Liz: The Vapor Parade: Conceptually, the Vapor Parade at its core is ⁓ very like I guess a approach or hmm a contrarian outlook on fragrance, trying to, you know, not just like trying to like bring something new to the table and be like as genuine as possible instead of just copying pasting and r just you know, recreating what has already been proven as ⁓ something that's worked in the perfume community. Also, it's quickly developing into a weird 3D printing project and accessory project. Michelle DeLorenzo: I think I think my favorite ⁓ video opening of all time, like like catch, you know, is hey donkeys. What's up donkeys? It's so good. Josh: Mm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ yes. Yes. I I like to call I I ⁓ I've had a tradition with myself for my entire life of cycling through random phrases and sayings that will stick for like maybe one to three years at a time. And then the instant I hear someone else say it, I'm like, I'm never saying that again. And I think it's also just because I am at my core an old punk contrarian individual. Michelle DeLorenzo: Cha ha I Liz: The Vapor Parade: I'm always s looking for ways to make myself differentiated, I guess, from everybody else. It's it's my my greatest weakness and potentially my greatest strength. I don't know. Michelle DeLorenzo: Hehehehe ⁓ so for those who do not know you, can you tell us who you are? Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes, I am Liz. ⁓ my ⁓ handle on the social medias is the Vapor Parade. I ⁓ do content creation around fragrance. I also do ⁓ perfume news segments, which are probably one of the things that I'm most well known for commonly. And yeah, I've ⁓ I'm here to talk about various things, including myself. And Probably fragrance too. So yeah, that'll be fun. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: A little bit of everything, a little bit everything. Josh: Yeah. What are some of the interests and hobbies that shaped you into the punk contrarian that you are before fragrance ever entered the picture? Liz: The Vapor Parade: so I think th some of the interesting hobbies I I've always been very into ⁓ like getting into very, very, very specific things very intensely. The earliest memory of that I think was like in different pieces of media when I was like still trying to form myself as a as a Wee One. I was extremely into the Spice Girls. ⁓ like I I could probably find an old photo from when I was like eight years old. Like my entire room was just plastered with anything Spice Girls related. And also with like Star Wars, which is one that has carried into adulthood. ⁓ but as I grew older, I think that, you know, building ⁓ I I've gotten really into like various arts and crafts projects. I was always into like dyeing hair and making my own clothing and Also been really into like cooking and it was always very much like my mom was in the wine industry growing up. So things around like developing my senses ⁓ visually, olfactively, and culinarily, I guess, they all kind of like merge together. And of course, like into high school and college, I was very into, you know, niche music scenes and stuff. You you're what ⁓ one would call a hipster back in the day, but I guess what Gen Z calls a ⁓ what is it, Indy sleaze individu kind of individual. Is that what they call it now? Yeah. I I was punk turned hipster, but you know, one of those hipsters that was like if you called me a hipster to my face I'd be like, I'm not a fucking hipster. What are you talking about? It's that kind of thing. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Okay. I have no idea. Josh: Right. Michelle DeLorenzo: ⁓ God. fun fact about Liz, she makes incredible cookies. She has sent me cookies from all the way across the country to bake, and they were phenomenal. Liz: The Vapor Parade: That was a whole thing. Yeah. I do. I'm glad that's a high praise coming from you because she's also very good at baking, cause she's professionally trained. Michelle DeLorenzo: I will send you cookies back at some point. Liz and I have a lot of overlap in our ⁓ in our past lives. And I I love that's why we bonded so much and connected both, you know, from the culinary world and we bonded over over the absolute mayhem of working in a restaurant. But it it's Josh: Okay. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Excellent. Yes. Yes, yes, ma'am. Yes, yes. That's a whole whole thing. Michelle DeLorenzo: It's made us so tough and made us have such tough skin and I you know, it's I hated it while I was doing it, but I wouldn't trade that for anything. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Absolutely. I went to the doctor recently because I like stabbed myself with like a beating needle, like right in here. And my the doctor at Urgent Care looked at my hands and was like, those are hands of someone who's had a life. And I was like, Th Thanks. I know my hands are ugly. It's partially genetic though, I will tell you. My mom told me as a very young child, she's like, Both your grandmas had really ugly hands. You're probably gonna have ugly hands when you grow up. Josh: Ha ha ha. Michelle DeLorenzo: Hehehehe Josh: So outside of being an aspirational hand model, do you think there were like clues that you would become kind of this ⁓ cultural curator? Liz: The Vapor Parade: It's a such a such a h like very professional way of saying it, but also feels like high praise for no reason. ⁓ so I think I've always had like very, very strong opinions about things that I know a a lot about or I'm very, very passionate about. I've always had really, really strong opinions about like where to eat or what Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: kind of ingredients are really ⁓ like will make or break ⁓ recipe things of that nature and then also you know just always been like a very, very opinionated person. And I was thinking back ⁓ when I was reading this question earlier, ⁓ I was also one of the things that like got me into content creation initially, like what kind of like pushed me over the edge, because I had thought about it for like few years before actually biting the bullet, was in high school, all four years I was voted most likely to host their own talk show. and I was like, that is basically, this is basically a modern day version of having one's own talk show with no guests. So I was like, okay, I think those two things together, having very strong opinions and having some kind of weird personality quirk where I could just talk into the ether forever. Michelle DeLorenzo: Hehehehehe. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And would probably be fine. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah, and I do I think your content definitely sticks out because you're so you're so yourself and so genuine in everything that you that you portray. And I genuinely love watching your reactions to fragrances because you're so you're honest about everything that you're smelling all the time. And I think that's rare that people will come on and just say, you know. This kind of smells like shit. