Category Archives: perfume
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Scent | Esenzialmente Laura (Rome)
I went to Rome in October, and although I hadn’t been back for eight years, I instantly felt like I had arrived back home. I traced my steps back to some favorite spots, including the Galleria Borghese, where I gawped … Continue reading
Scent | Cowboy Grass by D.S. & Durga
When my mother became ill with cancer when I was about 13, several family friends jumped in to help out and take care of us when she was in the hospital. One of them was Bette, who lived just down … Continue reading
scent | stone 