Paperback Perfumes

“Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars. Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings. Now, think.” - Hildegard of Bingen As the thin veil of Samhain floats by on the northern hemisphere and Beltane burst forth in the southern realms, Rhiannon Mapstone joins me from the other side of the world. We usually live in the same region, but this time she’s calling in from Cornwall, fresh from a Cornish...

“Stories come in so many forms: in charcoal, and in song, in paintings, poems, films. And books. Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives—or to find strength in a very long one.” - V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue What happens when a novel about being forgotten meets an art form built on being remembered? In this episode, Daylesford perfumista Rhiane Schroder brings V...

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains." -Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses On September 12–13, I'll be at the Geelong Fragrance Fair and to mark it, this special episode gathers voices from everyone I've interviewed on Paperback Perfumes this past year. Sixteen per...

"Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can." - Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic Aysha Hansen is an independent Australian perfumer with an uncompromising focus on exceptional quality, detail and sensorial elegance. Born in Geelong and raised in the coastal...

“In the secular night you wander around alone in your house. It’s Two-Thirty” - Margaret Atwood, In the Secular Night Regina Mamou is a research-based installation artist whose work sits at the crossroads of history, ideology and scent. Raised in a multiethnic household, her mother Polish-American, her father a Christian Chaldean priest who fled Iraq for fear of persecution. Regina's practice blen...

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.” ― Lois Lowry, The Giver Bawo Ijirigho is the founder and creative force behind Ilé Olomu, a fragrance house rooted in West African heritage and storytelling. A great-grand nephew of 19th-century Nigerian agricultural pioneer Nana Olomu, Bawo draws on his family's legacy and a modern art...

“There I was, a woman on the rocks by the ocean, wrapped in a blanket, waiting for the return of her lover. Everything I knew about art would say that I was a painting. I was certainly a poem. Sappho was too - her life, perhaps, unknowable, but her feelings were mine. I was mythic.” ― Melissa Broder, The Pisces April Lea is the founder, perfumer and creative force behind LVNEA, a Canadian fragranc...

“At a small table, sitting very upright, was one of the ugliest old ladies he had ever seen. It was an ugliness of distinction—it fascinated rather than repelled.” ― Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express Most perfumers focus on crafting fragrance but David Clarke, the creative mind behind Rivendare, transforms the entire process into a story. From an unexpected starting point with no initi...

“Was I starting to feel evil? Yes, now I was worrying I'd be turned to the dark side by too much crochet.” ― Naomi Novik, A Deadly Education In this episode, I have an excellent conversation with Benjamin Esposito, the self‑taught perfumer behind New York’s House of Mammoth. I have always admired the way Benjamin talks about his work, grounding it in what he calls radical attention, the practice o...

“These empires, however, have no power of the language of scent. Scent in situ resides outside of oppressive systems. Despite a massive market valuation for scented products, the language of scent itself cannot be commodified, owned or managed” - Catherine Hayley Epstein, Cognitive Impacts of Scent’s Languagelessness: A Persuasive Palette to Infuse Imagination and Healing, Nose Magazine , Issue 2...

“Perfume is a language whose speech is worth learning and unpacking as one would a poem, book, or film. Scent is a path to getting closer to our senses, to instinct, and to our bodies and the earth at a time when those attachments are threatened.” Barbara Herman, Scent & Subversion: Decoding a Century of Provocative Perfume Barbara Herman is a writer, vintage‑perfume historian, and the founder...

“There is a type of person who starts to GLOW FROM WITHIN when talking about perfumery…” - Pia Long, Excerpt from ‘Demo Accords’, featured in ‘On The Scent’ magazine, Issue 1 . Jo Fairley is a celebrated writer, journalist, and one of the most influential voices shaping how we understand and talk about fragrance. As co‑founder of On The Scent magazine (and it’s inclusion in a burgeoning media empi...

