Perfume Room

Since we last spoke, MIT Scientist-turned-Beauty-Founder Jasmina Aganovic has been up to A LOT. Like, oh I don't know, attempting to challenge everything we think we know about BO and the deodorant industry???! Through her newest product, Base Scent, Jasmina asks: What if deodorizing isn't the point? What if instead, we could just odorize all the good stuff? JOIN OCT SMELL CLUB: witchysmel...

LEGEND, ICON, FOUNDER KILIAN HENNESSY is in the Perfume Room this week! Heir to the Hennessy dynasty, Kilian has given new meaning to the family name: PERFUME. Founded almost two decades ago, Kilian Parfums was one of the early luxury niche brands to emerge, and one that's shaped and laid the blueprint for so many brands that have followed. Today we chat about everything from his family, to hi...

JOHN EARLY AND RUBY McCOLLISTER ARE IN THE PERFUME ROOM THIS WEEK!!!! We're chatting Maddie's Secret (the film!), Maddie's Secret (the scent!), the history of cola, John's personal journey into perfume (one Ruby shepherded), and Ruby's lifelong love affair with fragrance that all started with her mother. And of course, all roads lead to Marissa Zappas!! FOLLOW: @bejohnce @ruby....

A perfume industry vet, Géraldine Archambault KNOWS the essentials. In fact, she's built a global luxury fragrance brand around them: high-quality ingredients, top-tier perfumers, a diverse offering of fragrances, and most importantly: affordability. HOW? In this episode, the Essential Parfums founder shares exactly how she cracked the code to offer niche, luxury scents at prices well below al...

Are you using your perfume powers for good or evil? Certified *perfume shop girl* and Nose Candy pod co-host Chloe Coover breaks down your biggest perfume-shopping faux pas, the bottles she's emptied, holes in her collection, the scents that define her, her high school persona and how it shaped her taste, and so0o0 much more. FOLLOW CHLOE: @trannehathaway @nosecandypod ESSENTIAL PARFUMS EVENTS! li...

In search of the next great aromachemical (think of predecessors like ISO E Super, Cashmeran, Galaxolide, etc...), Patina Co-Founders Sean Raspet and Laura Sisson spend their days in the lab testing and developing new molecules. What does that mean? What is scent design and how does it work? And—in the same way every color has its own immutable RGB code, can we empiricize smells? Laura and Sean ho...

Logos, slogans, jingles--they all matter, but Beauty Exec-turned-Founder Caroline Fabrigas knows that the next (and most impactful) frontier in branding is scent. Through her company Scent Marketing Inc., she's developed everything from iconic hotel scents (The 1 Hotel, Baccarat Hotel, and Auberge Resorts), to retail spaces, med spas, amusement park rides—even 20 blocks of 5th Avenue. Where mo...

Within hours of launch, Influxious sold out of all inventory on Sephora.com. The next day it sold out again on the Influxious site. The visionary behind this booming and blooming brand? It's the one, the only, Queen-of-PerfumeTok-turned-Founder, Funmi Monet of course. She's in the Perfume Room this week sharing the behind-the-scenes of building her brand, the importance of picking the righ...

Julien Rasquinet, Senior Perfumer at CPL Aromas, had an incredibly fortuitous path to perfumery, and it began with a chance meeting at an airport. Today, he is one of the most prolific and successful perfumers of all time, and when you hear his story, you'll understand why. We chat about creating the perfect rose, where AI falls short, his least favorite kind of client briefs, the behind-the-s...

Fragrance and fashion legend Narciso Rodriguez joins me in the Perfume Room this week!!!! (REQUIRED LISTENING.) Two-time recipient of the CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award AND recipient of 2003 TFA Best New Fragrance Award (for For Her) (among many others), Narciso has received the highest honors for his contributions in both industries. He is able to c...

Husband-and-wife duo Isaac Lekach and Lillian Shalom have spent the past few years developing fragrances for other brands. With El Morocco Perfumery , it's finally their turn. In an attempt to recreate the magic of cafe society (and the legendary club for which the brand is named), the pair approached this project like archivists, collecting every handkerchief, matchbook, and photo they could...

Decorated MANE Senior Perfume Mathilde Bijaoui, and veteran evaluation exec Lauren Shyman are in the Perfume Room this week! How do perfumers and evaluators work together behind the scenes to create the juice we smell in our most cherished perfume bottles? Enjoy this an intimate (and fun!) look at the professional and personal relationship between a high-level perfumer and evaluator. FOLLOW: @mane...

Sebastian Jara is not new to this [fragrance content]; he's true this. Since 2012, he's been creating videos, and today his YT channel boasts over 335K subscribers. Now he's onto the next venture. After years of attending perfume trade shows all over the world, Sebastian has created his own and it's called ScentFEST. And the inaugural show is happening in just 3 weeks in SF! (June...

