otis_in_nolain Everyday Smells · New Orleans ·
Scent diaryLast set done, chicory coffee from the stand on the corner. Bitter, roasted, a little like burnt toast, and the night jasmine still going over the fence.
dex_in_brooklynin Ambers, Spices & Gourmands · New York ·
Questionok so the cinnamon on the line is cassia, the thick bark, and pastry swears by the thin curly Ceylon stuff. you're telling me a nose can tell the difference?
kemi.cocoa Same smell to me, honestly. Isn't it all just cinnamon?
dex_in_brooklynin Learning to Smell · New York ·
Discovery
ok so we got ceylon cinnamon in at work next to the usual cassia. side by side at my station the cassia is sweeter, almost like a cookie, the ceylon is lighter and kind of citrusy. your telling me these are both just cinnamon?
nell.wattle The Wikipedia page on coumarin lists cassia cinnamon as one of the places it's found, along with tonka beans and sweet woodruff, and describes it as…
ash.and.emberin Home Fragrance & Candles · Calgary ·
ReadingRead the Class on what candles, incense and diffusers do to indoor air on my break. Two things I'm keeping: none of them cleans the air, they all add to it, and a lit candle never gets left alone in a room. The second one I could have told you from the fire…
nell.wattlein Learning to Smell · Melbourne ·
Scent diary
Okay, nerd moment: the brown boronia is flowering in the front garden and I've been trying to write it down for you northern lot. Up close: apricot jam, a bit of black tea, something like violets. A step back: lemon rind. From the gate: nothing at all, which…
harriet.hayin Welcome to the Club · Bristol ·
Tip
A tip for everyone who's joined this autumn, because the same question keeps coming up: what should I buy first? Nothing, honestly. Open the spice cupboard and the fruit bowl. Smell cinnamon next to clove, a lemon next to an orange, a vanilla pod if you have…
mags.lavender Lovely tip, Harriet. I did lavender from the garden next to a sprig of rosemary and learned alot in ten minutes.
Class no. 1 · 6 min read
French perfumers sort fragrances into seven families, following the Société Française des Parfumeurs: citrus, florals, fougères, chypres, woody, ambers and leathers, each split into sub-families. You'll be able to place a scent on that map, translate it into the Fragrance Wheel used in shops, and spot where a family label stops helping.
bridie.hobartin Florals & Bouquets · Hobart ·
Snapshot
Spring has the orchards up the Huon gone white, and a grower brought blossom branches in with the last of his stored apples. People kept stopping to sniff the branches instead of buying fruit. Honey and a clean pillowcase, with cold air off the river on top.
nell.wattle Same season here, but no orchards in the inner city. Does the blossom actually smell like the fruit?
theodora.figin Seasons & Celebrations · Bath ·
TipWhen the decorations come down from the loft, the box brings the loft with it: damp card, dust, a hint of mouse. I give it an afternoon open in the shed first, then wrap the glass baubles in fresh tissue with a cedar shaving or two. The shop does the same…
wes.cedar Same at the school. The Christmas boxes in the basement smell of floor wax and cold concrete.
juniper_julesin Woods, Mosses & Roots · Portland ·
Scent diary
Studio notes: I pinned a vetiver strip to the shelf by the wheel and smelled it every morning before opening the clay. The first day it was raw and rooty, like a carrot pulled with the dirt still on. By the weekend it had dried to something smoky and almost…
aroha.rain Its the carrot for me too. Pulled one in the garden this arvo and thought of vetiver straight away.
joon.yuzuin Giving Fragrance · Seattle ·
Scent diaryTL;DR: before buying anything, I logged what six friends already wear. Taken from scarves, coats and the odd hug, no names, no bottles: - two citrus, one of them with green tea - one rose, very soft - two woody, one of them smoky - one who smells of laundry…
ingrid_berlin Laundry is usually musk, see the musk page, from the deer's gland to clean white musks . I wear it since years, all bass, no treble.
kemi.cocoain Giving Fragrance · London ·
QuestionMy little brother turns thirty soon and has never owned a bottle of anything, just the same deodorant since school. I'd love to give him his first proper scent. Where do you even start with someone who wears nothing?
hamish_heather Watch what he reaches for: his coffee, his tea, the jumper he lives in when it's dreich. That's your wee shortlist before any shop.
bridie.hobartin Everyday Smells · Hobart ·
QuestionFirst time this spring the sheets have gone back on the line, and they come in smelling of wind and cold sea air. The dryer ones smell of the washing liquid and not much else. Why the difference?
jess.in.philly I love the clean laundry smell so much I chase it in perfume. Is that the same thing as line-dried?
Class no. 22 · 7 min read
A perfume label reads in four parts: the ingredient list with "parfum" and the named allergens, the batch code, the symbols about shelf life, and the concentration, which the EU cosmetics regulation puts no number on. You will know what each detail tells you, what it is allowed to leave out, and how labels differ in the EU, the US and Canada.
dex_in_brooklynin Learning to Smell · New York ·
Questionok so i can't remember half the specials from last month but i remember every bad fish delivery since i started. you're telling me the nose keeps receipts?
nell.wattle Okay, nerd moment: in a study from the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center , 25 adults learned unfamiliar smells linked to places in a scene, and one…
dougie_newcastlein History, Bottles & Houses · Newcastle upon Tyne ·
QuestionMy granddaughter keeps calling perfume houses 'niche'. Is it about how old they are, or how small?
carys.cardiff Neither, really. The Class on what niche perfumery means says it's mostly about selling through selective channels to a narrower audience, and that…
brynn.pinein Woods, Mosses & Roots · Minneapolis ·
Snapshot
Raking leaves at the park nursery after a night of rain. Wet maple underfoot, balsam fir along the fence, and somebody's woodstove going down the block.
priya.cardamomin Ambers, Spices & Gourmands · Toronto ·
TipSmall tip now baking season is here: your spice drawer is already a smelling kit, it just needs organizing. 1) Pull out cinnamon, clove, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg. 2) Line them up by which one you can still smell at arm's length. 3) Smell the quietest first…
ravi.tea Did it with my chai tin. Clove won the arm's length test by a mile.