Sweet chocolate aroma

Posted by Robin on 18 March 2026 6 Comments

Every few seconds, for the past week, spritzes of sweet chocolate aroma are pumped into one of the pedestrian tunnels in the station, part of a two-week marketing campaign for Magnum Ice Cream. A crackling noise, meant to emulate the sound of biting into a coated ice cream bar, plays on repeat.

“I hate it,” said Melvyn Yap, a scientist who commutes through the station twice a day and noticed the smell as soon as the campaign launched on March 9.

— Read more in A Smelly Ice Cream Ad Tempts Few London Commuters at The New York Times.

[One commuter] said: "I work in advertising and marketing, and I really admire the idea but I'm not sure they accounted for some of the other odours that might be in this enclosed tunnel. "The combination of the smell of urine and the chocolate isn't doing it for me."

— Read more in Commuters split over chocolate-scented advertising at BBC.

Lily of the valley, frankincense, apricot, and banana

Posted by Robin on 14 February 2026 Leave a Comment

The scent [Marissa] Zappas created for the show is a blend of lily of the valley, frankincense, apricot, and banana. Viewers first encounter it on the second floor of the gallery, and by the time viewers reach the third floor, where the portraits of Dorothy Stratten hang, it fully saturates the space. The idea, according to [artist Cristine] Brache, was to create ‘a sensory arc that mirrors the conceptual one,’ as one moves through space and witnesses how Dorothy Stratten’s likeness has been circulated and consumed over time.

Dedicated entirely to scent

Posted by Robin on 30 July 2025 2 Comments

Taking advantage of this British beauty boom, Boots is further cementing its reputation as a household name committed to modern evolution with the launch of Boots Fragrance—its first standalone boutique dedicated entirely to scent. Set to open just in time for the holiday season rush in autumn 2025 at Broadgate Central in London, the 2,150-square-foot store will house over 400 luxury and niche fragrances, including more than 20 brands that will be entirely new to the retailer, as well as several UK exclusives.

— Read more in The Scent of a Retail Revolution: Boots Launches Fragrance-First Concept Store at BeautyMatter.

Beds full of scented flowers and shrubs

Posted by Robin on 26 November 2024 2 Comments

On the levels below, clipped box, hydrangeas and laurel hedges add structure to beds full of scented flowers and shrubs including lily of the valley, peonies, lilac, osmanthus, sarcococca and tuberose “which smells divine and we use a lot in our scents, including our new release Bukhara”. A palette of pinks, purples and whites are cut with lots of glossy dark green. A winding gravel path disappears into a backdrop of trees, increasing the sense of space.

Ripe with olfactory potential

Posted by Robin on 4 September 2024 Leave a Comment

The product of that ambition can be sampled in Aqua Tofana, a new opera by the young Sardinian composer Gaia Aloisi, which premieres as part of London’s Tête à Tête festival next month. It tells the true story of Giulia Tofana, an alchemist in 17th-century Italy whose poison enabled women to dispatch abusive or inconvenient husbands. It is ripe with olfactory potential for McCartney, who has been tasked with creating the “deadly” potion that gives the opera its name.

— Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays scents an opera. Read more in Perfumer Sarah McCartney is making the arts smell good at Financial Times.

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Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Sweet chocolate aroma

Lily of the valley, frankincense, apricot, and banana

Dedicated entirely to scent

Beds full of scented flowers and shrubs

Ripe with olfactory potential