Mine is mapping. I am a big OpenStreetMap contributor and I have mapped many towns near me that were previously completely unmapped.
Oh man I’ve recently started getting into fragrances… I’d never realized how complex (and expensive) they can be! I discovered Kayali’s Yum Pistachio Gelato from a makeup youtuber I follow and it’s all been downhill from there. Lately I’ve been layering Ellis Brooklyn’s Super Amber with Phlur’s Heavy Cream, and I keep sneaking little sniffs of myself throughout the day… and sniffing my bra when I take it off for the night… send help!
What are some of your favorite unexpected notes to combine?
Ugh, I know right?! All my spare coin is going towards perfumes!
Yum Pistachio is gorgeous! I love all the dupes of it too, all the Arabic houses are on top form lately.
Your combination of Super Amber and Heavy Cream sounds hella sexy!
Ok, so here’s a REALLY strange but beautiful scent combination I’ve found, let me try and set the scene it makes for you first:
You’re in an coastal pine forest during a lightening storm. It’s night. You can smell the wet earth underfoot and the forest behind you. Just before the rain starts up again, you’re looking out over the sea as it crashes against the cliffside, sea water mists the air and sheets of lightening illuminate the world.
This was from about 5 spritzes of Vanilla Vibes by JHAG (salty non-gourmand vanilla) with a modest spritz of Quorum by Antonio Puig (beast mode aromatic oakmoss) over it. Encre Noir by Lalique could probably be substituted for the Quorum for a similar affect, but you’ll need to spray a lot more of it as Quorum is very, very strong.
The way the sea salty solar notes of Vanila Vibes play against the dank mossy woods and grapefruit of Quorum, it’s so visual for me. And there’s this ozoneic smell they form together that isn’t constant but is electric and kinda how I imagine lightening smells.
Do you have any unexpectedly beautiful scent combinations? Please share if so!
Oh man, you hooked me from
You’re in an coastal pine forest during a lightening storm
and it just got better from there. I’ll have to try this!
I’m still building up my collection, so so far the most interesting I’ve come up with is Super Amber / Heavy Cream. I’ve been ordering a bunch of sample vials of things that sound interesting, trying to pin down what notes I like best and which I don’t. So hopefully soon I can come up with creative combos like yours!
Don’t be afraid of just amassing a bunch of ‘cheapies’ to start with, there are so many fantastic fragrances made by renowned perfumers/houses, that you can buy for under £50 (€/$/etc) to train your nose on and figure out what you like.
That’s actually how I have Vanilla Vibes and Quorum, I literally just blind bought a load of cheaper perfumes going by what looked interesting on Fragrantica or was recommended on youtube, and I would likely never have bought or learnt to pick out and enjoy their notes had I gotten tiny testers first.
Also many cheap Arabic perfumes (originals and dupes) are surprisingly good, don’t be too afraid of exploring that side of this world either! Al Rehab is a great place to start if you’re unsure/skint, Choco Musk is quite possibly the best milk chocolate perfume in the world and you can get a 50ml bottle for like £6. The rest of their scents are similarly priced and pretty damn good too from what I’ve tried do far.
