The Bottle Keeps the Score

Jean Pflum on permanence and performance in the ephemeral art form

Like a raven, the shiny and holdable calls to me. This is why I think perfume is truly the best hobby in the world. Perfume blends it all: history, chemistry, true gut reaction, art, deal hunting, and my personal favorite: Shiny things to sit on my shelf. Throughout this article you will see my collection of perfume bottles.

My mom always called them “dust collectors.” The little glass top hat from Mother of Junk, the muppet babies figurine I got off Etsy, an old Moroccan ash tray my boyfriend got on a family trip — all sit on the shelf collecting dust and bringing true whimsy.

I think there are a lot of reasons why I’m likely to buy a perfume. Especially as I get older and more myself, a perfume can help affirm who I am, at least for that day. In a political and societal climate scent is the safest way to experiment with gender. It is quite literally unseen — stealth, if you will. As my collection grows, I have perfumes that make me feel like how I want to feel for that day and that day only. Perfume is an ephemeral affirming accessory. On days when I have a big presentation, I reach for a strong, woody and smokey scent. When I’m wearing all leather and heavy necklaces, I put on a floral to remind myself of my inherent softness.

I take so much comfort in the way I smell making me feel like myself. In a sundress, I still smell like a barbershop. In a full suit, tangerine with a hint of cannabis. The niche perfume industry is acknowledging more and more that smells are genderless; leaving people able to determine for themselves what is affirming.

There will always be nay-sayers in the comments. Shaking their digital fists at a woman for wearing Aqua di Gio. But the fact of the matter is, scent becomes air. Meaning the air around us is just a part of our identity. Not to mention, you can only smell in real life.

Fragrantica, (a popular scent tracking app and discussion forum that has proved controversial by running many pro-trump, anti-Ukraine, and anti-LBTQIA banners across the homepage), is still used by many fragrance enthusiasts. The site allows you to mark which ones you own and they collect a little digital perfume shelf. These digital bottles live on your digital shelf for your digital perfume community to come visit and look at. In a world of bios, locations, and other identity markers living on our online profiles, I’m happy for the perfume shelf to be my introduction to a lurker. Despite the fact that I could simply look to my left and see my perfume collection, giggling at my phone screen with all my digital bottles made me so happy. Is this what people who play the sims feel like?

My collections shelf in my apartment — perfumes and salt & pepper shakers (image courtesy the author)

My digital perfume collection on Fragrantica (courtesy the author)

Sometimes it feels kind of embarrassing to care about the perfume bottle as much as I do. It’s meant to be how it smells, or the “juice” as “fragheads” call it, that matters. Perfume is an ephemeral, evaporative experiential art form. It’s quite literally unseen. That’s what makes it beautiful. But that’s also what makes the perfume bottle important. With each spray, the work becomes less and less until the bottle is what remains.

This is why perfumers put so much thought into their bottles. But in a world of tariffs, inflation, and complicated production logistics, how much can a small perfumer do to create a satisfying container for their work?

I talked to Noah Virgile, founder of Amphora Parfum, right in the midst of their repackaging for their release of four new scents. We discussed the process of packaging when you’re a niche perfumer.