FROM OUR FRAGRANT DESKS: MAY FAVOURITES (Smells, Books, Podcasts, Beauty etc)

DIDI's MAY PICKS

SMELLS a petitgrain oil from the Fragonard workshop hosted in London, raw bell peppers and a crystallized sample of cherry tree resin I collected during my stay at my hometown in early April 2022.

READINGS An Italian Translation of the book 'The Aroma of The World ' by Hubertus Tallebach.
Outside of academic literature (my full May reading list is available here),  The Elephants in My Backyard: A Memoir by who you might know as the ''Mean Girls mathmo'', Rajiv Surendra, had me seriously sobbing - I've actually developed the worst crush for Surendra after randomly finding out how multi-talented and skilled he is! He got me into experimenting with more DIY projects and I highly recommend binge watching his series on youtube for HGTV Handmade.

MOVIES There Will be Blood if you're looking for a sociologically-immersed cinematographic experience & The Spectacular Now for a more relaxed yet reflexive ''summertime sadness'' - coming of age screentime, with uniquely realistic acting and script. 

MUSIC Fully embracing a Tumblr rock indie revival with The Killers being currently the It band of my Spotify playlists.

BEAUTY PRODUCTS Tisserand Lavender Pillow Mist, Fragonard Lavander Soap, Holland & Barrett Mineral SPF 50 for those fellows with the worst watery sensible eyes (warning: heaviest SPF white cast ever).

MOST USED FRAGRANCES Two great cheapies: Indi by Katy Perry (found at TK MAXX for 18 £) was my nighttime scent to vaporize on clothing and scarves. My nose barely detects any of the notes officially listed, having instead a very creamy, lactonic comforting bedtime quality.
For daytime I mostly stuck to L'Eau de The Vert by Labeau (14.90 €/ 60ml). I'm not a critrus lover, especially when they are surprisingly persistent. On my skin the scent is very detectable for around 6-8 hours, which sometimes led to migraines as it got hotter. It's a very zesty, vaguely herbal green tea, coming out along the musk and a creamy sandalwood only after a good 30min-1 hour. 

PODCASTS Unrelated to perfumery, but I approach Youtube Video Essays as podcasts and actually prefer them to a traditional podcast format.
Creators I always look forward to catch up with their new content are F D Signifier and Kidology.
Favourites by them from May were 'Dissecting the Manosphere' , Bo Burham's Inside and 'White Liberal Performative Art' by F D Signifier and Kidology's manifesto for apoliticism ' reacting to tiktoks calling me "rich, privileged, & ignorant"
Podcast guilty pleasure was Even the Rich on Wondery.

Favourite perfumery-related Youtube channel: for Italian-speakers, Profumi di Nicchia is doing the lord's work in demystifying the perfumery industry, and their recent chat with Luca Maffei is unmissable.

JUNE WISHLIST Will to live and learn how to save money to finally try out MIZU fragrances and starting to catch up with more US/Canada based indie brands ( Eau de Jane, Jazmin Saraï, and Clandestine Laboratories particularly ).
Oh, and read Charles Lillie's 'The British perfumer, snuff-manufacturer, and colourman's guide; being a collection of choice receipts and observations proved in an extensive practice of thirty years'  ! (full PDF available via Wellcome Collection)

REGGIE's PICKS

SMELLS If you spot a weirdo hiding in a random Jasmine wall around London, chances are it's me! I recently went to Sri Lanka and got gifted the most astonishing rose tea and it has become a  ritual to start the day by smelling the tea bag.

READINGS Chandler Burr's 'The Perfect Scent: A year inside the perfume industry in Paris and New York' and Gabe Oppenheim 's 'The Ghost Parfumer: Creed, Lies & The Scent of the Century' (reviews coming soon, hopefully!)

MOVIES I am more of a series person-  The Great on Hulu got me glued to my laptop with a heavily iced g&t for the whole May.

MUSIC Still grieving Joni Mitchell's Spotify departure.

BEAUTY PRODUCTS Splurged on Marvis' Jasmine Mint toothpaste and I'm afraid I'll never want to try a different toothpaste now that I start and end my day with such a sensory feast in my mouth.

MOST USED FRAGRANCES I am quite of a purist when it comes to fragrances and struggle to approach contemporary scents in terms of structure and notes. Czech & Speake's Mimosa accompanied me through some heavy revision sessions and sparkled numerous complimenrs from my students. We (Didi & I) recently added to our collection Royal Copenhagen's 'Musk' - which appears discontinued? - , but I'm waiting to meet with Didi to test it out properly.

PODCASTS The Institute of Arts and Olfaction podcast project Perfume on the Radio.
I have a long way to go to decolonize myself and my perfume consumption, and IAO has been a vital institution providing the most generous content and resource lists to diversify my consumption and understanding of everything-olfaction.

JUNE WISHLIST Apart from escaping the Jubilee celebrations, placing a discovery set order on J Scent is pretty high on my priority list.