Givaudan Perfumer Christine Hassan is in the Perfume Room today! We discuss her unconventional and holistic path towards becoming a perfumer, perfumery across cultures, her own special scent rituals, and a benzaldehyde spill in her high school chemistry class that changed EVERYTHING. FRAGS MENTIONED: Zoologist Rabbit, Oriza L. Legrand Chypre Mousse, Florence by Mills Wildly Me, Tory Burch Electric Sky, Boy Smells Hinoki Fantome, Anna Sui Mellow Yellow, Guess Bella Vita, Tom Ford Vanilla...

Esxence is an annual Milan-based niche fragrance convention that boasts the title of world's largest perfumery trade show! Content Creator Valerie March, AKA @thenichesampler — a longtime friend of the pod AND 3rd year attendee of Esxence — is in the Perfume Room this week recapping her recent experience and sharing everything from perfumes [from Esxence] we need to know, to unspoken ecosystems and structures of the expo, hot takes, trends, and key takeaways! Plus a possible theory on the...

IT'S OFFICIALLY FRAGRANCE WEEK! To celebrate, longtime friends of the pod—Jenn Sullivan and Jess Matlin, Fat Mascara Co-Hosts—are in the Perfume Room today sharing the fragrances that are exciting and intriguing them most for Spring 2024! FRAGS MENTIONED: Xinú Ummo, Parfums de Marly: Perseus, Delina; Riddle Oil, The Body Shop White Musk, Phlur Apricot Prive, The Perfumer’s Story Sequoia Wood, Régime des Fleurs Little Flower, Ellis Brooklyn Myth, Matière Première: Crystal Saffron, Vanilla...

In 2001, 62 vials of perfume were recovered from the Titanic shipwreck. Neil Owen, Head of Product Safety Sciences at Givaudan, was one of the lucky few specialists (alongside esteemed perfumers Christopher Sheldrake and Mark Evans as well as a botanist) tasked with analyzing exactly what the contents of those vials were. To whom did these vials belong? Were their contents revolutionary or status quo for the times? What did they smell like? Which recovered vial did Christopher Sheldrake...

Dave 1 is the guitarist and lead vocalist of the Grammy-nominated, Electro-Funk duo Chromeo, and he’s also a fraghead. This week he’s in the Perfume Room talking about everything from the the F-Boy scent of Paris you never saw coming, gems from his personal collection, perfumes you'll never catch him wearing, the evolution of his own taste, smells from different places and points in his life, and his *highly efficient and innovative* means of teaching himself new hobbies. FRAGS...

What's the actual best Britney fragrance? Who's the most underrated flanker of them all? Liz Renstrom (@basenote_bitch) is in the Perfume Room today and we're traveling deep into the multiverse that is: BRITNEY SPEARS FRAGRANCES to tackle all the hard questions. We've procured 12 of her 36 creations (including 6 Fantasy flankers, 3 Prerogative flankers, Believe, Cosmic Radiance, and of course, the one that started it all: Curious). We're live-smelling, reviewing and ranking them all! PLUS...

Margaux Le Paih Geurin is a perfumer at boutique perfume house, Flair Paris. A team of just four perfumers with infinite niche perfume launches to their name, Flair is easily one of the best houses of our time, and Margaux is one to watch. In just a few years in the industry, Margaux has already seen several of her creations hit shelves, including 3 BORNTOSTANDOUT fragrances. We discuss valuable learnings from her time in fragrance retail (including the one perfume she always recommended to...

We're celebrating Valentine's Day with Master Perfumer Honorine Blanc, a perfumer especially renowned for her sensual and addictive fragrances. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, modern perfumery has two eras: B.H. and A.H. (that is, before Honorine and After), because Honorine quite literally invented a texture in perfume that before her, didn't exist. We discuss what makes a scent a 'date night scent,' how to create sensuality and texture in perfume, what it means to be a Master Perfumer,...

