‘I Love The Smell Of Fresh Baked Bread!’ – Rosie Huntington Whiteley Tells Us About Her New Fragrance

****When we discovered that Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (supermodel, owner of impossibly glamorous travelling outfits, and Grazia Daily favourite) was launching a fragrance, we could barely contain our excitement. Needless to say we love this lady’s Marks and Spencer lingerie line and coo continuously at over her beauty looks, but the news of a Rosie H-W ‘eau’ sparked particular excitement at Grazia HQ. Associate Beauty Editor Rose Beer went to catch up with the model about the latest addition to her very fabulous empire.

Grazia Daily: Tell us a bit about your new fragrance?

Rosie Huntington Whiteley: ‘I really wanted to create something that was very sensual, but also a day-to-day scent that celebrated the British countryside where I'm from. I was lucky enough to be able to work with renowned nose Ralf Schweiger to bring it to life. I have always loved roses, so the centifolia rose from Grasse in France was my starting point.’

GD: When did you first decide you wanted to work on a fragrance?

RHW: ‘Well, I think it is most girls’ dream to be able to make their own fragrance and it has certainly been a dream come true for me. I have obviously done my lingerie and sleep ranges with Marks and Spencer and fragrance seemed like a really natural evolution. Fragrance goes hand in hand with lingerie – both things are so personal to their wearer.

GD: Fragrance is such a sentimental thing - What are your favourite scents of all time and why?

RHW: I have collected scents for years, not just from the UK, but from my travels all over the world. Things that I have picked up on holiday too, not just traditional fragrances, but oil blends as well - I have lots of these from India. I actually really like mixing my own blends. In terms of exact fragrances I have so many, but I have always loved Jo Malone scents and Diptyque too –I adore rose scents and both brands do great ones.

GD: What every day smells make you most happy?

I totally love the smell of bakeries. There is nothing better than the smell of warm baked bread. I love the smell of my dogs too. I know it sounds silly, but they actually smell really good! When I was working with Ralf in New York he has all these bottles of smells like leather shoes, fresh bread and lavender lined up in these little bottles in the laboratory and I was obsessed.

GD: What was the fragrance design process like?

RHW: The fragrance design process took about 18 months in total. Coming up with the concept took a while – I wanted to be really involved and I totally love this stage so I pulled loads of references and made pin boards and scrapbooks to take to the team. I also went to Grasse to see the roses being grown and worked on the formula with Ralf in New York. We ended up with about 12 different versions and whittled them and tweaked them until we had the final one.

GD: And what about the bottle design?

RHW: When it came to the bottle, rose gold was always going to play a key role! I wear rose gold jewellery all the time and have used it in my lingerie. For me it feels more exquisite than other metals. The design team at Marks and Spencer were great and helped me produce a bottle that felt like a jewel – a special trinket and a keepsake in itself. I really love it.