Louis Vuitton’s new fragrance, City of Stars, is the latest attempt to bottle up Los Angeles — the idea of it and what it inspires. It does not smell like structural failures. Nor does it smell like a romanticized night of bad decisions. There are no hints of bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with grilled onions and peppers, no traces of burnt air from fireworks. The City of Stars energy is more aspirational, idealized, sanitized, but essential nonetheless. Manufactured scents like perfumes also can anchor us to the present. And City of Stars grounds you in awareness of a moment — and, most important, serves as a reminder that it’s fleeting.

— Read more in What does a night out in L.A. really smell like? at the Los Angeles Times.