Combining a passionate understanding of how fragrance makes us feel, though her years of beauty industry expertise, Rebecca Harrison has created a beautiful British niche house that truly cares about the people wearing the perfumes – and the planet we all share…
Along with passion for perfume and compassion about the planet, the real clue to Vines House Parfum‘s DNA is found in its name. ‘My inspiration for our unique fragrances and packaging came from living in both the south of France and south of England, surrounded by vineyards and the wine industry,’ founder Rebecca Harrison (right) tells us, explaining her observations that: ‘I found the parallels between the two industries fascinating, which compelled me to create the fragrance house with its roots in vines, both metaphorically and geographically.’
Is it just us, or does an idyllic, gold-lit landscape immediately spring to mind? We can see the sun setting over the vineyards, hear the clink of glasses and breathe the perfumed air. But Rebecca didn’t go blindly into the world of perfumery – she had seen first-hand the amount of work that goes into the creation of a brand, having already achieved a successful career in the beauty industry. She began her work in skincare, which ultimately led to fragrance, and planted the seeds of a new passion: to be a perfume creator.
Rebecca was certainly no stranger to the reality of both the perfume and the wine industries. ‘The process of developing both perfume and wine is a real artform,’ she says, and goes on to pinpoint part of why she wanted to create her own house: ‘While there are a lot of mainstream choices out there, a grand cru blend in wine or scent is much more refined.’ And thus Vines House Parfum was born, launched in 2019 with the simple ethos of ‘Wear – love – repeat.’
Love is central to all that Vines House Parfum do, in fact, for Rebecca traces her love of perfumery to her early childhood, describing intense emotional associations to her sense of smell in a tenderly lyrical way. ‘Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived life through scent,’ the story on her website begins. ‘This little girl who used to take comfort from the scent of her mother upon her school uniform, and spent hours creating flower water from her grandmother’s garden flowers and herbs, grew into a woman who associated people, places and emotion through her nose.’
It’s a story many or us fellow fragrance lovers will recognise: a particular sensitivity, not just to scent itself, but to the feelings it can create and conjure afresh whenever you spray a scent that feels indelibly linked to that person, somewhere special, a certain time in your life. And for Rebecca too, who says: ‘Key moments of our lives can be replayed through the memory of a fragrance.’
Very importantly, Vines House Parfum also embodies Rebecca’s love for the environment, too: the entire production process is entirely free of single use plastic and cellowrap. Instead, each glass bottles is encased in a ribbon-tied, wax-sealed wooden box (to still ensure it’s tamper-proof). And to underline their commitment to real sustainability, Vines House Parfum encourage you to return all your original packaging once you’ve had your final spritz, to refill your favourite fragrance at 20% discount off the original RRP.
When you do explore their perfumes for yourself, you will discover a treasure trove of overlapping olfactory sensations, and thus, each scent is named a ‘Story’ – because wearing each one feels like stepping into the pages of a scented story book. Shall you first fall for the subtle delights to be found in Natural Story, we wonder? A radiantly clean cucumber, pear and neroli-infused scent that brings to mind crisp cotton sheets and dappled sunshine, it’s a sparkling veil of happiness to wear when you need to feel unburdened.
Or perhaps it’s the Voyage Story you’ll be drawn to? An exotic composition that expands your horizons with luscious pineapple and jasmine atop mysterious, resonant woods and earthy oakmoss. Love Story, meanwhile, intrigues with a bewitching blend of velvety rose contrasted by ripe raspberries dusted with spices on a rich, creamy base.
So many stories to tell, in scented form. We’ve a hunch you’ll very much enjoy building your Vines House Parfum library…
