Perfume Room

HAPPY 200 TO US! Almost one whole year later, enjoy this truncated live recording of the magic that is: SMELLS LIKE LOVE ~ the only dating show where the nose does the picking! With special presentation by dsm-firmenich's Justin Welch. APPLY TO BE A DATER &/OR GET SMELLS LIKE LOVE TIX HERE: linktr.ee/emmavern & use code 'perfume' for $20 tickets!!! V-DAY 9:30P @ CAVEAT - SEE U...

MY TOP 20 FAVE LAUNCHES/DISCOVERIES OF 2025!!! with highly requested/repeat award show co-host: my mom, Karen! (Most of these shouldn't surprise you because I have been talking about them all year.) FOR TIX TO SMELLS LIKE LOVE/TO APPLY TO BE A DATER: linktr.ee/emmavern FRAGS MENTIONED: Courreges Hyper Musc, EM Molecule 01 + Iris, Nobile 1942 Il Colore del Vento, Roja Isola Blu, Ex Nihilo Spiky...

In 2018, Sy Truong began studying (and teaching himself) perfumery. Six years later, he's the recipient of an Art & Olfaction Award, the founder and perfumer behind the internationally-celebrated brand Sylhouette Parfums, the perfumer of record for TOOUCH perfumes, and is shaping the emerging landscape of Vietnamese niche perfumery. Today, we chat about the perfume book that changed his en...

MARLOU perfumes smell like LIFE —aromas of existence shared across human, fauna, and flora. They’re Dirty. They’re Clean. They’re tender. They’re coarse. And it’s this very proximity to reality that draws its critics and fans alike.  Founder Briac Frocrain welcomes all reactions and through his perfumes, invites and challenges us to reflect—what do we [humans] smell like? Is that dirty? Is ‘dirty’...

36 PIPIN' HOT TAKES FROM 36 PEOPLE. RECORDED @ STÉLE in NOLITA . Featuring: • CHRISTINA LOFF • ISABEL FINSTON • LOLA GUSMAN • JUSTINA SPARLING • KATE KHARASOZHENKO • MICHAEL NORDSTRAND • ARABELLE SICARDI • EMILY JENSEN • BILLIE MCGHEE • MICHELLE DELORENZO • ALISON RINI • LAURA HOPKINS • LIZ DYER • LIZ GERSHMAN • AMY SEIDEL • NOAH VIRGILE • EMILY BRUNSTEN • J.K. ROBBINS • JOEY ROSIN • BENJAMIN...

A look back on 2025 and a look ahead at 2026. Which of my 2025 predictions came true ;) ;) ;) and what's coming in the new year? My thoughts with RECEIPTS, PROOF, TIMELINE, SCREENSHOTS [notes, accords, categories, concepts.] FRAGS MENTIONED: Param Sara The Mandala, Biche, Artemis, lil luv dog, Beastie, Welltayl, Odette Parfums Pas de Chat, Redoux Silver Lining, Nostos Calico, Demeter Kitten Fu...

Spoturno is an haute perfume house bridging and blurring the lines between legacy and modernity. And it makes sense. Founder Véronique Spoturno is the great-granddaughter of François Spoturno (dit Coty), who's widely credited as ‘the father of modern perfumery.’ Véronique drops by the Perfume Room to talk family legacy, the vision behind the brand, and the debut collection created with Christo...

Christopher Sheldrake is the nose behind numerous fragrances other perfumers only wish they had created: Feminité du Bois, Ambre Sultan, Chergui, etc. His style is at once deeply technical, classical, and avant-garde. Today, we chat about his prolific career, the creations he considers part of his personal canon, his unfiltered thoughts on the current state of niche, and Christopher shares the nev...

Cammy (of @cammyreviews) is a PerfumeTok darling with impeccable taste and niche recommendations to scratch your every fragrant itch.  But her curation doesn't stop there. She’s as devoted to perfume as she is to gummy candy — equally discerning in both. So today, naturally, we smell perfume and eat candy!! WATCH FULL VID EP THIS FRIDAY ON SUBSTACK ! FRAGS MENTIONED: Astier de Villattes Ambre...

Amélie Huynh does it all: she’s a jewelry designer, art collector, historian, mother, and the visionary who revived the 200-year-old fragrance brand, D’ORSAY. Guided by a mission to honor its romantic and scandal-tinged legacy through a modern lens, Amélie’s era of D’ORSAY balances its storied past with modern perfumery. Today, we discuss why she chose to revive the brand, its evolution, her jewel...

Manuel Mathieu is a Haitian multidisciplinary artist known worldwide for his emotionally-charged, indefinite-form paintings, drawings, ceramics, and installations. His work is held in major collections, and just last year, he was named a Companion of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres du Québec. Three years ago, during a residency in Paris, Mathieu turned to a new medium: scent. What began as curio...

Wait wait, Gap Dream was inspired by what ? The initial concept for the collection began as... soaps? All this, and so many more amazing insider stories on the making of THE ICONIC 90s GAP SCENTS (Dream, Heaven, Om & Grass) , with the visionary behind it all: Creative Exec and Entrepreneur, Gary McNatton! FRAGS MENTIONED: Diptyque Lazulio (SOTD), Jorum Studio Pony Boy, Diptyque Corail Oscuro,...

