How I got into Fragrances and Why You Should Too

There is an art form you have likely never paid much attention to, and as such, never learned to appreciate. It is rooted in one of your oldest and most complex senses. It can shape who you are, who you choose to be, who you become. In this way it is truly magical. It provides room for self-expression in a dimension you likely have not explored - as much room as jewelry or tattoos. It is relatively cheap and easy to get into, and fun to share with your friends. I am going to try and sell you on the world of niche fragrances. You who have ears, listen!

For most of my life I never thought very much about smells. My sinuses are permanently clogged due to year-round allergies and the internal shape of my nose. As a result, I largely discarded the "smell" channel unless it imposed itself on me. This made me much worse at telling smells apart. I have one sharp memory of swearing I smelled popcorn, but it turned out to be horse manure. Luckily I never told anyone, that would be embarrassing! My exposure to fragrances was mostly cheap bath-and-body-works type gifts I received, and I would go "oh that's kind of nice" and then not think about it. Or I'd smell the sickeningly sweet floralslop perfumes in Sephora and come away repulsed. At certain points I would have a soap I really liked and go "this is good enough." I think an experience like this is typical. But it does not have to be this way! It can be so much better!

This is part of a review of Relique D'Amour by Oriza L. Legrand. It made me cry to read.

This is a review for Poudrextase by Marlou. One of the easiest sells ever made. After smelling it, I do not doubt this at all. It's really good for layering.

This is a review for Orange Sanguine by Atelier Cologne. Everyone else reads this as a summer fragrance, and I cannot blame them. This review, however, showed me a door I did not know existed, a whole new way to engage with scent. I carry it with me during winter now, too.

When I first started, I had no idea what I might like. I knew some smells I liked in real life - the woods, the ocean, certain flowers - and I knew I was not afraid to try things that were a bit out there. So I went on LuckyScent and picked a ton of samples that seemed good. I read their reviews on Fragrantica, and searched there, too, for things that sounded appealing. They're reasonably cheap, around $6 per, and each one will last you much longer than you think. If you're not in New York or LA, this is probably what you should do. If you are, go to a Scent Bar or similar instead (somewhere with a wide variety of niche fragrances from different brands).

For each one, I tried it on, only one per day. I read what the brand had to say about it, what the notes were, and I tried to see what they were showing me and what I thought about it. I was much less systematic - these days, I go note by note to try and separate them, I read reviews and try to see from different angles, I write my own reviews to crystalize my thoughts. I highly recommend doing this!

Of that original set I tried, one stood out: Papillon's Anubis. I will share my review in full:

What can I even say. When I first got into frags, I bought 20 or 30 samples. This was the only one I loved, and it was head and shoulders above the rest. First FB I bought, and the only one for five or so years.

Anubis showed me what this art can be. It's strong, uncompromising, complex - things that at the time I was not, but wanted to be. It showed me what that might look like. I held it very close. It wreathes you in smoke, it is a tool of the spirit, it speaks of dead things long past and your place in their lineage. It says you have everything you need, you always have had it, you who are half of this world and half of another.

If I were to try and explain why I am "like this," I would typically cite a list of writings that have influenced me - I am a creature of words. But really, this fragrance is among the things that have made me who I am as much as any book might be. I think, to know me, you need to know this perfume. That is how much it has done for me.

Below, e raw's review (please read it, I feel exactly the same. I am a scorpio rising fwiw.) reads:

> This is what I wear to evoke the woman I want to become.

I did this for years. It worked. What else can I say?

The world of niche fragrances is much bigger and stranger than you think. These are likely not scents you can find in a local store (unless you're in NY or LA). One of my favorites is Asphalt Rainbow by Charenton Macerations - it smells like an oil-slick, like asphalt, like a graffiti rose. There is taste you can develop, and there are fragrances that meet that taste, whatever it is. (I have not gotten far into amateur perfumery, but I suspect that it is easier than you'd think, in case you want something truly novel.) You can hunt for the perfect petrichor scent (I suspect a good mitti attar layered on D.S. & Durga's Jazmin Yucatan might be it for me), you can get into the rapidly developing world of Chinese perfumery, you can find that one thing you like and stick with it for years. There is a language of smell and you can learn to speak it. You can use it to become who you want to be. But I promise, there is something out there that is waiting for you to find it, that you do not know has been yours all along. The journey is fun, so I think you should try to find it!

I haven't been posting much - self-imposed break since I got termed/deleted tumblr account. Then got broken up with, got weird about a bunch of things. It's been good. Over the past few days, however, I've been reading a bunch of the posts that came out of Inkhaven Spring 2026, and was inspired. I think maybe writing is cool and can be fun, actually. At some point I'm likely to retire this blog, or at least relegate it to secondary status, because [more honest than usual] this facet of my self has the wrong set of signifiers to be interesting/impressive to that type of person. I contain multitudes but I think I gotta put a different foot forward for a bit. I might write about that later. Never fear, though, my loyal RSS readers of an unknown number, or those few that follow the neocities page (sorry for all the incremental updates) - when I start posting elsewhere I will make a post here linking the new place. Probably not in reverse though.