Monday, 9 November 2026
L'AIR DE GRASSE by Fragonard
Monday, 2 November 2026
Three Scented Hand Washes for Winter
Monday, 26 October 2026
MUSCAT by Ormonde Jayne
Monday, 19 October 2026
KING'S SALUTE by Grossmith London
Monday, 12 October 2026
JACK by Richard E. Grant
Saturday, 10 October 2026
When Did We Stop Smelling Perfume Before Buying It?
It's a strange question because perfume is one of the few things we buy that we can't really understand until we experience it. You can read every word written about a fragrance, look at the bottle, watch a video and listen to someone describe how it develops on skin, but none of that can tell you exactly what it will smell like to you. And yet we now discover perfume in all sorts of ways before we ever put it on our skin.
Friday, 9 October 2026
The Smell We Leave on Our Clothes
I've caught myself smelling my own clothes and wondered what exactly I was checking.
It usually happens without thinking. You pick up a jumper, a shirt or a coat and bring it towards your nose. Perhaps you're deciding whether it needs washing. Perhaps you're checking whether the perfume you wore earlier is still there. Or perhaps you've no real reason at all. You simply smell it. It's one of those tiny things we do that makes perfect sense while we're doing it, but becomes rather strange if we stop to think about it. We don't normally stand around smelling our clothes for pleasure. Yet the moment something familiar reaches our nose, we seem to want to know what it smells like.
Thursday, 8 October 2026
The Perfume We Inherit
I don't think we choose all the smells we love.
We like to think we do. We stand in front of a collection of perfumes and decide which ones suit us, which ones we want to wear and which ones we could happily leave on the shelf. We read about ingredients, discover new brands and develop our own preferences. Eventually, we become quite certain about what we like. I know the kinds of fragrances I'm drawn towards, and I've spent enough time around perfume to think I understand why. But long before we know what bergamot or vetiver smells like, we've already started learning what feels familiar.
Wednesday, 7 October 2026
Why Do We Smell the Cap?
I've no idea why I smell the cap.
The perfume has already been sprayed. I've smelled it on my skin. I know what it smells like. And yet, almost without thinking, I pick up the cap and put it under my nose. It's a tiny ritual that serves no obvious purpose, but anyone who loves perfume will probably recognise it. Spray the fragrance, smell the skin, then smell the cap as though it might have a second opinion. Of course, it doesn't. The perfume on our skin is the real experience, warmer, more personal and constantly changing. The cap is simply holding a little of what was left behind.
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