For this episode of Inside the Perfume Cabinet, we get a peek into Now Smell This contributor Erin’s perfume collection and hear about how her interest in fragrance began. Usually, I interview people by phone and summarize it in a post. This time, I give you Erin’s words directly:

As far as early scent memories go, I’m afraid I’ll have my perfumista card revoked, but I think my interest in fragrance started in Grade 2 or 3 when I used to walk over from school during the lunch hours with my friend Shoba — who now lives in California and is still my best buddy, three decades later — to a gift store called “Fruit & Stuff”, which was focused on “stuff”, as we remember it, and specifically, Yankee Candles. I remember sniffing through all the votive scents, such as Bayberry and French Vanilla and Honeydew Melon. I recall my favorites were Pine and a grey one called something like Fireside. Shoba gave me a gift of sandalwood soaps from British chain Marks & Spencer for my birthday around that time, and they were treasures. The first scent I ever purchased by myself was a squat, deep blue glass bottle of Yardley’s English Blazer, a fougère, possibly in aftershave concentration, and that turned out to be prophetic…

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