Elevated Classics

I got a decant of Ylop from a friend I met through Instagram, which is one of the genuinely nice things about perfume social media. People eventually learn what you like and start putting fragrances in your hands they think you need to smell. She was right about this one.…

For the past few years, perfume has been on something of a sugar high. Vanilla became impossible to avoid, followed by caramel, pistachio, marshmallow, coffee, milk, praline and perfumes that smell increasingly like something you could order from a bakery. I enjoy gourmands and own plenty of them, so I…

From transparent jasmine tea to smoky black tea and citrus-bright oolong, these fragrances reveal the refinement and versatility of tea in perfumery. Tea perfumes have a quiet intelligence. In perfumery, tea often functions as an effect rather than a literal expression of brewed leaves. Perfumers construct that impression with citrus,…

My collection keeps growing, but I am much more interested in why a perfume earns a place in it than simply adding another bottle. These five are very different from one another. There is a green floral, a clean rosy musk, a new peach-centered release, an aromatic citrus built around…