Latest news with #EdCurrie
Metro
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
The luxe deodorant that smells like perfume? Meet AKT's new Hay Fever scent
Metro journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more AKT lovers, listen up: The UK's most awarded deodorant (our favourite deodorant EVER) has officially just released in a new, limited-edition scent – and this one is gorgeous . If you've ever wished your deodorant worked harder for you (think: no sweat, no bad smells, no crusty clothes), then AKT and its natural deodorant in an array of swoon-worthy scents is the brand you're going to want to know. Designed to keep you sweat and smell free all day – whether you're burning up in a London heatwave or hitting the gym, AKT Deodorant Balm is the one deodorant you can really rely on – tried and tested (and loved) by not just us, but thousands of equally obsessed shoppers, too. If you want the full spiel on why AKT truly is the G.O.A.T. when it comes to deodorant then check out our full article here, but today is all about celebrating the brand new, limited-edition scent: Hay Fever. Crisp, fresh and perfect for summer, Hay Fever opens with Crisp apple, marmalade, boasts heart notes of a splendid English garden, Earl Greyand plump apricots, and finishes with cashmere, soft leather, and generational wealth. What bliss! shop £21w3 Inspired by the dazzling Noël Coward play of the same name, the new Hay Fever deodorant is a seductive summer scent that'll have people thinking you've just spritzed on some expensive perfume. Hay Fever transports you to an English country garden in the roaring 1920s. Think: high tea, high drama, and lots of marmalade. This triple threat formula combines an opening number of crisp apple and marmalade, followed by an encore of earl grey and apricots, leading to a grand finale of cashmere and soft leather. An iconic homage to Noël Coward's infamous comedy of manners, this fragrance is your backstage pass to a particularly English kind of summer – filled with roses, marmalade, mischief and the occasional dramatic exit. And truly, this deodorant smells amazing , truly like a sophisticated and refined perfume rather than the medicinal and powdery 'deodorant' smell of times gone by. Enjoy instead the smell of plump fruits, Earl Grey tea and cashmere with just a sprinkling of generational wealth. Did someone say bliss? 'Our new deodorant fragrance was designed to capture the spirit of a quintessential British summer — languid, sun-dappled, and ever so slightly unhinged,' say AKT founders Ed Currie and Andy Coxon. 'And what better muse than Noël Coward's Hay Fever? …and, in Ed's case, beastly seasonal allergies!' Tested and perfected on the stage by the people who perform there, AKT Deodorant Balm is infused with AKT's exclusive DEO-BARRIER COMPLEX™, the super-special secret to the brand's unwavering success. This Deo-Barrier Complex has been designed to transform from a skin-nourishing balm into a dry, invisible powder that actively cleanses, deodorises and absorbs perspiration for persistent protection, keeping you sweat-free, even in the summer sun, all day long. This natural deodorant really does look after your armpits, too – made without pore-blocking aluminium unlike many standard deodorants,instead utilising natural ingredients that work to moisturise the skin while eliminating odours and keeping you dry all day. Yup, zero aluminium, zero phthalates, zero compromises. And you can really feel the goodness. The balm glides on easily (they recommend applying a pea-sized amount to clean underarms each day), hydrating and nourishing the skin without greasiness or wetness, meaning you don't have to wait to throw on your outfit. And it doesn't get all over your clothes, either, meaning no crusty, yellow armpits in this joint. Game-changer. But, especially with the new Hay Fever scent, the magic really lies in the stunning fragrances. More Trending The brand collaborated with leading experts in fragrance to curate each deodorant balm like a fine fragrance, each named like 'scenes' as a homage to their theatre roots. These include SC.01 Orange Grove, SC.02 After Thunder and SC.03 The Onsen. But I have to say, Hay Fever is our absolute favourite. As AKT put so beautifully in its own words: 'Hay Fever is not just a fragrance, it's a standing ovation to British eccentricity, queer legacy, and the sheer joy of a good scandal in the garden!' What bliss! Shop this limited-run deodorant fragrance while you can – this is truly one for the ages. Follow Metro across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Share your views in the comments below MORE: Abbott Lyon's top-rated Fidget Ring is the chic accessory to soothe anxiety MORE: Could these viral Pulse Oils be the key to a restful sleep and balanced hormones? MORE: St. Tropez' new Express Sunlit Face Tint hailed the summer essential for glowing skin
Business Insider
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
I invented the world's hottest pepper twice, in a top-secret location where my pickers carry firearms
