Event Report: 3rd Annual Fragments Artisan Perfume Collective in L.A. + FRAGbag of 60 Perfume Samples Draw

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The third annual FRAGments Artisan Perfume Event and Collective, organized by perfumer Maggie Mahboubian of Parfums Lalun and attended by 19 perfumers and olfactive artists, took place on Saturday, May 30, at the Neutra Institute and Museum in Los Angeles. It was a lively time filled with passionate discussion, sniffing and creation of perfume, new releases and debuts of new lines, three winners of the five 2015 Art and Olfaction Awards, much greeting of old friends, catching up on news, and formation of new friendships.

TheNeutramuseum

The venue was a contrast to last year’s because the event took place in a sleek, suburban 20th-century modern architectural ambiance instead of an industrial-looking urban art studio. The space was larger, so exhibitors and visitors had more room to spread out. Most importantly, the event has grown to include participation by East Coast and international perfumers. Thanks to Maggie's efforts over the past three years, FRAGments has grown to be one of the premier indie-artisan perfume events in the US, attracting perfumers from the entire North American community and visitors who come from long distances to attend. Maggie has single-handedly done an amazing job and should be recognized for her multiple organizational talents and superhuman efforts to promote the artisan fragrance community.

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Elise Pearlstine gave the key note address

The first attraction of the day was the featured presentation by wildlife biologist and perfumer Elise Pearlstine of Tambela Perfumes, who gave a fascinating account of the special relationships between flowers and their pollinatorsin her talk, entitled “The Origins of Floral Fragrance: White Flowers and Moths.” Her talk held the audience’s attention for the entire hour with explicit and little-known stories of sex in the plant and insect world. JK DeLapp (The Rising Phoenix Group) and Ellen Covey of Olympic Orchids Perfumes assisted by throwing in extra tidbits of information. Then, in no particular order,we (Ellen  and Elise ) circled the room going from one amazing display to another sniffing, photographing, and chatting with the artisan perfumers. Here are just a tease of what was new, exciting and noteworthy.

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Ken Corey On the Nose

Kenneth Corey, On the Nose Fragrances, makes perfumes that explore the traditions of structure in natural perfumes. His display featured his new release Momotaro, a juicy peach accord with notes of shiso, cognac, dry woods and, of course, oakmoss. It was interesting to learn that before becoming a perfumer Kenneth worked at a woman-owned sex toy shop and as a DJ at a male strip club.

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IAO award winner Jessica Hannah

Natural perfumer Jessica Hannah of J. Hannah Co. was there with her award-winning leather scent Skive. She also brought Sunset Blvd which was inspired by the movie of the same name and Orchard, a light citrusy floral. In a former life Jessica worked at a fruit stand in Missouri, so  she knows all about fruit scents.

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Marcus McCoy House of Orpheus

Marcus McCoy, House of Orpheus, ( a CaFleureBon guest contributor) brought his nature-inspired, liminal perfumes. The concept behind Arctos evokes the clean and clear feeling of a night of star-gazing centered on the Pole Star. Having worked as a counselor in a psych ward for some time, Marcus brings all of his healing talents to his perfumes.

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IAO award winner Isabelle Michaud

Isabelle Michaud, Monsillage, told a wonderful story about her award-winning perfume Eau de Celeri, which is a lovely, light green chypre. She is allergic to celery and was inspired to create the essence of the plant in a wearable form. She started out studying criminology and worked as a diesel mechanic before studying in France to become a perfumer. Everyone has led such an interesting life!

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Lisa Fong of Artemisia

Natural perfumer Lisa Fong, Artemisia Perfume, brought La Colombe, a chypre with a heart of refined apple and the second was a new violet-centered one—Violet Blues—with notes of orris and violet. Lisa started out as a classical violinist, so it is no surprise that her perfumes are as refined and beautiful as a symphony.

