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Being an Aquarius has its perks — I discovered two indie brands this year that quickly became cult favorites. My top picks include Pearfat Parfum, Clue Perfumery, and Odette Parfum, with two of them based in Chicago.
Recently, Odette and Pearfat launched a "Red Shoes"-inspired perfume, Le Chaussons Rouges, in November, and it’s set to restock soon. It smells like eating cinnamon sticks while painting in your 1st-grade art class, with notes of gingerbread, red paint, dahlia, candied ginger, and saffron. I just can't stop sniffing.
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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
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niche, indie perfume house with an array of cool scents. ode to aphrodite is like musky but soapy but floral but sweet <3 in the summer sometimes i will wear silver narcissus by them, which is a bit of a sweet, slightly incense-y floral. in the spring i will also sometimes wear masque milano’s lost alice, which is like peppery and lactonic tea party notes. fall and winter i sometimes wear possets perfume’s passion, which is chocolatey. my go to lotion is palmers cocoa butter and i think it layers nicely with all these scents ☺possets is a great brand cost wise bc perfume oils last longer in my opinion and a little goes a long way <3
Jul 27, 2024
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I used to exclusively wear only one perfume at a time until the bottle ran out. This era I wore:
Misia - Chanel
Smells like a 1920s dressing room with powder and violets and roses everywhere
Red Roses - Jo Malone
Just the most beautiful rose smell. I would always get asked by taxi drivers what I was wearing when I had this on.
Now I've gotten into nicher perfumes that are more unisex and a bit weirder so I rotate them depending on season/occasion/time of day.
Current Spring rotation
For the office: Morning Chess - Vilhelm Parfumerie
It's woody and leathery but also very fresh and green. The creator says it was inspired by mornings in a cottage on the swedish coast. Smelling this at my desk makes me remember the world is a bigger place than emails.
For the evening: Mississippi Medicine - DS and Durga
Smells like old churches. Based on the rituals of a death cult from the 1200s. Heavy on incense, cedar and frankincense.
For walks outside: Sakura - Lush
Super clean and refreshing. Feel awake when I smell this. Smells like jasmine and orange blossom and salt. Like being near the sea but also delicate flowers.
I used to really love having one singular signature scent (whenever anybody would tell me I always smelled like roses I would reply "yes, so when I'm dead and you smell roses you'll think of me") but the older I get the more I feel like I have more facets of myself to perfume. I like that I can change my mood with fragrance or have some kind of escapism from reality with it.
Apr 6, 2024
Top Recs from @lesshurt
It’s almost criminal that I’m just now watching this show, considering how much I love anime thrillers! I’m on layer: 08 (episode 8) — don’t tell me what happens next!😭🛜💞
Mar 5, 2025
My all-time favorite film is Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue. No other movie goes deep into avatars, alter egos, and the unraveling of one’s identity after stepping into the dark side of entertainment quite like this one. It’s beautiful and incredibly dark. It feels especially relevant in today’s digital age.
Nov 6, 2024
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I’ve loved thrifting and vintage since I was young, and while I’m not a perfect sustainable fashionista, I try! I also really enjoy the cultural commentary and policy coverage — they’re so helpful for a girl with an environmental reporter beat and a passion for eco-fashion.
Dec 4, 2024