Fragrance Project | the photoshoot

A follow up of the creative concept; these are some of the mood boards we put together before the photo shoot, as we wanted to have a clear understanding on what type of tone we wanted to re create within our session. Pinterest was really helpful in terms of finding images that best displayed our brands aesthetic, and I made quite a few pinterest boards to display this. 

 Visual Inspiration one; Intimate without being cheesy

The idea of intimacy was a key aspect in our shoot, however we wanted it to be quite abstract. Skin, touch and body language was a main focal point within the photo shoot, and would be highlighted through composition, crop and shadowing. We followed this board the most as it best described the tone of voice we wanted to convey the best. During this we played around with different ways to show distance with body language, through the individuals not touching although they're together.  

Visual inspiration two; Props and Faces

Another idea that we played around with during the shoot was adding props and faces into it. As initially we didn't want any faces in the shoot, and to just rely on body language. We decided on bringing a chair into the shoot to show another aspect of intimacy, again without it being obvious. However during the shoot it was clear that this didn't fit the tone was voice we wanted to go for, so we ended up not using the chair at all. 

 Visual Inspiration three; intimate without being cheesy 

The concept of two becoming one, by leaning on one another without being overly cliche / lovey dovey. We liked how these images where quite abstract as you can see from the mood board. We played around with this concept a lot in the photo shoot, and in the end most of our photographs came out quite abstract. 

Thanks for reading!
-Chrissy X 

Fragrance Project | creative concept

As a brand, most of our inspiration steamed from various fashion photographers as well as artists. key point within this was creative direction, and from the start we were very clear on what tone of voice we wanted to convey through the images we would produce. It was vital we payed attention to the type of creative direction route we went down, since are ads focus couples we didn’t want to go down a cliche route; and something more abstract. A photographer we were heavily influenced by was Herb Ritts, particularly with his use of abstract imagery, and being able to photographs individuals without being over the top, yet high glamour. We felt like his style was very visually pleasing, which is something we wanted to reflect in our final press ads. Rene Magritte’s painting, the lovers was also inspirational as it represented love without focusing on identity, which we thought would be a good reflection of a variations of couples.

The aesthetic of contrasting skin tones and the use of close up body parts was necessary to our photo shoot. We felt that this would represent a modern interpretation of a couple, and thought this would work well with the brands colour palette; black and white. The use of the body parts was to convey a sense of intimacy and connection between the lovers, but in a subtle way. Shown through composition, shadowing and close ups of the sweat on their bodies. We thought the images where strong with its original layout, another the ad can lead to various interpretations we thought it by keeping the consumer hooked; would want them to find more about the brand and the brands experience. Overall, we wanted to create our brand message through our press ads, and leaving the consumer wanting to know more about the brand and its experience.

- Chrissy X  

Fragrance Project | the brand

As mentioned in another post, for the last term of university we where working towards coming up with a fragrance brand; which required us to create a new brand in the highly competitive fragrance market. 

After gathering various insights, primary research as well as identifying what the gap in the market was. This is where You, Me Us is born. I came up with this concept as the idea of a long distance is nothing new to me, I already know the hardships of this and thought it would be interesting as a concept, as I haven't really seen any products that's concept is based around long distances. 

As a brand the basis of our concept is to bring lovers together despite distance with scent. The concept of long distance relationships is becoming a norm of modern society, so it seems like the right time to produce a product that celebrates the hardships of long distance relationships. You, Me and Us is created by lovers to embody one another’s natural aroma. Since scent is integral to intimacy, as a brand we want to reinforce the luxury of being able to wear a scent that reminds you of your lover. Through primary research we noticed the lack of fragrances that are experienced focused and involve the consumer;  So this is where the You, Me Us experience is introduced. A fragrance making class for couples, which invites the consumers to spend the day with their partners creating a fragrance that is personal to one another. Him created by Her, a scent reminiscent of him and vise vera. The couple is then welcomed to make a third fragrance – Us. An aroma that evokes nostalgia like a first date. These various of scents can be made into multiple things like; perfumes, oils and creams. The experience will take on a very informal approach, and will also allow couples to share their experiences of being in a long-distance relationship. It will have a workshop type feel, and the interior will represent the aesthetic of the brand. As a brand, we fit on the high-end market, we felt that most couple based fragrances where very cliché, which wouldn’t suit our concept of the consumer’s needs and wants. Our brands aesthetic is very monochrome, but a touch of delicacy is seen through the script like writing in the logo, to highlight intimacy. 

