John Stephen

About John Stephen

John Stephen is the owner and chief perfumer of the Cotswold Perfumery in Bourton-on-the-Water, England. His work grew from a family fragrance business into a practice creating perfumes for its own range and for outside fragrance houses. Teaching is another longstanding part of that work, bringing the processes of composition into a setting where others can learn to make perfume.

Career

His father first tried to turn a hobby into a business in 1965, before the family established a perfume shop in Bourton-on-the-Water. Stephen took sole responsibility after his mother died in the mid-1970s, expanding the business and its work for other brands. He introduced one-day courses in 2003, followed by longer programmes, including a five-day advanced course launched in 2022 that covers perfume making and setting up a fragrance business.

Creative Style & Philosophy

In an interview, he recalled the smell of tomatoes in his father’s greenhouse as an immediate route back to childhood. He also spoke candidly about an unsuccessful attempt to compose a carnation fragrance, giving a practical sense of the difficulty of reconstructing a floral smell. His advice to fragrance lovers stresses the individuality of preference and the value of trying a broad range of perfumes in person.

Signature Works

• *Auster — ELECTIMUSS*: Citrus and spice lead through geranium into warmer woods.
• *Alkout — ELECTIMUSS*: An oud composition framed by ambergris, musk and resin.
• *Pallas — Cotswold Perfumery*: A jasmine-centred composition.