Richard E. Grant & ‘JACK- COVENT GARDEN’

When I emigrated to England from Swaziland in 1982, my first job was as a waiter in Covent Garden - which up until 1973 was the fruit, flower and vegetable market iconically celebrated in the opening scenes of MY FAIR LADY and historically, the centre of the Theatre district of London.

Nell Gwynn, orange seller and mistress of King Charles II was the first woman to legally become an actress when the King decreed that both sexes could be professional thespians. So, even though I was waiting tables, whilst hustling for acting work, I felt like I had landed in the right place. Annie Lennox first hit 'Sweet dreams are made of this' was the soundtrack of my days, and has proved auspicious!

As actors always receive fruit and flowers on Opening Nights, and like Opera singers, use ginger to keep their throats in good order, my idea was to create a scent that conjured up this fresh fruit, flower and vegetable combination.

With the success of JACK, which instantly became a best seller when it launched at Liberty last April, I've been able to pursue my dream of creating a second scent. I went to Grasse and voraciously sampled as many perfume oils as possible in pursuit of 'notes' that evoked and captured my sense of this historic district. Once again, I worked in tandem with 'Nose' Alienor Massenet in Paris who expertly refined my formulas.

JACK- COVENT GARDEN has top notes of orange, lime, and ginger with middle notes of rose, pimento and peppercorn, and base notes of carrot oil, Iris and musk.

Like the original JACK, it comes in an 100ml bottle and is 'sleeved' inside a vintage style Union Jack calico drawstring bag with a luggage label attached to personalise once opened.

JACK- COVENT GARDEN truly is my 'signature' in scent.