Spring has officially entered the room. And with it, a shift in air, mood, and yes–scent. To mark the seasonal reset, we asked a group of our favorite creatives what fragrances they're reaching for right now. Some chase desert memories in Marfa. Others favor a chance perfume selection from their 4 year old at a duty-free shop. Below, 11 individuals share the bottles getting them through the spring.
Pierce Abernathy, Chef and Model
“My favorite fragrance is Forest Lungs by the Nue Co. This is a fragrance I always go back to as it’s earthy, clean, and natural smelling. It’s not too overpowering, just clean, fresh, and ideal for any situation.”
Brian Goeltzenleuchter, Artist
“A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to smell The Hedonist Extract de Parfum by Ex Nihilo. I was in Paris to judge a perfume competition. It was February. The weather was cold and gray, and I was dressed to match. The perfume transported me somewhere brighter, warmer. It unfolded temporally, like sunrise unfolds to sundown, opening with a shimmering, dewy, citrus accord, which transforms into a warm, dry, woody, sweet base. It offered a welcome counterpoint to my winter blues, and I have been wearing it ever since.”
Andreas Keller, Founder of Olfactory Art Keller
“I run a scent art gallery and like to become part of our exhibitions by wearing the scents the artists create for the occasion. Currently, we are showing Hannah Marie Marcus’s Commodity Exchange, which is infused by the scent of citrus medica. Marcus created three perfumes based on the thick-rinded citron. My favorite, and the one I’m wearing right now, is Green Citron, a large sparkling blot of yellow in an unruly sea of green with the bright clean colors complicated just a little bit by Sichuan peppercorn and cumin.”
Tennessee MacDougall, Artist
“I just returned from a trip through the South of the U.S., with a stop in Marfa, Texas, to visit the Chinati Foundation and see Judd’s artworks. I stayed at El Cosmico, a campground that brought to mind a fragrance I’ve loved and had in my collection for years: El Cosmico by DS & Durga. Reminiscent of the desert landscape, I especially love the pinyon pine note, as well as the use of guaiacol, a molecule I’ve been experimenting with myself lately. The scent of hot sand, desert shrubs, and vast blue skies dotted with cumulus clouds. I’ve been wearing it a lot since I returned to Switzerland, trying to hold on to that sense place just a little longer!”
Lee Mary Manning, Artist
“I wear Santa Maria Novella’s Patchouli after smelling it on Charlie Porter in 2017. The last bottle I bought was from Florence and I think the notes are a little more Florence-y, which… ya know, helps.”
Anthony Roth Costanzo, Opera Singer
“As an opera singer, I’m used to the ephemeral: the moment I sing a note, it disappears. This cologne [Editions des Parfums Frederic Malle Cologne Indelebile] is the very opposite; it’s indelible. It makes a mark you can’t erase. That’s the impact I hope to have on everyone I encounter whether it’s in the Met Opera or on Grindr. The secret is a dialectic between citrus and bergamot tandy trills, and grounded, gently musky bass notes. It’s light but persistent, like me. Frederic Malle never steers us wrong, and this everyday scent does me right.”
Elizabeth Renstrom, Photographer
“There is always one iconic first day of spring in NYC when the crowds go feral and jorts suddenly appear. It is on that day I shift from my winter fragrance rotation to wanting to smell like a damp, shire-dwelling wench. I’m looking for a marshy rug underneath a toadstool kind of energy. When moss is calling I go straight to the source and revisit a cult classic aka Moss by Perfumer H. Lyn Harris is a genius when it comes to all things effortlessly cool and grounding. The opening of Moss is like making out with the Green Knight. As it dries down to a whimsical fairy dusting of oakmoss and vetiver it's like the equinox has begun! I’d highly recommend most of Perfumer H’s roster if you’re feeling like a forest bathing session stat.”
Emma Stern, Artist
“[Tom Ford Noir Extreme] was my first fragrance, and only because it was a gift from a gallery director on my 28th birthday. As its name would suggest, Noir is a textbook example of what I believe is classified (by those who know) as a 'night time scent'; it is sensual, musky, and a bit mysterious. Exotic. I was so flattered that this was the scent the gallery director had selected for my gift. I imagined her painstakingly sampling countless options at the posh perfumery down the street from the gallery, sniffing espresso beans to cleanse her palette in between, rejecting one bottle after another before finally deciding, with certainty, on Noir. Noir, because it reminded her of me. Because I, too, was sensual, musky and mysterious and exotic—a night time girl. I was so flattered, in fact, that I decided then and there, on my birthday, that this would be my signature scent.
I saw the gallery director recently, and, loquacious after a single martini, I told her excitedly, 'I still wear Noir!' She looked at me with confusion, expression blank. 'Remember? Tom Ford Noir? You picked it out for me for my birthday a few years ago?' Suddenly, a flicker of understanding softened her face. 'Oh, of course! You know who actually picked that out for you? My youngest! He really gravitated toward that bottle in the duty-free shop whilst we waited for you at Heathrow. Gosh that must have been ages ago. Can you believe he starts school this year? What was that, your 25th?'
The knowledge that a 4-year old boy whom I've never met had arbitrarily selected my signature scent from an airport duty-free has done nothing to deter my habitual usage of Noir. Sometimes, I even wear it in the daytime.”
Angela Trimbur, Actor
“I ran to catch up with a woman down the street just to ask what perfume she was wearing—it was that good. She laughed and said she discovered it the same way, by running after a stranger. YSL Libre Intense.”
Andrew Tess, Photographer and Artist
“I love [10 Corso Como Uomo perfume] because it reminds me of my summers as a young boy visiting my family in Milano Marittima. It feels very breezy and like a fresh set of towels by the sea. I love to layer it with a few different scents as well, and it ages very nicely on your clothing and skin.”
Tish Weinstock, Author of How to Be a Goth: Notes on Undead Style
“I'm currently obsessed with 34 Boulevard Saint-Germain by Diptyque. It's got notes of rose, amber, blackcurrant buds, and spices so it feels quite rich and sumptuous but without being overpowering. It feels very nostalgic and old world-y, like something my grandmother might wear.”
