Man In The Mirror

My guest on the show this week is Sebastien Tissot, the founder of Nissaba, a Swiss fragrance brand that arrived in Selfridges here in the UK earlier this year. Each of the fragrances combines natural ingredients from a single origin and showcases that area or region in olfactory form. The range is absolutely stunning and my personal favourite is a beautiful example of a patchouli fragrance called ‘Sulawesi’. If you get chance to sample Nissaba near you, I really recommend you do so!I had a fascinating conversation with Sebastien, whose previous role was Head of Sustainable Sourcing at one of the world’s largest fragrance manufacturers, DSM Firmenich, so he has a wealth of experience around materials and ingredients. When he started Nissaba he wanted it to be about doing good as well as smelling good. To that end, the company invests 5% of its turnover in supporting young people in communities of perfume plant growers, enabling them to put in place practices that are resilient to climate change and can adapt to local conditions. They fund young farmers and vocational schools in communities where they source ingredients and they aim to be a ‘positive-impact brand.’This also extends to the products themselves - Nissaba fragrances are designed according to the principles of circularity and essentiality. All components are either recyclable or reusable, and the quantity of raw materials used is minimal, to keep the overall carbon footprint to a minimum. Bio-sourced, recycled, and/or certified materials have been chosen wherever possible. Sebastien mentioned using hand cream, (natural) menthol toothpaste and Déclaration by Cartier in his daily routines. Nissaba is available in the UK in Selfridgeshttps://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/cat/nissaba/Brand website:https://nissaba.com/Also on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/nissaba.fragrances/- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -You can ‘tip’ me via the link below. This really helps me with the podcast running costs (it’s a costly business!): https://ko-fi.com/maninthemirrorYou can follow me @maninthemirrorpod on IG:https://www.instagram.com/maninthemirrorpod/On TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@yousmellgreatwhatisit————————————————————————————————Special thanks to Anders Sundberg for ‘Man in the Mirror’ sound mixing and production, Andy Goff @goff_andy for the artwork and Andy Gilbert (ATRX) @andygilbert_atrx for the theme music.

My guest on the show this week is James Read, founder of sunless tanning range ‘Self Glow by James Read.’ James started his career in retail, then went on to become one of the UK’s top tanning artists, working with celebrities, models and customers who wanted a healthy glow, applied using the best products.This lead to James creating his own brand using all the experience he amassed during his career. ‘Self Glow by James Read’ has a ’skincare-first’ philosophy and combines natural cacao with high-performance active and fermented ingredients. The formulas work with all skin tones and skin types. As we discussed during our conversation, I was a self-tan novice, but I started using James’ ‘Sunblush’ tan mist once a week - and it’s SO easy to apply, literally a few sprays on my face and I’m done. No lines, no weird smell, so I’m a convert :)https://www.jamesreadglow.com/products/sunblush-hydrating-tan-mist-100mlSelf Glow is available in the UK in - Space NK, Liberty, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Lookfantastic and via the James Read ‘Self Glow’ website.https://www.jamesreadglow.com/James mentioned the following brands/products from his routine:Medik8 - Vit C SPF, Hyaluronic Acid, Cleanserhttps://www.medik8.com/La Prairie - https://www.spacenk.com/uk/brands/l/la-prairieREN - https://www.renskincare.co.uk/Fragrances from - Diptyque, Byredo, Floral StreetYou can find Self Glow by James Read on the web:https://www.jamesreadglow.com/Also on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/jamesreadtan/- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -You can ‘tip’ me via the link below. This really helps me with the podcast running costs (it’s a costly business!): https://ko-fi.com/maninthemirrorYou can follow me @maninthemirrorpod on IG:https://www.instagram.com/maninthemirrorpod/On TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@yousmellgreatwhatisit————————————————————————————————Special thanks to Anders Sundberg for ‘Man in the Mirror’ sound mixing and production, Andy Goff @goff_andy for the artwork and Andy Gilbert (ATRX) @andygilbert_atrx for the theme music.