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Jeanette Price newly launched Wax Poetic

Natural Perfumer Jeanette Jo Price, Peachy Keen Perfume, brought out her poetic side with her newly launched Wax Poetic line. Her fascination with natural ingredients began when she moved to Morocco and continues with her new line paired with her poems. Having worked as a teacher in a maximum-security prison at one point, she is yet another example of perfumers having come from psychology and teaching backgrounds.

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Ellen Covey Olympic Orchids

Ellen Covey, Olympic Orchids, brought a selection of her most popular scents including Dev One from the Devil Scent series, and the award-winning Woodcut, homage to ancient trees and primitive wood spirits. Ellen provided a sample of her  new perfume African Orchid for us all to sniff as an example of the moth-pollinated floral fragrances described by Elise in her talk. After learning about other perfumers’ backgrounds, it is no surprise to know that Ellen is a professor of psychology.

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Paul Kiler PK Perfumes

Paul Kiler, PK Perfumes. Paul  spoke of his new workshop where he is creating a series of fresh florals including the recently released Tama N Tuberose ( to honor CaFleureBon Managing editor Tama Blough) which he calls a headspace soliflore with a bit of musk. Paul works as a professional photographer when he is not perfuming.

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Iris Moore and Elizabeth Tanner

Iris Moore is an artist working with Elizabeth Tanner on a pairing of fragrance with literature in a serial subscription format. Her perfume Inconsolable illustrates the heartbreak in Elizabeth’s graphic novel ‘The Pearls of Shanghai.’

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Beckie Sheloske of Rebel Intuitive

Natural Perfumer Beckie Sheloske, Rebel Intuitive Perfumes, looks to the darker side with her perfumes. Her blends are created to speak to the animal within for the modern hedonist. Winterlewd was created with partner Katy Knuth and is a dirty citrus. Beckie comes to perfumery from a background in fashion and music.

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Laurie Stern Velvet & Sweet Pea

Laurie Stern, Natural Perfumer and founder of Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery, brought a fun new product, Beard Balms, three lovely formulas using natural oils including a blend of juniper and cypress for the modern man. Laurie was in the wedding flower business for 15 years and says that as a perfumer, “I still get to make bouquets!”

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JK Delapp of The Rising Phoenix Perfumery

JK DeLapp, also a natural perfumer of The Rising Phoenix Perfumery in Atlanta, brought an amazing array of custom oud distillations. The various scent profiles fascinated visitors and perfumers alike and reflect the country of origin and different in-country distillation styles. JK is also a licensed acupuncturist and practitioner of Chinese medicine.

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photo of Heather Kaufman courtesy of Maggie @lalunnaturals instagram

Natural Perfumer Heather Kaufman, Jolie Laide Perfume, brought a new fragrance, Bande Á Parte, inspired by the 1964 Nouvelle vague film (Jean-Luc Godard) of the same name which intertwines a trio of disenfranchised youths, love triangles and crime. It is a slinky and sexy fragrance. Heather and her husband are both graphic designers, so her perfumes have beautiful and distinctive labels and packaging.

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Mesha Munyan

Mesha Munyan, Meshaz Natural Perfumes,also a natural perfumer has been a lavender grower and distiller for 20 years and has an extensive knowledge of lavender varieties. Her lovely perfumes speak to her deep knowledge of natural materials. Abzinthe, for example, is a boozy fragrance with Artemisia and anise. In a past life, Mesha worked as an engineer – the kind who drives trains!

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Dana El Masri Parfums Jazmin Sarai

Dana El Masri, Parfums Jazmin Sarai, combines jasmine and jazz with the concept of an oriental palace. The combination of music and scent come to you at the same time in Led IV, inspired by the Led Zeppelin song ‘Going to California’. It’s no surprise that she is also a Jasmine award winner, music and art writer.

 Natural perfumer Elise Pearlstine, (whose column  on ingredients in perfumery for CaFleureBon will be back this week), of  Tambela Perfumes, brought two Florida-inspired perfumes among her samplings. Carmen Dances was the pick of the day. It evokes tropical summers, nearly over-ripe mangos, and a slow tango among the flowers. As a biologist, she certainly knows her flowers and fruits!

