#perfumeweek

Imaginary Authors is a unique parfumerie whose fragrances are inspired by make-believe novels. Each of their fifteen perfumes is accompanied by its own story, complete with back-cove blurb, author, and even a specially-designed bookmark—A truly holistic approach to fragrance. With niche notes like fresh tennis ball and asphalt, Imaginary Authors blends stand out as artisanal and conceptual works of wearable art. 

Over the next week, I’ll be doing daily reviews of seven Imaginary Authors perfumes, each paired with its own playlist inspired by its scent and story—The only response I could see fit for a perfume line with such layered, multi-sensory consideration of what fragrance can achieve. Happy #perfumeweek <3

Every Storm A Serenade is a perfume with two lives.

At first spray, the ambergris-spruce-eucalyptus blend is bright enough to stun. The scent is fantastically manic. It sizzles and swirls, like currents, like electricity, like stormy seas. Every Storm A Serenade wakes, jolts, revives.

But in time, the perfume’s zippiness mellows, giving way to hints of vetiver and breezy calone. While still bright and crisp, Every Storm A Serenade becomes more resolved, stiller: A hovering cloud of sea mist rather than tempestuous ocean waves. Even so, the medley is decidedly high-strung, wonderfully intense. 

Every Storm A Serenade was inspired by “the spiraling psyche of lust and longing.” Following a whirlwind romance borne one fated night with a Danish fisherman, obsessed novelist Stina begins to write hundreds of letters, never to be sent, chronicling her devotion to a man she may never see again.

Wearers of this fragrance may experience upticks in energy, or sensations of buzzing in the nose and in the heart. Stop wearing Every Storm A Serenade if you experience sudden, insatiable yearning for seafaring Danes.

Every Storm A Serenade: The Playlist

Nina Hagen - Future Is Now

Lady Gaga - ScheiBe

Darude - Sandstorm

AWOLNATION - Sail

BORNS - Electric Love

Lizzy Mercier Descloux - I’m Liquor

Shortly after finishing my #PerfumeWeek project, which combined daily perfume reviews with accompanying themed playlists, Imaginary Authors sent me a few more perfumes to play around with! Here we go, #PerfumeWeekPlus!

Whispered Myths smells of your lover’s longtime favorite novel. You bury your nose deep in its spine, hoping to catch a whiff of them, as familiar notes of aftershave and cologne waft up through its aged pages.

Whispered Myths is a classic blend—One for the archives. Its woody base of Cambodian oud, cedarwood, and muskdana is lightened by hints of cantaloupe and honey, softening the strong elemental perfume. Whispered Myths smells wonderfully historic, nearly antique, as if the blend spent decades maturing in wooden barrels before bottling. 

The cologne was inspired by the fictional tale of Azzam Issa, a security guard at The Louvre. Sleepless and disoriented, Azzam began to hear whispers throughout the museum: Gods, angels, mermaids and muses calling to him from inside the paintings, their souls trapped within ornate frames. Inhaling Whispered Myths will transport you to the museum archives with Azzam, standing amidst rows of wooden shelves, taking in the scent of oil paints and yellowing manuscripts. 

Wear Whispered Myths, a cultivated and cultured perfume, when you want to embody greatness: The essence of great authors, great paintings, and of course, great fragrance. 

Whispered Myths: The Playlist

Daniel Johnston - Museum Of Love

Lorde - The Louvre

Thomas Paul - A Footnote To History

Bobbie Gentry - I Saw An Angel Die

Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere

Talking Heads - The Book I Read

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Everyday I Write The Book

Shortly after finishing my #PerfumeWeek project, which combined daily perfume reviews with accompanying themed playlists, Imaginary Authors sent me a few more perfumes to play around with! Let’s go, #PerfumeWeekPlus!

O, Unknown! is the first step to the most decadent routine. Douse yourself as you begin to get ready, before applying makeup or stepping into your clothes, to set the tone for your day or night—O, Unknown! will transform with you as the clock ticks.

Its first application smells distinctly of powder and cream lipstick, of cocoa butter and warm wax. The scent calls to mind low-lit dressing rooms, starlets sitting at vintage mirrored vanities littered with compacts and perfume bottles, coddled by silk robes and velvet bedding.

By the time you’re ready to leave the house, O, Unknown! matures; it’s a perfume that cleans up nicely. As it settles, melodramatic notes of black tea, lapsang souchong, and sandalwood emerge, transforming the powdery perfume into a sweet and smoky potion. 

Wearing O, Unknown! feels luxurious, mysterious, like anything could happen (Fitting, as one of the ingredients Imaginary Authors lists for the perfume is simply noted “???”). Breathing in its scent makes you feel like a socialite, a somebody on the way to the opera, or perhaps a movie premiere—even when your day is as average as any other.

