Smell Ya Later

We're back after a wee break (vacation, life, etc) with a listener question about the pros/cons/whats with plunking down the dollars for a full-size scent vs. taking home a discovery set when in the market for niche fragrances abroad. We also discuss a handful of new scents from D.S. & Durga's Debaser In Bloom, Summer Fridays Sunlit Vanilla, Non-Fiction, Sidia, and more. [What we smell like to...

When art & design turn their ambitions toward technology and olfaction, how much does a machine powered by algorithms, AI, or both, challenge an industry known for gatekeeping (and upcharging), and how much does it supplant the craftsmanship and skill of a perfumer? We discuss such iffiness after experiencing a custom scent-making installation that questions, "What if every human could create...

Dancing is a Sonoma vineyard (est. 2022) founded by mother and daughter, Cynthia and Lauren Russell. It's also a perfume brand that makes vineyard-themed scents: smoked wood and forest floor, the grapes, and, of course, the vines. We chat with Cynthia and Lauren about how it all came together and how they created their three scents with Frederick Bouchardy of Joya Studios. [What we smell like toda...

Famously, we're not "florals" people, and especially not rose, but... a listener question prompts us to choose the rose. If we had to, these are the ones we'd pick. And for the rest of the hour, we talk about a lot of new scents we've been smelling lately. [What we smell like today: YSL Babycat, Documents Feather] 🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live ☎️ Leave us a voice mess...

There's a certain position in the fragrance industry that gets to call the shots, finesse the juice, and influence how fragrances go from brief to shelves — a position that your hosts wished they knew existed during the "figuring out what we wanna be" phase of our academic careers. We can't turn back time, but we can grill said figure: Kyle Ferguson, fragrance evaluator at Givaudan. He's the go-be...

We have Bryson Ammons and Eddie Hodges, founders of Alloy Studio , on this episode to talk about creating an independent fragrance brand in NYC, how creative rules everything they do, and celebrating queer and black identity via fragrance. We also have an exclusive sniff at their newest releases: Faux and Luster, the duo that makes up their Afro-disiac collection! [What we smell like today: Kylie...

We haven't done one of these in a while — it's a listener Q&A episode in which we address your queries about fragrance and non-fragrance related things like: how to blind buy "successfully," how to display your perfumes in a non-tacky way, how to tactfully tell someone they stink, where all this perfume hype culture is going, any former guests we'd love to have on again, the most repulsive sce...

Is it peaking? That's what the rumors (industry insights) say, but based on what we've been seeing, the fraghead community is very much so cooking. [What we smell like today: Maison d'Etto Macanudo, Anti Nashi Toro] Shop our 👚 NEW MERCH 👕 now available on our website . It's very cute, very cool, and we made it especially for you :) 🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live ☎️ L...

Are we psychic? According to the history....... not no. Every year, we have a stab at what we can expect to smell in the coming year's forecast, based on current trends, emerging trends, the thousands of PR emails we receive trying to make [redacted] happen, and what we've been seeing and smelling on the streets. And most of the time, we are correct! Consider this a free seminar on fragrance marke...

Every year, we review our favorite smells that launched into the world in the last 12 months, broken down by such innovative categories as "best body mist," "Best candle," and "best body product smell..." you get it. Here's a tight, correct list of our favorite new smells born in 2025. [What we smell like today: Imaginary Authors Yesterday Haze, Dancing Scorched Wood] This episode is sponsored by...

We speak of brands often, sometimes (often) critically, other times admiringly. One such brand in the latter is Serviette, helmed by Trey Taylor. A creative culmination of his own tastes, education in fashion, and upbringing in the Great North, Serviette explores the tension between class with modern olfactory concepts, and a whole moodboard's worth of far-reaching cultural references. [What we sm...

Things have gotten too complicated, too niche, too try-hard. Sometimes it's nice when familiar things are done well — as you'll hear in this episode, in which we smell through some newness from Billie Eilish and Kayali. [What we smell like today: Rite of Way Rising Sun, John Varvatos Rock Volume 1] This episode is sponsored by Cécred (hurray!) Use code SMELL20 to enjoy 20% off the Clarifying Shamp...

Another year, another round of smelly things you can buy for your loved ones, obligatory gift recipients, assigned gift swap honorees, and also just yourself! We have roughly a dozen items that smell nice, abet nice smells, are delicious, and/or can be lit on fire in this episode, as well as an abundant balance of chit-chat about smells we've smelled lately. (So, you know, the usual.) [What we sme...

