Inside the Collection: Asia Grant

The bottles that matter to a perfumer and scent tour guide

Welcome to a new series I’m hoping to run monthly. One of my favorite things is exploring people’s perfume collections—it’s such a fun window into their world and my favorite way to get introduced to fragrances and brands. This is my way of doing that virtually, offering a peek into interesting people’s most cherished bottles and the stories behind their collections.

To be clear, this isn’t about reinforcing the idea that you need a huge collection of full bottles to enjoy fragrance. I’m a big fan of samples, decants, travel sizes, and swaps. You can love perfume deeply without owning a lot of it.

But some of us are collectors—obsessed, impractical, and unreasonable (okay, I’m talking about myself)—and there’s something fascinating about the thinking and feeling behind a carefully curated scent wardrobe.

Huge thanks to Asia Grant for being the first in the series. She runs Scent Social Club in NY (sign up for a tour here) and is one of my favorite people to talk to about perfume. I text her randomly to ask if she has ever smelled something and what she thinks of it. I trust her taste, and I think you will, too. You can follow her on IG and TikTok. She also writes the excellent Substack

It's Called Taste

. Fun fact: She’s also a perfumer and co-founder of the skincare line Redoux.

Thanks for sharing your collection with us, Asia 💋

Sample queen and scent tour guru, Asia Grant

This is a really hard question because, honestly, I’d need to know the temperature of the island! But I’m going to assume it’s tropical—because what other kinds of islands are there?

First, I’d take Byredo Open Sky. The pomelo notes make it bright and fun, and it’s one of those scents that still smells amazing even when you’re sweating.

Second, Dauphinette 369, which I developed. It has citrus notes that just play really well in the heat. Even though I love wearing citrus in the winter, I think it would work beautifully in a summer setting too.

And finally, I’d bring a simple amber oil—something grounding that reminds me my life isn’t falling apart just because I’m stranded on an island. Nothing too heavy, just a warm, comforting base to balance everything out.

Asia keeps her bottles stored properly in cool, dark places so she does not have them displayed on pretty shelves where light and heat could shorten their life. She took photos of her bottles out of storage for us.

Tell us a story about a bottle in your collection.

It’s actually three bottles! The way I acquired them is kind of funny. Frédéric Malle Portrait of a Lady, Tom Ford Black Orchid, and Tom Ford White Patchouli all came from Costco—either in a warehouse or Costco.com.

Portrait of a Lady was an online purchase during a double sale, and I was so nervous it would arrive broken, used, or fake. But when it showed up, it was perfect—pristine, authentic, and nothing like what I expected Costco to deliver. That was the moment I became a firm believer in Costco as a luxury retailer.

The first one I bought, though, was Tom Ford Black Orchid—right off the shelf at a Costco warehouse. You can’t test the perfumes there because they’re sealed in plastic, so I had no idea what it smelled like. But I was about to study abroad in Italy, had just gone through a breakup, and wanted something new, chic—something a Milanese woman would wear. I didn’t even know how to check fragrance notes back then; I just thought the bottle looked cool, and I knew Tom Ford was expensive. So I bought it. And luckily, it turned out to be one of the most defining scents of my life.

A bottle you never wear but will never give away?

Without a doubt, Tom Ford Black Orchid.

The first bottle you would bring to a fragrance swap?

I’d actually bring two—Glossier DOUX and Glossier RÊVE. They’re nice, but they’re just not for me. I know people love the Glossier fragrance universe, so I’d hope they’d find a great home.

Aside from those, I’d also bring Mancera Intense Gold not to give it away but to hopefully decant it for someone else. It’s just *so much fragrance*, and I don’t think I’ll ever get through all of it.

If I was over right now, what would you spray on me and why?

If *you*, my dear friend Christina, were over right now, I’d spray you with the new Aesop Aurner fragrance. I think we have really similar tastes, and before spring fully sets in, I’d love to see how it reacts on your skin. I’m not sure if you’d like it, but I think we’d have a great intellectual conversation about why Aesop is so specific in their aesthetic and what type of person would wear this.

If you were to name your collection, what would you call it?

That’s such a funny and hard question. I think I’d have one name for my collection that I’d call it to its face and another name I’d call it to everyone else. I’m *not* going to share the name I’d use privately, but to the outside world, my fragrance collection would be called my “Mind Palace.”

Anything else you’d like to share about your collection?

Honestly, most of my collection right now is made up of samples. I’m not even sure if I want to commit to full sizes because I have a deep fear of becoming a hoarder—I want to actually use what I own. But I love how my collection is developing. It’s at a point where I can see the different phases of my life reflected in scent, which is kind of sweet. It lets me time-travel back to past versions of myself, which I love.