Maria McElroy of Aroma M Perfumes 

I recently had the distinct pleasure of attending the recent Fragrance Alliance Network’s Creators Series celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Aroma M Perfumes on May 30th, and I am still thinking about it, lost in a nostalgic haze for the understated glamor of the 90s. If you lived through those times, you know. If you were a beauty or perfume fan, you know. It was Sassy magazine and that Kurt and Courtney cover. It was coveting Stila’s iconic cream blush (you know the one). It was everyone wearing CK One. It was Carolyn Bessette’s effortless style and her Selima sunglasses. So many references, so many iconic moments.

I must have had my head in the sand because I was not cool enough to know of Aroma M Perfumes in 1995, when Maria McElroy founded it. She had spent seven years in Japan and fallen in love with the country and so many aspects of its culture, from fragrance to music to spirituality. That influence defines the ethos of Aroma M perfumes, with its Japanese-inspired scents and beautiful Japanese Yuzen paper packaging; no detail too small, down to the little gold ribbon knotted on her fragrance roll-ons. She was at the vanguard even then in her choice to offer rollerball versions of her perfumes, thinking of how to make them accessible to a larger audience.

McElroy has the perfume bonafides, too: while in Japan she studied Kodo, the ancient art of fragrance, and is a Certified Aromatherapist with Australia’s Queensland Institute of Natural Science. During the event, she walked the audience through a timeline of her life and the evolution of Aroma M and its fragrances. Interviewed by Fashion Institute of Technology Professor Daisy Bow, who clicked through a slide show of images from each era of McElroy’s life, I felt transported, first to Japan, then back to New York, where McElroy got one of her big breaks by cold-calling the buyers at Bergdorf Goodman until someone picked up the phone. They not only agreed to carry her line, but also placed a bottle display in one of their famous Fifth Avenue windows. Soon after, her line was picked up by Harrods and Sephora, which commissioned her to create an exclusive line for their stores in North America and Asia.

Daisy Bow, Ph.D., Moderator, and Maria McElroy, Founder and Perfumer of Aroma M Perfumes

Indie perfume (or niche, as we tend to call it now) was a different world then, McElroy told us. It was a smaller world, where perfumers helped each other out and lifted each other up when the press came calling. I’m not the only one who misses the days when fragrance releases weren’t a dime a dozen and more than slightly overwhelming. Back then, the choices felt curated. I can sense that in the line even now. Her latest ventures have included skincare and haircare oils with a delicious camellia scent, a fragrance inspired by her mother called Voluptuous Nostalgia that hearkens to vintage perfumery in a bottle reminiscent of the first bottles she sold at Bergdorf Goodman, and creating limited, numbered editions of fragrances for American Perfumer during the COVID lockdown, which she had to create largely out of her home (we smelled one of them, titled Desert Rouge, meant to evoke the Greek pastries of her heritage).

Actor Terry Lee reads an excerpt from McElroy’s upcoming memoir

Next up: her memoir (we were treated to an excerpt reading by actor Terry Lee) and perfumes inspired by her travels to North Africa, whose terrain reminds her of her childhood home state of Utah. McElroy continues to mine her experiences to create an autobiography through scent.

Aimee France’s gorgeous cake creation

The evening ended with a true 90s moment: those in attendance were served a slice of a delicious triple-layer Aimee France creation inspired by Aroma M perfumes: olive oil cake with strawberry rhubarb with mascarpone filling, covered with elaborately piped matcha buttercream, and decorated with fresh strawberries and chamomile flowers. No, that’s not the ’90s part. The 90s parts is that Aimee France made ‘90s It-Girl Chloe Sevigny’s wedding cake. It’s a small world when it comes to fancy, delicious cake! Two cocktails were on offer for the occasion, also inspired by Aroma M perfumes: the O-cha Spritz (green tea, elderflower liqueur and prosecco) and the Desert Rose (bourbon, orange bitters, Moroccan-spiced simple syrup and rose water).

Fragrance Alliance Network

Kudos to Gustavo Romero and Karen Dubin for their Creators series, where we get to listen to amazing perfumers discuss their craft, and explore their olfactory art alongside fellow fragrance fans. We understand how special it is to create something beautiful and unique out of our imaginations and experiences, and to find fragrances that evoke our best memories, or exciting new ones. Thank you to Maria McElroy for her beautiful Aroma M perfumes, and for the walk down scented memory lane.

all photos courtesy of Fragrance Alliance Network please read Michelyn’s “Niche, Nicher, Nichest article from 2010 where Maria McElroy is quoted

Guest Contributor, Mimian Morales

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Please read: Fragrance Alliance Network ‘Creator’s Series’ Event Report: An Evening with Perfumer Pierre Bénard Ségu,  Fragrance Alliance Network Evening with Ugo Charron of Mane

Ida’s most recent review of Aroma M Perfumes Blue Matcha

Please read Michelyn’s “Niche, Nicher, Nichest article from 2010 where Maria McElroy is quoted.

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