THE POWER OF FLOWERS

Forget the powdery, overwhelming floral fragrances of yesteryear – the future of floral fragrance is here. Beauty industry veteran Michelle Feeney shares the inspiration behind her blooming beautiful fragrance house, Floral Street.

How one woman is transforming the floral perfume market with her fragrance house.

As far as beauty industry résumés are concerned, Michelle Feeney’s is as impressive as they come. From launching Creme de La Mer with Estée Lauder, to transforming St Tropez into a multimillion-dollar company as the CEO, there’s not a lot Feeney hasn’t done. But now, for the very first time, Feeney is taking the reins of her own beauty company.

“I realised there wasn’t a fragrance brand that inspired women to be expressive, and gave them the option to … change their perfume as often as they change their shoes,” Feeney states. So, with the desire to transform perfume into an everyday luxury for all beauty lovers to enjoy, Floral Street was born.

“Fragrance means life to me,” says Feeney. “Smell is a very special sense, which informs our mind and body on how to act. It affects our mood and therefore is crucial to feeling good.”

Feeney describes Floral Street as a contemporary British fragrance house inspired by the idea of bunches of flowers rather than bouquets. “We are less formal – our perfumes are a modern take on a floral, which brings a surprising twist for everyone,” she says. “By creating eight fragrances based on moods, we’re giving the customer the option to express her mood that day.”

Feeney has ensured that Floral Street is affordable, so everyone can enjoy fine fragrance. But that doesn’t mean any luxury has been spared in the making. “Our perfumes are eau de parfum and have a 20 per cent perfume oil base, which means they last longer on the skin,” says Feeney.

Then there’s the packaging. With the beauty industry’s sustainability efforts in the spotlight more than ever, environmentally conscious packaging was non-negotiable for Feeney. Floral Street’s packaging is recyclable, reusable and compostable.

To help fragrance lovers understand what goes into each scent, Floral Street hosts a monthly workshop – known as ‘Scent School’ – in their flagship boutique in London’s Covent Garden. “It takes eight years and counting to become a nose, so we are not trying to train at that level,” explains Feeney. “We help you learn about the ingredients you’re smelling, where they are from, how perfume works. I wanted to introduce the world to the idea of ‘connoisseurship of fragrance’, like the food and drinks industry has helped the consumer be more expert in what they are eating and drinking.”

Feeney hopes fragrance fanatics will love the honesty and uniqueness of Floral Street. “The reason I started Floral Street with eight fragrances at an affordable price is because I wanted women to be able to experience more than one fragrance,” she says. “Women are amazingly complex characters, and we need to be able to express ourselves differently as the mood takes us.”

There are even fragrances for those who aren’t usually attracted to floral scents. “Jerome Epinette, our nose, has created modern takes on traditional florals,” Feeney states. “Neon Rose is, as it suggests, a perfume that smells like a rose would if it were neon. Black Lotus we describe as an English rose in a leather jacket. Florals as you have never smelled them before.”

Floral Street is available at Mecca Maxima now.