberal attitude to soft drugs, a haven for style and trend of all ages. Being lucky enough to go and not only experience all aspects but having the opportunity to go to a festival in such a free spirited city was truly amazing.

Before departing for my holiday I did all the research on the best museums, coffee shops and even found that there was a zoo (yes a zoo!), to my excitement we departed only to get there and do nothing on my list. For anyone that has been to Amsterdam you know how easy it is to get sidetracked people watching, mixing coffee shops and a lot of walking around is not a good idea (top tip- know how to ride a bike before going it would save ALOT of energy).

Breakfast spot

Pitch Festival is rarely new having only started in 2011. It promises an independent mix of the most new and progressive acts in the electronic music scene. After hearing about the 2 day festival from friends who had been the previous year it seemed like mixing the festival and holiday together was a great idea, having a few days to explore and one full day listening to music, sitting in the sun and experiencing everything that the festival had to offer. 

Queues were long to get in...

The festival took place in Westerpark a short walk from Amsterdam city centre. The park itself was huge, and queues to get in were long but went quickly depending if you held a day ticket or a weekend ticket (the day ticket queue is easiest to push to the front of shhhh!). As soon as you entered you were taken aback by how small scale the festival actually is (compared to other festivals such as Reading), this played to its advantage making it more intimate and friendly.

Plenty of fun things to do...

The atmosphere was good all throughout the day, walk ways were adorned with fairy lights and bunting, wooden platforms were covered in bean bags and there was plenty of places to sit, eat and drink. The only cons were the weather got colder as the day went on and I stupidly forgot to take a jacket and that the process of having to pay with tokens bought with money instead of just paying with money got annoying after a while, especially if your prone to losing things like me. 

seating areas in amongst reeds...

walkways...

places to sit and eat...

The line-up for the Friday consisted of Massive Attack, Little Dragon, SBTRKT and more. All of the music was good in their different individual ways, showing the diversity of the music available at the festival itself. Little Dragon was a chilled 'lying on the grass watching the sky' atmosphere while SBTRKT was a laser show in a packed sweaty room, with a queue of 20 minutes just to get inside. Massive Attack being the headliner ended the day perfectly by being a once in a lifetime opportunity and a way to mellow out. Between acts we spent the time mainly wandering around, showing up to places only for everyone around us to leave and laughing at women with werewolf esq hairy legs for an hour (yes they actually exist).

SBTRKT

Massive Attack

In all I had a euphoric day of laughter and the constant feeling of being stuck in a kaleidoscope each time I took of my sun glasses. For anyone who loves fashion I'd highly recommend this festival as its a hub for Hollands most fashionable, depicting a different type of festival style to that of Britain. The only advice I have for future visitors of the festival is to dress to impress and remember a jacket!

my festival honeys, hope you had an amazing birthday Katie!!

(follow me on Instagram for more photos here)

'The Transition'

Have you ever been so excited for something that when it finally arrives it isn't as amazing as you initially anticipated? Thats how I feel about being home. After finishing my first year in Nottingham and hopefully passing (keep your fingers crossed!) I'm finally back in the land of excessive amounts of sheep and a language reminiscent of something out of a Tolkien book.

Before coming home I awaited the excitement on my Monty dogs face, seeing my family and spending time with my friends but if being a student was hard enough when I was living away coming home doesn't make it any easier. 

how can you not miss this face??!?!

Every student goes through 'The Transition'. From getting used to living alone to then moving back with your parents. From meeting new people from all over the UK each time you go out to putting up with seeing the same people you went to school with 3 years ago in your usual each week (Bunker smoking area I'm talking about you).

Don't get me wrong Cardiff is an amazing place to live but between working 2 jobs and spending the rest of my time watching repeats of 'Don't Tell the Bride' and 'Friends', the realisation that this will be the rest of my summer is sinking in. 

Poorly neglected my blog has lay for the past few months, only occasionally posting work from uni. I have decided for summer to 'pimp' it out, whilst working my ass off, saving for festivals and paying off my overdraft, I'll be posting my adventures to try and ease the transition period.  

If anything the first year of uni has taught me is to appreciate everything that has been given to me and not to waste every opportunity that has been passed my way. 

keep your eyes peeled for more updates xxx 

Fragrance Mixing

For my most recent uni group project we had the opportunity to mix our own fragrance in order to form our presentation around it. Before adventuring into the stacks of different scents, we compiled research into traditional Middle Eastern fragrance ingredients to appeal to our consumer of a 35-50 year old Middle Eastern male.

Traditional Arabic/Middle Eastern scents mood board

When researching into traditional Arabic scents we found that the role of perfume in Arabic culture plays a major role in religious ceremonies. The scents we established to be of most importance were wood based, rose and oudh creating a sweet smelling fragrance. 

Initially we found it difficult to mix the different notes together but after a few tries we created ‘ONE’ a traditional sweet smelling strong wood and rose based scent with a mix of citrus, tobacco and spice. 