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Brian Goeltzenleuchter

Brian Goeltzenleuchter, artist-in-residence at the Institute of Art and Olfaction, presented his project, Sillage, a participatory scent-scape project about Los Angeles with fragrances and olfactory descriptions of various Los Angeles neighborhoods. His project ‘Olfactory Memoirs’ asks writers to reconstruct childhood memories through the sense of smell.

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Daniel Krasofski and rare AVEDA perfumes

Daniel Krasofski, scent artist,  who once worked at Aveda and studied with Horst Redenbacher, displayed his extensive and rare collection of vintage Aveda perfumes. Daniel created an all natural fragrance preservative which was inspired by the one used in Aveda scents. It is a  key component of the Exquisite Corpus project, created on-site during the event.

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FRAGatini anyone???

Rounding out everyone’s visits were frequent stops at the refreshment table brought to us by Veronique Tschopp of a Muse Bouche Catering. Wonderful healthy-yet-decadent deserts, all handcrafted. Perfumers and visitors loved her creamy, citrus-y confection created with the unusual finger lime. There was also chocolate. Maggie’s fragrant, perfume-based cocktails were a big hit, the crowd favorite being Mid-Century Malibu made with blue curacao infused with jasmine from Maggie’s garden. Several perfumers were serendipitously wearing matching blue dresses, so were the target of jokes about color-coordination with what they were drinking.

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Maggie with Dion Neutra

Maggie Mahboubian, our lovely and talented host, made it all happen and provided the crowning touch with our collective perfume project, Exquisite Corpus. Each perfumer brought one or two fragrant ingredients and took turns in the creation of the perfume.

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The ingredients for Exquisite Corpus

The result was an herbal-citrusy fragrance that turned out surprisingly well, reflecting the time taken by the talented perfumers in contributing to the communal work. We both wholeheartedly say, “We are immensely grateful to Maggie for organizing FRAGments and look forward to many more such events in future!”

Elise Pearlstine, Sr Contributor and perfumer for Tambela and Ellen Covey, perfumer for Olympic Orchids

Editor's Note: A round of applause for Elise and Ellen for putting together this fabulous recap or FRAGcap.  All photos are from Elise and Ellen and are not to be reproduced. Unfortuntately, they were so busy and could not clone themselves so we were missing a photo of both Paul Kiler and Heather Kaufman. I grabbed an instagram photo Maggie took of Heather and Paul Kiler was photographed by Ken Corey. -Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief

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Thanks to Maggie Mahboubian the organizer extraordinaire and the incredible generosity of these artisans, we have a FRAG bag of 61 samples representing each olfactive artists' perfumes:

On the Nose: Dark and Stormy, Fougère Orange Blossom, Rosa Ardiente, La Catrina, Momotaro

J. Hannah Co: Skive, Sunset Blvd, Orchard

House of Orpheus: Arctos, Cunning Man, Guru Deva, Enodia, Djinn, Charuto, Seraph

Monsillage: Eau Fraiche

Wax Poetic: Fruition, Flight, Ember, Mercy

Olympic Orchids: Dev One, Woodcut, California Chocolate, Mardi Gras, Blackbird

PK Perfumes: Ginger Zest de Citron, Tama N Tuberose, Velvet Curacao, Café Diem

Iris Moore: Inconsolable, LaMancha, Quercus

Rebel Intuitive Perfumes: Winterlewd, Ninon, Grace at 67th

Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery: Fleur de Caramel, Honey Perfumes and Forest, Desert and Breeze Beard Balms

Jolie Laide Perfume: À Bout de Souffle, Jules et Jim, Cléo de 5 À 7, Baisers Volés, Masculin Féminin, Bande À Part

