My sister and I have started a new tradition where we take turns picking fragrance samples for each season (anything to feel alive??). Whoever picks the fragrances tries them first, and attempts to remain as neutral as possible before the other has their turn.
I was the inaugural decision maker! I researched Asian-owned perfume houses after reading this post from Viv Chen - who also happens to be how I was introduced to Substack. Her description of d’Annam’s Vietnamese coffee had me reeling from curiosity and also made me realize that I had never even considered searching for scents that evoked a connection to my own childhood or culture, instead relying on a European fantasy of strolling through a rose garden on a dewy dawn in Paris to satiate my nares.
I did a deep dive into the r/fragrance subreddit (as one does) and found several perfume houses that really intrigued me. I was so conflicted on how to narrow down the list, but I ended up choosing 15 different scents (let’s just call that narrowing </3). Here are the first five:
Chokedee by Strangers Parfumerie:
A scent by Prin Lomros which means “lucky” in Thai. I really enjoyed this one! Imagine being snugly tucked into a wrap of pandan leaves and plopped into a lake of condensed milk with sticky rice balls as accompanying bath toys. The hand of god intermittently appears and sprays some caramel into the air. An 8/10 scent for me; would have been higher if the hand of god kept spraying the caramel but it dries down into more of a plain vanilla being the fickle god they are.
Salted Green Mango by Strangers Parfumerie:
Another one by Prin Lomros! All his scents sound so enticing it was hard to choose but this one appeared to be a fan favorite. Yes, I did imagine that photo of Rihanna with the mango in the ocean. No, this scent did not deliver that photo. This fragrance is based on sour green Thai Bao mangoes often dipped in salt or chili pepper so don’t expect much fruit or sweetness here! The salt and heat are surprisingly prominent (a sentence I did not know I would ever say about a fragrance). I would say it’s more masculine leaning and pleasant. A 6/10 scent for me - interesting to imagine the scenery that inspired it but smells a bit like aftershave if you’re not intentional about taking that journey.
Harvest Mouse by Zoologist:
Zoologist is a Toronto-based niche perfume house founded by Victor Wong and it was the house that I was most eager to try! All of their scents are inspired by animals, their behaviors, habitats, looks, etc. Harvest mouse was created by perfumer Luca Maffei and it was one that sounded more beginner friendly. The description of each scent adds to the enjoyment imo! This one is described as “Like a countryside bathed in sweet sunlight, Zoologist Harvest Mouse conjures images of home-baked goodness. Stalks of wheat sway among chamomile, davana and hay, and rich beer extracts are sobered by resins and woody notes. Cozy up in a warm nest of homespun scent.” At first I thought the scent was a bit linear and I just got a mild, pleasant, vanilla scent. After I let it settle on my skin I distinctly noticed the hay and a strange note that I think might be the beer?? There was something so indescribably addicting about this scent and I kept going back to smell my wrists again and again. It’s as if I can intimately recall being a young milkmaid born and raised on a farm, napping in piles of hay with my horse Daisy and my duck Daisy 2 despite being a Korean born immigrant raised in Hawaii and the most hay exposure I’ve had being a bale I may or may not have seen as part of a Halloween exhibit in elementary school. I would absolutely buy this as a full bottle and I can’t pinpoint why besides the fact that sometimes you want to feel the languor of waking up from a hot sweaty hay nap and seeing the dust particles in the rays of sun around you. 9/10.
Tea Service by Chasing Scents:
In my hunt for fragrances that capture a sense of personal connection, I explicitly searched for a tea-based scent that would take me back to the days I could drink liters of it without the dreaded waves of GERD that followed. Chasing Scents is an Australia-based brand created by Sandy Wong who has a PhD in Chemistry! Tea Service was heavy on the florals but accurately captured some of my favorites in the tea world - jasmine and oolong. It reminds me of a teahouse I went to in Oregon that I wanted to live in! 9/10.
Moth by Zoologist:
Tomoo Inaba is the perfumer and Zoologist describes this as a “rich, gothic scent” with a variety of different spices listed in the notes. There are loads of reviews that describe it as a romantic library, an ancient cabinet with honeyed tinctures, or what La Llorona would wear as her signature scent. What I got was… RAID. 100% pure, unadulterated, straightforward ass Raid. Raid in the opening, Raid in the first application, Raid in the dry down. I committed to a solid 30 minutes before my gag reflex made me succumb to a scrub down. Even after scrubbing vigorously I kept getting whiffs of this throughout the day so the longevity must be NEXT LEVEL in the worst way imaginable. A -100 / 10 scent for me and I pray I never come across her again in any lifetime.
oo,
BitNan
Very interesting and fascinating. They all tell a story. I love how you relate a scent with a story.
I would continue and when you find the ones that speak to you I would try to break it down. It will be interesting to figure out the recipe 👍
Obsessed with the artwork