A Third Culture Kid as she refers to herself, Phway Su Aye, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Gabar, has called many countries home. This week, she's in Perfume Room to talk about the one whose unforgettable aromas inspired her fragrance brand. Phway shares stories, rituals, and personal memories from her early childhood in Myanmar; she tells of a perfumery course that changed the trajectory of her career; and what it was like bottling these memories into perfumes during the lockdown and...

Flower Shop Perfume Co’s Isaac Lekach and Lillian Shalom (also real-life husband and wife!) are in the Perfume Room today! We discuss: growing up in the industry (Isaac’s dad is former CEO of Parlux); celebrity perfume secrets; why the best perfumes are always a little bit controversial; the viral sensation that is Melanie Martinez’s Portals collection; a day in the life of a boutique fragrance house; and of course Cafe Society, and the most canonical perfumes of that era, including some very...

Régime Des Fleurs Founder/Perfumer Alia Raza is in the Perfume Room today. We discuss everything from those absolutely perfect rococo bottles, to what it's like collaborating with THE Dominique Ropion, and you *know* I live-smell Nymphaea Caerulea—a perfume that at $990 for 8ML, earns the title of World's Most Expensive. SOTD: Fueguia Yakeñ & Chris Collins LUST | Oud Delice FRAGS MENTIONED: Fueguia Yakeñ, Chris Collins LUST | Oud Delice, Celine Nightclubbing, Vilhelm Purple Fig,...

NEW YEAR, NEW SOLO. SAME PERFUME ROOM. 2023: favorite launches, most-worn fragrances, and most exciting discoveries 2024: INs and OUTs, trend predictions, and *manifestations* for the year ahead! FRAGS MENTIONED: Versatile Paris Rital Date, Masque Milano Basilica, Dior Hypnotic Poison, Kerosene Unknown Pleasures, Versatile Paris: Dimanche Flemme, Culot Thé; Headspace: Absinthe, Myrrh, Tubereuse, Santal; Lancome Oud Bouquet, Serge Lutens Serge Majascule, Perfumer H: Suede, Rain Cloud,...

'Tis the season for my holiday gift guide! I share all the fragrance gifts I’m coveting including stocking stuffers, candles, other scented goodies, and answer a few gift-help requests!  Plus, A VERY SPECIAL GUEST make a very VERY SURPRISE appearance ;) ;) ;) SHOP MY HOLIDAY PACK: ⁠https://rb.gy/7arvgd⁠ Tune in to IG Live || Thurs 12/14 at 1P EST/10A PT (@perfumeroompod) MY HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE: https://shopmy.us/collections/329441 FRAGS MENTIONED: The Maker Lover, BDK Gris Charnel,...

Toskovat Founder and Perfume-Maker David-Lev Jipa-Slivinschi is in the Perfume Room today. With fragrance pyramids comprised of accords like credit card, dirty dollar, priest's clothes, blood, and plastic bag, Toskovat fragrances beg the question: are all perfumes meant to be worn?  FRAGS MENTIONED: Diptyque Benjoin Boheme, Serge Lutens Santal Majascule, Toskovat Age of Innocence, Givenchy Very Irresistible, Toskovat: Anarchist, Things We Never Shared, Inexcusable Evil; ELdO Secretions...

Longtime friends and tastemakers Marissa Zappas + Ruby McCollister are in the Perfume Room today discussing their latest collaboration: a fragrance called Tragedy. Marissa, the perfumer behind all the Internet’s cult-fav perfumes, & Ruby, an actress and comedian you may know from Search Party, High Maintenance and Curb Your Enthusiasm, have joined forces to create a fragrance inspired by Fracas, ghosts, Christmas parties, and Hollywood’s most tragic bygone starlets.  FRAGS...

Internationally-known DJ, Entrepreneur, and now Fragrance Founder Zernell Gillie is in the Perfume Room! As a lifelong fragrance collector, in 2022, Zernell decided to combine his two greatest passions to launch an eponymous fragrance line. With extraits at a whopping 50% concentration, and fragrances all inspired by different genres of music, it's no wonder this new brand is already buzzing in the niche scene. Plus I review the LAFCO x Sir Candle Man launch, Heart of the Matter. FRAGS...