Ingredients Used

Heart Notes

. Rose (rose floral)- 52 drops

. Orchid (orchid floral)- 30 drops

. Woody (dry woody cedar)

Accesory Notes

. Citrus (fresh zesty citrus)- 10 drops

. Spicy (warm spicy)- 10 drops

. Tobacco (aromatic)- 15 drops

Fixative

. Musk (animalic musk)

Harmoniser

Iso E Super (woody)- 25 drops

History of the Perfume Industry

Fragrance is a way of communicating without words, it can make us think, feel or react without ever knowing why, a major fact in the development of a new product or environment. Fragrance evokes a memory which evokes an emotional response leading to a reaction. In honour of my latest fragrance brief I have taken it upon my self to take you through a few points on the history of british fragrance, taken from a recent lecture held by guest lecturer Karen Gilbert (http://www.karengilbert.co.uk).

1920'S

. Emancipation

. Coco Chanel- Chanel No5 (use of alder hides)

. Paul Poiret- first to create fragrance

. Both still available today

1930's/40's

. Hollywood Glamour

. Wartime Europe

. Perfume a luxury

. 'Femme' figure of Mae West

1950's-1970's

. Mass marketing

. Estee Lauder- Youth Dew- made perfume accessible 

. Revlon Charlie-  Affordable

. Charlie magazine ads from the 70's featured the first woman wearing trousers in a perfume ad

. 60's a 70's mens fragrances 'Old Spice' 

1980's

. Money & Power

. Dior- Poison

1990's

. Zen & Spirituality

. New era for fashion fragrance

. Thierry Mugler- Angel- if made today it wouldn't sell

2000's

. The Cult of celebrity

. less about fragrance more about merchandising and branding

. Other streams- Fashion/ Perfume

. Lady Gaga- Fame- 13 million bottles first year

. Niche & High end luxe

. Kilian

Karen ended the lecture by stating 'Are you Vanilla or Pistachio?' Vanilla being a fragrance that no-one is either going to love nor hate, being neutral and appealing to everyone or Pistachio (the marmite effect) you're either going to love it or hate it, only appealing to certain consumers. 

London Research Day

After using Nottingham as our primary research location, we took a trip to London in order to gain a wider insight into the perfume industry by asking fragrance professionals a series of questions. This further helped to refine our research focus for the whole project to look into the mens Middle Eastern and Dubai fragrance market. 

Fortnum and Mason

Fortnum and Mason is a high end department store situated in central London. It is recognised internationally for its high quality goods, it has an iconic British symbol and has held many Royal Warrants over the past 150 years. Fragrance at Fortum and Mason brings together some of the world’s finest scents for men and women, including the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding perfume. As I wandered around the royally coloured upper room my group and I took it upon ourselves to ask a shop assistant a few questions to gain more of an insight into the consumer and history of the store itself. 

What is the age range of shoppers? 

We don't have an age range really, we're popular for everyone

What is the most popular fragrance?

1707 Noir, a unisex fragrance named after the year the shop was open

Do you have any exclusive perfumes?

Creed is exclusive to the store, usually Customers know what they want but have an idea of the smell they would like. Exclusivity is key, Scent is forever. 

What type of fragrance do Arabic customers love? 

They love a lot of Oud smells, the women love floral scents like jasmine and Lily of the valley, the men are the same but they incorporate leathery notes as well. Perfume is very personal and creates memory, you get to know the customer and what they like to help them try something new.

What would someone aged 19-20 buy?

Something usually fresh and light smelling.

Whats your most expensive fragrance?

Definitely Clive Christian, We have in store a limited edition crystal bottle with a diamond lid retailing at £250,00, a 50ml bottle would be only £450.

What is the cheapest fragrance you sell?

I'd have to say that some of the more well known designer brands in here are considered the cheapest a 50ml bottle of Chanel or Balmain for £50 is the cheapest you'll find.

Do you have a website?

Yes all of our fragrances' are available online.

Floris

In 1730 Floris Founder Juan Famenias Floris began selling perfume, combs and shaving products with his wife Elizabeth in the elegant quarter of London's St James. The Floris store is situated on 89 Jermyn Street and remains at the heart of the business and is still run by their descendants today. In 2010 they celebrated their 280th anniversary unveiling an '280' eau de parfum. Using their knowledge and building expertise handed down years, the eighth and ninth generations proudly continue to create exquisite perfumes. The interior of the store was dark and rich, I also conducted and interview whilst inside about the store. 

What is the age range of shoppers?

It varies, 60% of our customers I would say are middle aged/ elderly, the rest I would say are all around 40. We are the oldest perfume house in the Uk and carry that proudly.

What are the most popular perfumes?

Women love White Rose, Jasmine and the Royal Family flour, our most popular unisex fragrance is Saphiro which is a citrus scent. When the customer comes in they usually know what they want most of the time,

What days are you most busy?

 We have regulars who come in on week days, on Saturdays it's hit and miss. Some people fly out specifically just to purchase a perfume and vice versa, especially from the United Arab Emirates, places like Dubai. We offer the option to shop online also. 

What is the most expensive perfume you sell? 