Stop. what. you're. doing. DOMINIQUE ROPION IS IN THE PERFUME ROOM TODAY. FRAGS MENTIONED: Frederic Malle: Carnal Flower, Portrait of a Lady, Geranium Pour Monsieur; Mugler Alien, Lancome La Vie Est Belle, Givenchy L’Interdit, Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady, Givenchy Ysatis, Aphorismes Innocent Tuberose, Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, Aphorismes A Rose is a Rose, Frederic Malle Portrait of a...

World-renowned expert on the psychological science of smell, neuroscientist Dr. Rachel Herz is in the Perfume Room this week! Bookmark this episode; you'll want to come back to it! Why are you attracted to the way certain people smell and what role does scent really play in attraction? Is your partner's perfume hiding potential red flags?! What can you to improve your sense of smell (espec...

What do Tom Ford Ombre Leather, Narciso Rodriguez Pure Musc, Valentino Donna, Jimmy Choo I Want Choo, and Jean Paul Gaultier La Belle all have in common? All were created by multi-award-winning Givaudan Senior Perfumer Sonia Constant. In addition to her illustrious client repertoire, Sonia is the creator of her own brand, Ella K—a brand that inspired by bold women that chronicles Sonia's perso...

PERFUME ROOM CANON ALERT! Givaudan Master Perfumer Calice Becker is shaping the future of perfumery at every level. Not only have her iconic creations like Tommy Girl, J'Adore Dior, Love Don't Be Shy, and Velvet Orchid (to name just a few) come to define entire decades of perfume, but she also serves as the Director of the Givaudan Perfumery School, handpicking the next generation of perfu...

In just one year since launch, Param Sara , a new niche Indian perfume brand on the scene, has already won numerous prestigious accolades. And it all began when Founder Ankita Gill noticed a common theme in perfumery: non-Indian and non-Asian brands were telling Indian and Asian stories. Determined to reclaim and retell these stories through her own memories and experiences, Ankita pivoted careers...

A Part-Time Assistant Professor at The New School, FIT, and Marymount Manhattan whose work centers on French food and identity, perfume, and (French) language instruction, as well as an instructor at the Fragrance Alliance, Daisy Bow interrogates fragrance from a critical, cultural, and academic lens. Today we discuss the colonial roots behind gourmands, the case for the 'basic bitch' perf...

All perfumes go to heaven . Heaven = the Fragrance Vault in Lake Tahoe . Jana Menard is the owner of Fragrance Vault , a one-of-a-kind perfume store in Lake Tahoe that carries niche, commercial, and incredibly hard-to-find, rare vintage perfumes (so like... everything ). Today we chat about her store, how she sources and authenticates vintage, the most precious and rare gems in her collection, and...

Perfumes sold in Ace Hardware AND LuckyScent?? Get you a perfumer who can do both. That's George Tedder: an IFF perfumer who specializes in home care. If you've ever wondered who's really scenting your toilet bowl cleaner (and how!), this one's for you. MY SOTD: ERIS Parfums Mother's Milk (code: PERFUMEROOM for 10% off) FRAGS MENTIONED: Hermès Terre d’Hermès, Downy Calm, Downy...

Comedian, writer, and Accidental PerfumeTok King™ Brian Park is in the Perfume Room today! You likely know him from his viral TikTok series where he satirizes 'taste bros' who use consumerism in lieu of developing a personality. Vids of his like 'POV: you're on a date with a guy who has Aesop soap in his bathroom' have garnered millions of views and have platformed him to an en...

[PERFUME ROOM - RE-SPRITZ - original air date 5/14/24] Today’s episode is a masterclass! Fragrance legend, author, historian, taxonomist and Perfume Room fan-favorite Michael Edwards is back (!!), this time to chat about his newest book, “American Legends: The Evolution of American Fragrances.” What makes a perfume *American* in style and who are the quintessential American perfumes? What makes th...

Audrey Robinovitz is a fragrance writer, critic, Diptyque shop girl, and honestly, a perfume obsessive who matches my freak . Today we chat about everything from the difference between Olivier Pescheux's Diptyque and Olivia Giacobetti's, to the role scent plays in various religions, to our collective breaking point with fantasy accords (and so much more)! ENJOY. FOLLOW AUDREY: @foldyrhands...

Launched in 2024, BRUME ORPIN is a niche fragrance brand putting sustainability at the forefront of EVERYTHING they create. Every aspect of the perfume, from the outermost packaging down the juice has been painstakingly designed to be biodegradable—to the point that the BRUME ORPIN has restricted its palette to just 50 materials . Yes, only 50. It's a perfect example of of creativity born from...