WORDS: DEBBIE HATHWAY :: PHOTOS: SOH COLLECTIONS
An international fragrancing trend has made its way into South African homes, and it doesn’t just enhance the ambience of a space but adds value too. Keen to sell your property? Don’t overlook this simple trick
Have you ever walked into someone’s home, a hotel lobby, or even a retail store and been struck by a subtle fragrance – the kind you want to take away with you? Chances are it was created by SOH Collections, established in South Africa more than a decade ago and now with offices in the UK.
Founder Greg Briscoe was ahead of the curve when introducing high-tech fragrancing wares to his Success on Hold (SOH) business in 2010. At that time, there was a growing trend towards niche and artisanal fragrances in Europe and America, driven partly by a desire for more unique and personalised scents and an increasing interest in natural and organic products.
GET YOUR FAVOURITE SCENT’S WORTH
“We’ve seen massive growth in the business, not only in scenting for the retail and hospitality industries but in homes and private label development,” says Sarah Mcgregor of SOH Collections. “Since Covid, people are spending more time at home, paying more attention to making their home beautiful through décor and fragrancing. Our online store has grown organically – tenfold.”
Regarding real estate, a one-of-a-kind luxury fragrance can make a lasting impression on potential buyers and boost the home’s value when selling. “Nothing is better than walking into a home with a beautiful signature fragrance. It’s inviting. And it sets the tone for your home and your personality,” says Mcgregor.
She has had several requests from real estate agents to develop scenting units or candles that incorporate the scent of freshly baked bread or muffins to provide that homely feel for potential buyers viewing a house for sale. “We developed a bespoke unisex fragrance for a home developer in the UK to place in all the show houses to eliminate that sterile, concrete smell of a newly built building. An upmarket, beautiful fragrance is inviting and creates that lived-in feel. It ups the value and makes people remember that space.”
CREATE IMPACT IN YOUR HOME WITH YOUR GREATEST MEMORY – SMELL
Scent preferences are vastly different between the southern and northern hemispheres. “In South Africa, especially where we are in Durban, the younger target market loves our Coco Char fragrance – beachy and summery. We fragrance the Ritz in the UK with Portland, a scent that recalls tobacco, dark honey, bourbon, and leather. It’s a seasonal reflection – softer, lighter, airy, summery scents in the south, and more concentrated, intense, darker fragrances with peppery undertones in the north. Traditional rose fragrances are also popular and we’re getting a lot of requests for lavender,” she says.
Meanwhile, SOH Collections’ Celebrate fragrance, first introduced for Christmas, has proved to be a bestseller year-round, with its combination of cinnamon, spices, and vanilla appealing to those who prefer spicier scents. Mcgregor used Celebrate in her home over the festive season, saying that every time her running partner entered the house, she asked if she was cooking or baking mince pies. “Eventually we worked out that she could pick up on those fragrances, and they made her feel at home. She thought I was baking but it was just the tone I’d set in our home,” she says.
A FLAME BY ANY OTHER NAME
Interestingly, the candle doesn’t have to burn to emit a robust fragrance. According to SOH Collections, it can still do its “happy-making job” by sitting on your coffee table. The gorgeous aroma that a candle gives off when unlit has a name. In candle-making parlance, it’s known as the “cold throw.”
Mcgregor reiterates that across the board, fragrance means something to everyone within all target markets and for all walks of life. “Your sense of smell is your strongest memory. Tapping into that and creating a lasting, happy memory is what we love doing. People have a lot of self-worth and pride in their homes, and they’re investing in home scenting and scenting units, even more than candles.”
Fragrancing is increasingly valid these days for creating impact and adding value to a home and enhancing a personal brand, particularly for those who want to develop a private label which they can then retail themselves. She says designing a bespoke fragrance is fun, but they ask many questions to get the specs – and the name – right. “It’s got to mean something. For you to love something, it must be personal.”
SOH Collections has six signature fragrances, three named after family members. Logan is named after a grandmother who grew up on game farms in the Zululand bush, so it has an earthy African feel. Evans is named after a British grandmother who loves a gentle rose floral scent.
And then there’s Coco Char, a “beachy, coco vanilla, buttery” fragrance named after her daughter, Charlotte, that is particularly popular in Durban. It’s described as “summer personified.”
