Los Angeles Sniffapalooza at Apothia 2007

Karen Adams, moi, and Karen Dubin at LA Sniffapalooza 2007

This picture shows me standing with Sniffapalooza founder Karen Dubin (to my left) and her Sniffa collaborator, Karen Adams. The photo was snapped after more than 10 hours of sniffing perfume, talking about perfume, listening to talks about perfume, shopping for perfume, and sniffing more perfume. I, for one, was feeling a bit rummy by this point. But all fatigue aside, the LA Sniffapalooza West Coast Premiere was a pure slice of heaven!

Here is what the day looked like: Imagine being surrounded by over fifty people with a common passion for perfume, bare-wrists extended and perfume testers at the ready! Now add in a lovely breakfast at Mauro's Cafe at Fred Segal Melrose while a series of guest speakers discuss everything from making niche perfumes to the genesis of a top-selling fragrance to the use of fragrance to scent venues (think: the aroma of chocolate wafting through the theater for the premier of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

Follow this with shopping and sniffing at Ron Robinson's wonderful Apothia, lunch at Chocolat with a fragrance workshop presented by Sarah Horowitz-Thran (founder of Creative Scentualizations), shopping and sniffing at the darling Santa Maria Novella boutique, and High Tea at Chado Tea Room with guest speakers (Miryana Babic of i Profume di Firenze; Adam Eastwood, co-founder of Luckyscent.com; and Marlen Harrison, founder of Perfumecritic.com).

Top off this perfect day with a private reception at the Palmetto Boutique where Miryana Babic and her sweet mother, Rosie, presented the i Profume de Firenze line. As an added bonus, enjoy the expert touch-up from professional make-up artist Fredericke Grillitz of i.q. beauty who was on-site to help revive our flagging complexions. (If I may digress just a moment... her Luminous eye cream is incredible! A few well-placed dabs of this gel- based cream under my eyes was like a refreshing mini-facial. Perhaps it has something to do with the crushed pearls it contains. I don't know, but I do know it made my face feel positively "glowy.")

Add all this up, and you have the recipe for one fragrantly fabulous day!

The best part (I know you're expecting me to say the goodie bags -- well, yes, they were wonderful, but they're not even the best part) of the whole Sniffapalooza was being with like-minded "perfume people." Let's face it, sometimes we perfume-lovers can feel a bit isolated when our friends and loved ones look at us with a mix of pity and perplexity as we proudly show them our most recent fragrant discovery. So for me, the highlight of the day was meeting new perfume-loving friends and being able to spend time discussing the nuances of individual fragrances without seeing eyes rolled up in boredom. And it was an absolute pleasure to meet people whom I've only known through email correspondence and as readers of The Perfume Bee. Putting names with faces really brought it all together for me.

I will talk more about the day's individual speakers and perfume discoveries in future posts. For now, I leave you with a few more pictures from the day. And, if you're so inclined, mark your calendars for the Spring Sniffapalooza in New York City happening March 31-April 1st. You can check out their website for more information.


Karen Dubin and Ron Robinson at Apothia


Sarah Horowitz-Thran at Chocolat


Miryana Babic at Palmetto


Christine, Eliza and Marlen at Palmetto


Cute little visitor at Santa Maria Novella

photos © The Perfume Bee