Finally getting to this post!

I’ve been indulging my fragrance hobby for more than a year now, but only fairly quietly in the safety of my own home and in the awkward embrace of the internet. However. This changed last Friday when I attended my first Sniffapalooza event; the free kick-off at Twisted Lily, my own local niche fragrance Mecca that I’ve purchased from before, but ever only online. The website’s treated me well though, some of my old posts like 6 Scents 6 Selves, my UNUM review, my Twisted Lily favorites review, and my Ineke A-H reviews were sourced from Twisted Lily (click on each word for a different Ineke review!)

Anyway, I really like them both online and in person; fast shipping, great selection, incredibly kind, smart, and informative owners and sales reps. Eric Weiser poured me a glass of wine and so many others (Mark Behnke in particular!) made sure that even though the place was absolutely packed, and I was being way too awkward and shy that I wasn’t being too antisocial, which is, honestly, really refreshing and felt lovely. It really pumped me up for the Saturday events; if this little store who had no real incentive to engage me because I wasn’t buying anything and hadn’t helped pay for their get-together could be so friendly, I felt like I could expect others to be just as kind, which is exactly what I got.

Saturday started in the Bergdorf Goodman for a light breakfast and a slew of fragrance introductions, smelling strips, and samples. I think I’ll just namedrop first because my inner fangirl was jumping up and down when I realized this; Mr. Chokkattu and I sat at the same table as Christophe Laudamiel, a man infinitely more talented and creative than I am. I had just visited one of his (now mostly removed, but Lavender Fields still remains if you have time to visit) art installations in Chelsea a year ago. I also sat with the friendliest couple who checked up on me frequently throughout the day especially when Julian left for work, and a very knowledgeable woman whose name I didn’t catch, but popularity with the regular Sniffapalooza crowd wasn’t lost on me.

And through the fragrance introductions, I got to meet some amazing new people, perfumers included, like Elisire founder Franck Salzwedel whom I found so charming and I’ve been keeping correspondence with, the amazing Chandler Burr author and fragrance and art director who also set off my fangirl alarms like crazy, and an incredibly intelligent young woman working the Houbigant selection who aspires to go to FIT.

The gorgeous pictures Mr. Chokkattu took of the Bergdorf Goodman fragrance selections!

Afterwards was a delicious simply chicken roast lunch and some story-telling about a few fragrance lines at Brasserie 8 1/2, which I really appreciated, as I adore stories. I got to sit at a table with Carlos of Brooklyn Fragrance Lover, Suzanne Grinberg of Nezbar, and Will and Rich of Scent Trunk, and the topics were fragrance and business, and for the first time in my life, I realized that I can hold my own in serious discussions. Thanks business school! Is this what becoming an adult feels like?

We also received another bag of goodies from BeautyHabit, and later on we walked around to Molton Brown, Penhaligon’s, and then finally ended the night at Back Label Wine Merchants for a cute pop-up store in the back of a wine and liquor store. Lots of good alcohol, good cheese, good vibes, and of course, good smelling! I can’t wait to do this all again!