awake by akro

top notes: coffee santos, sicilian lemon
heart notes: green cardamom
base notes: vetiver

i was a barista for 10+ years. in that time, i was encouraged to understand beans, their origins, aromas, tasting notes, and ideal preparation methods. when i tell you this is the *most photorealistic* coffee fragrance i've ever experienced... it's divine. it's acidic, it's oily, it's astringent and creamy at the same time. it's a fresh bag of oily whole beans ready for a grind, it's the synesthetic way of smelling like a light roast tastes.
this scent lasts on skin and on clothes for. ev. er. and is one of my most complimented fragrances. it fills me with a bombastic, sensual confidence. there's nothing sweet about it, and yet it's warm and comforting. it feels like an antithesis to (but is maybe kindred) the gourmand girlies' obsession with all things vanilla.
scent memory: my favorite preparations (outisde of a plain black mug of an ethiopia yirgacheffe) are either a cortado with cardamom simple syrup, or an espresso tonic with citrus.

JAZMIN YUCATAN BY D.S. & DURGA
a dewy rainforest with the passionflower note, indolic jasmine sambac, humid greenery like a conservatory, but warm and dusty clove and copal resin make for a very starchy drydown (a lot of folks compare it to corn masa, and it's so... comforting?)

oddity by rag&bone

top notes: sichuan & black pepper, cardamom, angelica root
heart notes: leather, incense, licorice
base notes: vetiver, amber, vanilla bean

when i needed a hobby that wasn't a person, i turned to fragrances. i signed up for a subscription service to try new scents and this was the first perfume i acquired. i didn't know what i was looking for. i knew i had grown out of my fruity scents from a decade ago, and thus relied on my experience working in kitchens, and interfacing with materia from a culinary perspective. (i've always made the joke that i would like to be reincarnated into a cardamom pod.)
the first thing that hits, despite the pyramid is a dry, sour, smokey incense. i think the longer you sit with it, the more it sharpens into the pepper. angelica and licorice are both medicinal, and the bridge between top and base feels like you're crushing a root poultice on a hide of leather.
the vetiver/amber/vanilla bean combo is a rough & tumble (but comforting) green balsamic scent that lasts on clothes well into the next day.
scent memory: serving catholic mass during the stations of the cross. the wooded pews, the thurible full of burning incense, the green palms left over from ash wednesday, the blend of scents on bodies showing out for a holy day. something about masculinity of vetiver and the sacharrine quality of vanilla feels like the genderfuck of the holy spirit.

INTO THE GARDEN BY MAISON MARTIN MARGEILA
this smells like sungold cherry tomatoes taste. this is the abundance of a hoop house in july. it's a juicy burst of acidic fruit, it's the petiole sap that sticks to your fingers, it's the basil and borage you've planted for companions. i bought it as soon as i smelled it.