Which discontinued perfumes do you miss?
Bath & Body Works is bringing back Cucumber Melon—what other discontinued perfume do you wish would make a comeback? Bath & Body Works recently announced…
perfume ingredients
What is tonka bean?
Fragrance is full of familiar notes (rose, ginger, salt) and not-so-familiar ingredients (coumarin, osmanthus, orris). And so you ask: What is tonka bean? The bean, defined…
Le Labo City Exclusives coming to a town near you
The nine perfumes of Le Labo City Exclusives Collection are usually only available in their own cities—but you can shop them all in September. A single bottle…
What is Ylang-ylang, (n) ē-ˌläŋ-ˈē-ˌläŋ
By Deborah Fulsang Beautiful by Estée Lauder, Classique by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria Soleia: All of these scents share a glamorous, sparkling largesse. They are…
what is orris (noun), or-ris |ˈôris?
By Danielle DesRosiers Orris is the rhizome of the iris plant, the root from which the absolute oil is extracted to make the fragrant violet-smelling…
Black licorice
By Deborah Fulsang Black licorice has a polarizing effect: Love it or hate it. The same can perhaps be true of fragrances sporting the dark…
What is op·op·on·ax, (noun) /əˈpɑpəˌnæks/?
Opoponax: What is it? It sounds a lot like a character you would find in a children’s book, but in the fragrance world, it’s more…
What is ambergris? (noun) ˈam-bər-ˌgris, -ˌgrē(s)
Ambergris was once considered the second most precious treasure of the sea—after pearls, writes the academic Richard Stamelman, in his encyclopaedic tome, Perfume: Joy, Obsession, Scandal,…