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah, it's for better and for worse for sure. I definitely had a couple of people come to me and be like, Hey, did you like was basically saying like, did you have some ulterior motive with that? I'm like, No, I literally just have a really hard time lying about this kind of shit when I know especially so many people lie about this shit. So Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. ⁓ my God. It's one of the I swear people read in to you so much of what we post online without without realizing that what we're portraying online is very curated. Like you're only seeing parts of our lives and the assumption of all the other shit going on in the background is so obnoxious sometimes and and so like it sucks the joy out of everything. Like I'm here to fucking talk to you about fragrance. Like I'm not doing this to shade anybody else. I'm just doing it because I enjoy doing it. But yeah, I dig I digress. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah, exactly. It's true. And like when l literally five hundred fragrances are coming out on average every single day, there is no way on earth that every single one of them is gonna be worth talking about or even good. No, no, no way, no way. Josh: What? Michelle DeLorenzo: ⁓ how did fragrance first enter your life? Liz: The Vapor Parade: the way that kind of sent made way into my life was from like ⁓ so early on, I probably ⁓ don't a lot of ⁓ the like foundations of it. But my mom was in the wine industry for ⁓ over forty five years and also ⁓ just my mom's side of the family, we've always had such ⁓ strong senses of smell. And my mom thought it would be really cute to train her little daughter to like tell the difference between Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay from like three years old onward. And so she was always like kind of trading me with like little glasses of wine and having me like smell it and taste it. And I've always been really good at differentiating like wine varietals and just like nuances and flavor and smell from an extremely young age. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ it was something I was actually talking about with ⁓ my god, I'm forgetting his name. ⁓ Ben from House of Mammoth during Fumed is like his son is being trained in scent in a way that a lot of people don't when they're young because it's just not something that a lot of people think about really intensely, especially as as children. So it's always something that's of been very present in my life. But as far as fragrance goes, I lived in a very unscented home. Michelle DeLorenzo: Hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Because of the wine industry thing. My mom, you like, you can't go and like sell wine or ⁓ you know, be in the industry and go to tastings and wear fragrance. It's extremely it's considered extremely rude and taboo. And ⁓ so growing up, like my mom never wore fragrance. She has the same bottle of Chanel number five on her ⁓ on her vanity that she's had since I was a baby. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And it's like probably as full as it was ⁓ you know, twenty years ago. So as far as fragrance goes, it was kind of more of a like self-discovery thing ⁓ as a teenager and you know, in middle school as I was going into you know, figuring out like things that I was actually interested in. And I remember when the DK and Y green apple scent came out, and that was just like Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: mind blowing to me. Is that at the time that was like a really innovative fragrance. It smelt like candy green apples. It was really cool. And going through that and kind of, you know, asking for little Macy's like fragrance kits and stuff, was like d definitely like very foundational in what I like kind of enjoyed. And I always kind of used it as a way to you know, make myself like feel special. But I didn't really truly l enjoy and love fragrance until I got into like college and after college. I felt like scent was a way to smell more feminine or be like ⁓ you know, a way to like make yourself more appealing to boys or something. But doing it for like myself wasn't for like quite a Like it wa it wasn't for many more years until I got into it that way. Josh: Was there when you started actually trying out the scents and stuff, was there like a specific brand or specific perfume or a person that really hooked you and brought you in? Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah, I actually my grandma was always like someone who stood out as like very scented. Like going to her house when I was a kid was such a complete 180 from the home I grew up in. She always I think it was like kind of like a typical white grandma. Like she had a bowl full of, you know, potpourri in one of the bathrooms and a bowl full of Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: soaps from R Roger and Gallette that she got from her trips to France and all of these like, you know, the soaps that were shaped like rose petal or roses and hearts that you weren't supposed to use. And you know, and she ⁓ she used to wear scent a lot more than, you know, my mom did or anything like that. And ⁓ so I think that it was that was kind of like Michelle DeLorenzo: Right. Liz: The Vapor Parade: how i i it it just kind of like stood out to me as something that ⁓ like very well put to my mom my grandma was very very well put together and was extremely clean and proper and so i felt that it was you know something that like really well put together people did and that it was like ⁓ you know something that you know if you're really on your p's and q's you're like a very ⁓ fancy lady you wore fragrance. And then ⁓ not until I got into like my twenties, when I met my partner Dan in college, did I recognize like the importance of scent like just for yourself because he was like one of the only people I dated who smelled good all the time because he just like wore fragrance. We lived in like a really janky, like hippie co-op. And so having a boyfriend who smelled good when you're just around like people that just smell kind of like grease and patchouli all the time was very ⁓ interesting and very ⁓ enlightening. And then ⁓ and then through that we like got into fragrance together. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. ⁓ Liz: The Vapor Parade: And the thing that like opened my eyes and got me into niche in general, and I think this might be the case for a good chunk of people like in our age range, is discovering replica at Sephora and being like, ⁓ shit, like these smell different than a lot of the stuff that's on the shelves. And it was, you know, light enough to appeal to somebody in their earlier twenties in their early twenties. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And then I was like, well, there's gotta be like more to this. And then I started kind of doing a very heavy duty deep dive into niche. And then I'm live in San Francisco, so I discovered Ministry of Scent and which was I believe Tiger Lily at the time. And it was like like ⁓ it was like a whole new world opened up and then it was just like ⁓ that was the end of it for me. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah, yeah. Replica was definitely my gateway drug too, because they were again, they were this they were just so different from anything else that I was used to smelling. Like smelling beach walk for the first time was mind blowing. Like, what do you mean? Like I can smell like the beach. I can smell like salt. ⁓ yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Yeah, and also that concept of like instead of just being like, ⁓ an ⁓ you know, Miss Dior ⁓ Oufresh or whatever it was like, you smell like nineteen seventy-four in a like old library in, you know, the hills of Vienna or whatever it is, like these hyper specific moments. It's like the first time being exposed to that, which feels so normal now. