Born into nobility, Xin Zhui rose even higher when she married Li Cang and became the Marquise of Dai (popularly known today as the Lady Dai). Li Cang’s appointment as the Chancellor of the Changsha Kingdom elevated the power couple even higher. By 168 BCE, Xin Zhui was 48 years old and one of the…
Embodying Heaven: Frankincense and Myrrh in the Christian Sensorial Mythos
This article originally appeared in Plantings: The Journal of the World Sensorium/Conservancy, Issue 18 In Matthew’s account of the Birth of Jesus, three wise men, drawn by a star, came from the east to find a newborn messiah. They brought gifts for the child befitting a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These exalted gifts have…
Introducing Alabastron: An Aromatic Journal
I’m so excited to announce I will be co-editing Alabastron, a new journal to be published by the Institute for Art & Olfaction, with Saskia Wilson-Brown. Alabastron is an interdisciplinary journal that bridges the gap between academia and the public to explore aromatic history and culture. Our aim is to create diverse and accessible learning…
Shezmu: The Demon-God of Egyptian Perfume
If you are a fan of fragrance history, you may be familiar with the Egyptian god Nefertem. He is the personification of the Cosmic Lotus in the Egyptian creation myth. Nefertem is the protector of dawn and patron of Egypt’s beloved blue lotuses. Nefertem rises from the river at daybreak each morning with his flowers…
Answering 7 Years of Your Stinky Google Searches
A website’s backend is a dull and utilitarian space, mine included. The one exception is my search term results. Every time I check them, they are filled with some of the weirdest and most wonderful things folks have ever shouted into the internet. I’m so happy that which corpse flower is the best, and did…
Nuri & Hayley Talk 7 Years of Perfume
As part of our anniversary celebrations, I sat down to do a duelling interview with Hayley Croom from Paintbox Soapworks. We discussed seven years of writing, the feral qualities of solo entrepreneurship, and learning to love cherry accords. Usually, my interviews can only be found in my monthly newsletter, Aromatica de Profundis, but we…
7 Smelly Years of Death Scent
Seven years ago, I started The Death Scent Project as a fun side project for research that didn’t fit into my existing academic portfolio. I was already pretty fed up with academia and hated the scholastic publishing world. I didn’t want to write articles in a style I didn’t like and have them wither behind…
Tappūtī-Bēlet-ekallim: The First Perfumer?
If you Google Tappūtī-Bēlet-ekallim, you will find dozens of articles praising her as the first perfumer. Online, Tappūtī-Bēlet-ekallim is presented as a feminist, a scientist, and an entrepreneur. Yet, those concepts would have been utterly foreign to her lived experience. Images accompanying these stories feature Babylonian goddesses, Sumerian queens, and Urukian tablets. They’re a strange…
Rosalia: The Roman Floral Festival for the Dead
Let’s explore the roots of this ancient rose festival, how the Romans memorialised their dead with aromatic flowers, and how vestiges of the Rosalia exists today.
The Odour of Sanctity: When the Dead Smell Divine
If corrupt smells are a sign of a corrupt nature, what happens when a holy person dies? It is in this Western mind-body dualism that the concept of the Odour of Sanctity is born.
The Death Scent Project 
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