Elevated Classics

A forward-looking commentary on where the fragrance industry may be heading For the past several years, the fragrance industry has been celebrating what many call a golden age. Sales are strong, younger consumers are discovering scent in large numbers, and perfume has become one of the most visible and culturally…

How an unlikely ingredient, carrot seed, became one of modern perfumery’s most intriguing signatures Perfume lovers often expect fragrance to smell beautiful in obvious ways. Roses bloom. Jasmine glows. Vanilla comforts. Even the darker materials of perfumery, oud or patchouli, come with reputations that precede them. Carrot seed does not.…

Mother’s Milk by ERIS Parfums is the latest fragrance created by perfumer Antoine Lie, a lactonic floral composition that explores the intimate scent world of early motherhood. When people talk about the scent of motherhood, they usually describe it sentimentally. Powder, baby shampoo, perhaps the faint sweetness of milk or…

The name ALTAIA reads like the opening line of a story. It stands for A Long Time Ago In Argentina, a reference to the family histories of founders Marina Sersale and Sebastián Alvarez Murena. Their ancestors knew each other in Buenos Aires more than a century ago. The connection disappeared…

I am a 53-year-old perfume collector, and my tastes are firmly shaped by French perfumery. The fragrances I admire most are carefully constructed, almost architectural in their balance. I appreciate compositions that unfold gracefully, where each stage transitions smoothly into the next. Florals are usually where I feel most at…

Before Rogue Perfumery existed, Manuel Cross collected fragrance with unusual focus. He was drawn especially to bottles from the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period he still returns to often. “I was always scouring eBay,” he says. At one point his collection grew to more than seven hundred bottles.…

I noticed it one morning while getting ready, the way you notice silence after music has stopped. Everything was in place. Brushes, creams, lipsticks lined up exactly as they always had been. The only thing missing was the air itself. When I was younger, getting ready had a scent. Not…

Every great house carries its own mythology. Chanel carries many. Some arrived with a roar. Others, like this one, took their place more quietly beside the legend of N°5. In 1921, Ernest Beaux presented Gabrielle Chanel with a series of numbered perfume samples. She chose the fifth. It would become…

I encountered Stora Skuggan during a pause. A quiet interval while emails moved slowly back and forth ahead of an interview with the founders. The discovery set arrived without urgency or ceremony. I opened it without anticipation, guided more by habit than expectation. Over the years, I’ve spent time with…

I first watched In the Mood for Love in 2000, while I was pregnant with my first child and out of film school. Wong Kar-wai’s work was already familiar to me. His fragmented narratives, his devotion to mood, his trust in atmosphere over explanation. But this film registered differently. It…

Fragrance is evolving. It’s not just about seasonal releases or celebrity endorsements anymore. The role of scent in our lives is changing. It’s increasingly seen as a tool for managing mood, reducing stress, and even supporting cognitive health. This change didn’t originate from the fragrance industry; it emerged from a…

“Beast mode” is a phrase I hear constantly now, usually offered as praise, sometimes as a warning, often as shorthand for quality. Loud becomes impressive. Long-lasting becomes virtuous. And the more I hear it, the more I want to slow the conversation down and ask what, exactly, we are applauding.…

There is a modern malaise that comes with loving perfume too much. Not the innocent pleasure of owning a beautiful bottle, or the private thrill of finding a note that feels like it was written for your skin. This is something else. It is the fatigue that sets in when…

I’m always interested in new releases, but I’m rarely impatient for them. These are different. Each one has a clear idea behind it, and each sits in a category I actually wear: musks with presence, ambers with depth, and florals that feel modern rather than decorative. I’ll be monitoring launches…