Combining scent and colour with Ruth Mottershead and Céline Roux
Achieving a sense of harmony within a space often begins with deciding what mood you want to create. By selecting colours, patterns and fragrances that all evoke the same mood, you can create a real delight for the senses.
Our new collaboration with Jo Malone London provides five harmonious combinations of scent and colour, each one complementing a specific mood or atmosphere.
Read the conversation between Jo Malone London’s Global Head of Fragrance, Céline Roux, and our Creative Director, Ruth Mottershead. Inspired by the collection, they share expert guidance and inspiration for pairing fragrance with colour in your home…
Choosing a scent for your home
Our candle collection with Jo Malone London features five of the most-loved fragrances from their collections. Each one is designed to complement a particular mood or atmosphere that you might wish to create within your home.
Jo Malone London’s Global Head of Fragrance, Céline Roux, explores the connection between mood and fragrance in designing this collection: “I’d been asking myself, “How do people choose scent for their home?” What's the reason to have different scents in your home? Then I realised it’s all about moods. We choose scents to match the mood we want.
To evoke the sense of a “spring clean”, you want something clean and fresh. If you’ve had a hard day at work, you want to surround yourself with something comforting or de-stressing. When you’re entertaining, you’ll go for something joyful and inviting. I started to think about these different moods and how much scent – and also colour – play a role in that.”
Combining scent with colour
Once Jo Malone London had paired their fragrances with specific moods, it was time for us to select complementary Little Greene colours and wallpapers.
Our Creative Director, Ruth, shares more about this process: “Combining colours, scents and print in one product was in fact very easy. Céline had clear ideas on the atmospheres and the kind of moods the brand wanted to complement.
This is what we do day to day with our Colour Consultancy service, where we specify colour for clients. We start with the function of the space, but from there it's a natural transition into a conversation about what they want that space to feel like, and why they want it to feel like that.
Somebody might say to me, “I'd like a room that feels comforting and relaxing,” and so I’d recommend Masquerade, which is a sophisticated plaster-pink with an earthy-warm tone that’s not too sweet. And Céline would say, “this is the scent that smells comforting and relaxing.” Colour and scent really do the same thing.”
Céline adds, “Let’s face it, no one comes to you saying, “I want a spicy diffuser.” Rather you might say, “I had a long day at work, and I just want to feel comfortable and relaxed, and read a book in my living room”. You can imagine them doing that while burning Pomegranate Noir.”
Our collaboration
Described as ‘the perfect partnership’, our collaboration with Jo Malone London goes further than the candles themselves. We are both proud to be British brands, with a shared respect for high-quality ingredients, expertly blended formulas, traditional craftsmanship and heritage.
Ruth says, “Manufacturing in the UK is so important to us both. We are both committed to being more sustainable and environmentally conscious. And we are both so passionate about creating things that make your home feel beautiful – things that give a real quality to your home and the mood within it. That was a real synergy between us.”
Céline agrees, “Working with Little Greene to bring these candles to life in colour was so natural and organic. Just like us at Jo Malone London, they are obsessed with the way you complement a mood within the home.”
Ruth continues, “Our mission here is to impart that passion for creating a beautiful environment in the home by combining colour and scent. People don't even have to use our product. They don't even have to paint their room in Little Greene or use the wallpaper. I would love people to see that just having a candle and a small little injection of colour around you can make all the difference.
When you light these candles, whether you are sitting doing your work or you're having a bath, you get that lovely scent and that fragrance, and suddenly you are transported to another space. The moods they complement is a form of wellness, of escapism. It would be lovely for people to simply have that.”
Explore our collaboration with Jo Malone London, or read Ruth’s guide to creating the perfect mood in your home.
Browse our palette with a complimentary colour card to begin your home refresh…