- Chrissy x 

#fcptuesday

Just a really quick post today, in one of my seminars last Tuesdays titled - fcp tuesday we were given a short activity to do by one of the tutors. Since our fragrance photo shoots are soon, throughout the week the perspective of photography and just photography on a whole has been a main feature within our lectures. 
We where given around twenty minutes or so to walk around the building and photographs from different perspectives, which I thought was quite insightful as it allowed us to view everyday situations that are often missed, in a different perspective. Here are some of the photographs that I took, I didn't want to focus too much on making an image 'perfect' and went for a more candid approach, seen particularly through the last photograph when my friend abruptly walked past whilst I was taking the photograph - nice touch if I say so myself. 

My favourite photo would definitely would have to be the first one, seeing as the photograph has been seen through the perspective of a iphone.

- Thanks for Reading!

Chrissy X 

in conversation with alexandra shulman

Last Wednesday I was very lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend a Q&A like lecture with the one and only Alexandra Shulman, the current editor and chief of British Vogue. Within this lengthy and very inspiring session, Alexandra gave insight to her experience in the industry and what she'll miss and wont miss about working for Vogue. 

Alexandra began her budding career at vogue 25 years ago, which is absolutely insane to think since I wasn't even alive at that time. During this time, this modern day girl boss has celebrated the 100th year anniversary of Vogue, and wrote the book; inside Vogue; a dairy of my 100th year. 

Throughout the session Alexandra touched upon various topics, and we where even given the chance to ask her all of our burning questions..

T R E N D : the mini bag

With an array of different spring/summer trends populating the likes of every social media platform, I thought I would dedicate this post solely to my by far favourite trend at the moment; The Mini Bag. This trend has assured me that good things do come in small packages after all. Though the least practical of items due to their miniature structure, they definitely have been cutest arm / shoulder candy. The Mini bag made quite a few sneaky appearances on various S/S shows where designers downsized their bags, styled with both extravagant as well as minimal outfits; showcasing the Mini bags versatility whatever the shape or design. Although it's always been a fashion favourite for fashion brands over the years, brands such as Chanel, Valentine and Chloe have put their own spin onto things, jazzing up their own interpretation of this big trend. Valentino vision saw lipstick cases being worn round the body, Chanel used made a bag look like a miniature robot, as for Prada, a plush fur was blended with a bright pop printed leather. 


I've always been a bag kind of gal, so the mini bag trend was something that I was 100% for. Likewise with any other accessories I find them to be very versatile in terms of dressing up or down an outfit, depending on the type of bag purchased of course. I tend to find myself gravitating to mini bags that are brightly coloured, have a textured body and feature some sort of embroidery on it: seeing as I normally like to wear them to dress up an outfit. Since I've been sucked into this trend, and frantically adding thousands of mini bags to my wish lists it's pretty safe to say that this trend, isn't going to die down anytime soon. Although you can fit as little as some loose change, and hopefully an iphone I guess it's worth carrying a mini bag around if it isn't practical, but even when practically is necessary, the bag certainty better be stylish. 

It's no surprise that many A-lists celebrities too have supporting this playful trend, my favourite take on the trend was when Rihanna wore the Louis Vuitton palm springs mini backpack, completing her tone down outfit extremely well. I've also shared my favorite street style photography looks with how various different individuals have worn the Mini Bag to fit their own aesthetic. Thanks to Pinterest I've been pinning so many different Mini bags from past runways, which probably isn't the best; but no one can have enough bags. 

Thanks for reading & stay tuned for another trend post! 

Chrissy X 

gucci x meme?

The whole Gucci x meme appeared on my instagram feed around three weeks ago, although I'm slightly late to this Meme party, I still thought I'd write up a short post around this unexpected form of advertising. 
First things first I love Memes. I was firstly introduced to the wonderful world of memes through twitter, they're random, wacky, and weirdly relatable on some levels. I believe the art of memes are able to uphold as well as express feelings that are sometimes better said through images; followed by a short witty caption that has little to no content, but almost 9/10 hilarious. 

My favourite memes are possibly the Arhur fist, the "white guy blinking meme" and not forgetting the Kermit the from ones. Memes are pretty much in every situations, feeling down? a meme will probably sum up your current feeling pretty well. I particularly like to use this when I'm too lazy to type out my emotions, or for it to support how i'm feeling. So if I'm happy, a random meme of a guy dancing will probably be supported with this current emotion. Similar to emoji's in a way, but these moving images are often taken from pretty much anything, from cartoon's or a live stream. If it's funny someones bound to record that 30 second clip, and make it into a meme. 

fragrance story | what have I found out so far?

I’m around eight weeks in, into starting my brief at university and it’s already going about 50miles per hour, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to play catch up and document the things that have happened throughout the past eight weeks. This new brief has many similarities with the first brief, it’s broken down into four tasks with are either individual or in a group off three individuals including myself. Group work isn’t exactly my favourite thing in the whole wide world, but so far, it’s been good (touch wood). Within this particular brief, we are required to “create a brand In a highly competitive fragrance market”. Whether it’s a typical fragrance, or even a washing detergent it has to be linked to fragrance in some sort of way. Initially reading through the brief It appeared to be quite daunting yet I was quite excited to be able to have an insight to this multi-billion-pound industry.

