The Candy Perfume Boy

The Candy Perfume Boy is written by Thomas Dunckley, a six-time winner of the Fragrance Foundation UK's Jasmine Awards, one of the most decorated writers in this directory, with wins confirmed across categories including the Digital Award (2013, 2015), the Independent Soundbite and Digital Experience awards (both 2017) and an Innovation Award (2018). His stated mission is to cut through marketing language and make fragrance genuinely accessible.

Two things set the blog apart. First, its 'Guide to...' series, which takes a single note, vanilla and violet among others, and walks through its odour profile alongside 'must sniff' reference perfumes, a genuinely useful, well-organised piece of reference writing rather than a one-off review. Second, longevity: the blog has been running continuously since the early 2010s, and now takes in a podcast alongside the written reviews.

On trust: Dunckley publishes a disclaimer setting out how he works, and it is stricter than most. Brands get no input into the content of a review, he always says where a sample came from, and the handful of sponsored posts he has run were each labelled and only ever for brands he would recommend unpaid. The Jasmine Awards behind his name are judged by an independent industry body.

He works in the industry too, and states it publicly: freelance content and consultancy for brands through Olfiction, and a Fragrance Expert role at the retailer Escentual, where he writes a weekly column. Escentual is listed in this directory and is one of ScentVerdict's affiliate partners.