My guest on the show this week is Forat Al Haider, who is Creative Director of Ghawali, a fragrance brand from the UAE. Ghawali combines the art of Middle Eastern perfumery with a modern, niche touch, crafting unique, long-lasting fragrances that evoke a sense of elegance and sophistication. It is part of the Chalhoub Group, which is a family owned luxury goods retailer and distributor and is the largest retail operator in the Middle East. I met Forat a couple of months ago in London when he was introducing people to the brand here at Selfridges. I really enjoyed his company and fell hard for some of the Ghawali fragrances, particularly ‘4 Walls’, which has become a regular wear for me. It seems to me Ghawali represents a really interesting intersection of the Middle Eastern and European-styles of perfumery - and this is probably no surprise at Forat grew up in Sweden, was born in Iraq and now lives in Dubai! I hope you enjoy our conversation - and a special thank you to Forat for making time to do this from his office in Dubai.Forat mentioned the following brands/products from his routine:The Ordinary - Skin carehttps://theordinary.com/en-gbThe Inkey List - Skin carehttps://uk.theinkeylist.com/Kevin Murphy - Hair Care & ‘Doo.over Hair Powder’https://www.kevinmurphystore.com/kevin-murphy-doo-over/K18 - Hair carehttps://www.k18hair.co.uk/Ghawali Fragrances You can find Ghawali on the web:https://ae.ghawali.com/Available in Selfridges:https://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/cat/ghawali/Ghawali on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ghawaliofficial/The Chalhoub Group:https://www.chalhoubgroup.com/en- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -You can ‘tip’ me via the link below. This really helps me with the podcast running costs (it’s a costly business!): https://ko-fi.com/maninthemirrorYou can follow me @maninthemirrorpod on IG:https://www.instagram.com/maninthemirrorpod/On TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@yousmellgreatwhatisit————————————————————————————————Special thanks to Anders Sundberg for ‘Man in the Mirror’ sound mixing and production, Andy Goff @goff_andy for the artwork and Andy Gilbert (ATRX) @andygilbert_atrx for the theme music.

This week my guest is one of UK’s top hairdressers, Adam Reed. Adam has been nominated for Hairdresser of the Year multiple times, he has worked with superstars such as Madonna and One Direction as well as the great and good in fashion and editorial over the last 30 + years. He is also a brand ambassador for ghd and L’Oréal Professional. Adam has just launched 4 perfumes for hair & skin that are part of his 'Arkive Makes Scents' range. He is a huge fragrance fan and, in fact, has a ‘fragrance library’ as part of his Arkive by Adam Reed salon in Covent Garden, London. I’ve never met anyone that has such an encyclopaedic knowledge of products and brands and his list of favourites from his daily routines is probably the most extensive ever!We also spoke about Adam’s neurodiversity (he was diagnosed as having ADHD fairly recently) as well as the struggles he’s had with his mental health in the past. This episode was recorded in early November 2024 in Adam’s Arkive salon in London. I really appreciated how open and candid Adam was and I hope you take something from the conversation we had.Adam mentioned too many products for me to link them all here, so due to word count restrictions it’s probably better that I just list them:Marvis - Liquorice ToothpasteFenjal, Vaseline Intensive Care & AKT - DeodorantsEstée Lauder - Advanced Night RepairImperial Leather - Hand SoapSkin Rocks by Caroline Hirons - Gel CleanserKiehls - Facial Fuel range, Beard OilBadedas - Bath GelDiptyque - Tuberose Candle, Tam Dao FragranceMason Pearson - HairbrushCharlotte Tilbury - Magic CreamThis Works - Sleep OilSanta Maria Novella - Jojoba OilReome - Active Recovery BrothYSL - Nu ConcealerHaeckels - Various productsGloved by Tom Daxon - Hand SoapsBoots - Eye MistYou can find Arkive Hair & Skin Fragrances here:https://arkiveheadcare.com/collections/fragrancesThe Arkive hair products are here:https://arkiveheadcare.com/Arkive on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/arkivebyadamreed/Adam’s personal Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/adamreedhair/- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -You can ‘tip’ me via the link below. This really helps me with the podcast running costs (it’s a costly business!): https://ko-fi.com/maninthemirrorYou can follow me @maninthemirrorpod on IG:https://www.instagram.com/maninthemirrorpod/On TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@yousmellgreatwhatisit————————————————————————————————Special thanks to Anders Sundberg for ‘Man in the Mirror’ sound mixing and production, Andy Goff @goff_andy for the artwork and Andy Gilbert (ATRX) @andygilbert_atrx for the theme music.

