Born into nobility, Xin Zhui rose even higher when she married Li Cang and became the Marquise of Dai (popularly known today as the Lady Dai). Li Cang’s appointment as the Chancellor of the Changsha Kingdom elevated the power couple even higher. By 168 BCE, Xin Zhui was 48 years old and one of the…
Category: Cultural History of Scent
Embodying Heaven: Frankincense and Myrrh in the Christian Sensorial Mythos
This article originally appeared in Plantings: The Journal of the World Sensorium/Conservancy, Issue 18 In Matthew’s account of the Birth of Jesus, three wise men, drawn by a star, came from the east to find a newborn messiah. They brought gifts for the child befitting a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These exalted gifts have…
Introducing Alabastron: An Aromatic Journal
I’m so excited to announce I will be co-editing Alabastron, a new journal to be published by the Institute for Art & Olfaction, with Saskia Wilson-Brown. Alabastron is an interdisciplinary journal that bridges the gap between academia and the public to explore aromatic history and culture. Our aim is to create diverse and accessible learning…
Shezmu: The Demon-God of Egyptian Perfume
If you are a fan of fragrance history, you may be familiar with the Egyptian god Nefertem. He is the personification of the Cosmic Lotus in the Egyptian creation myth. Nefertem is the protector of dawn and patron of Egypt’s beloved blue lotuses. Nefertem rises from the river at daybreak each morning with his flowers…
Nuri & Hayley Talk 7 Years of Perfume
As part of our anniversary celebrations, I sat down to do a duelling interview with Hayley Croom from Paintbox Soapworks. We discussed seven years of writing, the feral qualities of solo entrepreneurship, and learning to love cherry accords. Usually, my interviews can only be found in my monthly newsletter, Aromatica de Profundis, but we…
Tappūtī-Bēlet-ekallim: The First Perfumer?
If you Google Tappūtī-Bēlet-ekallim, you will find dozens of articles praising her as the first perfumer. Online, Tappūtī-Bēlet-ekallim is presented as a feminist, a scientist, and an entrepreneur. Yet, those concepts would have been utterly foreign to her lived experience. Images accompanying these stories feature Babylonian goddesses, Sumerian queens, and Urukian tablets. They’re a strange…
Rosalia: The Roman Floral Festival for the Dead
Let’s explore the roots of this ancient rose festival, how the Romans memorialised their dead with aromatic flowers, and how vestiges of the Rosalia exists today.
The Odour of Sanctity: When the Dead Smell Divine
If corrupt smells are a sign of a corrupt nature, what happens when a holy person dies? It is in this Western mind-body dualism that the concept of the Odour of Sanctity is born.
Victorian Tear Catchers Are Trash
It seems like every year, my colleagues and I have to dispute the myth of Victorian Tear Catchers. I don’t know how or why disproving internet myths about perfume became my life, but here we are. So let’s go a bit deeper than space would allow in that tweet, and let’s hope I never have to…
The Perfumed Lionheart
Richard I of England was blessed with a great head of hair and a great nickname, Cœur de Lion, Lionheart. He was also the great-great-grandson of William the Conqueror. Born into the Plantagenet-Angevin royal family, he inherited immense wealth and privilege even if his parents were the dysfunctional Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Richard…
The Death Scent Project 
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