Nosy Interview: D.S. & Durga (David Moltz and Kavi Ahuja)

Kavi & David in The Large Magellanic Cloud in Ultraviolet , © NASA, Swift, et al. 

Regular readers will know I'm an ardent fan of D.S. & Durga (a.k.a. David Seth Moltz and Kavi Ahuja), a perfume line whose storytelling I appreciate and whose scents I adore. East MidEast and Sir are my enduring favorites (When I learned that the former was being discontinued, I enlisted understanding friends around the country to scour their local Anthropologie stores for the precious remaining vials), but I'm eager to learn whether either will be unseated by one of the dreamy-seeming new offerings in their HYLNDS series. I'm delighted to share interviews from both D.S. (David) and Durga (Kavi) here.

D.S.'s responses: 
What do you smell like? 
Usually a combination of 4 different trials - 2 on each arm.  Sometimes three.  Thus, it varies!  If I'm going out at night, I wear our "SIR" - a rich rose/jasmine chypre.  Sunny weekend days, I like cologne water (one I made, but not released).  I like to wear pure sandalwood oil from Mysore.

What do you like to smell? 
Almost everything. There is something interesting to smell in most aromas...I like to pick apart what I am smelling.  I love the smell of good tea: most of the high grade chinese "red" (black) teas, tung ting jade Oolong from Taiwan, Gyokuro from Japan, first flush Darjeeling from Margret's Hope plantation.  I love the smell of Glenlivet 18.  The smell of my home town in New England--ocean and forest combined.  The beach roses that grow on Phillips Beach in the summer.  The "bacon" smell my cat used to have when he would cold inside after being outside in the cold winter night.  Clover.  Good patchouli.  Leather.  Mandarin.  My 2 month old daughter's pure breath.  Hibawood.  Wild olibanum (frankincense) from Oman or Kenya.  Motorboat exhaust over the water in the summer.  Hyssop. Ground Ivy.  (those two very similar).  Orange blossoms on the Cote d'Azure.  Eastern Hemlock Spruce.  Haitian Vetyver.  Bonfires.  Tobacco.  Motia (jasmine sambac).  Any white flower in the real world.  Most any flower.  Lilacs! Lilies obv. English Roses.  Endless.


Durga's responses: 
What do you smell like? 
Whatever D.S. has last created and we are testing out.

What do you like to smell?  
All sorts of things. Fresh lilies, tuberose, cut grass, peaty scotch, bread baking, the beach. 

Nosy Interview: Anne McClain

 Anne in The Rosette Nebula, © Brian Davis

Anne McClain is the founder of MCMC Fragrances. I'm inspired by her pretty studio, clever products, and thoughtful blog. But I'm most intrigued by her Humanity Fragrance project, propelled by the marvelous question: "What is the scent of compassion?" I'm eager to follow along as Anne seeks answers, and would love to know your thoughts as well. What do you think compassion smells like? Can a scent make us more compassionate?

What do you smell like? 

My husband tells me on a pretty regular basis that I smell like "a fresh avocado." He's from the Dominican Republic originally, so I'm thinking this is a positive thing! 

What do you like to smell? 

Flowers, dirt, food being made with love. 

Nosy Interview: Mandy Aftel

Mandy in Star-Forming Region S106, © NASA, ESA 

What a treat to feature perfumer and writer Mandy Aftel as the first Nosy Interview of the New Year! I met Mandy in the spring of 2010 when she gave a talk at Essenza, a lovely shop in Seattle. The volume of notes I took as she guided us through the making of Parfum de Maroc and talked about her life as a perfumer, along with Mandy's encouragement when I had her sign my copy of Essence and Alchemy, helped spur me to start this site. Come back later this week for part two of our interview (the first I've conducted by phone), and be sure to visit Aftelier Perfumes to learn more about Mandy and her dreamy creations.

What do you smell like?

I think I smell kind of neutral, actually. When I’ve gone to IFF [International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.] and visited friends who are perfumers there, I’ve always noticed when we share perfumes and smell things, they always put them on a perfume blotter, and I always put them on my hands. So I’m always, always putting things on my own skin. And I think I mustsmell somewhat neutral because I can smell things best on the skin, and on my own skin. So I don’t think my skin, my own body smells that much. I think I have a very sort of neutral faint smell. So I’m a dud in that department. [laughs] Yeah, I’m more like a scent strip.

What do you like to smell?

Me, I love to smell everything. But I really like funky smells. I like intense, alive smells that are out of the atmosphere, out of life. I love, which I’ve said before, the smell of a skunk—not too close, but I do like the smell of a skunk.

I like other peoples’ bodies and how they smell. I like animal smells a ton. I love animal smells. I like dirt, flowers, you know the usual things like beautiful flowers and herbs—the regular kinds of things. But I like smells that feel to me like they pulsate with life, that they bring with them the life that’s in them, you know like the forest and resins and trees. I’m kind of a notorious petal and leaf crusher in my backyard. I crush most things so I can get at the oil and smell things in my hands.

Nosy Interview: Andy Tauer

Andy sniffs in NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula, © Larry Van Vleet

I'm thrilled to feature Andy Tauer as the first perfumer in the Nosy Interview series. Andy is responsible for Tauer Perfumes, a line I fell for hard after Elisa introduced me. Andy lives in Switzerland, and though we've never met, our correspondence has completely convinced me of his reputation as the nicest guy in perfumery.  Visit his blog, connect with him on facebook or twitter, and by all means, do whatever you can to get your hands on his glorious creations! 

What do you smell like? 

First, I smell amazingly different on the outside than inside. In general terms, I find it remarkable that nature found a way to mostly make sure that whatever happens on my inside will not permeate somehow just like that through pores or so. But it does permeate a bit. And hence, my scent is always a scent presenting itself in the moment. My body chemistry, the food and drinks I put it: It all matters, at least a bit. 

Now, how do I smell? I smell in a way that I personally like. I am convinced that nature sends us out there with a scent that we mostly find ok. A lot of aversion towards body odor is cultural, conditional. It is put onto us. We should learn again to say a bit more “I like the way I smell.” As a perfumer, I wish perfume lovers to enjoy my fragrances not to cover up, but rather to vary and to explore new paths of how we might smell. 

Like all humans, I smell differently on different parts. Some parts of my body are hard to explore by myself, though. Human beings are best smelled on the back of their heads, towards the neck. It is there where hair and the skin of the neck are meeting, where we smell most interesting, and where our body odor is less prone to be mixed with musky, sweaty notes. I cannot tell you how I smell there. But in general terms: 

I think I smell slightly sweet, a bit on the ambery side. There is definitely sweetness to my smell; with the slightest hint of a ripe fruit. It does not compare to any fruit, but maybe a ripe avocado comes closest. I like the way I smell. 

What do you like to smell? 

I like to smell almost everything, natural, manmade, be it made for the purpose of being smelled or not. 

I like to stick my nose into a lot of what other people would call ugly, putting off scents. There is something interesting in everything. Contrary to what you might expect: I do not visit perfumeries that often and smell things there. I am/was always worried that it might influence subconsciously my own fragrance creations. I wanted to avoid this. I learned for myself quite recently that I should not worry too much there. 

At the end, it is very simple things that I like to smell. My bed and the pillow, leaves or pieces of wood picked up on my way, the fresh humid air on a foggy November morning. A fresh green apple. I guess I just like to smell a lot of different things. This list could go forever. Perfumes are also many lines in this list.