All about us
We are a group of people who love fragrance and many of us have worked in the industry for many years because it can capture your heart. Here is a little more about us.
David Bull, Regulatory Manager, Formpak Software
David has worked in the fragrance industry for over 25 years and in his role at Formpak involves helping users of their software in a variety of ways; direct help in using it, but also ensuring it’s up to date with the latest legislative requirements.
He particularly loves the difference that everyday products such as shower gel and soap can make as well as the more typical fine fragrance or scented candles as he knows just as much work goes into a shower gel fragrance as a top end perfume.
His favourite quote is ‘Where should I apply perfume?’ the young lady asked. ‘Where you want to be kissed’ Coco Chanel
Anne Churchill, Research Fellow at Givaudan UK Ltd.
Anne has worked in the fragrance industry for 36 years as a sensory scientist. She is part of a team of scientists with a diverse range of skills from analytical chemists and physical chemists to neuroscientists and experimental psychologists. Their research is focused on improving health and well-being through fragrance which includes designing fragrances to reduce the perception of unpleasant smells or to create feelings of relaxation to help enhance the quality of sleep.
She loves learning something new everyday from the world of olfaction, sensory science and the psychology of fragrance. Smell is a dynamic and powerful sense that touches every one of us thousands of times every day and there is so much potential to harness that power to enhance peoples' lives and help them flourish.
Her favourite quote is "The scent of a flower is translated from a sniff to a smile by the olfactory sensory system" - R.Axel, 1995.
Virginie Daniau, Director of Parfum Parfait Ltd.
Virginie has worked in the fragrance industry for over 25 years, starting off as a developer in a leading fragrance house. She now runs her own business providing expert guidance to create fragrances that match brands DNA. Her key role is to orchestrate fragrance development – evaluating fragrances in different formats from personal products to fine fragrances. In a word, she fills the gap between brands and perfumers!
She loves being involved in the creation of the fragrance alongside perfumers and adores finding ideas to improve fragrances. She finds it very exciting when she spots products for which she has helped develop the fragrance on the shelves in shops, sometimes a long way away from home!
Her favourite ingredient is patchouli and Chypre fragrances.
Eliza Douglas, Membership Liaison Secretary IFRA UK
Eliza has worked in the fragrance industry for over ten years, six of those in New York, before moving back to the UK.
As Membership Liaison Secretary she is responsible for new membership enquiries, maintaining the IFRA UK membership database, invoicing, certificates, general membership administration, and external website enquiries and maintenance.
She teaches independent perfumery classes and has given workshops at the Wallace Collection and Somerset House in London, for Daylesford and Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds, and for the Metropolitan Museum, New York Open Center, Brooklyn Brainery and U.S.S. Intrepid. She has worked with the charity Fifth Sense and taught visually impaired students with Art Beyond Sight for the New York Institute for Special Education and Visions Services for the Blind.
She is particularly interested in creating scents to help viewers, visually impaired and otherwise, experience paintings and other artworks.
She loves that there is always something new to learn in the world of scent: how it connects to art, history, food, psychology, philosophy and the natural world.
Stephen Kirk, Director, SK-CRS Ltd.
Stephen Kirk is a highly-qualified cosmetic regulatory professional with more than 20 years’ experience working in the field of cosmetic product safety in the R&D laboratories of Boots UK, England. In 2016 he established his own company, SK-CRS, to offer his expertise as an independent consultant to the UK cosmetic industry.
His expertise spans all areas of new product development from prototyping to launch. His know-how encompasses ingredient selection and approval, formulation review, approval and testing and safety assessment according to EU legislation.
He has considerable experience working at the European level and has been actively involved in a number of Task Forces established by Cosmetics Europe, the European personal care trade association. He has been the Chairman of both the UK CTPA Toxicology Advisory Panel and the UK CTPA / British Society for Cutaneous Allergy Working Group. He is a Member of the British Society for Cutaneous Allergy, European Society of Contact Dermatitis, US Society of Toxicology, Royal Society of Biology and UK Society of Cosmetic Scientists. He is also a European Registered Toxicologist. His company SK-CRS is a Member of the UK CTPA and IFRA UK.