Meshaz Natural Perfumes: Abzinthe, Mimoza, Zauvage, Ozmanthus, Yuzzu

Parfums Jazmin Sarai: Otis & Me, Led IV, How You Love, Neon Graffiti

Tambela Perfumes: Carmen Dances, 305, Verdigris, Wild Chypre, Aerheart

 To be eligible you must be a registered CaFleureBon reader in the US. Please leave a comment with what appeal to you about this wonderful event, what you learned and which perfumes tickled your nose. Draw closes 6/5/2015

 

We announce the winners on our site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize wil be just spilled perfume

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30 comments

  • Sharyl Morris says:

    I was most intrigued by Goeltzenleuchter’s project ‘Olfactory Memoirs’ where writers reconstruct their childhood memories through their sense of smell. Fragrance is such a memory-trigger for me, and that’s why I have a collection of “nostalgic fragrances” in my perfume trunk. I smell them if I want to be transported back to a certain period of my life, if only for a second or two. 🙂

    As for what perfumes “tickled my nose” here, I’m afraid I haven’t smelled any of them yet!

    Thanks so much for this incredible draw. I do live in the US.

  • What an amazing collection of gifts in this FRAG bag!!! I just want to curl up with the samples and spend hours and hours smelling and enjoying them all!!! I’m especially curious about Momotaro – I used to live in Japan and love shiso, but I’m yet to try a perfume using natural shiso as in ingredient!

  • I am sorry to have missed this event. So many things intrigued me.. Laurie Stern’s new projects/products, Ellen Covey’s Woodcut is amazing and yet the Dev series would be so interesting to smell. I love what Rising Phoenix’s Ouds sound fabulous and Dana El Masri’s work along with so many others make this show something that is a must -see/smell event for anyone who has a fascination with fragrance.
    If I had to narrow it down, Wax Poetic, J Hannah Co and the wonderful scented FRAGtinis would be something I would be very interested in.
    Thanks to Maggie Mahboubian for doing the heavy lifting on this event.

    I am in the US and I think the draw is amazing

  • fazalcheema says:

    reading the article makes it feel like fruity notes are making a comeback even in natural perfumery. in addition, more and more perfumers are turning to art forms such as literature and music to seek inspiration…the project that particularly intrigues me is Brian Goeltzenleuchter’s which is in the same line as Bond No. 9 in that Brian seeks inspiration from different locations in LA.. thanks so much for the draw. I am in the US

  • I wish I lived closer to this event so I could have attended! It looks like everyone had a great time. I was interested to hear about the backgrounds of the perfumers. I didn’t know there was such a commonconnection to the field of psychology. As for the perfumes I found most interesting, I am a big fan of Ellen Covey’s work. California Chocolate is one of my go-to fragrances that is both bright and comforting. I am most interested ot try out both Ninon and Winter Lewd by Rebel Intuitive.
    I am in the US and am very appreciative for the opportunity to sample such high-quality work featured at this event.

  • I love the idea of a fragrance inspired by Jean-Luc Godard, and would love to try Bande A Part. FRAGments has always been intriguing to me as a large collection of truly artisanal perfumers (though it’s sadly inaccessible here on the East Coast), but what I was most thrilled to learn from this piece was of the release of PK Perfumes’ Tama and Tuberose, an homage to our dear friend. Here in the US.

  • I am a great fan of natural perfumes. Having such a big gathering of natural or mostly natural perfumers shows that the real art of perfumery still lives. Some of the lovliest perfumes are indie-artisan perfumes. It’s wonderful to know that FRAGments has grown and I hope it continues to do so. Lisa Fong’s new creation, Violet Blue, orris and violet, really got me interested. My first love is florals so they ALL always interest me, though Winterlewd from Rebel Intuitive Perfumes got me curious. USA

  • Maggie Mahboubian is an extraordinary perfumer herself. I had won her rose fragrance right here at cafleurebon. Very grateful. This must have been an exiciting event for like minds with room full of creative people. Wish I was there. I would love to check out perfume creations from Dana El Masri and Kenneth Corey, personally every perfume house it is always exciting to get some new found love. Such an awesome giveaway. Count me in.
    Fingers crossed
    Thanks USA

  • Systeme D says:

    I wish we had such a talented group of natural perfumers here in Chicago! What an event!

