Tell us about your brand; who are you, what does your brand sell and how long has your brand been around? Have you been at Home & Gift before? 

The first Happy Paul fragrance launched in September 2021. This is our first time at Home & Gift. Mood lifting self-care is at the forefront of the Happy Paul name. Developed to be a simple, joyful,  conscious, environmentally responsible personal-care experience, Happy Paul offers products to create a happy body and a happy mind. We hope our products make you smile because we know how contagious a smile can be.

How did your brand start?

Paul Gerrard, Founder of wellness brand Happy Paul, UK Ambassador for Global Wellness Day and Guinness Record setter 'The Longest Hug' - has worked in beauty and wellbeing for over 20 years. Living with depression since his early teens, Paul spent much of his life looking for happiness in all the wrong places, before realising that something in self-care made him feel a little happier. He believes that a smile offers the most basic form of self-care – even a fake smile. Happy Paul aims to create products that encourage simple, rewarding acts of self-care, alongside a little smile.

While creating your brand, what has been your biggest highlight and why do you love what you do?

Creating Happy Paul has been a roller-coaster of a ride but one that has connected me to many brilliant individual too. Working in collaboration with those who know far more than myself and learning from each and every one of them has been an incredible educational experience. I love ideas. I love to try to approach things a little differently and I hope Happy Paul's approach to mental health and wellness does just that. The possibility of thinking up concepts and products that may make a little difference to my life and to those around me makes this all worth while. Receiving an award for the fragrance and for the Body Wash so early on is definitely the cherry on the cake (if you like cherries that is).

Looking back, what advice would you give to yourself when you first started out?   

My struggle with this project may have been more psychological in nature. Good days were great. Bad days were less upbeat and sometimes a bit worse. I did learn (eventually) to tell myself that this was ok. On those good days I should enjoy the feeling of flying - getting as much done and making as many decisions as my energy would allow. On those bad days - rest, do as little as possible but most importantly do something that makes you feel good. 

What can we look forward to from your new collections that you are bringing/launching at Home & Gift?

I hope you'll enjoy the look, tone, scent and feel of Happy Paul along with our first collection of products.

Do you have any personal favourites from your new collection?

As the starting point for all the products was the fragrance that would have to be my personal favourite. I worked alongside an amazing perfumer who held my hand in developing this. We're now working to develop fragrance number two!