Author Archives: hkenny

Scent | Notes We Hate

First things first: our scent group has an Instagram account! Check us out and follow along at https://www.instagram.com/prairiescentclub. At our August meeting, which I hosted, I suggested the theme of notes and elements we hate in scent. We had a … Continue reading

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Scent | Asrai Garden Drive-By

I’ve been doing some drive-by reviews on Twitter, where I sample something at Sephora or try a scent strip. Today I stopped by Asrai Garden in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. It’s a floral shop that also features jewelry, skincare, and … Continue reading

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Scent | Ben Gorham of Byredo

As I’ve previously noted here, one of my favorite perfumes is Byredo’s Velvet Haze, and I also recently was intrigued by a floral scent (unusual for me!) in the line, Influorescence.  Despite this, I didn’t actually know much about the … Continue reading

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Scent | Taurus by Strange Invisible

Sometimes I want to be a witch. Not in the contemporary Wiccan sense, but in the medieval sense of the word. I want to be an old lady who lives alone inside the roots of a massive tree in the … Continue reading

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Scent | Old Books by The Perfumer’s Story and Inflorescence by Byredo

I’m an introvert. When I was a kid in after-school care, the aides always joked with my mom that I was a terror and they couldn’t control me—because I would literally sit in the corner with a book until she … Continue reading

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Scent | Basil

I recently joined a scent group that started up (we’re working on a name) and our last meeting was a potluck with a basil theme, perhaps in anticipation of summer. Basil is so ubiquitous in food today, but in the … Continue reading

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Scent | Monstera by Xinú

I’ve been to the Yucatan Peninsula only a couple times, but enough to fall in love with the scents there. I became obsessed with the copal incense my hotel burned and the perfumes from Coqui Coqui incorporating elements from the … Continue reading

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Scent | Garden Tomato Toner by Burt’s Bees (RIP)

There are few things as frustrating, personal product-wise, than when a company discontinues a color, a scent, or a cosmetic you love. So I was dismayed to find out today that Burt’s Bees has discontinued the Garden Tomato Toner, a … Continue reading

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Scent: Revolution by Cire Trudon and Coven by Andrea Maack

There’s a revolution in the air. Old power structures are creaking and swaying.  More people are seeing the reality of systemic inequality and injustice in our country, as well as throughout the world. Ideas that just a few years ago … Continue reading

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Scent | The Lobster

Yorgos Lanthimos makes some odd films. I was intrigued by his 2015 film The Lobster but waited to see it when it was available for streaming because I heard it was good, but very weird. (I tend to avoid movies … Continue reading

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