Perfume recs from New Yorkers

Sniffing people's skin all over the tri-state area

I’m that weirdo who will lean in to sniff your neck or linger a little too long during a hug, trying to place the perfume you’re wearing. I’m endlessly interested in the fragrances people choose to wear. It’s a fun window into someone’s personality. It’s also one of the easiest ways to get introduced to new fragrances. I found some of my favorite scents by smelling them on other people first. And I love it when people smell me and want to buy whatever perfume I’m wearing.

On this last trip to New York (yes, this is my third NYC trip in eight weeks), I decided to keep track of what I smelled on people. If I couldn’t detect it immediately, I asked whoever I was with if they were wearing a fragrance. This led to some fun conversations and a few surprises. Of course, I had to share these with all of you. Maybe one of these will be your next favorite fragrance.

I met Kim at Russ & Daughters on the Lower East Side. I was in full panic mode because I was one of the people impacted by the Verizon outage. Thanks to Alex of Nolita Dirtbag, who tipped me off to what was happening when I ran into him on my way to meet Kim. It is wildly disconcerting not to be able to use my phone for anything; I could not text, make calls, use Uber, slack, or open any other apps. I don’t think I’m ready for the apocalypse, although I will smell good when it happens.

Kim has a great Substack called Girls of a Certain Age. She’s a legendary lifestyle editor who founded Lucky Mag and was one of the people who helped make Sassy Magazine so iconic. She also hosts one of my favorite podcasts with Jenn Romolini, Everything is Fine.

Kim smelled familiar to me; maybe if I weren’t panicked I would have guessed she was wearing Portrait of a Lady by Frederic Malle. This is a classic, beautiful rose. You can’t go wrong with Frederic Malle's scents, he worked with some of the greatest noses. Portrait of a Lady creates this lovely cloud around the wearer. I see it as a pink aura, and I love sneaking into its edges. It’s a big, beautiful, classic painting of a rose with some surprising woods and incense to throw you off just a little. Kim was wearing the body and hair oil, a nice option for people who find perfume sprays too strong.

I met Rose and Somsack at Rosella in the East Village. Somsack had been raving about this sushi place; when I saw him in August, he offered to take me the next time I was in town. This was one of the best meals I have had in a while. I’m still dreaming of the avocado roll with rosella sauce—it sounds simple, but that sauce! Don’t miss this place if you visit or live in NY.

Somsack is the creative director at Alex Mill, and Rose is their brand manager. Somsack also has a great Substack called somstack. I love hanging out with these two. They told me about a communal bottle of Glossier’s You they have in the Alex Mill office that they all share, a photo of it above with a piece of pottery made by Som. Btw have you smelled the new Glossier releases? I ordered both scents blind and can’t wait to try them out.

Somsack’s scents are Fredric Malle’s Musc Ravageur and Helmet Lang. Musc Ravageur has so much going on; it’s spicy and sexy and perfect for Fall and Winter nights.

Rose told me about a perfume she got for her boyfriend when she was in Copenhagen, Perfumer H’s Ink. She got it at Goods, which she said is an incredible men’s multi-brand shop. I love all of the Perfumer H scents, and when I went to Stéle on this trip, I made sure to smell Ink, which has a smoky and slightly metallic scent. Maybe it was the power of suggestion, but it did smell a little inky blue to me. Perfumer H is a UK-based, high-end brand with really well-crafted scents. I also smelled their new release, Saddle, and she’s lovely. All worn-in leather with a soft floral bite, patchouli, vanilla, and amber. I would add this one to my collection of leathers.

Mackenzie Thomas is a total delight and an incredibly fun person to talk to. I’m always so happy to see her when I’m in New York. At events when I get tired of talking to strangers, I find Mackenzie and always feel refreshed after time with her. She has a Substack called ★ I WILL DO WHATEVER I WANT ★ that you should subscribe to.

Mackenzie is also a bit of a fraghead and will nerd out with me on fragrance. At this event, she was also wearing Portrait of a Lady. But Mackenzie’s favorite scent right now is Replica’s In The Garden, one of the best vegetal fragrances I’ve smelled. She had it on when I saw her in August, and she told me, “I feel like sexy spaghetti when I’m wearing it,” which is probably one of my favorite descriptions from someone of how a fragrance makes them feel.

I got to experience the absolute charm of Cobble Hill when I met up with Joanna Goddard at Poppy’s. I ran into a couple of people I had met at Joanna’s launch party a year ago, and I felt like I lived in the neighborhood.