This week my guest is Jun Lim, Creative Director and Founder of South Korean fragrance brand BORN TO STAND OUT. I met Jun a couple of months ago at Jovoy in London. He was introducing the brand to some of the UK media and I was struck by his singular vision and his mission to do things differently. It’s fair to say that South Korea is well known for skincare, but less so for niche fragrance brands. In just over 2 years BORN TO STAND OUT has made real waves, both in Jun’s home market and around the world. There are over 20 fragrances in the range, all in a bold (of course!) red and white bottle. There is an emphasis on gourmand notes, musks and ‘pleasures of the flesh’. Popular perfumes include Dirty Rice, Drunk Saffron, Fig Porn and Filthy Musk. See what I mean? This is not your typical brand, both in terms of the names, the aesthetic and the juice inside. Jun has created BORN TO STAND OUT in his own vision. The products are inspired by HIS dreams, memories and experiences. It was a real honour to spend time with him and fascinating to get a different perspective away from the prevailing (and my own!) Euro-centric views.Some of the products Jun mentioned were:Vaselinehttps://www.boots.com/vaseline-original-petrolium-jelly-50ml-10226343Baby S.O.S Cremehttps://www.ohfeliz.co.uk/penaten-baby/little-helpers-sos-cream-with-dexpanthenolAlpecin Shampoohttps://www.boots.com/alpecin-caffeine-shampoo-250ml-10081360BORN TO STAND OUT FragrancesYou can find Born To Stand Out on the web at:https://borntostandout.com/BTSO on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/borntostandout.official/- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -You can ‘tip’ me via the link below. This really helps me with the podcast running costs (it’s a costly business!): https://ko-fi.com/maninthemirrorYou can follow me @maninthemirrorpod on IG:https://www.instagram.com/maninthemirrorpod/On TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@yousmellgreatwhatisit————————————————————————————————Special thanks to Anders Sundberg for ‘Man in the Mirror’ sound mixing and production, Andy Goff @goff_andy for the artwork and Andy Gilbert (ATRX) @andygilbert_atrx for the theme music.

Thanks for joining me for the third episode in the new series (8.) This week I'm building on a wonderful conversation I had over lunch at a Creed launch last month with model and content creator Ben James. We happened to be seated next to each other and I found him to be so engaging and illuminating I thought I had to ask him to come on the podcast! Ben is a ‘plus size’/‘big & tall’ model, which he explains in more depth in our chat. He is 6’ 6 and has a 42” chest, so is not traditional ’sample size’. He models for brands such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Jacamo as well as cultivating a huge following (275K) on TikTok for his outfit advice and content about watches. Ben is also a photographer who has shot campaigns for brands here in the UK and U.S. Whilst Ben is now at a stage where he’s using his height as a positive force in his career, he was over 6 ft as a young teenager. Standing out - and the adverse attention that attracted when you’re so young had a real impact on his weight and his mental health, which he says more about during our conversation. Ben was a really frank, honest and articulate guest who made me re-evaluate my attitude to height and stature - and made me realise it can be a more complex and nuanced thing to deal with, especially as a young man.Some of the products Ben mentioned were:Cerave - Cleanser https://www.boots.com/cerave-foaming-cleanser-236ml-10246702#BVRRContainerHeath - Eye Serumhttps://www.heathlondon.co.uk/collections/face/products/eye-serumFjor - Hydrolytic Moisturiserhttps://www.fjor.life/products/hydrolytic-moisturizerSPF, Sea Salt Spray and Jade Roller/Gua Sha Penhaligons Helfeti https://www.penhaligons.com/uk/en/product/halfeti-000000000065188931Christian Dior - Oud Rosewoodhttps://www.dior.com/en_gb/beauty/products/oud-rosewood-Y0996414.htmlMolton Brown - Clementine & Vetiverhttps://www.moltonbrown.co.uk/store/fragrance/citrus-fragrances/sunlit-clementine-vetiver-eau-de-parfum-100ml/NMR342Ben is on TikTok athttps://www.tiktok.com/@ben_jjamesAnd on Instagram at:https://www.instagram.com/ben_jjames- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -You can ‘tip’ me via the link below. This really helps me with the podcast running costs (it’s a costly business!): https://ko-fi.com/maninthemirrorYou can follow me @maninthemirrorpod on IG: https://www.instagram.com/maninthemirrorpod/