I'm always working on new pepper breeds and have one even hotter than Pepper X. I'm not chasing records, though. I enjoy the challenge of making a hot pepper that tastes good. I closely guard my pepper creations. Some fields where I grow are kept at top-secret locations. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with pepper farmer and founder of PuckerButt Pepper Company, Ed Currie. Currie created the Carolina Reaper, which first broke the Guinness World Record for hottest pepper in 2013 and held that title until 2023, when another of Ed's creations, Pepper X, took the new title. It has been edited for length and clarity. We grow peppers across many secret farms in South Carolina. It takes eight to 10 years to create a new pepper, and there are always new pepper breeds I'm working on. People think I'm chasing records. I'm not. I like the challenge of making a pepper hot that also tastes good. Needless to say, we keep security tight around here. All of us are armed, including the pickers. A while back, one guy claimed to have stolen some Pepper X, but he was standing in the middle of a jalapeño and habanero field. So we knew it wasn't Pepper X. He got in a lot of trouble, though. Since then, we haven't had issues with thieves but there are other threats like coyotes and copperheads. We've got to be prepared. I don't know if you've ever seen a coyote, but they don't like humans too much. To anyone who wants to steal my hottest peppers, I say, you'll never find them. Those fields are kept top secret. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. Continue By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . How we grow the hottest peppers in the world We're in a subtropical zone with ideal conditions: great soil, long growing seasons, and regular rain. I breed peppers with various techniques, one is crossbreeding with simple paintbrushes. I take a flower from one plant, brush it with the paintbrush to collect its pollen, and then transfer that pollen to another flower on another plant. Then I remove all the other flowers I haven't cross-pollinated, so only the cross gets to fruit. Maybe out of say 200 plants, you might get 20 that produce a fruit that is viable for you to go on with. And then what might reach maturity is maybe 10 of those. We don't use synthetic chemicals, our pest control strategy is bugs. I buy ladybugs, green lacewings, and praying mantises every year and release them in the field. They do a better job than any chemical. The real pests are deer who eat the pepper plants. One year, we lost over 30,000 plants in a weekend to a herd of deer. We now build fences around our crops, which helps keep them out. Hurricanes can also be an issue. One field had eight feet of water over it after a hurricane. We lost the majority of our crop in that field, but still had a lot more plants to replenish it. This isn't just a business for me I was a drunk and a drug addict until 1999. So really, for over a decade, my life was just finding how to make more money to do more drinking and more drugging. I'm in recovery from addiction, and I truly believe peppers helped save me and stay clean. Hot peppers can release endorphins and dopamine in the body, so it kind of takes the edge off that craving. In fact, we're working with doctors to explore peppers in opiate detox. A tummy ache is better than a methadone dependency. I start every day with pepper oil in my coffee. Then, I'll head to my pepper farms and taste peppers there all day. It's a regular part of my diet. We already have a new pepper that has enough data to beat Pepper X, but I want three more years of data before releasing it. I don't want any controversy when it comes out. We also have one that's coming in hotter than that, and we just started the data on that one, so it's going to be five to seven more years before we release that one. Going hotter isn't just about the heat, it's about economies of scale. We only sell about 2% of our peppers whole; the rest we turn into mash, powder, or sauce that can be added to hot sauce recipes. So, if you're using 55 gallons of habanero mash to heat something up, I can do the same with five gallons of Carolina reaper, or one gallon of Pepper X. So I get more bang for my buck. This story was adapted from Ed Currie's interview for Business Insider's series " Big Business." Learn more about Currie and the hot pepper businesses in the video below:
Daily Mail
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Is this £26 body wash worth the money?
What's the story? In 2018, West End performers Ed Currie and Andy Coxon, unable to find a product powerful enough to deal with the sweat of their intense physical work, created AKT The Deodorant Balm, a potent natural product. Their focus was on being plastic-free and gender-neutral – and The Body Wash Concentrate, AKT's newest launch, claims to follow the same ethos. Why should I buy? Triple-strength concentration means you only need a pea-sized amount, and there's less water waste. The aluminium tube is recyclable and, instead of a typical plastic cap that can't be recycled, AKT's is aluminium and so helps reduce the amount of plastic entering our ecosystems. The packaging is chic, too, and the formula super-hydrating. Why shouldn't I buy? It's expensive and we have no idea where the ingredients are sourced from, or how sustainably they are farmed, since AKT couldn't tell us at the time of going to press. The extra mile AKT is working towards its B Corp certification, and planting trees with a search engine that helps restore biodiversity hotspots. The brand also has a key you can buy (The Assistant, £11) that saves waste by squeezing out those last few precious drops of body wash. Made in Hampshire, near Portsmouth. Made from Squalane, calendula oil, aloe vera and vitamin E. Journey Sea freight (for the aluminium packaging).
