~ WELCOME TO THE PERFUMED GARDENS ~

Step past the gates. Take a breath.

You’re here because scent means something to you (and maybe because my John Peel story on the About page lured you in, but anyway...).
You probably enjoy scent.
Not just in a “this smells nice” way, but in a way that feels deeper, sharper—something you can almost touch. Maybe you experience the world through scent in a way that’s hard to explain. Maybe certain smells throw you deep into sense memory, pulling you into another time and place. Maybe you use scent to ground yourself, to find clarity, to reconnect with pieces of yourself that feel too far away.
If that’s you—you belong here.

But even if you’re just here to find a cool new perfume, an obscure song, or an artist you’ve never heard of? You’re welcome, too.

What This Place Is
The Perfumed Gardens isn’t just about perfume and music. It’s about learning how to use scent as a tool—for memory, for mindfulness, for creativity, for pleasure. It’s about paying attention, about stepping out of autopilot and actually experiencing the layers of scent all around you.
Maybe you’ve never felt like you fit into perfume spaces before. Maybe traditional fragrance reviews bore you because they don’t capture how you actually experience scent. Good. That’s why this place exists.
And if you’re here because you’re rebuilding something—whether it’s memory, focus, or a sense of connection—you are welcome, too.

And, of course, you might just be here for cool new (and not-so-new) music and a place to nerd out about scent, art, and random sense memories—in which case, you’re still in the right place.

For Those Navigating Memory, Focus, or Recovery
Scent is one of the strongest anchors we have. It tethers us to moments, places, and feelings, even when words or details slip away. If you’re using fragrance as a way to reconnect—whether with yourself, with lost memories, or with the world around you—this space is here for that.
🌿 Maybe you’re exploring scent as part of healing from cognitive decline, concussion, or brain fog. 🌿 Maybe you’re retraining your sense of smell after illness or injury. 🌿 Maybe you’re here because scent feels like a thread, something you can follow back to yourself. 🌿 Perhaps you're exploring meditation that uses your senses as a tool.
Whatever brought you here, there is no wrong way to experience scent.

Who This Is For
If you’ve ever…
🌷 Used scent to anchor yourself in a moment.
🌷 Been hit with a smell so intense, you felt it in your body.
🌷 Tied fragrance to music, art, film, books, or places in your mind.
🌷 Experienced scent like a memory, or synesthetically like a texture or a color.
Then welcome.

Whether you’re a neurodivergent scent-explorer, a mindfulness seeker, an artist who sees fragrance as part of a bigger creative language, someone navigating cognitive changes, or just someone who loves the weird, beautiful, intimate ways scent shapes us— this blog is for you.

And again, maybe you're just a person who likes finding interesting perfumes and obscure music. If so, you are in the right place. My John Peel intro story must have lured somebody in?

(*crickets*)

What You’ll Find Here
✨ How to actually experience scent—whether it’s a high-end perfume, incense, rain-soaked pavement, or the smell of your childhood home. I'm not, like, some expert who's gonna teach you textbook perfume stuff or actual science—I’m just laying out my own weird, private ways of experiencing scent, so you have an example. Or at least something to point at and go, “Okay, maybe I’m not so nuts after all.”
✨ How fragrance can be a mindfulness tool, like the raisin experiment. ✨ Deep dives into scent-memory, nostalgia, and how smell shapes identity. ✨ A place where people who experience scent intensely can identify. ✨ A fun, gentle way to re-engage with scent, whether you’re recovering from illness or just reconnecting with your senses. ✨ Music, art, and cultural rabbit holes—because scent doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

So, this isn’t a blog about “top notes” and “sillage.” I'm into that, but there are other more learned people out there who can guide you in those ways. THIS is about the alchemy of scent, music and memory.
And you are invited in.

Step Inside.
Smell is the most ancient, instinctive sense we have. It connects us to who we were, who we are, and who we might become. Here, we explore that—not in some scientific-lab way (though I love a good study) but in a human way.
So open the gates, step inside.

Let’s explore.

Welcome to The Perfumed Gardens.