Beauty Nostalgia is a new, weekly column on Beauty Counter in which we ask influencers, tastemakers, and some of our favorite industry experts to wax poetic on the sticks, salves, and sprays that helped shape who they are today.

The Pro: Nicky Kinnaird, founder of Space NK apothecaries


The Product: “When I was growing up, my parents had a second home in the Valencia region of Spain that was filled with citrus groves and golden beaches. We spent three months of the year immersed in Spanish culture, surrounded by the beautiful aroma of lemon and orange blossoms. Mornings were spent on the tennis courts and afternoons at the beach. After a long day, you showered and misted on a local citrus cologne. It was almost like baby cologne and had the most refreshing aroma—it smelled of the Mediterranean and happy times. You would pass by friends in the early evening and you’d get this gorgeous waft of bergamot, lime, neroli, and orange blossom.

When Christopher Sheldrake created the first fragrance for Space NK, Laughter, it was inspired by my childhood memories and the herbal earthiness of those Spanish days. We worked on creating citrus top notes with an herbal heart of rosemary and coriander. The dry-down had to give a hint of that sun-kissed skin underneath, which is a combination of musk, warm creamy amber, and spicy ginger. I still go back to this area of Spain. I think it’s beautiful when you can find some part of the Mediterranean that hasn’t been touched by tourism and still has this beautiful, natural coastline. The whole orange and lemon industry is based around there so you have the most fabulous fragrant air. They have a heritage of making that cologne that probably goes back over a hundred years. But I have my little piece of it with my Laughter eau de toilette and parfum, which are with me at all times.”