The latest spot for Prada Candy. Read more in Prada Taps Virtual Face for Candy Fragrance Relaunch at Yahoo! Life.
It could take out a herd of rhinoceroses
For the better part of this month, Carson, California, a coastal city in Los Angeles county, has been terrorized by a “foul odor” that has upended the lives of many of its residents and become one of the main topics of conversation in the city of 92,000 people.
How bad is the smell?
“It could take out a herd of rhinoceroses,” one resident told the mayor and city council at a public hearing about the bad smell last week. “It’s not a mild smell. Fix it!”
Read more in 'It Could Take Out a Herd of Rhinoceroses': Bad Smell Terrorizes California City at Vice. See also: What Is That Hideous Stench?? at The Cut.
A fragrance was always in the cards
“We take carbon dioxide and convert it into ethanol [by combining] it with hydrogen at our facilities in Brooklyn,” [Gregory Constantine of Air Company] says of their patented technology. He explains that the only other byproduct of the solar-powered process (aside from the alcohol) is water, which is then recycled, leaving only oxygen to vent into the atmosphere. Up until this point, that leftover ethanol was funneled into the brand’s signature spirit (which is typically made from corn, grain, or potatoes) as well as a hand sanitizer, but according to Constantine, a fragrance was always in the cards.
— Read more in Meet The Future Of Sustainable Fragrance: A Perfume Made From Air at The Zoe Report. Air Eau de Parfum was developed by Joya Studio, and can be pre-ordered now for 2022 delivery. (And see also: From CO2 To Vodka: Air Company Launches World’s First Carbon-Negative Spirit at Forbes.)
Old Spice is cemented in our cultural memory
Like Coke, Old Spice is cemented in our cultural memory, but not always in the way we might imagine. Before I opened my bottle (now plastic, not glass), I thought for sure I remembered the smell. Once it hit my nose, however, I was surprised to find it lighter, subtler, and, yes, fresher than I remembered. It’s a closely guarded secret whether the aftershave formula has been modernized, but the fragrance, the brand assured me, is the same.
— Hmmm. Read more in Why Old Spice Suddenly Smells New at Town & Country. (Also, see Kevin's review of Old Spice.)
Smell as a legitimate wedge that one might use to understand the brain
Before COVID, Datta says, “It was hard to get many people—some scientists included—to pay attention to smell as a legitimate wedge that one might use to understand the brain. And I think that’s really changed now.” For researchers like him and [Venkatesh] Murthy, the fresh urgency directed at their field is an unfamiliar feeling, but a galvanizing one. “I’m excited to begin to think more about the underlying problem of smell itself,” Datta says. Murthy foresees a renaissance in olfaction research. Lately he’s been contemplating how breathing and smelling might intertwine neurologically.
— Sandeep Robert Datta is professor of neurobiology at Harvard. Read more in The Mystery of Smell: COVID-19 shines a spotlight on a once-obscure field of science at Harvard Magazine.