About About Thyme

The inspiration behind this fragrance was a specific memory I had of being up a mountain on the Greek Island of Crete many years ago. As we were walking around, amazing smells were wafting up from the ground to greet my nose. Some of them were familiar but had taken on a different aspect. I could smell thyme, but it was thyme in the sunshine. The warmth was bringing out other facets of the scent, making it brighter and lighter. These smells, along with the warmth on my skin and breeze through my hair made me feel almost high. Looking back, it was probably also something to do with me being on holiday without the everyday pressures of life.

This seemingly nothingy experience turned into a core memory, so when I was developing the concept of Thursday Fragrance – scents that make you feel happy – I knew I had to attempt to recreate this experience.

To be honest, I was a little bit daunted about working with thyme essential oil – there’s a definite Sunday roast association to it! Which is almost the opposite vibe to what I wanted to bring about. So I needed to get it to smell warm, sunny and fresh. I think the bergamot really brought the sunshine out, and a tiny touch of lavender helped with that too.

After a long time playing and tweaking, I can distinctly remember the first time I reviewed this version of About Thyme – the final version. ‘No, not right. I’m done.’ I was going to give up on this idea, but then I took another sniff. And another. And another. It was strangely addictive. Then I put it on, and kept inhaling my wrists and feeling… well, really good. I realised that yes, it was a bit unusual but, it was giving me all the feelings I had on the mountainside. This is the joy of being a niche brand; you don’t have to be ‘normal’ you can be as weird, unusual and creative as you want.

It’s with this fragrance that I’ve seen the most extreme reactions. Usually good, very good, but occasionally bad. Last year, while taking photos in Crete an elderly German couple approached me and asked me if they could smell the perfume. A request they regretted because it was NOT for them, and their faces couldn’t hide it! That’s never a good feeling, but it’s part of creating fragrances, you can’t please everyone.

Luckily, I had already had two of my all-time favourite reactions to this scent. One that I can’t really repeat because it was very intense, personal and intimate. And the other was from a Greek friend. Her family come from Kefalonia so she’d spent a lot of time on the island. I gave her a tester of About Thyme called AT6 or something and I said nothing about it at all. No inspiration, no notes. This wasn’t because I didn’t want to influence her, it was because I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to say ‘This is what the Greek countryside smells like to me’ because I thought she might think I was a stupid tourist who had misunderstood her country.

Her response was immediate and visceral. She became animated and passionate ‘IT SMELLS LIKE HOME!’ She kept going back to it again and again. She said it reminded her of driving through the countryside in Kefalonia when she was younger. The sun had started to go down, the window of the car were open and the smell of wild herbs and flowers were coming in through the windows. It made her think of her first boyfriend.

If I never get another positive review, I won’t mind – this one will sustain me.

At Thursday, we believe anyone can wear anything at any time. But my favourite time to wear About Thyme is when it’s warm and sunny, it comes ALIVE. It lifts off the skin beautifully and it’s like it becomes one with the sunshine somehow.