You know naturals; you know synthetics; but do you know *bio-engineered materials?* Through her biotech fragrance brand, Future Society, Jasmina Aganovic (Founder & CEO) is resurrecting extinct smells through DNA sequencing, and introducing this novel 3rd category of fragrance materials into the conversation. FRAGS MENTIONED: MAISON d’ETTO: Rotano, Noisette, Canaan; Robert Piguet Fracas, Giorgio Beverly Hills, Mugler Alien, MAISON d’ETTO Macanudo, Future Society: Solar Canopy, Floating...

The delightful Pissara Umavijani, Founder and Perfumer of Parfums Dusita, is in the Perfume Room today! Pissara discusses uprooting her life from Bangkok to Paris in pursuit of perfume, said pursuit of perfume [Pissara is self-taught!], and how, through Dusita, Pissara honors and bottles the smells of her father’s legacy, her Thai heritage, and classic French perfumery all at once. FRAGS MENTIONED: Parfums Dusita: La Douceur De Siam, Anamcara, Melodie de l’Amour, Rosarine; Roja Elixir, Maya...

What IS love and what does it smell like? Givaudan’s Head of Fine Fragrance North America, Matthieu Befve, and Perfumer Dana Schmitt join me in the Perfume Room today as we explore this very topic. Specifically, we discuss Givaudan’s most recent immersive fragrance experience—'What Is love?’— an olfactive exploration of love and seduction as experienced by Gen Z and as interpreted by Givaudan perfumers. FRAGS MENTIONED: Commodity Orris, CK One, Estée Lauder Beautiful, Ralph Lauren Romance,...

MAISON d’ETTO Founder and Professional Horse Girl Brianna Lipovsky is in the Perfume Room today. Brianna and I chat everything from competing in Dressage at the Grand Prix level, channeling horse relationships into smells, a shamanic healing session in a Midtown office that changed the trajectory of her career, and a fragrance in her collection with an actual HORSE MOLECULE.  + REVIEWS OF: Officine Universelle Buly Patate Douce des Caraibes et Carotte D’Afghanistan + the Phlur body/hair mist...

Papillon Artisan Perfumes' Liz Moores is in the Perfume Room this week! We discuss: a perfume that smells post-coital, fragrance formulas that come in dreams, reading her own perfumes' Fragrantica reviews, the importance of sticking to a brief when no one else is watching/smelling, smells inspired by pets, and more! FRAGS MENTIONED: Diptyque Orpheon, Riddle Oil Poppy, Michael Kors EDP, Marc Jacob EDP, Ex Nihilo Lust in Paradise, Creed Silver Mountain Water, Papillon Dryad, Chanel No. 5 Eau...

Olfactive Artist & Researcher M Dougherty is in the Perfume Room this week! M uses scent to explore communication, memory, and interaction, and has created bodies of work around everything from dog perfume, to olfactive concerts, to the fragrance wheel...of human body odors, to urban forest bathing via mycelium sculptures! FRAGS MENTIONED: Electimuss Vanilla Edesia, Outremer Vanille, Fischersund 101, MSCHF WD-40, Xyrena Dark Ride, Victoria's Secret Amber Romance, K No. 9 FOLLOW M:...

CALLER WHAT IS YOUR NAME AND WHERE ARE YOU CALLING FROM? Hear from FIVE fellow listeners today as I answer their biggest fragrance dilemmas ranging from the perfect scent to celebrate a new home, a perfume for *the stage,* scents that match songs, the floraliest floral for a non-floral lover, and that elusive perfect skin scent plus. Plus I review some recent PR! FRAGS MENTIONED: Narciso Rodriguez Narciso for Her EDT, By Rosie Jane Rosie, Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur, Byredo Velvet Haze,...