SCENT & SENSIBILITY

From tantalizing florals to heady spices, fragrant arrangements inspired by California perfumer Mandy Aftel rouse a stirring sense of emotion.

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WHEN WE SMELL something real, something that comes from nature, it's like eating a good tomato. It's just different," says Berkeley, California-based perfumer and author Mandy Aftel. "It's alive; you can feel the intensity." The former psychotherapist has spent nearly 30 years sourcing and archiving everything from exotic spices to animal-borne oils in her study and cultivation of fragrance and today observes something of a scent awakening. The COVID-19 pandemic, she says, drove a thirst for nature's inherent stimulation, but there's also a natural spillover of the "slow-food" shift of the last 30 years. "Scent will always be connected to our culinary tradi