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ it's like of course it would s you know, a fragrance would be based off of something. It's so hyper specific and like based in a very like specific memory and and a point in time. But at that point it was like, ⁓ shit, that's super cool. So Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Most of my designer fragrances that I had when I first started collecting have have exited my collection by now. But I can't get rid of my my mason margellas. I I hold on to them just as I and I have quite a few of them. ⁓ and you know, it's hard for me to buy from them now, knowing who they're owned by, but I still like to give them the praise that it is very hard in this industry when you are Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: In a brand like Sephora to come out with new scent profiles and scent prile files that may not be the mass appealing, like by the fireplace is is pretty polarizing. But it was like the scent that like truly like made something click for me. It was my signature scent for a couple of years. It was my wedding scent. And I always remember like being nervous to wear it out because I'm like, are people gonna think I smell weird? But I smell it now and I'm like, Liz: The Vapor Parade: So far. Michelle DeLorenzo: This is tame. Liz: The Vapor Parade: It is, yeah. No, like we we are the same way. Like we have a very robust collection of replica fragrances that we refuse to get rid of. Dan loved you know, by the fireplace and jazz club. And ⁓ I went through like when I was in the service industry, like I was waiting tables, so I couldn't wear like really strong fragrances. Josh: Okay. Liz: The Vapor Parade: So Lazy Sunday was ⁓ my thing for I went through multiple bottles of that because it was like so, so, so quiet I was able to wear it and get away with it. ⁓ but yeah, definitely have respect for for for it, but in other ways, not so much now, but Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Going out going out on a tangent. I accidentally bought a fake replica. A replica of a replica. It's so it's called Yeah, hold on. Liz: The Vapor Parade: What? Josh: I vaguely remember this. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Was it's on Marcari or something? Michelle DeLorenzo: So I bought it in one of the Facebook group chats. It was like the first and last time I ever bought something from there. And I was anyway, just just to talk about how kind of ahead of the trends that they were, they had this fragrance called Tea Escape that by the time I was into fragrance and by the time I was into tea had been long discontinued and really difficult to get a hold of. And Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: The person like had sent me the batch code and like sent me pictures and like it looked really great. And then like now that I have it in front of me, once I had it in person, I could tell that there were just these slight differences like in the boldness of the font and like it's a really and it smells really good, but it is a fake. But it is just a it's just a reminder for me. And I I won't sell it to anybody because I won't sell anybody a fake, even knowing it's a fake. But Liz: The Vapor Parade: Damn. Michelle DeLorenzo: It's just such an interesting reminder to me that like this was a fragrance that was discontinued far before the tea fad had really started kicking off. And same with matcha meditation. They discontinued that. When was it? last year, I think they they discontinued it. And now everyone is coming out with their matcha fragrance. So Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm-hmm. ⁓ quite a while ago. ⁓ yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's so funny. Josh: Matcha and mango are the the two hot hot notes right now. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah, and apparently banana. Michelle DeLorenzo: I'm into the banana. I'm a little over the mango at this point, only because I feel like so many of the mangoes and when it's good, I I love a mango scent. But I feel like so many of them have this like sharp sourness to them that make them almost lean like bile. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I there was one that I liked last year that I quickly decluttered. I think it's caraway caraway f or caraoue from ⁓ Siam nineteen twenty eight. There's a mango green kerowic, thank you. Kerouic. It's really good and I loved it at the time, but there was something about it where I don't know. I this is why I sometimes I have a very strict ⁓ regimen ⁓ Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Heroic. Liz: The Vapor Parade: like leading up to buying a full size bottle because sometimes it's just like, ⁓ it was a nice, you know, affair, but I'm I'm good. It was kind of one of those where I loved it really intensely for a minute and then by the time I got the full size bottle I like wore it twice and then I was like, Yeah, I I'm chill. I'm chill. But yeah, yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: ⁓ it's actually one of my favorite mangoes, but it's because it's not like a bright fruity mango. It's like it's super green and woody. And whenever I describe it, I always say it's like it feels like you're at the resort from the white lotus. It's yeah, it yeah. You are sitting under the poison mango tree. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Yes, that is a hundred percent it. A hundred percent. Yeah, yeah. And that's why I liked it because yeah, a lot of those mango fragrances and a lot of the guava fragrances from like last summer were just like very, very, very juicy and very sweet. ⁓ Michelle DeLorenzo: Agreed. I'll let Josh take us back onto topic. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes. Josh: ⁓ you mentioned your mom was in the wine industry. You were also in the service industry, and you were a bartender, right? Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I worked as a bartender, cocktail server. I worked in private events. ⁓ for eight years. Like after I graduated from college. I ⁓ I graduated from college like right when like things were still not too hot from the recession. So ⁓ I moved to New Orleans with ⁓ my partner and we quickly discovered that the only industry to get into is the service industry. So ⁓ I worked in fine dining and also some very famous bourbon street bars as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Josh: And ⁓ if I remember correctly, you helped develop like an educational app for wine. Liz: The Vapor Parade: So I ⁓ I was actually talking about this with ⁓ Rishi before we got on. So I didn't develop one, but I ended up basically like my w ⁓ knowledge of wine and ⁓ my wine education through working in like fine dining and really high-end ⁓ restaurants ended up getting me into a job in marketing at ⁓ app called Vivino, which is it's basically like the wine app. By the time I had gotten hired there, it had been pretty established. and ⁓ yeah, I that's kind of how I it was a very strange way of going from the service industry straight into the tech industry. ⁓ it's a it's like so strange. But I also to give a little context as to why, because it wasn't that easy. ⁓ I had been in the service industry and I was like, You know, I had a good education. I like gone to UC Berkeley and I was like kinda sour that I was, you know, working in the service industry. I was seeing some people like getting into good jobs and I was like, I want a four ⁓ one K. I literally got this tattoo to remind myself to get a four ⁓ one K or I was gonna retire in the grave with ⁓ because I was gonna have to work until I died. So I started asking for social media ⁓ like gigs working for the restaurants that I was at and did social media marketing and ⁓ managing the social accounts for the restaurants that I worked at. And then that got me into copywriting for a coffee product company. And then that got me into Vivito. ⁓ so it was a kind of trying to get the get that marketing experience and then the wine experience definitely helped as well. And it's ⁓ known for like if you're ever at a grocery store and you just like are are looking at a wall of wine and you have no idea what's going on, you could pull up Vivino and like it's a label scanning app primarily and it has ⁓ community aggregated ratings. ⁓ so you scan a label, it'll pull up the wine, give you ⁓ The numeric rating, user reviews. It's very similar to a lot of fragrance apps in that way. and then it also gives you like the notes, ⁓ what to expect from the wine and all of that. So, and it's also what makes the big bucks for us is it's a retail marketplace. So all around the world we have retailers, wholesalers, wineries that are selling wine on the app as well. So you could order it to get delivered to your house and all that. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Very cool. Josh: to see if you guys have the Carmen Air that I enjoy from Argentina because I brought back yeah I brought back four bottles from a work trip and I have one left. It's the only wine I drink Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah, you should check it. Yeah. ⁓ interesting. Yeah, I wonder if you do if and if you don't in your state, because a lot of the retailers are specific to your area. There are some larger retailers that ship to like 38 states or something. I think that's like the max that you could really ship to in the US because like Delaware just flat out doesn't allow delivery and Utah and blah blah blah. But Michelle DeLorenzo: ⁓ no. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: If you don't, then potentially, you know, one of us may be able to get it from like a New York or California retailer that might be a little bit more local. And I'd be willing to get it shipped to my house and then punt it over to you. ⁓ Josh: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: I will a hundred percent mule it for ya. Josh: ⁓ Yeah. That's I think it's really cool that you have this experience and this knowledge base, even from a really young age, on wine. Because when I talk to like non perfume people and I'm trying to educate them, I do fall back on that analogy where I'm like, well, you know, like wine tastings, they talk about notes, but like there's no chocolate or cherry in the wine. It's grapes. Perfume has that same analogy. Like, just because it says it's apple, it's like Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah, no problem. Mm-hmm. Josh: a really strong line and all. Like you don't they're not they're not the same thing. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yep. Yeah. No, a hundred percent. And also culturally, just you know, the way that perfumers and winemakers are educated, very, very similar. Perf perfumery has definitely moved ahead of the game a little bit. Wine making, I think, is still a little bit in the past in that regard. there's a bit more like active chemistry that you can't get around with wine making that you can kind of avoid with some levels of perfumery depending or as like a perfumer depending on how in depth you're getting. But even down to like the flavor, the scent wheel and all that. It's like the exact same thing. ⁓ so like almost like a one-to-one. Same with ⁓ coffee too, actually. Coffee has the same flavor wheel as wine as does scent and all of that. So Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: lot a lot a lot of parallels. And that's ultimately why I got into it too, was also another reason why I f got hardcore into ⁓ fragrance, was as a result of my experience and also a I'm not gonna lie, a bit of nepotism. I got hired to judge ⁓ the San Francisco International Wine Competition, which I've been judging for a handful of years at this point. And ⁓ going into it, I was probably a couple decades younger than the youngest person in the room. And it was very intimidating ⁓ going in with like a lot of these like old male boomers who are wearing like blue put button-down shirts and have been like, ⁓ yes, I know the Gallo family. And you know, me going in like kind of tattooed and like in my mid-20s, they're like, who the f- Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Fuck is this? So I ⁓ didn't and I knew my shit and but I also don't really drink very often. And it's very expensive to train your nose and train your palate in wine to get a ⁓ Somay to become like a certified Psalm costs an average of like $150,000 in wine alone. generally speaking, that's it's why it's extremely Josh: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. ⁓ damn. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Cost prohibitive. It's also, and it's it's ⁓ I have a lot of problems with the Corps de Somaies and the Somaia certifications in general for that reason. It's it's very classist and there's an element of racism in there too. ⁓ but I wanted to continue training my nose, so that's what ultimately got me into like Ministry of Scent. They had like a whole wall of notes or like different materials on the wall that I could smell and I was like, ⁓ yeah, I could use this to train my nose, more or less the same thing. And it has helped in such an amazing way. Like, you know, I'll I smelled a dessert wine a year ago and I it was the one of the worst w wines I probably ever smelled. And I was like, I looked at the guy that I was judging with because Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: When you're judging, it's a double blind ⁓ double blind tasting. So the people that are bringing you the wine, they don't know what it is. They're glasses labeled A through G or whatever. And the only thing you know is the varietal in the year that it was made. And I looked at the guy I was judging with at the table and I was like, this smells like civet. Like straight up. And he's like I was like, do you know what civet is? Like in perfume? And he was like, I do. And it does. This is horrible. And ⁓ it was like, you, you know, sometimes you try to be a little bit nice because you have to pay to submit your wines for these competitions. It costs a little bit of money. So we were like, you want to come back next year. So you try to not give a no medal, but that one we were like. Josh: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Absolutely no metal, no fucking way. Like give them the lowest score possible. It's like smelling civet and just yeah. And dessert wine too. Like it was like a white, it was a white wine. Like a d like a sugary, like it was like a Hungarian dessert wine. It was horrible. Michelle DeLorenzo: I want civit on my skin, not in my wine. Thank you very much. Josh: Mm. Right. Interesting. I don't know how you would even do that. ⁓ Liz: The Vapor Parade: I know. I I have questions to this day how that how that happened. I was like, did s did like a rat die in the barrel? Like Michelle DeLorenzo: Okay. shout out to Ministry of Scent, probably one of my favorite retailers outside of New York. They have a fantastic curation ⁓ awesome people. And yeah, love them. All around love them. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes. fully credit them for ⁓ fostering my obsession. ⁓ truly. I had they hold a special place in my heart. And I think most people that live in San Francisco in the Bay Area that are into fragrance, they definitely hold a special place in everyone's hearts for sure. Michelle DeLorenzo: the ⁓ thing with fragrance as as the thing wine is that they both have a specialized language. Do you think that that's intimidating for people ⁓ trying to enter into those Liz: The Vapor Parade: A hundred percent. And I think that's what I credit with some of Vivino's success as an app because when Vivino came out, it was at the time, like if you wanted to get a review on a wine, you went to James Suckling or Robert Parker, who are still around and they've been they are the end all be all of wine reviews and ratings. They make or break wineries, they make or break ⁓ vintages and everything. And up until that point, it was kind of an abhorrent thought to think that you could leave ⁓ leave it up to the consumer to decide whether or not wine is good because they simply don't have the education. And but People aren't stupid and they have senses of smells and some people are very into wine and learn. And just because they're not James Suckling or Robert Parker doesn't mean they don't know if wine tastes good. So you know, having starting an app that did like community aggregated ratings was kind of groundbreaking at the time. And it ended up becoming an extr like an extremely popular wine app because ⁓ you know. it gave people a sense of understanding through just like the common person kind of breaking down different wines in a way that can be easily understood instead of using like really complex language and verbiage and making like kind of like insider references. And I think that's also to the credit of like TikTok and short form social is why fragrance has ⁓ gotten so big is I think like previously it would be like Luca Turin or whatever. How do you say his last name? Luca Turin? Whatever his name is. The the fragrance reviewer. ⁓ he's kind of like ⁓ James Suckling of the fragrance world. And having people that are just regular consumers breaking down ⁓ fragrance, I think is really easy for Michelle DeLorenzo: Hm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: People to understand and digest for better or for worse. there's definitely room for for both. And I think for some people that are really educated, it's really frustrating because they're like, well, you know, especially doing short form video, you could be bullshitting the entire time because you're not in the room with them smelling the fragrance. So you're totally going off of vibes and ⁓ parasocial relationships. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: So I I'm of two minds of it. I think that it is partially one of the main reasons why fragrance has become so big is because those walls have been broken down and that kind of front that's been put up by ⁓ those who are educated in the space has been kind of broken down a little bit. But conversely, it has led to ⁓ Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Some people maybe mmm how how would I put it without sounding like an asshole? ⁓ like it it would give people like maybe ⁓ a little bit too much confidence in themselves with the I feel like you don't know. I feel I think I'll I have a little bit of ⁓ comparison here, an analogy that my partner and I like to Michelle DeLorenzo: Hehehehe Liz: The Vapor Parade: mention in certain instances. It may or may not make sense, but I'm gonna give it a go. ⁓ like in the first couple years when I was at at Cal, one of the things that struck me was when I would be in like science classes. ⁓ often a lot of my friends would be like, I took physics 101, I figured out what Einstein couldn't figure out. What an idiot. I know what's going on because they've just been exposed to it, but they've only like Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: just touched like their foot has just gotten wet, right? And then they go off to parties and explain some science concepts to English majors and everyone's like, ⁓ my God, you're so brilliant. But it's like if you put them in a room with people with PhDs, it's like you are 18 years old. You are a you don't know anything. And I think it's kind of similar where you kind of get a little bit of that flavor and you're like, ⁓ my God, I know so much. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: This I my opinion is totally valid, but it may not be. but everyone's opinion is technically valid. It's like I'm it's this is something that I struggle with constantly, is like where like how do you how do you know whether or not somebody is a valid source of truth or not with something that is technically very objective, but also not objective. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think that's why there leads to so many issues, such as people not trusting content creators when they have a paid banner on their you know, because there are so many people who are not trustworthy worthy. So it kind of falls back on all of us. And then those of us who are really honest, but we are working with brands. So we have to put that paid partnership. We lose credibility because of the others. But I forgot who it was. I was watching a video, ⁓ I think it was I think it was at the beginning of this week, and Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Basically explaining how, like, when you know, beauty, the beauty community was exploding. You can tell when somebody can do makeup online, right? You can tell when somebody is, you know, if you're looking at like cooking videos, you can tell when a dish looks delicious and you know, looks like it's cooked well. You can't visually see when somebody knows what they're talking about when it comes to fragrance. Josh: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That is so true. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. There's no visual cue there. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Yeah. So there's there's no visual cues. So there is a lot of navigating, you know, and I think for for people who are just easily, easily sold on things who don't dive deeper, it's very easy to kind of get like taken for a ride, you know, from people who are who are just meant to sell, right? There are parts of the community that are they are just driving sales. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: And that is their purpose on being on fragrance TikTok is to just continue to push out more and more and more and more. And then there are people, I think, like all of us that are more into the helping you discover things that you've never heard of before, helping you learn a little bit more. And it's always been the content that I enjoy watching the most, but the other channels are getting the most attention all the time. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Truly, truly. Yeah, yeah. And I mean when ⁓ TikTok ⁓ when like fragrance talk and all that was starting to blow up, I remember coming across, I think it was like Professor Perfume or something. And that was when, ⁓ you know, like three big fragrances, like you all you would see is like these three fragrances over and over and over and over again. There's just like a lot less ⁓ you know, a lot less fragrances that were being turned out at the time. And I remember just he hearing people say, ⁓ my God. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Mm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: My way from Armani is the best shit ever. Like when it was like the bend you over like a lawn chair. Kind of shit. And I I remember like I think it was also a time where I was like maybe a little mentally fragile and I was like, I'm gonna go to Macy's. I'm gonna fucking smell this shit. And I smelt it in the store. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And I was like, ⁓ this does smell nice, but it was also like it smells nice comparatively against like everything else in that Macy's counter. I bought it. By the time I got home, I smelt my wrist. I was like, I want to throw up. And then I turned right back around and returned it. And that's one of the reasons why I am so, so, so adamantly against, unless it's very, very, very, very specific circumstances. Never. Michelle DeLorenzo: ⁓ no. Liz: The Vapor Parade: just go to a store and buy buy something immediately after smelling it or even worse, blind buying online. I was at ZGO last week actually and one of the people who worked there for a really long time said that I think it was I forget which perfumer was like a French perfumer was there and they were explaining the concept of people shopping online for fragrances in the US ⁓ to this French perfumer and she was like wait what Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And it was completely taken aback by the fact that people buy fragrances online and not directly in boutiques only. And that it's just like not necessarily a thing in France even still. I don't know. That was just one person's opinion. I don't know if that's necessarily true. I definitely know there are French fragrance influencers out there. But you know, obviously it changes from here to there. But yeah, it's a very interesting like is that more of an American thing or I don't know. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: But also the fr the idea of fragrance being so important is a lot newer in the US than it is in Europe and stuff too. Michelle DeLorenzo: True, true. And I think it's it's a business model, right? Because I think you a lot of the fragrances that we all love, most of the time, unless they are in a very tiny brand, have samples for us to try first. So we can we can have that experience even if we don't live near a boutique, right? But the more affordable fragrances, it's the idea is it's so affordable you can afford to blind buy it. And that's like I hate that concept, right? There's they never offer samples of anything. I think it's still really hard to find samples from certain brands. You know, I'm lucky enough to have a a store, a grocery store down in ⁓ in Brooklyn that has some of the really like cool Arabic fragrances and I get to smell them first, but that's not easy for everyone, right? But this concept of like, ⁓ it's only $30, it's only $30. But after you've done, ⁓ it's only $30. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm. Michelle DeLorenzo: 10 times, like you could have bought a shitload of fragrance of, you know, something that you truly, truly love for that amount of money. So I just don't enjoy that concept overall. ⁓ I've been thinking about starting a series of affordable fragrances that even a niche knob likes, just to try to like break through some of the like, hey, this is this is actually a decent fragrance and it's surprising that it's forty dollars versus no, this is trash, don't waste your money. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah, absolutely. And there are ones that are out there that are absolutely amazing. Josh: Well that's I know in our group chat we have what I like to call just a little treat territory, where I am willing to blind buy frequently travel sizes ⁓ if they're below ⁓ sixty-five, seventy bucks. that's just a little treat. Like that can be my pick me up for the week and I get to experience the fragrance. And if I don't love it, I can give it away to someone. But I still ⁓ it's you know, either a travel size or maybe a discovery set or like it's just a little treat. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm. Yeah. Josh: versus like blind buying a two hundred dollar fragrance is crazy to me now. Liz: The Vapor Parade: yeah. I do it ⁓ only ⁓ ⁓ it's like such a situation. I such a strict regimen where I have to get two samples. ⁓ And if I clear through the sample, the samples, and I'm still like vying for it. If there's a travel size, I'll go for the travel size. If it's on cent split, I'll get a decant of it or another decanting site. And then maybe ⁓ if ⁓ That doesn't exist. I have a few friends that are often willing to go have Cs on a bottle with me. I might do that. Then I will go up to a full-size bottle. But if I go for a full-size bottle, it's usually for something like riv and air, where I know the instant it hits the shelves, gone, done so. And it's so limited edition that if I don't like it for whatever psychotic reason, I know I could sell it potentially even at a profit. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And that's when I'll go full size. ⁓ like at the drop of a hat. Mm-hmm. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Yeah. I'm ordering his newest one because I don't know if when or if we'll get it in stock. And I was messaging with him. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: The rose the rose castorium one. ⁓ he messaged me about that and was like, quick, I have these available. And one of them was tundra, and I really quickly considered it because Dan loves tundra. I'm like, you bastard. Dan Dan, my partner, has accidentally really good taste. He has horrible language around fragrance. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: But ⁓ my god, that man can pick them. Like he picks really good fragrances all the time. He just has high brow taste. And he and it smells so good on him. And Star was so nice, gave us like a really nice little little decant of it. And I was like, you better milk that shit, boy. That's like a $450, like 30 ml. And ⁓ I was seriously considering it. Michelle DeLorenzo: Thank you. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And then he had mentioned the Rose Historian one and I had messaged him back. I was like, wait, is that the Rose one? And by the time he had gotten back to me, he's like, sorry, sold out. I was like, fuck. So you're gonna have to tell me how it is because he he's bangers only. I had Sebastian, ⁓ I had a meeting with Sebastian for Scentfest a couple of weeks ago and I was wearing 1747, but I had put on ⁓ Flower Otica. