IT'S ALL CHANGE FOR LONDON COMMUTERS AS 'MADELEINE' GETS FRESH ON THE TUBE!

Commuting into London is rarely regarded as an uplifting experience, but from Monday 23rd April, marking the launch of National Fragrance Week, London Underground is planning to make your journey a whole lot sweeter. 'Madeleine' - a fragrance created by Quest International will be trialled at Piccadilly Circus, Euston and St James's Park tube stations starting from Monday 23rd April with the aim of putting a bit of Spring into your step!

The original Madeleine is already going down a treat with the nine million Parisians taking the Metro each day. Quest International worked closely with London Underground to incorporate Madeleine into Spxtra, which was developed specifically to complement the cleaning systems used by London Underground. Created by perfumer Pierre Nuyens, the fragrance is a fresh, watery floral bouquet of rose and jasmine, combined with citrus top notes, tiny touches of fruit and herbs, giving way to strong woody accents and a hint of sweetness in the base. If Londoners don't turn their noses up at Madeleine, London Underground may consider introducing it network-wide as part of a long-term strategy to improve the traveling environment Underground.

Both the Paris and Hong Kong metro systems regularly use air fresheners and studies reveal that, if the system smells good, customers feel more positive about the traveling experience. And with talk of a hot Summer on the horizon, Madeleine is set to make a lot of travelers very happy indeed.

Quest International has developed SPxtra, a slow release air-enhancer that ensures the fragrance will last from one clean to the next. Once applied and dry, it will hold fast until travelers hot-foot it across treated floors and release the perfume, in this case transforming the mix of musty air and detergent in London Tube's into something altogether more revitalizing.

Mike Brown, London Underground's Director of Station Services, said: "We are constantly looking at ways to make our stations more pleasant. With over 3 million passengers a day, we admit that the Underground can become an interesting collection of odoursÉsome nice, some not so nice. That is why we are trialling Madeleine to see if fragrance will make a positive difference. We'll see what our customers say. It's really up to them - if it's a hit, it could become a permanent item." Now that sounds like thesweet smell of success.

Also taking place on Monday 23rd May, the FiFi Awards Ð the fragrance industry's Oscars - will be staged at the Dorchester, London. The fragrance industry gathers for a week-long celebration following this glittering ceremony to select the best male and female fragrance launched in the UK last year. The FiFi Awards are organized by the Fragrance Foundation and take place in London, Germany, France, Italy and Spain before the grand finale in New York where the star fragrances in Europe and the US are selected.