His favourite smell is ozone by the sea!
Lisa Hipgrave Director IFRA UK
Lisa joined the fragrance industry in 1984 when she started training as a perfumer, progressing to a perfumer and chief perfumer at an international fragrance house. In her role she also trained the junior perfumers and then moved into general management.
She joined IFRA UK in 2006 where every day brings a different activity. Her role involves helping companies interpret regulations, comply with the IFRA standards and collaborate with stakeholder organisations. This can involve meeting with UK government bodies in order to represent the industry and put forward the industry position or concerns. It also includes organising events to celebrate the importance of fragrance. For Lisa, the best part of all is learning more about the sense of smell and how odour and fragrance can bring so much to so many people.
Her favourite quote is 'Smell is a potent wizard' by Helen Keller
Aitana López de Carrión, Global Fine Fragrance Development Manager at CPL Aromas
Aitana trained at ISIPCA and has more than six years of experience as a fragrance development manager. She is originally from Madrid and on completing a degree in Pharmacy, decided to pursue her vocation and train her nose to work in the perfume industry. As a fragrance development manager, also known as evaluator, she works very closely with the perfumers orchestrating the creative process. She provides the link between the creative side and the sales - interpreting and understanding the client’s brief to the final creation.
What she loves about her role is the opportunity to smell lots of things daily! She has a deep fascination with the sense of smell and its connection with our well-being. She strongly believe that without scents, the world would be a duller place.
Her favourite quote is 'Among the five senses, smell is unquestionably the one that best gives the idea of immortality' – Salvador Dalí
Neil Owen, Director, Analytical Excellence, Givaudan
Neil has worked in the fragrance industry for more than 27 years as an analytical scientist, initially in R&D and, for the last 8 years, bringing that expertise into the world of Regulatory frameworks to deal with the ever increasing demands that these bring to the industry. The scope of this activity continues to widen and he can now be working on topics as diverse as raw material compositions, biodegradability to the positive impact that fragrances have on indoor air for example.
Neil is the Chair of the IFRA Analytical Working Group and has extended this responsibility into other IFRA Task Forces including active participation in the IDEA Program, where analysis and the generation of sound information is a key and vital role to the understanding and interpretation of how regulatory parameters will influence the industry.
He is a firm believer in the positive role that fragrance brings to all our lives, every day; as a scientist he also believes that smell is something of a ‘forgotten sense’ which, when combined to the ever increasing power of analytical science, can lead to more enlightenment to the process and power of odour and its impact on wellbeing and health, as typified by recent developments in early Parkinson’s detection and other disease markers.
A quote close to his heart after experiencing his mother’s decline with dementia is “Perfume is the most intense form of memory” - Jean-Paul Guerlain
Penny Williams, Creative Perfumer and Technical Director, Orchadia Solutions Ltd
Penny joined the fragrance industry in 1989 and was immediately smitten with the blend of art and science and inspiring people she found there. No two days are the same in her consulting role. It can range from assessing a latest creation, followed by helping people in relation to well-being through smell, and by the afternoon it could be a technical meeting with people from all over the world discussing the latest regulatory challenges.
She believes fragrance and the sense of smell provide a window into every aspect of life which means she never stops learning. Farming to fashion, science to psychology, literature, art and politics. She gets to discuss and solve problems with amazing people from within the global community of fragrance professionals, what’s not to love!
Her favourite saying relating to the sense of smell is the ‘canary in the coal mine of human health’ Prof Jayant Pinto.
Julie Young, Executive Secretary, IFRA UK
Julie joined the fragrance industry association 22 years ago, alongside an equivalent role in the flavour industry. She supports the IFRA UK members with the information they need to comply with legislation and voluntary codes of practice as well as administering the association.
She has never worked directly in the industry for a manufacturer, so constantly enjoys learning new things about the industry, especially when it comes to aspects of ingredients and creation.
Her favourite fragrant book is 'The Land Where Lemons Grow' by Helena Attlee - a fascinating journey through Italian history and citrus botany, bringing to life the origins of the citrus industry which underpins much of the fragrance and flavour industry. An accessible read and full of information without being like a text book.