No mere critics, here
Sniffapaloozza matches scents with the people who make, buy, and share them.
Sniffapaloozza is a professional social club of sorts. The event comes out of the golden age of the American fragrance industry—when the New York Times still employed Chandler Burr, perhaps the last great fragrance journalist of print news media—in the 2010s, as the economy slowly recovered from the Great Recession.
This era was born out of the mega-success of Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana when scents were airy, oceanic, or fruity as hell (pick one). I’ve read two of Burr’s books, which include much of this history—and would love to ask him a dozen questions at some point, but for now, it’s enough that he and Luca Turin (who is now on Substack!) are on my shelves or inbox.
Some 15 years later, Sniffapalooza still embarks on finding the most attractive scents in the world. I went to NYC for the Saturday event this past weekend to learn more about it, and what I saw far exceeded my expectations.
Where the lore is real
Legendary perfumers who once made billions of dollars for multinational corporations are alive and working—Alberto Morillas, for one, is in his early 70s and creating complex, unusual works for his brand Mizensir. Morillas is the genius behind CK One and Acqua di Giò. To give you a sense of how exciting this is—it’s like being invited to a dinner where Julia Child is the cook.
We met in NoLiTa and visited participating stores, where staffers offered coffee, pastries, mimosas, brand overviews, product tutorials, discounts, and free samples: Korres, Naxos Apothecary, Le Labo, Mizensir, Scentbar, DS & Durga, Malin + Goetz, and Olfactory NYC.
It’s a delightful experience to walk into Le Labo for free samples, knowing that Le Labo once declined to send Turin samples, allegedly remarking that “writing about perfume is like dancing about architecture.”
A few days ago, I asked Turin if he had any advice for an aspiring perfumer (me), and he graciously (and, I hope, jokingly) responded without anything at all: “Those are questions for a perfumer, not a mere critic…”
To be clear, Luca Turin knows more about perfumes than I ever will, so this answer was delightfully funny to me.
Off the official store path, I stopped by (not participating) Elorea, whose store opened in May 2023 (and I hadn’t yet visited). The store features an excellent Korean-themed cafe with black sesame, sweet potato, and yuja options.
I purchased a gorgeous bottle of Inflorescence.
To sum up: No advice from Luca Turin, Sniffapalooza is a bounty of knowledge, and Elorea’s cafe should come to DC—highlights: samples, packaging, presentations. The samples alone were enough to fill an entire bag. The packaging was so diverse that it inspired me to research further what kinds of bottles I’d like for my brand.
Additional brands present at Sniffapalooza: Hez Parfums, Trudon, Euphorium Brooklyn, Casa Posta, Frederico Parfums, Bridge & Blend, Les Cayes Vetiver, Navitus, Vivamor, Baño Maria (launching later this year), Kilian Paris, Roja, Harney & Sons.
Additional purchases: Regimes des Fleurs Tears, Capri 19-69, Mizensir Luxury, Korres Augustos
Speaking of my brand, it’s happening! This past weekend, I met helpful and exciting folks who offered their help. One word that keeps coming to mind is playful. I want my scents to be known for being playful.
Last week, I made my third fragrance since moving from Los Angeles. It’s called burnt rose, meant to smell like, if you could, set a red rose on fire. It came out much grassier than I expected. Still, I know why: I’ve been lazy about practicing with diluted materials and fragrance oils when I should be practicing with higher-quality materials. The cis-3-Hexenal took over because my floral materials are weak, and while my very sticky, resinous labdanum is excellent, I don’t know how to melt it properly. It’s nice to spot where I’ve gotten off the right track.
What’s next?
I need to memorize more materials by smell so it’s easier to know what I’m missing. I also want to practice making basic accords. Oh, and to buy better materials! In May, I’m attending my third perfumery certificate course; I’m also attending my first ScentXplore event.
Perfumer-in-my-residence,
Margarita
That is so fun and exciting! I wish I was in NYC for this, one of the rare moments of fomo I experience living in LA now.