O, Unknown!: The Playlist

Jhene Aiko - Magic Hour

Teyana Taylor, Kehlani - Morning

Gloria Gaynor - Be Soft With Me Tonight

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

John Legend - Surefire

Jenevieve - Baby Powder

Cher - Take Me Home

Beyonce - Rocket

Imaginary Authors is a unique parfumerie whose fragrances are inspired by make-believe novels. Each of their fifteen perfumes is accompanied by its own story, complete with back-cover blurb, author, and even a specially-designed bookmark—A truly holistic approach to fragrance. With niche notes like fresh tennis ball and asphalt, their blends stand out as artisanal and conceptual works of wearable art. 

Over the next week, I’ll be doing daily reviews of seven Imaginary Authors perfumes, each paired with its own playlist inspired by its scent and story—The only response I could see fit for a perfume line with such layered, multi-sensory consideration of what fragrance can achieve. Happy #perfumeweek <3 

The Soft Lawn is the most graceful spring green: New England ivy-covered brick; warm breeze rustling through manicured trees; tea party picnics on the grass; linen sundresses with ruffles. 

The refined blend of oakmoss, laurel, and ivy leaf is sophisticated, but never old. Balanced by linden blossom and fresh tennis ball, The Soft Lawn is bright, alive, and absolutely full of joy. It’s like the respite of the first day of spring, the head-rush of a cartwheel, a burst of serotonin. 

As The Soft Lawn settles into the skin, its cheerful citrus mellows to reveal vetiver and clay court—earthy notes that ground the otherwise airy perfume. Its subtle scent comes in hints and brushes: Soft, but unwaveringly optimistic.

The Soft Lawn is the perfect pick me up to help get you through the day, bringing a burst of positivity with each encounter. Douse yourself when you’re in need of a breath of fresh air, greener pastures—A softer lawn to lay in. 

The Soft Lawn - The Playlist 

Ravyn Lenae - Right of Spring

Alt-J - Breezeblocks

The Friends of Distinction -Grazing In the Grass

Mariah Carey - Fantasy

Ariana Grande: God is a Woman

Xcape - Softest Place On Earth

Dizzy - Sunflower

October Tooth - Tennis Match 

Imaginary Authors is a unique parfumerie whose fragrances are inspired by make-believe novels. Each of their fifteen perfumes is accompanied by its own story, complete with back-cover blurb, author, and even a specially-designed bookmark—A truly holistic approach to fragrance. With niche notes like fresh tennis ball and asphalt, their blends stand out as artisanal and conceptual works of wearable art. 

Over the next week, I’ll be doing daily reviews of seven Imaginary Authors perfumes, each paired with its own playlist inspired by its scent and story—The only response I could see fit for a perfume line with such layered, multi-sensory consideration of what fragrance can achieve. Happy #perfumeweek <3

The Cobra & The Canary smells like the chase—Like meeting eyes with a leather-clad Casanova across the bar, like aftershave, like speeding off in his ‘64 convertible, top down. With strong notes of leather, lemon, and tobacco flower, The Cobra & The Canary is undeniably mysterious, magnetic. 

The cologne was inspired by hot, hazy weekends, by country rides in vintage cars, pausing at seedy motels with cool swimming pools and hot debutantes, pouring cocktails and cigarette smoke. 

At first the cologne comes off cool, nonchalant. But as the night winds down, The Cobra & The Canary begins to reveal its true colors: Softer, more delicate and mature. Sensitive notes of hay field and orris emerge, as the aroma becomes floral, woody, sun-baked. 

The Cobra & The Canary is an edgy scent that comes off strong before opening up and showing its vulnerable side. It’s the kind of cologne that’ll have you saying, “He’s not like other guys—He’s sensitive.” And meaning it. 

The Cobra & The Canary: The Playlist

Carrie Underwood - Cowboy Casanova

Paula Abdul - Cold Hearted

Nelly Furtado - Maneater

Boney M. - Daddy Cool 

ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

Kesha - Your Love Is My Drug

Beyoncé, JAY-Z  - Drunk In Love

Carly Pearce - Hide The Wine

Taylor Swift - Our Song 

Imaginary Authors is a unique parfumerie whose fragrances are inspired by make-believe novels. Each of their fifteen perfumes is accompanied by its own story, complete with back-cover blurb, author, and even a specially-designed bookmark—A truly holistic approach to fragrance. With niche notes like fresh tennis ball and asphalt, their blends stand out as artisanal and conceptual works of wearable art. 

Over the next week, I’ll be doing daily reviews of seven Imaginary Authors perfumes, each paired with its own playlist inspired by its scent and story—The only response I could see fit for a perfume with such layered, multi-sensory consideration of what fragrance can achieve. Happy #perfumeweek <3

Sundrunk is the bright POP! of orange soda—An effervescent citrus bomb. Dominated by a strong top note of orange zest, Sundrunk calls to mind frozen fruit pops and hot summer days. 

But quickly, the scent transforms from playful to rather sophisticated, revealing a base of neroli, rhubarb, honeysuckle, and rosewater—notes far more nuanced than typical citrusy blends. As it settles, Sundrunk smells of the most refreshing summer afternoon: Hanging your laundry to dry under lemon trees, sipping on iced tea, picking herbs from your backyard garden, inhaling their green cologne.

