Nosy Interview: Arielle Weinberg

Ari in Simeis 188 in Stars, Dust, and Gas © Dieter Willasch (Astro-Cabinet)

Ari writes the delightfully nerdy perfume blog, Scents of Self, where she reviews perfumes, gives away perfume samples (it's thanks to her generosity that I first sniffed Gurelain's gorgeous Après l’Ondée), and shows us what's in her purse in one of my favorite recurring features, "Getting Purse-onal" (I always want to see what's in your purse, people.) Learn what her cat, Zelda, is up to and what she smells like today by following @thescentsofself on Twitter. 

What do you smell like? 

I smell like whatever perfume I happen to be testing for my perfume blog that given day. If I am lucky, that perfume is an olfactory masterpiece; if I am unlucky, it smells like red fruit punch. When I am off-duty, I tend to favor sweet, warm perfumes with a little spice. Some of my favorites are Etat Libre d'Orange Bijou Romantique, Guerlain L'Heure Bleue, L'Artisan Parfumeur Safran Troublant, L de Lolita Lempicka, and Jo Malone Black Vetyver Cafe. 

What do you like to smell?

Burnt things! Lit matches, burnt wood, burnt marshmallows, burnt onions, burnt sugar, burnt grass, burnt coffee (which is probably why I am one of the very few people that actually enjoys Starbucks coffee).

Irish Spring soap on my boyfriend's skin. 

Rice steam and sencha tea. These two notes will feature prominently in my future perfume, "Eau de Benihana." 

My favorite smell in the world is the smell of the manta ray tank at my local aquarium. I get antsy if I have to go without that warm, salty smell for too long, so once a week I bring my textbooks down to the aquarium and do my studying there. 

And I always love to smell perfume on other people. Any perfume, it doesn't matter what. It just makes me so happy to encounter people who are experiencing the many pleasures of perfume.