She remembers smelling the thunderstorm, butter cookies and guineps.

“It was really rainy, it was dark, and everyone was out dancing in the streets except for the chickens who were hiding in the doorstep.  And I just have these really visceral scent memories from that moment of the earth and the rain and the fruit,” Lawrence said. “So this perfume is kind of this balancing act between the first experience of grief but also the celebratory nature of this moment with my family.”

— Na-Moya Lawrence on making a perfume inspired by her great-grandmother’s funeral. Read more in What does death smell like? This LA perfume exhibition takes your nose into unusual territories at LAist.

I am 28 and I have lived in Los Angeles my entire life. Funny enough, the first things I thought of while reading this article were food places — In-N-Out being one of them. There are In-N-Outs all over L.A., and you can smell the food from miles away while driving near one. The lovely smell of hamburgers and fries will never get old. Aside from In-N-Out, we are known for our street food, including taco stands. You can find multiple taco stands in just about every corner of L.A., and the smells are amazing.

— Read more in What’s that smell? Readers share the scents that remind them of L.A. at Los Angeles Times.

[Jack] Kelly and [Natalie] Coffen approach a bush that looks like rosemary, but with lighter green leaves and thinner stems. California sagebrush, Coffen explains while plucking an oily sprig, was an early form of perfume: “Cowboys used to rub it under their armpits.”

Kelly gives it the first whiff. He says he smells eucalyptus, camphor, and menthol. Coffen smells something else – candied lemon peel. “Pine Sol, almost but sweeter,” she says.

— Read more in The nose knows! Get a whiff of LA during Griffith Park ‘scent saunters’ at KCRW.