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Josh: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: I will. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ earlier that day, and I thought it was Flower Otica, and I had it in my bag in addition to 1747 because I was gonna have him smell both. He was like, No, this isn't it, this isn't it. And I was like, ⁓ wait, I put on 1747 before I left. And I handed it to him. He's like, This is so amazing. This is so fucking good. Yeah, it really is. It really is. So he messaged him and immediately as we were sitting there, I was like, Here's his Instagram, message him, he's super nice. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. That is such a Sebastian scent. Josh: Ha ha. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And I think he managed to like finagle like a bottle or two out of him. Michelle DeLorenzo: Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Josh: Nice. Yeah. I was just gonna say I he messaged me on Instagram as well and mentioned that he had a bottle of the Yemeni Ambergree and I was like, ⁓ I do want this, but I also don't remember if I'm allergic to Amber Gree not. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Awesome. Hmm. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Josh: So so I'm gonna have to pass Michelle DeLorenzo: Honestly, if if he gets it available again and you want to try it and you hate it, I will buy a backup bottle off of you. I want to wear this thing. I want to wear this thing daily. This is the absolute epitome best chocolate fragrance I have ever smelled in my life. Nothing comes close. ⁓ so for those who don't know, I think we've talked about it on the podcast before, but this is 1747 ⁓ Yemeni Amber Gold. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm-hmm. I will buy it off of you. I will buy it we will both happily. Josh: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ fucking good. Michelle DeLorenzo: Amberguree, sorry, Yemeni gold ambergris from Rivendare. That was a mouthful. ⁓ and so basically in Yemen they used to put Ambergree in their hot cocoa. And so this is a in taken inspiration from that. And it is absolutely scrumptious. Like I I don't actually have the words to describe how delicious this fragrance is. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes. And the way that it melts into your skin too, it like evolves in such an interesting way where it just like encapsulates your skin and it's not chocolate in an artificial way. It is like it it it it evolves and it almost doesn't smell chocolatey after a while. It becomes it's a whole new world and it is the siage on it is fucking gorgeous. ⁓ it's it's really, really sun. I mean Josh: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: He's just bangers after bangers, that guy. ⁓ Rivendare is really top notch. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Josh: Yeah. Yeah, I have smelled that one on on Mishi. I've not worn it on skin and I was I I'm a little nervous too, just 'cause the last real amber green fragrance I wore gave me full body hives. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm. No. Michelle DeLorenzo: Was it it was it natural hamburgers? Josh: Yeah. It was yeah, ⁓ triple X by Eris. So it could have been the Hierasium or the Ambergreen, I don't know which. Michelle DeLorenzo: Damn. Josh: Yeah. ⁓ anyways, aside from my allergies, you are taking kind of your previous knowledge and experience with both the tech area as well as this ⁓ wine application and the fragrance community and you're kind of merging all of this. Can you tell us a little bit about the the project that's underway and what this looks like? Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. So when I went to I went to Fumed, which was the indie like the big first indie ⁓ fragrance event and I guess conf conference, I don't know what to say, like big indie ⁓ event in Chicago at the end of March. And leading up to it, I was so excited to go and I kept thinking like There's something that's gonna happen here that's gonna like benefit me professionally, and I just don't know what. And I just kept getting this feeling that something was gonna happen and it was gonna like things were gonna align. And I went to ⁓ Perfume Passage, which is this amazing fragrance, like ephemera museum that is in only what I can describe as a manor outside of Chicago. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ it is amazing. Like if you are into antiques or ⁓ you know, vintage fragrances, fragrances in any way, shape, or form, art deco, history, it is such an amazing place to visit. And I am shocked that I didn't know about it before. And now it is like my life's mission to just like mention it anywhere possible. Like if you are ever in the Chicago area, you've gotta like get a visit under your belt to Perfume Passage. So we went through with a bunch of my friends. We were all just like absolutely crapping our pants over all of this like amazing stuff. They had like Napoleon's fragrance boot flas like a boot flask that he kept in his ⁓ kept on him when he went to war that held his fragrance. And then they had a reproduction of the fragrance that was amazing. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ And ⁓ we were leaving, ⁓ and the owners are saying that they were launching app at Fumed called Perfume and that it was based off of Vivino. And I was like, well, guess who you're talking to? Guess who's been working at Vivino for five years? And I told them, I was like, Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: You know, I had actually proposed to our exec team like two years ago that they should ⁓ like, you know, the wine industry is not doing very well, by the way. Like people aren't drinking very much, wine's too expensive. This is like a gl like a more or less global phenomenon. Like it's happening in France too. The French are freaking out about it. ⁓ like wine's down like 25% year over year, like multiple years in a row. Like, yeah, the industry's not doing too hot. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. ⁓ wow. Well Liz: The Vapor Parade: So I was like, you know, guys, what would be really cool is if we did a like sister app that was around fragrance, because one of the things that I really hate is putting in like really long, annoying like fragrance names that are in like French or whatever into whatever fragrance app. And it like just doing the sc bottle scanning is so nice. So they were like, ⁓ my God, are you kidding me? They like freaked out. Then I saw them at Fume the next day. And we were talking and they were showing me the app. And it's very, very, very baby app right now. Like it's only been out for a couple months. And there's a lot that we're going to be adding to it in the next ⁓ few months. But they were like, Could we hire you? Are you still working there? I was like, I'm working there full time, but I could definitely work for you a few hours a week. And Like we had a call a couple weeks later and I've been working for them for over a month now and it's been an absolute joy. Like so it's owned by ⁓ this couple, Jeffrey and Rusty, who are very established in kind of like the perfume ⁓ collecting space. And ⁓ they're yeah, yeah, they're so sweet. They're like what you like what you see is what you get from them. Michelle DeLorenzo: Hell yeah. Mm. Yeah, we love them. We got to meet them at Fume too. