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I started collecting perfumes on the tour for my “Aladdin” movie in 2016, my bandmate was an amateur perfumer and his passion for aromatic materials was infectious. Studying scent unlocked an entire dimension of sensory experiences I had been ignoring. I realized that perfumers were trying to communicate with us, the raw materials had developed symbolic meanings over thousands of years, and could be used in combination to create very specific artworks. I began to see perfumes as snowglobes that carry information as a landscape, that there’s a lot of encoded information in them. Collecting them became an adventure, walking around the city realizing every city block had stores with samples of these precious artworks. I even started to obtain vintage bottles of perfume from 30, 50, even 80 years ago that still smelled great, and I began to understand in more depth how people used to smell and why. I recently wrote an epic perfume adventure book that I hope to put out soon.
Nov 2, 2022
Related Recs
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Obsessed with perfume. For a while I was searching for a signature scent, but then the hunt just became too much fun, and now I’ve ended up with a full on vanity tray in my bathroom piled with a different smell for every mood. I used to wear only China Rain, a rollerball scent my mom got me in high school from a perfumery in LA called Spiritbody. I still have a bottle of that, but when I wear it I’m transported to a more insecure time lol. Right now I love Shadow in the Water from Diptyque for when I want to smell clean and romantic. I wear Smudge by Heretic almost every day because it’s colder out and it makes me feel so warm and cozy, like i’ve been sitting by a fire all day, and like I give good advice and paint landscapes. Perfume is definitely a splurge, but it lasts for so long, and I think it’s really special to have a beautiful scent that people can recognize you by. I am going to gatekeep my secret combination of Byredo perfumes that I wear constantly, and I’m sorry about that. It’s just too good and too me.
Dec 20, 2022
I've been working on some secret perfume-based projects since last year and during that time my love for writing about fragrance has really grown. I decided to set up an instagram to share perfume "reviews". I'm going to go through my whole collection and add in some others I find on my travels. Maybe once I get going people might want to request specific ones that would be so cool! So if you also enjoy reading whimsical fragrance writing then you might like :)
Apr 9, 2024
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echoing a lot of what has already been said…
1. Try on a ton of perfumes. Sephora, department stores, etc have testers. Don’t spray it onto the paper, spray it on your skin and pay attention to how it fades or stays through the day.
2. Think about what you like. Both in general and on you! As you try perfumes you will start to figure out that some notes work and some don’t. I love citrus smells in my house but not on my skin, for example. Gardenia smells awful on me and now I can avoid all those perfumes! Think too about other scents you already like to wear— maybe in hair care or deodorant for example. Looking at the notes in my fave old spice deodorant helped me pick my first perfume!
3. think about the effect you want to have. Do you want the scent to show up when you walk in the room? Do you want it to be a more intimate smell? are there people In your life or workplace with sensitivity you’ll want to pay attention to? Some scents are more piercing, and some have higher sillage Which will make them more noticeable.
4. Dip into social media but don’t take it too seriously. There are tons of perfume tiktokers with huge collections and lots of advice. This can be helpful but ultimately, fragrance is so individualized and you can’t smell it on you nor do most of us have influencer budgets for enormous fragrance collections (also, it’s just not practical imo).
5. If you can afford it, consider buying a discovery set from an independent or niche perfume house. This is a good way to try a bunch of scents and support smaller businesses! if you are interested in more designer mainstream scents, there are a ton of discounted name brand perfumes at tj maxx/marshalls type places, or you can get a rollerball/travel size at sephora to see if a perfume is one you will like wearing daily.
most importantly, have fun with it!! Enjoy!!
Apr 17, 2024
Top Recs from @adam-green
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Lots of people love Alejandro Jodorowsky’s psychedelic movies like El Topo and The Holy Mountain, there is even a documentary about his famously unmade Dune movie. What people don’t seem to realize though, is that for the last 40 years, Jodorowsky’s been authoring numerous graphic novels that comprise 20+ other movies he would have probably made if he’d had the budget for them - and they are all fully fleshed out in comic book form! For example if you are mourning the fact you will never see Jodorowsky’s Dune, now realize that he put those ideas into a comic book series called The Metabarons. If you are wondering what happens after El Topo, know that there is a graphic novel sequel he recently released called Sons of El Topo. A series, Techno Priests, is like Jodorwosky’s Star Wars. In fact, his graphic novel with Moebius called The Incal was so good that Luc Besson ripped it off to make The Fifth Element. If you are willing to read the comics, you’ll experience Jodorowsky quietly creating a universe of Miyazaki-level creativity. Inspiring is an understatement!
Nov 2, 2022
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I bought Beck’s Mutations album the day it came out, and I loved how Beck collected so many concepts on that record. After listening to it, I made the decision to write down all the ideas in my head, so I started carrying a pocket notebook. It’s been 24 years since then and I still write in one every day. Beck changed my standard of what a modern songwriter could or should be doing. I came from the indie-rock mentality where everything was sort of homespun and amateurish, Mutations made me realize that a contemporary artist could make a record at the level of Bowie, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen.
Nov 2, 2022
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People had been telling me to watch this movie for years, I finally gave it a shot and it’s mindblowing. The film is a total artwork that takes place in an interior landscape of the human soul, called “The Zone”, with deeply felt apocalyptic evocations of Christianity. Tarkovsky provides us with aesthetic mastery of all the filmmaking elements, from set-designs both naturalistic and sculptural, breathtaking cinematography, deely psychedelic music, and brilliant portrayals of raw human emotion. With all these filmmaking elements in place, he conducts them all like it’s a Beethoven symphony. This film might contain the most aesthetic merit of any movie I’ve ever seen. Another thing is that the movie actually killed them to make it - some of the cast and crew including Tarkovsky and his wife were poisoned while filming scenes on a river near a chemical plant, and they died as a result. Essential viewing!
Nov 2, 2022