We are delighted to welcome Robyn Melissa Watkins , Senior VP of Product Development at Cécred (AKA Beyoncé's haircare brand). After a truly Holy shit , how does my hair look this good airdried?? moment Sable had when trying the line, we were very excited to discover not only how its signature scent Temple Oud was created, but also the formula development process to create products that can enhanc...

Known for exquisitely powerful scent profiles that explore the deepest resins and ambers, the most vibrant florals, and the most complex musks, the Omani fragrance brand Amouage has become a regular mention in the perfume social orbit. We have the brand's creative director Renaud Salmon as a guest on this episode, going long on all things Amouage — how they blend raw materials for different expres...

Ok, we have a lot of smells we're catching up with this week, including newness from Abel, D'Orsay, Bianco Profumo, The Nue Co, d'Annam, LORE, Ellis Brooklyn, and etcetera... [What we smell like today: D'Orsay Holy Berry, Bianco Profumo Caffè Amaro] Find our 👚 BRAND NEW MERCH 👕 now available on our website. It's very cute, also very cool, and we made it especially for you :) 🌐 Find more info, e...

We have the pleasure of chatting with perfumer Isaac Sinclair on this episode — the only kiwi perfumer (we've heard of) and the olfactive partner for Abel . He tells us about Symrise's upcycling tech that's kind of like the agua fresca of fruit notes, how the "oriental" olfactive family was originally "ambery," and how Abel's directive for creating "natural" fragrance is that none of the ingredien...

We have the pleasure of welcoming the enigmatic Chris Collins on this episode. Founder of his eponymous fragrance line, World Of Chris Collins features a collection of scents that the fragworld considers very... let's just say [parted lips emoji, wink emoji, sweaty face emoji]. He shares his story about collecting Bath & Body Works scents when he was a teen, modeling for Ralph Lauren, and even...

After smelling the zesty candle collab between SIDIA and Esthetician Sofie Pavitt, we're very pleased to welcome Erin Kleinberg on this episode to chat all things scent in her bodycare and home line, SIDIA, as well as her many endeavors in beauty and fashion media that (little did we realize) we've been interacting with throughout our own careers in beauty media. Small world! [What we smell like t...

Well, maybe not these days, but we'll tell you about our faves from the bygone days (2010s) of designer fragrance moments. That, plus we chat about some new department store scents, revisit some newish scents, and wonder what it all means (what else is new?).  We have our 👚 BRAND NEW MERCH 👕 now available on our website . It's very cute, also very cool, and we made it especially for you :) [What...

It happens every year around this time, and somehow we're always surprised even though this is our podcast that we plan and produce entirely ourselves. Please enjoy the 5th annual Smell Ya Later Awards , a collection of extremely biased, not entirely sensical, but entirely 'we mean it' categories of fragrances that we love, support, wonder what's going on with, and wish something more would be goi...

... And other things we've smelled lately, including: Ellis Brooklyn's new Vanilla Salt, Kayali Milky Musk Oud and Chocolate Oud, Orabella Eternal Roots, Phlur Cherry Stem, DS & Durga Cognac Reign, etc etc... [What we smell like today: Kayali Milky Musk Oud, Orto Parisi Brutus] 🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live ☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpi...

If you see 222, 333, 444, 555, and 11 11 everywhere, now you can smell them — or at least the interpretation of them via Lake & Skye 's popular fragrances. Brand founder Courtney Somer joins us this episode to discuss creating the popular 11 11 scent that launched the brand, as well as their new Angel Numbers body mists, which take the concept in a playful and cozy-smelling direction. [What we...

The Tokkers are at it again, this time selling out a certain indie pumpkin spice-laden perfume in service of... vasodilation? ¯\(ツ)/¯ OK, we guess! This week, we combatively chit-chat about very expensive perfumes, very affordable perfumes, and all the basic in-between perfumes (y'know, the usual). And we address a listener question about fall fragrances as they alert us to the unfounded reason p...

We're delighted to welcome Joyce Kim, chief product officer for Rare Beauty, on this episode to talk about how Rare's first eau de parfum was created: its unique bottle design created in collaboration with hand therapy specialists, the four scent layering balms that dramatically transform the scent, and how an early unintended packaging design feature informed what's possible for accessibility in...