Although Becky works as a personal trainer in Horsham and across Sussex, she also enjoys a life outside of the gym! One of her favourite things to explore is perfume, and she recently took a trip to Barnes Fragrance Fair in order to see what new things she could discover…
Barnes Fragrance Fair took place for the fourth time this year – 2025 was my first visit, and I enjoyed it so much that I quickly put the 2026 date in my diary. What made it such a must? Read on to find out more…
What is Barnes Fragrance Fair?
The perfume world is vast. Fragrance remains a highly popular consumer product, and whilst a lot of people stick to their faithful favourites, there’s always something new to learn or explore. Perfume is also a bizarre thing to sell: whilst technology has enabled many retail sectors to reach their consumers in mind-bogglingly efficient ways, fragrance remains an esoteric and personal experience. The best way to shop for it remains in-person, which also makes it time-consuming and luxurious.
It can also feel very exclusionary and hard to reach, and organiser, Amanda Carr, has changed things here. Held in her home area of Barnes, southwest London, the event maintains the atmosphere of a village occasion – I have no doubt that, typically, the church hall venues which are used host events for different sectors of the local community, much like the halls in my own village! – but pulls some big names from the fragrance industry who are keen to meet with their people.
It’s free to attend, with bookable talks on a variety of industry topics, plus the chance to freely browse, chat, try things out, and shop.
Choosing Barnes over other fragrance events
There are some big international fragrance events that part of me would love to go to. Consumers are mostly shut out of these – they generally take place to woo retailers and convince them to stock certain ranges, but to me they do sound like several days of scent-sniffing heaven. They’re less accessible – location being one thing, and time of year being another – and some are also becoming increasingly infiltrated by influencers.
Whilst I like that people can make money from posting on the internet, it is slightly surreal (and can be off-putting) to wander around surrounded by people talking to the palm of their hand, or wielding a small light and microphone like a miniature TV crew. I sometimes feel a little sad that everything is reduced to being captured and then later shared and discussed online, but that’s a conversation for another day…
I still harbour a dream of going to Grasse (Western Europe’s fragrance hotspot) for their annual festival and, in the meantime, it feels silly to miss out on something that happens up the road from me at a weekend…
Things I loved at Barnes Fragrance Fair 2026
Whether you’re new to the perfume world or already inhabit it, these events are a danger to your bank balance. Some brands take the opportunity to share a new or forthcoming launch. Gallivant memorably did this in 2025, teasing us with only travel-sized bottles of three new fragrances, and immediately adding Ar Riyad to my wishlist. This year, the cry many of us issued was answered, and their big offering in 2026 was that Nida, a previously-limited edition fragrance has been added to their official collection (meaning that I can now use it without fear of running out).
Having sniffed a number of scents at the fair, I firmly fell in love with two: Aire, by the newly-launched brand, Anforh. Robin, who founded the brand, talked me through his current range of three (and had designed the most beautiful blotters I saw all day – photos of the inspiration behind the scents illustrate them further), and I enjoyed all of them but decided to try on one that was less of an obvious choice based on my typical taste. Marine-type fragrances often seem literally too watery for me – I need, and prefer something that really shouts, and these more whisper – but I’ve had success with one, so decided to give this a go.
At that point, I’d also gone a bit nose blind (it happens!), so I went outside, got some fresh air into me, and had a sniff as the scent evolved on my skin. At that point, I knew that I needed to add it to my collection, and returned to buy a bottle.
There was another fragrance I was wearing at the time: Neunere is another fairly new brand with only three fragrances. I wasn’t blown away by the first two I smelled, but when I got hold of Whispers of Dusk and Silk, I was head over heels. It’s dark, heady, and screams as it enters a room – right up my street… and sadly way out of my budget for now. But it had my nose glued to my arm for the rest of the day, as I enjoyed it whilst I had the chance to wear it.
Whilst wearable fragrance is what most people think of, there are other types, and a great example was available at Barnes in the form of Galia Rae. These beautiful ceramic matchboxes contain a terracotta diffusion stone – home fragrance that looks different but elegant, and is easy to maintain, plus doesn’t involve electricity or burning.
Tips for attending Barnes Fragrance Fair
If I’ve sold you on the event and you’re planning to make your way there in 2027, these are my top pieces of advice:
Be patient – the venues are small and can get really crowded, so be prepared to take a break and wait. The retailers are available all day, so you will get your chance eventually. People do move along, so just give some space and your patience will be rewarded
Wear short sleeves – you’ll want to try a couple of things on! Equally, be picky; we all only have so much skin (I find that if I try on more than four fragrances in a day, it just doesn’t work). Hunt your way around and make liberal use of blotters (scent testing strips); make sure you take a pen with you to write the name of each scent on the blotter (you WILL forget!), then sniff as you walk, and return when you know which you’d like to smell on your skin. You need to know how it wears on you, and you don’t want it to just instantly wipe off on your clothes
Be bold – this is the time to try something different, like I did. I’m the first to admit that I have my favourites and my types, but it’s good to test out other things, and this is a risk-free environment. Be prepared for a pleasant surprise, and you might just find your next love
You can find out more about Barnes Fragrance Fair here – see you next year?!