Happy Tuesday and happy Festivus for the rest of us! Feel free to air your grievances in the comments. Birthdays: Madam C. J. Walker, Chet Baker. What fragrance are you wearing?
I’m drinking a cup of Upton Christmas Tea and wearing Hermès L’Ambre des Merveilles.
Reminder: on 12/26, we’re doing Best of 2025…
There’s a certain pleasure to be had in following a favorite artisanal perfume brand over an extended period of time, just like following a musician or visual artist or film director whose work means a lot to you. You can see their work evolve, recognize certain recurring themes or motifs, watch them trace new paths. Lately, I’ve been regularly wearing recent releases from three artisanal perfumers whose work I’ve followed for years. All three have turned out to be mood-boosters for me, in different ways, and I’m appreciating these tiny vials of optimism at the end of a tricky and unpredictable year.
Snow Angels is Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’s twenty-fifth holiday fragrance as DSH Perfumes. I’m partial to a few of her previous holiday releases (including Pomegranate Rouge, Ruby Candlelight and Winter White) so I looked forward to trying this one…
It’s the weekend. Saturday is International Human Solidarity Day and the 7th night of Hanukkah; Sunday is the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (the shortest day of the year) and the 8th night of Hanukkah. Coming up, Christmas Eve is Wednesday, Christmas Day is Thursday. Friday is Boxing Day and the first day of Kwanzaa. We’re marking all of it with our same old open thread poll.
Talk about anything you like — the fragrance you’re wearing today, what you’re hoping to see on fragrance counters in 2026, whatever.
Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer…
Paco Rabanne has launched Fame in Love, a new flanker to 2022’s Fame, and Phantom in Red, a new flanker to 2021’s Phantom…
The celebrity fragrance market is once again thriving, but the current approach is entirely different to that of the 1990s, marking a shift from celebrity endorsement to celebrity authorship. According to the latest five-year analysis from Fresha, ahead of Christmas, new global data has revealed that while nostalgic icons like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Jennifer Lopez continue to show substantial seasonal boosts, it is the younger stars such as Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Kylie Jenner and Sabrina Carpenter who now dominate worldwide demand.
— Read more in The New Celebrity Perfumes, From Ariana Grande To The Rolling Stones at Forbes.