    I am always interested in what Ellen Covey is up to, and I am already imagining what Woodcut and Blackbird must smell like. (I re-read the reviews here on Ca Fleure Bon, of course!)

    There are a few perfumers included here who are completely unknown to me. This would be such a lovely opportunity to get to know them and their work.

    The re-invention of Exquisite Corpse as Exquisite Corpus was an inspired idea! So nice to learn of Maggie’s creativity in hosting this event. Well done all around, Maggie.

    I am in the US.

  • One of the most important events of the year, combining retail, education and art exhibition- the artisans involved are hugely talented!!

    Thank you Maggie Mahboubian and all who worked so hard to make this annual event a success! Thank you to the artists who participated, looking forward to experiencing all the new creations!

    And thank you Elise and Dr. Covey for making this article a perfect helping of the day. <3

    SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!!!

  • What would be appealng about an event like this would be to meet these perfumers in person. One of the most interesting I learned is that Mesha Munyan was a train engineer. Her Abzinthe is one creation that has my attention as well as Ellen Covey’s African Orchid. 🙂 USA

  • So much wonderful perfume in one room! It is also really interesting to hear how diverse the backgrounds are of the perfumers. I would love to talk to all of them about perfume and their inspirations. I would love to try Skive and Woodcut especially. I am in the US, thank you!

  • colourshifted says:

    Wow, what an amazing looking event!! I deeply admire perfumers as I have attempted to make perfumes and it… did not go well. Because so many of these perfumes cannot be purchased in your regular retail store, the most appealing thing about an event like this would be just to smell everything all at once! I loved reading the story behind Eau de Celeri – one of my new favorite scents!

    I am in the US, thank you for the draw!

  • I have found that placing creative people together creates a catalytic atmosphere to foster even more creativity, so thank you Maggie Mahboubian for making FRAGments happen. As a psycholgist myself, it is curious that so many of us are drawn to scent; I had no idea mental health professionals were so well represented among perfumers.

    I am interested in Iris Moore’s concept of pairing scent with literature, as I often find myself influenced in my daily choice of scent by what I have been reading recently, so I’d like to smell Inconsolable, and also Lisa Fong’s Violet Blues. I haven’t found my perfect violet yet, so I’m still sniffing! I am in the US, thanks for the draw!

  • I have Perfume event envy! You all must have been so inspired by one another. I’m imagining colors/paintings paired with perfumes.

    Personally, I have benefited from training with Mesha Munyan and learning from her.

  • Marcopietro says:

    What beautiful event!It was an overview on indie-artisan perfume houses where the passion is still prevalent on business.

  • How can I best reach JK DeLapp at Rising Phoenix to order some of the “amazing array of custom oud distillations” in your article?

  • Valentine Girl says:

    What an extraordinary group of talented fragrance artists assembled in one spot—I would have loved to have been there to hear Elise’s talk about white flowers & moths. Especially since I have a moon/night garden filled with white flowered, silver leaved, & night fragrant plants which the huge Luna moths find irresistible. Watching them visit the blooming Nicotiana alata (which they seems to love the most), I realize that beauty and fragrance are just a by product, the main business of gardens is sex and death! Oh I can’t wait for another installment of Elise’s perfume note posts..I will be on the look out for it this week 🙂

    I would love to have sampled the culinary delights incorporating the finger lime; I have been really curious about its flavor & aroma and to have had the opportunity to have a jasmine-infused Midcentury Malibu!
    And the perfumes…I would loved to have chatted with Marcus McCoy & JK DeLapp and sampled their perfumes (love the concept of night star gazing centered on the Polaris) and exotic oud distillations, checked out the Wax Poetic Line, sampled Skive from J. Hannah Co., and the new orchid perfume from Olympic Orchids. I would also enjoy the vintage Aveda display, as I still have the 7-mini perfume Chakra set from way back in the day sitting on my dresser. I also want to try Led IV and Tama N Tuberose…and then Abzinthe and then..well I just hope I am a lucky winner and get the opportunity to try them all, as they all sound incredible. I am on the East Coast, USA and I would love to see an event like this happen on the shores of the Atlantic one day. Thank you for an incredible draw opportunity; sharing the scent of a fragrant event.

