In my email exchanges with Amy Yang from Luilei for the Valentine’s Day perfume suggestions, she wrote something that I’ve been thinking about ever since: “I love fragrance. And I don’t consider myself a junkie as a junkie does not exercise restraint or discretion.” Then she used the word “curate” to describe how she selects her fragrances. I wondered, what does it mean to curate a perfume collection?

To answer this question, I called a friend who is a curator in a nationally respected art museum. (She is shy about having her name on the internet.) She said that the elements of curating are stewardship, research, intrinsic and relational value, theme, and schmoozing. Let’s take them on one by one and see how they apply to perfume:

Stewardship: To be a curator, you must be a good steward of your works of art. For perfume lovers, that means we need to store our perfume out of light, with a stable temperature, and keep air out of the bottle to the extent we can. Perfume can last decades if it’s well cared for, although some perfumes seem to age better than others…

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Over the past few years I’ve stumbled over a few perfume questions or stories, and I’ve gathered them here for you to ponder, too. If you have any insight, I’d love to hear it.

Mystery #1: According to Michael Edwards’ Perfume Legends, the first version of Guy Laroche Fidji was created by Edmond Roudnitska, the legendary nose responsible for Rochas Femme, Frédéric Malle Le Parfum de Therese, and Christian Dior Diorissimo. L’Oréal, who manufactured the scent, decided at the last minute that Roudnitska’s formula “would have been perfect for a Dior couture perfume, but it was too aggressive for Fidji”, so they delayed production until another perfumer retooled Fidji…

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