Joanna has had a long, amazing career as the founder of the iconic lifestyle website Cup of Jo. She started Big Salad a year ago, if you don’t subscribe, you should do so immediately. I love catching up with Joanna; she’s just as fun and gracious in real life as she is online. And she tells good stories.

Joanna was wearing Le Labo’s Rose 31, which is one of my favorite roses—another classic. But she said her favorite lately has been Angie by Clare V; she’s already on her second bottle. She also tipped me off to a popular one she loves to smell on men that I hadn’t heard of. It’s Rag & Bone’s Bergamot, and apparently, it sells out quickly. Josh Koll, if you’re reading this, this sounds like your next purchase!

I met up with Erika Veurink of the excellent Substack Long Live at the Ace in Brooklyn. It’s always fun to chat with Erika; she has good ideas and a talent for gathering interesting people, which she does regularly with her EV Salons. I love the concept of pairing strangers and having zero agenda for the evening, just connections and good conversations. I always meet interesting people through Erika.

Erika was wearing Thé Noir 29 by Le Labo, another classic. I am not just saying this - this crowd has good taste! Thé Noir is a slightly sweet, clean, woody scent with fig at the top and some musk and tobacco at its base. A thing I learned last time I visited a Le Labo is the number in the names of their scents is the number of ingredients in each formula. Proving that if you smell a note that’s not listed in a fragrance, it’s very likely there; the brand just didn’t want to call it out. The notes listed in the marketing copy are only part of the story!

I met with Jane at Empire Diner, a classic railroad-style restaurant that felt very New York. It’s been fun to work with Jane on her latest project, Another Jane Pratt Thing, which she launched on Substack last week.

Jane founded Sassy, the iconic publication that has a special spot in every Gen Xer’s heart. Sassy inspired countless other publications, including Tavi Gevinson’s Style Rookie. It was the first magazine I read as a preteen and teen that made me feel seen and made me want to be a writer. Jane also founded Jane Magazine and XO Jane. My 13-year-old self would never believe I would one day sit across from Jane and talk about her next project.

I asked Jane what her favorite scent was, and she told me about Krigler’s Charming California. I had never heard of Krigler, but this fragrance has all the notes I love: white florals, tea, bergamot, cedar, and sandalwood. I definitely need to huff this one at some point.

Lily Sullivan and I met at the very cool coffee shop Anaïs in Boerum Hill. Lily also has a past life editing lifestyle magazines and now freelances and runs the Substack, Love and Other Rugs. She’s a great writer and told a hilarious story about an orange dress at Emilia Petrarca’s event a few weeks ago. You can listen to it here. Anaïs is a natural wine bar that sells books inspired by Anaïs Nin. Apparently, Ethan Hawke is a regular, and he walked by when we were chatting. Unfortunately, I had my back to him and missed the sighting!

Lily was wearing Toï Toï Toï, which is one of Ormaie’s new scents. The notes sound like something I’d like: incense, black pepper, cedar, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla, and cypriol. She had a great story about visiting Ormaie in Paris, where she smelled everything with their founder, Baptise, who bases all of his scents on memories. He told her never to name a perfume after an ex-girlfriend, and coincidentally, that one was one of her favorites; she describes it as sexy, smoky, and fleeting.

Every time I am in Brooklyn, I try to make it to Stéle. A great perfume shop I wrote about here. It’s so fun walking around the store with founder and co-owner Jake, and this time, he showed me all the new arrivals. I gasped when I took a whiff of D’orsay’s new release, Flower Lust. It is stunning. I smelled cherry and deep intoxicating flowers in a rich, dark forest. And once it was on my arm, I just wanted to inhale it. Smell this if you can. I bought a bottle of this and something else for my boyfriend, which he has not yet received, so I will share more about that later. Flower Lust is one of Jake’s favorites, too; when I asked what he was wearing, he said nothing and then grabbed the Flower Lust bottle and started spraying it on. He keeps a spare bottle in his gym bag, too. Stéle has free shipping, I'm just saying!

I’ve also started asking Uber drivers what scents they’re wearing whenever I get into a good-smelling car. Sometimes, I’ll just say, “What’s that smell?” not knowing if it’s something they sprayed on or a car scent. This Uber driver was quick to respond with Tom Ford Oud, although he didn’t seem too interested in talking about fragrance with me. So, I snuck this photo instead of asking him to pose.

Jake from Stele told me a story about an Uber driver who visits every few months and loads up on fragrances. So next time you hop into a car with a stranger, ask them what that smell is! You might get your next perfume rec.