Clue’s latest is a yellow-hued portal to the past

Plus a travel recap, and what made it into my collection this month

This is the first time I’ve sat down in my apartment with nowhere to be and no plans for the day in a while. The past two weeks I was in LA, NJ, and NY. A whirlwind mix of work, family, and personal travel. I have so much to share with you that I feel overwhelmed about where to even begin.

So I’ll start with the most recent, the Clue event at Stéle. Like many of you, I’m a big fan of this indie house from Chicago, which launched in 2022. There’s something about Clue that makes me want to collect every bottle. The originality of the concepts, the thoughtful packaging, and the creative integrity of each release. This is clearly a passion project, not a commercial endeavor chasing trends. With so many new brands flooding the market, we need more art for art’s sake, with the added bonus of it smelling really good.

Clue’s newest release, Dandelion Butter (available June 14), is inspired by the childhood game of holding a dandelion under your chin—if it reflected yellow, it meant you liked butter. In some versions, a golden glow meant you’d be rich or kind. It’s nostalgic, playful, and a little magical. I remember doing this as a kid, though, as Lola (aka @thehermeshippie) reminded me at the Stéle event, the flowers used varied depending on where you grew up. In some places, it was a buttercup. That’s what we used in Jersey, although to be honest, I don’t remember an abundance of buttercups in our yard. Dandelions, though? They were everywhere.

The scent is meant to evoke the feel of the game and the smell of the dandelion on your skin more than butter itself. There is a butter accord in the formula, though my nose doesn’t pick it up, at least not yet. (I’m mid-way through the dry down as I write this, so maybe it’ll show up later.)

This is a bright sunny day, I get grass stains on kneecaps and skin turning golden in the summer sun. I definitely get the milky sap of a dandelion stem, ever so bitter and creamy, it smells yellow to me, and I think it would even without the obvious connotation. On paper, it leans greener, but on my skin, it opens up and becomes a portal to my childhood summers. This is an instant mood lifter and maybe one of my favorite Clue scents to date. The Point still holds the top spot (you all know I stan white florals), but this one’s a strong contender.

The butter sculpture and stacks of 'butter'

The event featured a giant replica of a butter sculpture, a sweet film on loop portraying the vibe of the scent, an amazing diorama that made me want to be a in a room full of them, a giant clue bottle, beautiful bites the looked like rounds of butter and were too pretty for me to eat, bottles wrapped in butter packaging, and of course yellow flowers and greens scattered about. It was the usual mix of good people and good vibes at Stéle and I can’t wait for you all to smell this and tell me what you think. I’m huffing it on my skin as I write this.

Clue founders Laura Oberwetter and Caleb Vanden Boom, me and Lola, and nail selfies

Here’s a look at what I added to my collection during my travels—some of these were gifted, and some I just couldn’t resist. The smell I keep coming back to is Bad Lily by Tale, a really exciting new house that has four bangers in their lineup. They won a much-deserved Art & Olfaction award in the independent category. More on them soon.

I’ll be back soon to share more from my adventures in LA for Scent Week and NYC for the Fragrance Foundation Awards. More importantly, I’ll tell you all about the good stuff I smelled along the way.