Born with a rare hereditary condition called hyperosmia, Joy Milne possesses a superhuman sense of smell—one so acute it led her to make a groundbreaking medical discovery: Parkinson's Disease has a smell. How did she do it? What might it mean for the future of diagnostic testing? And what other diseases and human conditions have scents? (SPOILER ALERT: romantic compatibility is one of them!)...

Olivier Cresp, DSM-Firmenich Master Perfumer, Founder of Akro by Oliver Cresp, and literal inventor of the gourmand (!) is BACK in the Perfume Room! (AN HONOR!) Today, he reflects on his oeuvre including his signature, palette, and unique approach to perfumery. We discuss how new advances in technology will impact past and future creations, AI and its role in perfumery, how his creative approach d...

AI content creators, my perfume collection (!), and the bottles I am eyeing right now all ahead in today's quick solo catch-up! SOTD: Commodity Milk Orchid :) FRAGS MENTIONED: Commodity Milk Orchid, Le Labo Santal 33, Diptyque Orpheon, Le Labo Gaiac 10, Byredo  Mojave Ghost, Diptyque: Orphéon, Vetyverio (EDT); Fzotic Vetiverissimo, Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Iris, Naomi Goodsir Iris Cen...

PSA: You Don’t Have to Go to France to Study Fragrance!! In fact, there’s an educational, state-of-the-art fragrance lab right in NYC—at FIT, home to the country’s only collegiate Cosmetics & Fragrance Marketing program. Today’s guest, Virginia Bonofiglio , is the Associate Chairperson (and professor) leading it all. Having held roles in just about every position in this industry over the span...

Award-winning independent perfumer, multidisciplinary artist, teacher, and Perfume Papa Michael Nordstrand is in the Perfume Room this week. Today, we discuss the 3 perfumes he thinks everyone should smell, his favorite perfumer, finding peace and harmony with malodorous materials, fragrance concentration and other lies we tell ourselves, learning and then teaching the craft of perfumery, his burg...

agustine zegers , Chilean olfactive artist and creator of agar olfactory and speculative scent lab , directs experimental scent spaces focused on expanding our sensorial tools to navigate a planet in transition. With perfumes that boast notes like hot fax machine, Mac carcass, mushroom gills, and yeasting dough, their work begs the bigger question: what is perfume and what are its functions? FOLLO...

Givaudan VP Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux generously returns to the Perfume Room to offer a definitive roadmap to the past, present, and future of perfume. Bookmark this ep. You'll come back to it. Rodrigo is a fragrance genealogist of sorts, tracing your favorite perfumes’ parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. He offers a rare perfumer's POV on the current landscape: What’s trending? Why?...

Cécile Zarokian is one of the greatest independent perfumers of all time, but she wasn’t always independent, and she hadn’t always planned on becoming a perfumer, either. Today, she’s in the Perfume Room sharing how she’s redefined the rules of the game, turned her greatest challenges into strengths, and found the CZP edge—her proverbial captive if you will—that helps her compete with (and win aga...

IMAGINE THIS: You're a partner at one of the world's top law firms. It's what you've worked towards your entire career. Would you walk away from it all for the chance to chase your true creative calling?  Craig Andrade , founder of Aussie niche fragrance brand, The Raconteur , did. This is his story. 10% LISTENER DISCOUNT! ⁠ stele.nyc ⁠ | code: emma10 (valid (on The Raconteur full...

The Alloy Studio is an experimental, Black, queer-owned fragrance brand blending glamour with grit. Created by romantic and business partners Bryson Ammons (the perfumer) and Eddie Hodges (the creative director), their fragrances dare and delight with notes like pineapple popsicle, sativa, and 'trashy perfume.' This week, we get the inside scoop on the brand's silver/gold aesthetic, Br...

A lot can happen in a year. Since opening its Williamsburg doors last summer, Stéle has added a second location, dropped 100(!) fragrances in a single day, and moonlights as Nolita's hottest millennial nightclub (stay tuned for pt. 2: the Pacha-to-Stéle Fri night pipeline). Despite the (well-deserved) buzz, founders Jake Levy and Matt Belanger remain steadfast in their commitment to artisanal,...

My perfume hot takes, a catch-up with Principal Perfumer Sabine de Tscharner about her newest creation for Laundry Sauce, Mojave Peach, and your hotline Qs answered, ALL IN ONE EP! Thank you to our sponsor Laundry Sauce ! Use code perfumeroom15 to get 15% off any Laundry Sauce order! (valid through Aug 9, 2025) FRAGS MENTIONED: Amouage Existence*, L’Artisan Passage D’Enfer, CdG Incense Zagorsk, Ky...

WATCH THE VIDEO EPISODE ON SUBSTACK! A film about one man's obsessive quest to track down an orris perfume—starring Tim Heidecker, Marta Pozzan, Julia Fox, Kevin Kline, Fisher Stevens, and Gina Gershon (!!)—premieres next week at Tribeca. This week, I sit down with the visionary behind it all: filmmaker Charlotte "Charlie" Ercoli. Charlie is no newcomer to the world of perfume. She c...