April 23, 2026. The day my obsession with fragrance began. How do I know? Amazon order history. When I first smelled Lattafa’s Maahir Black, I was nonplussed—ok, forget that it’s a $25 clone, that’s not important. I stood there for a moment staring at the bottle. I didn’t know perfume could smell like that: dark and brooding, mysterious, smoky, spicy, and somehow turns into leather after a couple of hours. This was different than any juice I had ever smelled in my life. This was the first time I began to understand that perfumes can be so much more than the designer similitude found in the likes of Macy’s, Sephora, Ulta, etc.  From that moment, I was cooked.

That single bottle somehow scratched every itch I’ve ever had, and a few I was unaware of:

  • History
    • Fragrance has an entire history all its own
      • Napolean may have used as many as sixty bottles per month
      • Chanel No. 5 was an accident
      • Fragrance as a practice is more than 5,000 years old
      • Renaissance men would put civet on their members thinking it would drive women crazy: it probably did.
      • I’ve purchased Aramis for Men, Azzaro Pour Homme, Polo Green, and a few others just to get a sense of perfume history and how scent has evolved
  • Intellectual
    • The best bottles and juices are works of art that inspire me to write
    • There is an ongoing disagreement about how we actually smell things
      • Is it molecular shape, or molecular vibration? No one really knows for sure: I think it’s vibration.
    • I’m working on an idea that explores the question of whether fragrance is a response to social norms. For instance, Aramis was released at nearly the height of the counterculture in the 60s. Then, about a decade later, Azzaro Pour Homme hits the shelves: clean, modern (at the time), sophisticated, put together. Was there something happening in our culture that prompted this, or was Azzaro itself countering counterculture?
  • Emotional
    • Yes, the best compositions can move you in surprising ways
  • Economical
    • To some people money doesn’t matter because they have so much of it. To me it doesn’t matter because I have so little
    • The truth is, some forty-dollar bottles outperform some much more expensive ones
  • Personality
    • Scents are neither good nor bad; there are merely things some people like and others don’t.
    • There is a scent for every mood and occasion
  • Dopamine
    • There is always a new fragrance or a new house to explore
    • The very fact that juices evolve means multiple hits of dopamine in a single use
  • Community
    • Sure, there are some unsavory characters who glaze every- and anything to make a buck as an affiliate, but generally, the community is welcoming and supportive
  • Nostalgia
    • Growing up Catholic (Vatican I, not II)—don’t worry, I’m recovering—I am drawn to serious compositions: incense, smoke, soaring blends, dark earthy compositions and ceremonials. I’m sure there are other inspirations, but Filippo Sorcinelli’s Reliquia is one of the best, most fascinating things I’ve ever smelled.
Decorative perfume bottle with flowers and incense smoke on wooden table
An ornate perfume bottle surrounded by flowers and incense smoke creating a warm, exotic atmosphere

Then I learned there were entire fragrance families like this: ambers, incenses, animalics, dark florals, spices:  and good god, vetiver! VETIVER, I say! I very soon moved from affordable clones to niche sample sets. This made the most sense given that I write reviews.  Two mls  is usually enough to wear twice, once for the review—a few spritzes on the wrist—and once to really wear out. Moreover, for a fraction of the price of a 100ml niche fragrance, I get several.  But now I’ve found a bunch I like and have moved onto full size bottles. 

For me, fragrance has become about more than just smelling good. It tells a little bit about who I am that day, or in that moment. Fragrance motivates me to write. Heck, if I’m feeling a little down or lazy, thinking about putting on something uplifting can even get me out the door and into the gym. An interesting fragrance can be a conversation starter and social lubricant as well: God, what’s that smell? Who’s wearing that? Why is HR here?

I’ve branched out since discovering Maahir Black. Of course, those dark, brooding scents are still my favorites. In fact, only yesterday I received BDK’s Gris Charnel Extrait. Strikingly similar to Red Flag, by Fascent; but where Red Flag floats like a halo, Gris Charnel Extrait envelops in a cloud, as its name implies it ought: Carnal Gray. But lately I’ve been exploring florals, and lighter scents. And while I appreciate them all, truly, I’ve come to understand that I value evolution over scent. I will take an “ok” scent with a masterful dry down over something that smells really good with a linear dry down. Is it just me?

That’s where I am today. My collection is still small but growing, and has gone from half a dozen designers to forty or fifty full-size bottles that are a mix of designer, niche, budget-freindlys and dupes, and perhaps as many as 200 niche decants of various sizes. Every day I wake up I look forward to interacting with the community, heading to the shelf to pick out a scent of the day—or several—and sharing my experiences with others. The journey has just begun.

What’s your siren song?

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