Davina Peace just glows. She really does. She glows with the genuine warmth of someone who has found their passion in life and without sounding overly gushing, it is uplifting to be around her. Before I met her I had to Google whether her final name was indeed Peace or just an addition to the brand name. After meeting her I can say that no one could be better suited to the name.

The life of Davina Peace however is not all rainbows and Greenpeace banners. Underneath her harmonious exterior lies a sharp thinking business woman from a Saatchi & Saatchi background. Her first and foremost skill is in marketing. She knows that women want luxury, not only in their beauty products but in their clothes, their food, their boyfriends, their holidays... Davina Peace is first and foremost, and I quote Davina's own words, a "Lifestyle Brand".

Davina realised that most eco brands on the market, with a few exceptions, are mid-range, inefficient and somewhat 'beige' in appearance. She also questioned why it is not a given that all luxury brands are eco responsible. When you pay £100 for a lip balm, you expect it to be responsibly produced right? Hell, for £100 you expect the brand owners to be saving the rainforest in their free time. But it's not just the marketing that she excels in. Davina has really put the time into researching the scientific side of the brand, enduring sleepless nights until she found the environmentally friendly alternative to Silicones. She eventually found that very same silky texture in nourishing British Cramble Oil, which, instead of coating the skin like silicone does, penetrates it.

The hint 'Lifestyle Brand' excitingly implies that there is much more to come from Davina Peace and that the range does not end at beauty products. The morning after my interview with Davina Peace, I awoke with a strong urge to save the world. Not many brands can boast that effect on a journalist.

Davina Peace is on our Line of Beauty

The Davina Peace range is available from Harrods.

My friend has a look on her face that I can only imagine to be comparable to Queen Elizabeth I's grimace when Sir Walter first handed her a potato.
'Oud' she repeats after me, 'it smells a bit dirty.' This is not, however, the same reaction that I get from my circle of beauty journalists and fragrance aficionados. To them oud is something exotic, fashionable and exciting.

For those of you in my friend's camp, I shall expand. Oud is a Middle Eastern fragrance originating from the resin of the Aquilaria tree, released to protect the plant from destructive fungus. It has been used for centuries to scent mosques, clothing and the wealthy in the Middle East. (Note how I say wealthy, oud by the gram is more expensive that rubies and whether you like the smell or not, you cannot deny that it requires an expensive taste.)

Oud is known for its dark, earthy scent. It has a pungent odour with an often overpoweringly sharp hit to it. This intense ingredient has gradually appeared on the western fragrance scene as an exciting back note in more contemporary aromas. It mixes well with woody base notes and warm heart notes like vanilla, giving an otherwise bland perfume an extra seductive oomph.

Further to this, in the last few months it seems that oud has become somewhat of an 'it' note. It's mysterious and expensive origins have placed it in the centre of risqué Parisian fragrance concepts and daring oriental concoctions.

Last month French perfumer Stephane Humbert Lucas launched his SoOud collection, a line of unisex perfumes that transcend fragrance boundaries. Stephane uses his Parisian delicacy to lift the heavy, unforgiving oud into the realms of the ethereal and the poetic. His fragrances act like a veil on the wearer, a translucent niquab that floats on the skin and provokes fascination.

The addition of the animalistic oud is, in my opinion, exactly what the clean-cut western fragrance industry needs. The exciting edge that our signature scents used to posses appears to have gone stale in a market of endless limited editions and celebrity fragrances. I will honestly scream if I have to sit through one more fragrance launch that half-heartedly boasts the 'exciting' notes of rose, bergamot and vanilla, topped off by a picture of a half naked pop star. Yawn.

Oud, with all of its heritage and associations, can give these tired ingredients the burst of life that they need to become fresh and on trend once again. It takes a sophisticated nose to understand the complexities within an oud fragrance and to unravel the story wound up by its components. I smell a challenge, don't you?

Oud is on our line of beauty...

Oud fragrances for the beginner:

SoOud Burqa £99 60ml (Selfridges): A fluid, elegant fragrance that has a leathery skin like smell. Light top notes of jasmine and violet.

Tom Ford Oud Wood EDP 50ml, £115 (Harrods): In true Tom Ford Style, even the strongest and strangest of ingredients can become refined, masculine and attractive. For men who pack a punch, but do so stylishly.

Trish McEvoy Precious Oud, £70 (Selfridges): Rich and sexy, this has warming notes of tobacco and whisky. That heavenly stayed-out-all night smell (in a good way!)

Very few people, even among the industry insiders, look at hair in the way that Johnnie Sapong does. For Johnnie, hair is a structure, a 3D monument that constantly has to be moulded, fashioned and worked at.

I met Johnnie for the first time on a shoot for Grazia. Unfazed by the hassle from the rest of the crew, he took his own sweet time on the model's hair, laboriously working on what seemed like each strand until it behaved exactly how he wanted it to. But don't let the relaxed appearance fool you... you don't get to the top of your game by sitting back and enjoying the view.

Johnnie actually studied photography at college but not being one to conform to the ideals of those around him he took a job as a hairdresser - unaware that this choice would set him on the path to creative success. His client list since then resembles the guest list the Oscars after party and his portfolio is as vast as it is varied. At the beginning of his career he specialised in afro-Caribbean hair and as his name grew he took on more and more creative influences.

The Studio, Johnnie's new space in London, is a chance for him to have a base in London where he can bring the experience of high fashion session hairstyling to the J. Blogs from the street. He has plenty to share with the people of London on a creative level, after all the artistic and cultural scene has constantly been his influence and driving force. The Studio is full of effortlessly cool artwork and is a veritable haven of graffiti, sculpture, collage and printing.

Johnnie is a man who loves detail, which is reflected in his own personal style as well as his work. He takes creative concepts and turns them into something technical, evolving them and adapting them until he has something multi-faceted and fresh yet always with an air of classic style.

Johnnie Sapong is on our Line of Beauty.

Visit 'The Studio' online for Bookings www.johnniesapong.com