Wilson-Brown added that even if it was stored perfectly, the aldehydes (“that Champagne popping aspect”) are so fragile, they’d probably be damaged by now anyway. We waited out the base notes, and she cautioned me that with old scents, the top notes are often the first to go bad so you need to be patient after that first hit. “Real perfume nerds have a special closet in their house, the coolest darkest spot.” I asked if she had one, and she said no, she’s not a nerd.
— Saskia Wilson-Brown at the Institute for Art and Olfaction helps The Cut writer Maggie Lange with her quest to smell a long discontinued fragrance. Read more at The Hunt for a Perfume Worn by a Writer Who Terrifies Me.
Well I must be a ‘real perfume nerd’ because all my samples are in a cardboard box in my cool dark closet. Yay for me.
We are having your perfume nerd ID card printed up right now!
So as a “not a nerd” does she just let hers evaporate in the sunlight? Or maybe hers are on display like our patron saint Donatella stores hers? Bold move!
Or, she just does not collect bottles of perfume.
A late in the day comment to say I have a tiny drop of Vert et Blanc in a miniature bottle that I found in an op shop last year. I’d never heard of it, but googled it and found the same information about Clarice Lispector. Mine smells lovely, it’s still in the original box, so it’s been kept in the dark.
Oh how cool!