You’ve likely seen Deborah’s name or read her stories if you’re at all interested in the world of style. She’s a veteran in the industry: For almost seven years, she was the fashion editor at The Globe and Mail; she’s also served lengthy stints as the style editor at Flare and Chatelaine magazines. With The Whale & The Rose, she’s tapped her long-held love of fragrance to create a new media brand where others who share her passion can go for a fragrant fix.

QUESTION: What is The Whale & The Rose?
DEBORAH: It’s a destination—a website, a digital magazine, a portal—for people who love fragrance. You can find trends, news, gossip and weird and wonderful facts about fragrance. It’s fun and entertaining, informative and inspiring. website analysis software And it’s all about scent.

Q: Where did the name come from?
DEBORAH: The “Whale” in The Whale & The Rose refers to ambergris, that substance produced in the digestive system of the sperm whale. It floats to the surface of the sea and is harvested, and as it dries, it acquires its distinctive sweet and animalistic character. It’s so weird and wonderful—and it’s long been used in perfumery. And well, the “Rose”: the bloom is synonymous with perfumery. It’s beauty, it’s romance, it’s femininity incarnate.

Q: Your first fragrance?
DEBORAH: My grandmother gave me a bottle of Helena Rubenstein when I was about 10. I wore Lauren by Ralph Lauren as a teen. In university, I bought my first grown-up perfume: Must de Cartier—my fridge was empty, but I smelled good.

Q: Favourite scent?
DEBORAH: I don’t really have a signature scent although I have been wearing Chanel’s Coromandel for several years. I mix it up depending on my mood and the moment. Wearing one fragrance would be like picking a favourite food! My favourite families though: chypres and orientals.

Q: Why perfume and why now?
DEBORAH: Perfume is magic. It can energize, seduce, calm and captivate. With one whiff, a scent can transport you to another time and place. Fragrance speaks to your soul: It doesn’t care how tall or short you are, how slim or Rubenesque, how young or old. It makes you feel more put-together and more beautiful. And who doesn’t need just a little bit of that escapism and confidence in today’s hectic and economically uncertain world?

PHOTO: DAN LIM; WWW.DANLIMPHOTO.COM