Have you ever dreamed of starting your own fragrance brand? These two indie perfumers did just that, and here are their latest floral creations in time for spring:
Outdoor Fellow
Patrick Jones launched his Outdoor Fellow home fragrance line in a fourth-floor Manhattan walkup in 2018. Candlemaking was a hobby for Jones — a way to bring the scents of the great outdoors to his apartment. He could transport himself to a glorious, blue-sky day of hiking or discovering an opulent hyacinth in a backyard. Plus, it’s an effective way to combat some of the less inviting (ok, downright nasty) odors that our beloved NYC can occasionally put on offer, especially in August.
Over time, the self-taught Jones’ scent blending reached the next level (the brand has been featured in Oprah Daily and Domino). Nowadays, he describes his goal for his scents as to “make your home smell amazing…inspire you to take a break and create new memories in the outdoors.”
Since it’s spring, I tried Outdoor Fellow’s Flower Garden. Now, there are two options for the vessel. Choose from a limited-edition Rose Gold version, or go for the reusable, dishwasher-safe, 11-ounce glass jar (sustainability in action.) Both would make winning Mother’s Day or housewarming presents. On top of that, the entire Outdoor Fellow line is affordably priced for the quality of fragrance and wax. Outdoor Fellow uses a blend of coconut and apricot wax, providing a vibrant yet never overpowering fragrance throw.
Flower Garden is a medley of freshly-picked lilacs, pink peony, and jasmine petals grounded by rhubarb stalk notes and warm amber. Just like spring, the lush lilac notes are early to arrive, and they’re quite photo-realistic. Then I get the softness of the amber. I don’t quite smell the rhubarb, but I’m glad it’s there since I always like it in a pie. Lastly Flower Garden possesses the perfect of amount of sultry jasmine. Flower Garden is also available in a reed diffuser.
Air & Weather Perfume
Another NYC fragrance entrepreneur, Julia Crowe of Air & Weather Perfume, is thinking florals for spring. Manhattan’s historic flower market district on 28th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues was the inspiration for her latest blend: 28 Flower. The flower vendors of 19th century NYC brought posy-filled pushcarts via ferries into Manhattan, landing around East 34th Street. Towards the end of the 1870s, these cut flower wholesalers began to organize and move to 28th Street to be closer to the upscale retailers and the residences of that era’s glamorous Ladies’ Mile. Crowe’s new scent is an homage to the time when flowers filled many more of the streets of this neighborhood. She wanted the perfume to capture the feeling of walking past an abundant profusion of blooms.
28 Flower is a bouquet of dewy-petaled peonies, roses, freesia, hyacinths, violets, and lilies that opens with a top note of rich, rain-dusted soil. The first time I wore 28 Flower, the hyacinth rose to the front for me. However, the next time I put it on, I got more of the violet and the earthy top note of this lush green floral, which I loved because it gave a depth to the mixture. 28 Flower is available in a bottle or travel size. You can also try Air & Weather’s Discovery Set that features the brand’s four fragrances. Perfumer Julia Crowe’s mission for Air & Weather is to help make life feel and smell a little more beautiful. Her small-batch fragrances are thoughtfully created and filled to order in her NYC studio.
