What's on My Perfume Shelf Right Now | A Shelf Full of Memories

Here is another behind-the-scenes post for the hot summer days.

Whenever I tell people I'm into perfume, they somehow assume I own a huge collection, but I don't really think of it as one. To be honest, I slightly cringe at the word collection, especially when it becomes about owning hundreds of bottles rather than actually wearing and enjoying them. It looks impressive in photos and videos on social media. But do people actually wear all of them? I've always wondered.

Maybe that's my slightly stoic approach to things, but I prefer quality over quantity. With perfumes, clothes, friendships and everything else in life. So no, I don't really have a collection, but what I do have is a shelf full of memories.

Every bottle takes me back to a different chapter of my life and this is usually how I end up choosing a fragrance. I smell something and immediately think: that's me right now. Years later, when I’m wearing it again I can revisit that version of myself. I've changed, I've grown since then (hopefully for the better), but that person still got me to where I am today.

And there is something else that surprised me while I was writing this article.

Almost every fragrance on my shelf is somehow tied to a journey or at least to a city: Rome, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Capri. Apparently that's how I remember different periods of my life: through places, concerts and the fragrance I happened to be wearing.

Anyway, enough philosophy. Here's what's currently on my shelf:

buongiorno by acqua di parma

You probably know this story already because I shared it on Instagram.
Last summer wasn't particularly easy. Before leaving Italy, I promised myself that if things eventually worked out, I'd come back and buy the bottle I'd left on the shelf near the Spanish Steps.
If you've been following illatos for a while, you already know the rest of the story.
Now every time I wear Buongiorno, I'm back on the rooftop bar of Hotel Valadier (Jaluna) with a Negroni in my hand, watching the sun disappear behind Rome. To me, it smells like fresh starts, or maybe second chances.
A perfume can't change a year, but every time i wear it, i'm reminded that i can.

terre d'hermès by hermès

Terre d'Hermès has been with me for years and I still think Jean-Claude Ellena created one of the greatest modern classics. I know people love talking about the mineral notes and the philosophy behind it, but honestly? I'm here for the orange and the vetiver, and for some reason I almost only wear it in autumn.
Whenever I do, I think about Budapest. Grey skies, a little fog, golden leaves, walking around the city with no destination and a copy of **András Török's Budapest - A Critical Guide** under my arm, feeling like a tourist in my own city. If you've only visited Budapest in summer, I'd actually recommend going back in October and I can't recommend Budapest – A Critical Guide enough.

debaser by ds & durga

I bought Debaser after smelling it in Stockholm while I was there for a First Aid Kit concert.
I know, there's a pattern emerging already.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
The fig note was what caught my attention, but what really made me fall in love with DS & Durga is the brand itself. David Seth Moltz and Kavi have created something that feels completely authentic, obviously influenced by music, art and New York, but none of it feels manufactured.
They're just themselves and that's probably my favourite thing about the brand.

another 13 by le labo

In August 2023 I moved to Norway for work.
A month later I had a heartbreak and instead of spending my birthday feeling sorry for myself, I booked a solo weekend in Copenhagen after finding a resale ticket for a sold-out Jungle concert.
I tend to believe in little signs like that. Maybe it's naive, maybe it's spiritual, but it turned out to be exactly what I needed. Another 13 smells like freshly printed magazines and clean skin to me. I even had the label customised with my name on it, of course.
When I wear it, I think about cycling around Copenhagen, Hart Bageri (and the many other ones too with amazing coffee and pastries), that Jungle concert, listening to a jazz concert at La Fontaine around 1am and the confidence that comes from realising you genuinely enjoy travelling on your own.

mineral grey by massimo dutti

This one needs a bit of context: When I was in high school, *Gucci Pour Homme II* was my signature fragrance. Then unfortunately it was discontinued and I accepted that it was gone. Years later I walked into Massimo Dutti to collect a parcel and there was a tester on the counter, so I sprayed it innocently without thinking too much about it.
I was like "wait a second...". And it was enough to instantly take me back.

I'm generally not a fan of dupes. I think they often copy the result without respecting the creativity behind it. This is one of the very few exceptions I'm happy to make.
If Gucci Pour Homme II was once your favourite as well, do yourself a favour and run don’t walk to the closest Massimo Dutti store.

mango yuzu gasoline by bohoboco

I discovered Bohoboco while researching queer-founded fragrance brands during Pride Month.

Then I saw their perfume called Mango Yuzu Gasoline. The name alone was enough to convince me. It sounded ridiculous, weird and funky in the best possible way, so I bought it blind without thinking twice, and thankfully, it turned out to be exactly as weird as I'd hoped. It opens with an explosion of juicy mango before it dries down into petrol. I know it sounds weird, and it really shouldn't work, and still does.

fantomas by nasomatto

Apparently I have a thing for weird fragrances and generally questionable life choices.
This one seems to continue the pattern.

I bought it around another birthday trip, this time in Berlin, where I was seeing London Grammar one evening and Khruangbin the next.
Standing in front of the Berliner Dom wearing Fantomas, I remember wondering what my life would've looked like if I'd discovered Berlin around 20 years earlier. Would I have studied there instead? Would anything actually have been different?
Probably not. I guess I'll never know.

ennui noir by filippo sorcinelli

This is the loudest fragrance I own, I simply call it the A-Bomb.

It's the one I wear when I want to be remembered: job interviews, dates or any occasion where you don't necessarily want to be the loudest person in the room, but you also don't mind being noticed.
I actually wore it to the interview for my current job. At one point my now CEO smiled and said, *"I can smell your perfume, it’s strong!"*
I apologised, and he laughed: *"If you end up working with coffee, we'll have to keep you away from the cupping table."* Luckily, I still got the job.

eau de parfum by gutteridge

Another trip and another Italian memory. Y
es, I love Italy. Shocking, I know.

I bought this in Capri and it's inspired by Creed’s Aventus. It's a good one with a little more blackcurrant, more relaxed, and somehow perfectly suited to the place where I bought it.
It's the perfect fragrance for a slightly wrinkled linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up, colourful loafers, an aperitivo by the sea and completely ignoring work emails.

Reading it back, I realised I don't really wear perfume to remember how something smelled. I wear it because it reminds me who I was. The scent simply unlocks the memory. Maybe that's why I don't like calling this a collection.

It's a shelf full of timestamps. Every bottle reminds me where I've been, while every fragrance reminds me who I was at that particular moment in my life. Somehow both still shape the person I am today.