“If you could go back, who would you want to meet?” ― Toshikazu Kawaguchi,  Before the Coffee Gets Cold Delphine McPhilimey brings a quiet, intentional artistry to the world of natural perfumery, and this episode explores the depth behind her craft. A French‑born artisan perfumer, her path has taken her from traditional perfumery studies to hands‑on workshops in Bali, eventually leading...

“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.” ― Oscar Wilde,  The Picture of Dorian Gray Grimoire Perfumes founder Troy (Trung) Vu joins us to explore the rich intersection of fragrance, aesthetics, mythology, and artistic expression. A self‑taught perfumer, Troy’s creative path winds through years as a classically trained dancer, a...

“Just like becoming an expert in wine–you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford–you learn about great food by finding the best there is, whether simply or luxurious. Then you savour it, analyse it, and discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences.” ― Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking Flowers, food, and fragrance have long been powerful...

“For Man is held by everything he holds. Release your grip on things if you would not be in their grip.” ― Mikhail Naimy, The Book of Mirdad: The Strange Story of a Monastery which was Once Called The Ark This conversation with George Chlouk moves through fragrance, philosophy, and the emotional terrain of being human in challenging times. We begin with the cultural depth of Lebanese perfumery—its...

“Remember. This is your story, no matter what history will claim or what songs people sing. And it’s no one’s place to stop you from telling it.” ― Lucy Holland, Sistersong In this episode we explore the space where books and fragrance meet, guided by writer and sensory storyteller Rowan Ambrose. Rowan’s life is shaped by vivid experiences—sailing tall ships, gardening, travelling widely, and savo...

“Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy.” ― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights It feels like Wuthering Heights has swept back into the cultural conversation—whether it’s through rereads of the novel, rewatch...

“All in the golden afternoon Full leisurely we glide; For both our oars, with little skill, By little arms are plied, While little hands make vain pretence Our wanderings to guide.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland In this episode, I’m joined (once again) by Fliss Walton, who helps me dive deep into my lifelong love for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland . Together, we explore Lewis...

“Because the middle classes and the nouveaux riches welcomed gas, water closets and piped-in water, the upper classes drew back. Many a denizen of a sprawling, stony-cold country estate looked on “mod cons” as slightly uncouth, over-eager and—worst of all—middle-class.” - Katherine Ashenburg, The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History In this episode, I’m joined by Clayton Ilolahia, an Evaluation a...

“ Now, I see that every relic, however battered, every scratch on every knick-knack, is engraved with a timeless story of someone's life. ” - Eve Makis, The Spice Box Letters Hosting this conversation with Alina Tadevosyan gave me the chance to learn about the powerful themes of Armenian cultural: resilience, identity and heritage preservation. Alina shared how everyday acts of cultural expression...

“Like a long lost cousin to the tarot, these rich images and symbolic stories could become a source for guidance, comfort, wisdom and beauty in your life. Just open the book to any picture and fall into it. Read the motto and story, use your imagination, and let the emblem work its magic” - Mandy Aftel , Symbolorum: The Secret Wisdom of the Emblems It feels surreal to start Season 3 of the podcast...

“Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people. ” - Frank Herbert, Dune In the final episode of Season Two, I’m joined once again by Michael Nordstrand to explore the rich and layered world of Frank Herbert’s Dune . You might remember our first conversation in Episode 51, where we wandered through fairytale...

"Not here for likes, not here for follows Chasing the sun, not shadows to follow Built for love, she can’t help herself Not trying to be anyone—just herself… "  -The Raconteur, Ms Macadamia Craig Andrade, founder and perfumer of The Raconteur , has built an Australian fragrance house celebrated for its refined, story-driven scents. In our conversation, Craig reflects on his transition from a...

"Without a city there is a house That's made entirely of wood, Where live ten thousand daughters That work for a common good."  - Kit williams, Untitled (Bee on the Comb) I had the pleasure of speaking with Saskia Wilson-Brown, founder of the Institute for Art and Olfaction, to discuss the evolution of her ground breaking organization and the role storytelling plays in the world of scent. We...