Smell Ya Later

We hosted the scent swap of the scentury last week (kidding, but also not kidding) at the Standard Highline, and 115 of you showed up to contribute to the second annual (?) scent circulation trade. This episode is a breathless recap of everything that went down: the community, the energy, the interlopers (we had a swaplifter!), and the lovely folks who helped it all happen: shoutout The Standard t...

We would never be flip about attending such illustrious events as a Knicks championship viewing party or the Fragrance Foundation Awards (affectionately known as the Fifis). Ha ha, of course not. We take the honor as seriously as we take this podcast, which has its own ideas about how awards categories could probably benefit from a bit more diversity. (But no one's paying us to award perfumes anyt...

Not to be boring, but we're talking about body mists again. Particularly body mists from luxury brands that we'd assume have a slightly more restrained strategy with releases. But, you know what, maybe it is actually that $imple, and we've been overthinking brands again for our allotted weekly yap. [What we smell like today: NETTE Mochi Banane] Don't forget!: 🏨HOTEL SMELL YA LATER🗝️ 6/25/26  6-9...

Well, you can, technically. But the collective understanding of cologne is very gendered. So, something to think about... Which, we do! in this yap-centric ep about a bunch of new smells we've smelled recently, AND a very exciting announcement: 🏨HOTEL SMELL YA LATER🗝️ 6/25/26  6-9 pm Join us at The Soda Shop at The Standard High Line to sip and swap with a few surprises...   Tickets are $15, and...

We chat with everyone's favorite esthetician and acne whisperer, Sofie Pavitt, on this episode. You might recognize her colorful skincare line, Sofie Pavitt Face, from countless Top Shelf name drops. She has the coolest facial studio in Chinatown where we (as well as every cool downtown figure) have had our mugs graced by her skillful hands. Lesser known, however, is that Sofie is just like us: a...

Slutty teen elixirs, plastic clouds, milky vanillas, musty vanillas, and an impressive new collection from everyone's favorite cloven-footed fashion brand — these are some of the new smells we tackle today, choking through a cloud of blotters without proper ventilation. We do it all for you, the listener! [What we smell like today: Mugler Angel Blush, Eleasium birth!] 🌐 Find more info, episodes,...

Seems like fragrance is revisiting a certain kind of scent profile combo dubbed by traditional perfumery as chypre (a scent profile we both keep forgetting about). We smell a few modern releases taking the idea and giving it a modern interpretation, as well as a few more new-ish scents in varying degrees of "sure, okay!" and "oh yes, that!" [What we smell like today: MEMO Paris Cap Camarat, D'orsa...

Sort of, yes, kind of, more than before... It's just us this episode, chatting about some fun new fragrance releases (Vacation's new Orange Gelée collection, Born To Stand Out, etc), some BBB [beautiful but basic] fragrances (Guerlain's wedding collection, yet another Born in Roma, etc), and some ones we do not quite understand, but "sure, why the hell not?" (Notewrks's new "for men but also every...

On this week's ep, we have Bryan Edwards, co-founder & CEO of Snif, one of the first brands to kick off the DTC fragrance-buying format. With clever and experimental scent releases that have always injected a bit of cheeky humor into fragrance, they're stretching in polar directions in a way that most brands would dare to endeavor — one way that engages with nostalgia-driven fun with pancake,...

While perfume for dogs continues to miss, one pet grooming category — the shampoo and coat conditioner — remained woefully underconsidered. Enter Biche , a luxury pet grooming line launched by friend of the pod, Alexandra Pauly . The former High Snobiety beauty editor, fragrance enthusiast, and dog mom set out to create a line of pet shampoo and coat conditioning oil that would make bathtime a mor...

An us chat about a week of new smells, featuring this modern, salty, solar fragrance accord that seems to be everywhere now, being humbled by luxury brands, new venture capital-backed fragrances, a listener voice message about the alleged almond-pocalypse, and, y'know, the general ranting we inevitably do. [What we smell like today: Discotheque Lola At Coatcheck, IRFĒ Marshmallow Musk] 🌐 Find mor...

Two NYC icons, Susan Korn, aka Susan Alexandra, and perfumer Marissa Zappa teamed up to create Glorious, the first official scent of Susan Alexandra's jewelry and accessories brand. You know the colorful beaded bags and fun charm jewelry on site, and now you can experience the brand's signature playful delight with its first scent. We speak with Susan Korn on this episode about how she started her...

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...