The most expensive fragrance we stock is £15,000, it is the same perfume as the queen made the year she was born, remade for her diamond jubilee. 6 were originally made, 1 was given to the queen, 1 went to auction, 1 was sold in store and 3 remain here with us in Floris. It has a 14 carat chain and is a crystal bottle a vintage replica of the original with a mahogany box and quarter cut diamond.

What is the cheapest perfume?

All 50ml bottles are £50, Au due perfume retails at £95

Can you explain to us the service you offer of making your own personal perfume?

We do offer the option to create your own scent from scratch. This takes 3 appointments and costs £4,500. At the moment we are fully booked till Christmas, the most popular months for us are easily April to May

Penhaligons

Penhalgons is an English Perfume House established in 1870 by William Henry Penhaligon. The original shop was situated in Jermyn Street however it was destroyed in the Blitzings of 1941. The shop assistant inside was very friendly and gave a lot of information regarding the stores history and consumer.

What is your most popular fragrance?

I wouldn't say that there is one single scent or perfume that is most popular. In store we like to match perfume to personality so when a new customer comes in store we like to firstly sit and have a conversation with them to establish their personality.But if I had to say one it would be 'Artemisia' a vanilla fragrance mixed with apple. 

Who is your consumer? 

Mostly Tourists but we like to make sure that every customer that comes in finds the right thing for them. We done offer designer brands.

What are your views on unisex fragrance? 

Its hard to establish what to put in a unisex fragrance as fragrance is about what you feel comfortable wearing. Male fragrances can be feminine, there are no rules. 100 years ago men wore Rose, its all about how you connect with a perfume.

Who have you made fragrances for?

We established one of the first citrus perfumes made in 1902 for Winston Churchill's father. It was so popular that hotels collected the scent to be used in their rooms, its all about the smell. We also privately commissioned a fragrance called the Maharaja

What would you say about the Middle Eastern/ Dubai Fragrance trends?

It can be a slightly niche market. Oud is an arabic trend, we were one of the last perfumeries to follow the trend as we don't follow trends. We find now that Oud is a best seller at Ramadan. Fragrance is a big part of their world.

What is the age range of your consumers?

Any really, it can vary from 18-80 usually mothers and daughters. new things happen all the time but an older smell or brand can have a consumer intrigued.

After this day trip we decided that it was a wise choice to change from ur initial idea of doing a unisex fragrance to the ever expanding middle eastern male market.

Fragrance Advertising Individual Essay

Developing my writing skills is something which is a must for me, I usually find it hard to put words down on paper/screen that have 'academic rigour'. The latest task given to us was to critically evaluate a fragrance advert with a detailed analysis, I chose to look at Chanel 'Coco Mademoiselle' as it's one of my favourite perfumes. Once my essay was completed I took my feedback given to me from previous work and used it to improve what I had created, this included proof reading and using Harvard referencing.

'Unravelled'

I recently had the opportunity to walk in the Nottingham Trent University first year Fashion Knitwear Catwalk displaying my friend Shauna Mills first year body of work. Her first outfit was a draped orange knitted dress, accessorised with hand printed tights, hand painted Dr Martens style boots and black shorts, styled with wild hair and a simple net bow.

Inspired by a 'Tsunami' her second outfit embodied the chaos of the ocean with a hand knitted  skirt and top in deep blue accessorised with a bin bag cape, hand printed tights and wellington boots with various pieces of rubbish stuck on by hand. Styled with a netted head piece and huge hair, I had a great time and would definitely do it again. 

NYC Trend Report

From research undertaken in New York I created a trend report using most of my own images with brief commentary. When making this booklet I considered the design to be that of a fashion magazine and by visually tapping into emerging markets I have showcased common trends using stereotypical types of people found in each area I visited.

The feedback I received after informally presenting to a group was that the magazine inspiration idea was great as it showed I'd looked at resources for inspiration into my layout. The production and creative execution was good and I had observed links from location to product and style. Criticism is that I should maybe have used in store photographs to display visual merchandising of shops in each area of the city, I also need to proof read my work and learn to Harvard reference. 

  

Nottingham Research Day

"Perfume is a sector that drags down luxury"

Using Nottingham as our initial primary research location, we wandered around in our groups asking questions and taking photos of various shops which embody scent through all different aspects. Doing this helped us to refine our research focus and look into team priorities prior to our planned trip to London to carry out more primary research. Before we got started our initial idea was to look into unisex fragrances as from our first thought there isn't a lot around that is easy to find. 

We were given 9 research starting points then asked to choose 4 in order to help us refine what we were looking into

. Price

. Gender

. Age

. Story

. Trend

. Object

. Range

. Context

. USP

 Lush Nottingham were very helpful in explaining thoroughly that each of they're newer collections all have stories and are all inspired by various album covers one being by band 'Janes addiction'. Each single scent then from the collection could be mixed together to create one final body spray, making it easy for you to mix and match making personal scents for yourself. This helped us as a group to look into having a solid inspiration when coming up with our own perfume. It also helped us to think about maybe doing a set of scents.

We also went into various other shops such as Molton Brown, The Body Shop, Jo Malone and Kiels. All are on an equal price level and each shop assistant told us that all of their products can be unisex. This threw us off guard and we went back to the drawing board to think of a new initial concept before London.