(credit to original artist) 

Before I dived into this brief head first I wanted to ask myself what fragrance was to me personally. I never really questioned the industry so my fragrance story had already started off quite small, and well pretty much non-existent. I first got my high-end perfume for my birthday a year ago, Love story by Chloe was something I wanted to keep forever. Easily perfume connotes such femininity and power often advertised through sleek packaging or print advertising. I often gravitate to pretty adverts often with the use of strong qualities like a black and white filter, direct mode of address or it being relatable to me personally. Here are a couple of my favourite print advertisements. 

So far from my personal research, I have found that the perfume industry is basically fashion's cash cow which initially making high end fashion brands push their prices higher than before, providing a quick consumer response make them more eager to go out and purchase these brands due to trends and popularity. The niche market has definitely been one to watch, with it being a popular trend this season many brands are creating expensive / limited versions of trends in which swarm in a mass yet loyal consumer who is ready to buy it, as once it's gone its gone. Whilst venturing out in Nottingham into perfume shops / department stores, one of the sales women in Jo Malone had told me that they do this with the limited edition "Bloomsbury" set which sells out quickly, alongside some off their other products like advent calendars which some people pre order early on. I'm particular excited for the next part of the brief, where we get to unravel our own ideas and coming up with a prominent brand idenfity for our fragrance.

Thanks for reading

Chrissy x 

C R O P P E D

I've been at University for around 6ish months, and I really haven't been utilizing the space I've been living in, I often forget how easy it can be to be your own photographer in that sense and have your own mini "photoshoot" session. A long, tedious yet inspirational lecture later I ran home, balanced my phone awkwardly on my makeup box, set up my phone timer and posed within the 3 second time frame. I'm pretty sure the builders outside had a right laugh seeing my leg randomly propped in the air, in order for me to show you all my cropped jeans; which didn't exactly work.

milan fashion week love

I’ve been scrolling through Instagram quite frequently this week (as usual) and have seen a whole assortment of snaps from Milan Fashion Week; fascinated by the variety on the Catwalks I took myself to Vogue.com to have a more in depth insight to the different collections, and branch out and look at more unknown / smaller designers, unlike my usual favourite designers.

Firstly I was captivated by the Versace show – it was very visually pleasing and I loved the use of bold, flamboyant colours like neon blue, oranges and yellows; which worked well with the heavy eye makeup, funky hair extensions and edgy shoe choice. 

 "This is a collection about the power of women, and women who know how to use their power,” - “It is a call for unity, and the strength that comes from positivity and hope." 

The enforcement of feminism was highlighted through the whole collection, with words such as loyalty, equal, unity branded across beanies, shirt collars and body con athletic tops.

I always find it inspiring when people with big platforms, especially designers use their voice for something good, and Donatella Versace does exactly that with this collection, inspiring a mass audience who've been at the show or who blog / instagram Donatella's collection. 

For this season Edun took most inspirations for different textures and hues from artist Micalene Thomas' eccentric photographs in the book Muse. I love the simplicity in the collection also as well as the use of bold colour choices with the use of burnt oranges and reds. Prior to this I was completely clueless that Edun was a sustainable fashion label, simply because they don't have the "typical" earthy conventions, but a unique view point in terms of sustainability. The use of oversized garments, chunky turtlenecks and elongated silhouettes really works well, and stands out. 

Another favourite of mine from Marc Jacobs current collection, not going to lie I turned my nose up at him after the whole dreadlock controversy, but looks like he's bounced back my using a wide variety of models - especially women of colour to represent his Hip-Hop inspired theme. The whole set up was quite cool with no exact set up, music or iphone photography - quite interesting if I say the least. The out come definitely wrapped it all off with models playing music outside with massive surround systems taking photographers of people as they left; which I thought was quite playful and interactive. 


I haven’t really heard of Han Wen before, but their current collection immediately stuck out for me whilst I was browsing through vogue. The thing that interested me the most was the different silhouettes and shapes chosen, which are constructed to have a sort of “uncompleted” as well a put together look. Especially with the messiness of the skirt alongside the juxtaposition of the tucked / untucked shirt. It’s all a bit wacky, but works so well. It sure was hard having to narrow down a total of three looks. The same goes with Clio Peppiatt, I don't think they had a catwalk show at Milan Fashion Week but I stumbled on their collection briefly and found all their statement pieces quite load and very eye catchy, working well with the sepia tone images taken backstage. The  pops of colours and textures like fur and chiffon to work really well. I also thought the choice of models  all worked really well in their favor. I can't wait to see more snaps from Paris fashion week this upcoming month!

- Chrissy x 

pictures found on vouge.co.uk & google