The unlikeliest of things are inspiring designers to create new scents: Poppers for Boy Smells, pretzels for Auntie Anne’s, and a poodle named Fefé for Dolce and Gabbana (sorry)
Maybe we’ve run out of objects in the natural world to inspire us to create new scents. We may have scoured all aromatic things in nature—from spices to flowers—that designers are now taking olfactory cues from the unlikeliest of things.
In June, Los Angeles-based candle and home fragrance brand Boy Smells released a Lab Edition fragrance and candle called Citrush. The scent, described as a “vaporous high of pomelo, black pepper, and musks,” is said to be reminiscent of poppers.
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For those who may not be familiar with poppers, it is the party drug often associated with the LGBTQIA+ community. The Cleveland Clinic defines poppers or amyl nitrite as “a liquid chemical substance that produces vapors that when inhaled provide a sense of euphoria and heightened sexual pleasure up to just a couple of minutes at a time.”
Boy Smell’s Citrush was a hit, selling out within days of its release, following a “kinky” behind-the-scenes look at the conceptualization meeting that led to its creation, which blew up on TikTok.
Another scent release that smells straight out of an April Fool’s marketing ploy is Auntie Anne’s new scent called Knead. The “eau de pretzel” has the warm, buttery, and slightly sweet scent of hot and handmade pretzels, which the brand has been known for.
Knead will be launched at New York’s first “Pretzel Parfumerie” at 433 Broadway this week. It’s available in 1-ounce and 3.4-ounce bottles for $25 and $45, respectively, and will soon be available online at auntieannes.com.
The controversial Italian designer duo Dolce and Gabbana recently came out with their own head-scratching scent called Fefé after their toy poodle. Essentially an alcohol-free fragrance mist for dogs, Fefé has clean and delicate notes of ylang-ylang, musk, and sandalwood—nothing really foreign to the human nose.
It was designed by master perfumer Emilie Coppermann who’s behind the fragrances of Sonia Rykiel, Salvatore Ferragamo, Roberto Cavalli, Rabanne, and Van Cleef & Arpels.
According to Dolce and Gabbana’s website, Fefé, which retails for $99, is Safe Pet Cosmetics-certified following in-vitro safety tests. It can be applied on your hands or on a brush then rubbed or brushed on your dog’s fur, or applied directly to your dog’s body avoiding the nose area.
