Many important moments of our lives take place in a car. From when you are born, to the last ride, the smell of the car gets infused with different and sometimes untraceable scents. It can be seen as a true olfactory diary. Wet dog, unidentified fungus, a family pack of sugary soda, or a flowery synthetic scent. Cars have determined urban scentscapes since its invention to the present. For this month's Odorama curator Caro Verbeek took the initiative to bring together a promising mix of backgrounds & interests in the smell of cars: iScent marketeers Jorg Hemp and Matthijs Bastiaan Medendorp as well as car freak Justus Tomlow and Claus Noppeney. They all paid tribute to the smell of cars. Here is a post summarizing the concluding section of Claus Noppeney's talk.
Ingredient disclosures & stakeholder pluralism
The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep Database is a prominent go-to for all things health when it comes to cosmetics. Last February, Unilever joined this fragrance disclosure scheme. Accordingly, Unilever announced a bold new initiative to provide detailed information on fragrance ingredients for all products in its multibillion-dollar portfolio of personal care...
Smell matters in migration politics!
eIn the context of the ongoing controversy on migration politics in Germany, Thomas de Mazière, the Federal Minister of the Interior, joined the group of advocats of a Leitkultur: “Wir sind nicht Burka”.
Indie Perfume: Disruption and Dissent
The Perfumer’s Studio at Los Angeles hosted a talk & discussion with Claus Noppeney entitled: “Indie Perfume: Disruption and Dissent”.
How do you see scents?
The ephemeral materiality of scent eludes the conventions of visual representation. Instead, the specific sensory qualities of the sense of smell remind us of the many constraints of our snapshot society. Thus, one of the more recent projects initiated by Scent Culture Institute is an open collection of visual material...
Perfume in art & fashion
Michael Müller, best known as a sculptor, shows in his recent exhibition at the Berlin based gallery Thomas Schulte a series of small sculptures taking the form of perfumes, soaps etc. The perfume contains a drop of the artist’s sweat as Michael Müller remarks in an interview:
Narratives describing smells
“The idea was to create simple still lives looking at the memory and history of different perfumes and creating a narrative to describe their smell through vessels, subtle textures and the balance of notes.”
Esxence 2009-2017
The trade fair Esxence can truly be considered as a field configuring event for niche perfumery. In 2017, the record number of 207 brands were present at the fair. However only 3 brands have continuously participated in the fair from its very beginning in 2009.
How do your headphones smell?
Have you ever noticed how your headphones smell? Do you expect a review of headphones talking about the olfactory qualities of the product? The recent review by Wired demonstrates the necessity of a multisensory product design:
Criminalizing food odors in Italy!
Food odors frequently provoke and trigger public debate on olfactory tolerance. There is a current case on food odors in Italy.
Deo-odorizing can be dangerous
The Times recently reported that a schoolgirl died after being overcome by fumes from her deodorant while on a family holiday:
New Materials for de-odorizing the fashion world
Wool-blend tees are promoted for keeping your outdoor stink-free as Wired reported:
If your scent wrote a song…
Studio Folie is an olfactive design studio founded by Kaya Sorhaindo. It is known for projects that inscribe new meaning long associated with classical perfumery such as Le Cinema Olfactif .