Cover Media – 31st March, 2014

Richard E. Grant’s friends told him his first attempt at a fragrance smelt like “dog breath”.

The acclaimed British actor will see his debut scent, a unisex fragrance called Jack, launch on Wednesday, April 2. He has ploughed his own money into the project as well as taking on all the PR to promote it. But before he took it out to slightly bewildered magazine editors, he tested his product much closer to home.

“I shamelessly had my friends ’round for dinner and tested them. They were ruthless. When people are having wine – and it’s not their money – they’ll say things like, ‘This smells like an old nightclub. This smells like dog breath. This one is like a toilet cleaner,'” the 56-year-old told WWD. “The final edit was something I had to decide on my own.”

Eventually he settled on top notes of mandarin, lime and marijuana – an ingredient he believes has only been used in three other fragrances. He is proud of the “early, sexy” scent he’s come up with, which also boasts pepper, clove, nutmeg, white musk and frankincense.

It’s been something of a labour of love for the star, as many industry insiders doubted he would succeed.

“I met a distributor who said, ‘You don’t have a chance in hell. Stick to your day job,'” he recalled.

Richard is famous for his roles in films like Withnail & I and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

He believes developing a thick skin as an actor has helped him when it’s came to ploughing on with his fragrance plans.

“Actors get used to hearing ‘no’ from a very early age. We hear it all the time and we have to learn to push through that,” he revealed.
Richard has taken control of every aspect of developing the scent. If this venture goes well, the star already has plans to expand his new line.

“I’m launching a candle and room diffuser at Christmas,” he added. “I have more perfumes in my head that I’m already working on. So if this sells, I want more.”