MEET THE TEAM
Sharing a deep love of fragrance and with years of experience in the perfume world between us, we are excited to collaborate on this onmi-channel platform to help share that love – via events, the podcast, website news and features. (And of course, On The Scent magazine…
Jo Fairley
Jo became Britain’s youngest-ever magazine editor, at the age of 23, editing first Look Now and then Honey. Co-founder of this website, Jo edits both onthescentmedia.com and On The Scent magazine. Author of 25 books, including the globally bestselling Beauty Bible series (with Sarah Stacey), Jo is a freelance journalist who has written for almost every major glossy and was for eight years Beauty Editor for YOU Magazine. She also co-founded Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate, with her husband Craig Sams, and remains a ‘Chocolate Ambassador’ for the brand. Jo is also an in-demand speaker, sharing her business journey and entrepreneurial insights.
The first thing I remember smelling... scented geraniums in my granny’s lean-go greenhouse.
The first fragrance I ever wore... Avon Honeysuckle. So pretty!
My favourite smell of all is... coffee. Ironically, I can’t drink it, but I love the smell.
Above all, perfume means to me... travel without leaving home, and treasured memories of lost friends and family who are reincarnated with a single spritz.
Editor
Suzy Nightingale
Senior Writer/podcast host
Suzy is a multi-award-winning freelance fragrance journalist and expert whose work spans countless leading global titles including Harrods Magazine, Condé Nast Traveller and Stylus. An experienced, engaging event host, she also co-presents the double Jasmine Award-winning podcast, On The Scent, specialising in matching people with their perfect perfumes.
The first thing I remember smelling... Tomato leaves, from the vines in our elderly neighbour’s greenhouse.
The first fragrance I ever wore... I must have been about six; it was a cheap mini bottle of perfume aimed at kids, purchased from a French pharmacy with precious pocket money, during one of our many boating holidays. I remember sitting on my little bed on the boat, taking the stopper out of the bottle and smelling… a whole WORLD contained in a tiny bottle! It blew my mind. I was hooked.
My favourite smell of all... the dark, shady heart of a forest. Or even a single pine tree. When I was little, I’d gather my cousins beneath a huge tree in their garden and make up stories to tell them. It was our secret den. And it smelled glorious. Pine needles, earth, secrets.
Above all, perfume means to me… it’s a way of making dreams a waking reality, isn’t it? Or at least borrowing them awhile. Perfume can be worn as armour or a disguise, it can make you laugh or cry, and it’s the closest thing to time travel we have. We lose so much of the magic we were entranced by as children, but I still have my mind blown by whole worlds somehow being squeezed into bottles. I hope I never get over it.
Amanda Carr
Contributing Editor/Events
Amanda is a multi-award-winning journalist and trend forecaster, with an obsessive interest in independent fragrance brands, innovative fragrance retail and gorgeous ways with scent. Passionate about helping people discover scent in a relatable, style‑led way, Amanda is also the founder of the hugely popular Barnes Fragrance Fair, which she started in 2022 to give independent brands a bigger platform from which to shine.
The first thing I remember smelling... I lived in Singapore from when I was about two years old. The first thing I remember smelling is the night food market that my mum and dad would walk to – me high on dad's shoulders – close to our little bungalow. There were hot fire flames cooking something aromatically meaty, lots of steaming rice and large glossy green leaves some dishes got wrapped in, alongside the dusty smoke from firecrackers and the musky aroma of lots of people. It was magical. I used to be given a newspaper wrap of warmed monkey nuts – freshly peeled – if I was good.
The first fragrance I ever wore... Being called Amanda and growing up in the 70s, I got given a lot of Aqua Manda bath oils, soaps and if I was lucky, the fragrance at birthdays and Christmases. Luckily I really loved the mandarin hit and I wish they'd bring it back.
My favourite smell of all... In terms of fragrance, this changes almost daily due to the job I do. Every week I'll inhale something brilliant and it'll be my new favourite fragrance, until the next week when I'll find something else wonderful. In terms of general aroma, it's the smell of my husband's neck.
Above all, perfume means to me... a huge adventure, one full of discovery and fun. What other amazing ingredients are there to inhale? What will our favourite perfumers come up with next? How will it make us feel? Imagine how DULL life would be without it.
Sharon Whiting
Business Development/Brand Partnerships/PR
A communications consultant by profession, Sharon specialises in the world of scent, helping brands both big and small to tell their stories. As empowering as it is comforting, Sharon believes that fragrance has the power to change the way we feel about the world – an armour for when we need to be strong, a cocoon for when we need to rest. Drawing on her PR and brand background, Sharon is head of Commercial and Brand Partnerships, and your advertising go-to. (Contact her: sw@sharonwhiting.com)
The first thing I remember smelling... Play-Doh – it must have been when I was at kindergarten and I still love it (the smell that is) to this day. In fragrance terms 4711 and Yardley Lavender Water both splashed liberally by my grandmother Diamant.
The first fragrance I ever wore... was called Apple Blossom and I absolutely loved it (it still exists!). This was followed by an Aqua Manda phase before I settled on the Body Shop's White Musk to douse myself in at university!
My favourite smell of all... orange blossom. Once on a press trip to Grasse I was sitting in a cafe and I was convinced that the smell of orange blossom was being pumped into the air. When I finally looked up I realised I was sitting beneath an orange tree in full bloom. It was magical!
Above all, perfume… makes me feel safe! If I have sprayed something I love I feel ready to face the world. I never knowingly leave the house without it and if I do ever forget, I feel a bit vulnerable!
Nicola Bonn
Contributing Editor/podcast host
Nicola was a radio and TV broadcaster for 15 years, presenting on Classic FM, Heart and Smooth. She was also the in-house beauty expert at Global Media. In 2018, she started the ‘Outspoken Beauty’ podcast which soon became the UK’s number one audio based beauty destination. In 2021, Nicola first interviewed Suzy Nightingale, which eventually led to them starting their ‘On The Scent’ podcast – and the rest, as they say, is perfume history.
The first thing I remember smelling... is the inside of my mother’s handbag; leather mixed with polo mints.
The first fragrance I ever wore... Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs.
My favourite smell of all is... my children.
Above all, perfume means to me... memories, power, self expression, the ability to shape-shift, freedom.