The Reasons for Planting Lavender Revealed
OrangeBean Indiana, the whimsical website of authors and entrepreneurs Nicholas Orange and Tim Bean, recently published a rather whimsical article about why lavender bushes usually grow where they do around houses – to be precise, why they so often grow some distance away from houses. You can normally smell lavender even if you are not […]
What could replace the perfume I love?
One of this blog’s readers asked a question about BLACK, the bespoke fragrance of Markham men’s lifestyle brand in South Africa. If BLACK is no longer available, what can replace it? Like many things we have got used to in our lives, the COVID-19 pandemic and the quarantines that came with it have led to […]
Catnip for humans – Nature’s fragrances that smell of health and happiness
In my previous post, I looked at the nasty smells that are associated with illness and death, and most often found in hospitals and medical facilities. That is the unfortunate reality of the situation, and though I mentioned quite a long list of smelly substances, I did not list all of them. But wait! There’s […]
The bad old stinky days & the smells associated with disease
At the moment, many people are concerned about their health and wellbeing and try to avoid places like hospitals, care facilities and clinics. People generally don’t like these places because the circumstances that lead to them being there are usually unpleasant, often painful, and sometimes with fatal outcomes. And, as anyone who has ever been […]
The perfume hits of 2019 – Some unexpected newcomers
A perfume that has been carefully designed and produced with quality ingredients will continue to please users and be in demand for many years. As the lists of best selling perfumes for Christmas 2019 show, the “old but good” perfumes continue to be in demand. Some perfumes are classics that have been produced for decades. […]
What is the science behind TV show The Sniffer (Нюхач)?
Scene from The Sniffer from imbb.com Scene from The Sniffer from imdb.com Smells made visible by wraithlike smoke effects – Scene from The Sniffer from imbb.com My favourite, binge-worthy TV show of the past few weeks has been The Sniffer, a.k.a. “Nyukhach” (Russian and Ukrainian: Нюхач), a Russian production which has been a huge hit […]
A perfumer visits the homes of famous perfumes – Grasse and Cologne
In August, Max Millies, the nose of Earthgro Fragrances and the name behind Maxiamo Perfumes, went to Europe and visited places famous for their connection to perfumes – Grasse in France, and Cologne in Germany. One can say of the perfume industry that its roots lie in these two places. I have pointed out that […]
The link between your tastebuds and your nose – Have a tomato!
Think about it: aromatics are important. Your perception of flavour is what your taste buds are telling you and what your olfactory — smell — system is telling you. So, people who cannot smell, who have anosmia, have a narrower range of flavours to experience than others. The human nose has roughly 400 types of […]
What is drifting in the breeze? – The charm of linden blossoms
This time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere linden trees are in bloom. The linden tree is a romantic thing, with fragrant furry yellow flowers and heart-shaped bright green leaves. And when you walk along an avenue of linden trees, you understand why people sing about that, because you are suddenly enveloped in a […]
Film vs. Fact – It depends on where you spray it – TV series “Parfum” (part 4/4)
This post continues with assessing the factual accuracy of the perfume references in the script of the German TV show Parfum, made for Netflix. Each episode in the series begins with a statement about perfume and how we perceive it. The statements, within the parameters of the plot about desire and murder, are generally in line with how […]