The perfume was inspired by a novel about relentless optimism, about drive, about “walking towards the warmth.” Protagonist Clementine Cope left her Montana home on foot, journeying thousands of miles through the snow, walking in the direction of the sun each day until landing upon the California coast, guided merely by light.

Sundrunk is that light. 

Sundrunk: The Playlist

LEN - Steal My Sunshine

Aaron Carter, No Secrets - Stride

Selena Gomez - Dance Again

B*Witched - Freak Out

Gwen Stefani, Johnny Vulture - Bubble Pop Electric

Lizzo - Juice

Fergie - Clumsy

The Wiggles - Fruit Salad

Miley Cyrus - Slide Away

Imaginary Authors is a unique parfumerie whose fragrances are inspired by make-believe novels. Each of their fifteen perfumes is accompanied by its own story, complete with back-cover blurb, author, and even a specially-designed bookmark—A truly holistic approach to fragrance. With niche notes like fresh tennis ball and asphalt, their blends stand out as artisanal and conceptual works of wearable art. 

Over the next week, I’ll be doing daily reviews of seven Imaginary Authors perfumes, each paired with its own playlist inspired by its scent and story—The only response I could see fit for a perfume line with such layered, multi-sensory consideration of what fragrance can achieve. Happy #perfumeweek <3

Imagine standing at the top of a mountain, 3,000 feet in the sky, surrounded by tall trees and fresh untainted air, fruit sprouting in bushes near the summit. 

Such is the experience of wearing Cape Heartache, an irresistible blend of Douglas Fir, pine resin, vanilla, and strawberry, inspired by imaginary author Philip Sava’s fictional travel-romance novel detailing his 1881 expedition to the Pacific Northwest.

Cape Heartache smells like nostalgia you can’t quite put your finger on: Winter holidays, flannels, warm spiced berries, and a specific yet unplaceable aroma of fresh wood—like shavings from pencils in a childhood classroom, or perhaps sticks gathered and whittled for roasting marshmallows?

Cape Heartache is a clarifying cologne with a surprising sweetness. The syrupy scent of strawberry carries the perfume’s woodier notes, giving Cape Heartache a layer of femininity rare to outdoorsy fragrances. The truly universal, unisex blend has the power to warm vanilla-wearers to resinous foresty fragrances and push devoted cologne-heads to introduce a bit of sweetness to their lives. 

Two things that shouldn’t work together—cloying berry and dry wood—combine in perfect complement in the rule-breaking fragrance of Cape Heartache, encouraging all to take note and go against the grain. 

Cape Heartache: The Playlist

The Police - Every Breath You Take

Anderson .Paak - The Bird

Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf

Starship - Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now

Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar

Jesse Boykins III - Earth Girls

Lorde - Homemade Dynamite 

Imaginary Authors is a unique parfumerie whose fragrances are inspired by make-believe novels. Each of their fifteen perfumes is accompanied by its own story, complete with back-cover blurb, author, and even a specially-designed bookmark—A truly holistic approach to fragrance. With niche notes like fresh tennis ball and asphalt, Imaginary Authors blends stand out as artisanal and conceptual works of wearable art. 

Over the next week, I’ll be doing daily reviews of seven Imaginary Authors perfumes, each paired with its own playlist inspired by its scent and story—The only response I could see fit for a perfume line with such layered, multi-sensory consideration of what fragrance could achieve. Happy #perfumeweek <3 

“I want to smell powerful. I want to make people gag with it,” said fictional assassin Villanelle in the sapphic spy thriller Killing Eve, as she stood before a perfumer seeking a custom fragrance to captivate her starcrossed lover abroad.

Perhaps she was looking for Slow Explosions?

With main notes of saffron, leather, cashmeran, and rose absolute, Slow Explosions is simultaneously a confidence boost and a safety blanket. Its bold scent empowers and overwhelms—Perhaps best worn by an individual graced with a degree of self-assurance (or those who seek a bit more), as the blend is passionately strong despite its individually subtle components. 

The alluring fragrance was inspired by a woman who escaped the monotony of everyday office life by throwing a dart at a map and venturing to the first location it pierced. The fascinating blend conjures memories of travel, of sitting at street cafes in the warm sun, archiving your adventures in an old leather-bound journal, the smell of fragrant spices wafting through the alley from a market nearby. 

Don Slow Explosions on those treasured days that call for treating yourself to something special—Wearing the fragrance is an act of self-care in itself. Whether you choose to go to a concert solo just to sway alone in the back row, or turn your phone off while you take a walk with no destination, Slow Explosions is sure to make you a bit braver on days that compel you to explore the unknown. 

Slow Explosions: The Playlist

Coco & Clair Clair, Okthxbb - Pretty

Grace Jones - Warm Leatherette

The Supremes - These Boots Are Made For Walking

France Gall - Ella, elle l’a

King Harvest - Dancing in the Moonlight

Donovan - Sunshine Superman