  • I like Blackbird so much I’d like to try the others from Ellen Covey. About the event itself I’d say I can’t imagine being in one place with all these fragrances and the people who made them. Those can attend events such as this are very fortunate. TY usa

  • MikasMinion says:

    I honestly want to sniff them all! I have been wanting to try Skive and Woodcut so much and am longing to explore the Velvet & Sweet Pea and House of Orpheus lines. I tried Eau de Celeri recently and love it so really want to sniff Eau Fraiche now too. I really wish I could have been there since there are so many featured lines that interest me (and I could have met Ellen Covey who just seems awesome). I’m in the U.S. but unfortunately very far away from any big perfume happenings.

  • Elizabeth T says:

    What an extensive recap! Thanks for bringing us along. What a fun community perfume project, too! 🙂 I have only had the pleasure of trying a couple selections from Olympic Orchids, House of Orpheus, and Tambela Perfumes… they were all well crafted, and I especially liked the chocolate one I tried from Olympic Orchids. I would love to try the rest of these, what a collection of artisan perfumes! Thank you for the lovely draw and letting us know about all of these wonderful artisan houses. I am in the USA.

  • silvrolive says:

    So many amazing independent perfumers in one room! I wish I could have been there!! Thanks for the details about the event. The most interesting thing is the various backgrounds of the many perfumers. I am looking forward to sniffing Rebel Intutive perfumes. I am in the US and thanks for the draw!

  • So sorry to have missed this year’s event, hoping to experience it through the goody bag! Thank you for the draw.

  • thegoddessrena says:

    I didn’t even know this event existed but would love to attend sometime and sniff all these interesting and unknown to me perfumes. I would probably try Skive and Momotaro first

  • The Exquisite Corpus project sounds like a an artistic and collaborative marvel. I had no idea that natural perfumes like Aveda’s can contain a natural fragrance preservative, but it makes sense. Eau de Celeri and Woodcut tickled my nose and both are now on my sampling short list. Thank you for the fun overview of the event. Amazing! I’m in the US. Thank you for the draw.

  • Wow, what a fun event. I especially enjoyed reading about the perfume inspired cocktails and the desserts that went along with them. Maybe that’s just my post dinner mind. :). I’d never heard if this event before, so thank you for introducing it to us. While there are several scents that look intriguing, I’m particularly interested in trying more Olympic Orchids scents. Thanks for the draw, I’m a registered user in the US – I just can’t figure out how to log in with my phone right now.

  • This was a great event recap of the event. It was really fun to read little insights into each artisan life. One of my favorites was Isabelle Michaud creating Eau de Celeri because she was allergic. I also love the idea of how each perfumer contributed an ingredient to a collective perfume. Wish I was there!

  • Thanks for listing all this. I would have loved to go! It would be so great to talk to the perfumers as you sniff their creations. What a treat. The talks sound very interesting too. Thanks for the draw!

  • I would have loved to hear Elise Pearlstine speak at this wonderful event. I recently began wearing her Tambela Perfumes Carmen Dances and it’s amazing! The Wax Poetic line tickled my nose.

  • Thank you for this great draw. A great chance to try these unique scents! What appealed most to me in article is reading about all of the wonderful perfumers who were present. I loved reading about some of these houses which I had never heard of before, such as Atlanta based Rising Phoenix Perfumery and Parfums Jazmin Sarai. I’m very curious about dark and stormy and Sunset Blvd.