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Like Jeffrey has like such a really high EQ. He's like fantastic to work for. The developers that I'm working with and the performance marketing ⁓ team that I'm working with has been like such a joy. And also Ty, who does ⁓ social media for ⁓ perfume passage, is like helping me a little bit with social for ⁓ perfume lens. And I'm just ⁓ helping them with marketing and then also kind of helping with the development process. Josh: Mm. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: giving them kind of some ⁓ insight as to like, ⁓ this is like what Vivino did ⁓ you know, at this stage and of the app development, so on and so forth. So it's a fragrance scanning app and then also a database that they're growing. It's only got like 3,000 bottles in the database right now, but it also, if it does if it isn't in the database and you scan a fragrance, it will kind of pull an AI generated list from the internet. So it's like it's still, you know, figuring things out, getting images uploaded and and all of that. but yeah, it's giving you like a fragrance wardrobe. There's gonna be a bunch of community features added in in the next couple months that will kind of like drip out a little bit at a time. And one of the big things we wanna do is kind of have this like buy the ⁓ by the community for the community kind of a mantra. So there's a lot of opportunities throughout the app to give like live feedback and fill out surveys. And then also over the next couple months, once Scentfest is over, we're gonna host some like live ⁓ calls with the developers and either users, content creators, perfumers to ⁓ give feedback on things that they would like to see in a perfume app, stuff that they have liked in other apps or other websites that they might. want to see on perfume lens or things that may not exist that they would like to see, thing like corrections and stuff. And one of the big things that they really wanted with perfume lens is to have an ad-free experience because they really hate the ⁓ gobbledygook ads on some platforms and also to have like factual verified notes, hopefully to have like some kind of integration with perfumers and brands. Michelle DeLorenzo: Hm. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: where they can go in and like verify the listed notes because we know that some places you pull up the notes and they're like totally inaccurate or f partially inaccurate. Michelle DeLorenzo: It's okay, Liz. I can say it for grantica fucking sucks. ⁓ Liz: The Vapor Parade: And also it's like, yeah, it's it's a good opportunity to yes. And it's a good opportunity to, you know, find another app that you might be more aligned with that isn't, yeah, generally horrible. Josh: Yeah. ⁓ Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Yeah. Yeah. You know, one app that is adamantly anti-queer and one app that is owned that is queer owned. So yes. I know where I'll be going. Sorry, we can cut that if we need to. Liz: The Vapor Parade: By ⁓ yes, exactly, exactly. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Josh: Right. I yeah. I won't. like no, fuck Fagrantica and its owner and everyone that's still using it. You know how terrible they are. ⁓ anyways Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And and inaccurate information. Like that's the thing. You're not getting accurate information. I've seen so many times where where perfumers have complained and so many times that I've noticed that notes were wrong. And then when you read the notes on there and then you smell it, then then as content creators you you just spit out the notes that you're reading on Free Grantica. So now everybody is smelling what you what they think they're smelling and it's not fucking in there. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes. It is. And yeah. Josh: All the time. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: It's so obnoxious. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yep, yep. And it and also the argument of just turning off ⁓ your what is it, turning turning an ad blocker on so they don't get revenue from your visits, I think is a really BS excuse to use Frank Redica. It's just a lazy, lazy excuse, to be entirely frank. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Yeah. Josh: Yeah, the only good thing to come out of Fragrantica is that Instagram page. it smells crazy in here or whatever. Yes. ⁓ I do use Parfumo quite a bit, and it is not a bad ⁓ site or bad app, but I do find the fact that it is natively in German very difficult to navigate. I tried to add EarthStar while we were at Fumed, and I Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes, of the reviews. Michelle DeLorenzo: ⁓ yeah. Mm-hmm. Not at all. Mm-hmm. Josh: It was like learning rocket science. I still cannot find Earth Star on Parfumo. Michelle DeLorenzo: So I didn't know this about the perfumer app until I was hanging out with ⁓ with with Riot Sense in Milan. And he was telling me that it's a marketplace also that you can buy directly through Perfumo. I'm like, I don't know if that's true in the States that might just be in Germany right now. And I'm like, shit, because he he was telling me like there's really great deals to be gotten there. And I'm like, damn it. Perfumo, come on. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Huh. Josh: Not in the US, I don't think yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Interesting. Yeah, must be your Europe only. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's why and that's one of the reasons why we're like fast tracking. Right now there are I think there'll be written reviews coming up on perfume lens in the next like month or so, but we're like fast tracking a bunch of community ⁓ features because I don't know if you saw that like Business of Fashion article that came out that was like Fran Gretica's like the second most visited beauty site on the globe behind Sephora. And ⁓ one of the things that I kept seeing over and over again is like, well, I really like the forums. I really like the community features, blah blah blah. And I'm like, I mean, I think that might be something that Parfumo might be lacking in some instances, is the like ⁓ depth of those community features aren't as robust as Fran Gretica, unfortunately. Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yeah, but I do like perfumo per personally as well. Yeah. They're a good one. Josh: So knowing that it is a baby app, ⁓ lots of features to come, and we should download it, we should support, we should try to try to use it as we can. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes. Yes, absolutely. Because ⁓ for me, I think like ⁓ I I try to scan things and if something doesn't pop up, it's really easy to just be like, Hey, ⁓ this is what isn't in there, a quick little one liner, throw it in and usually they'll like upload it within twenty four hours. And that is more or less the formula that got Vivino to where it is today is you know Michelle DeLorenzo: Yes. Liz: The Vapor Parade: it it takes a long time to build those databases out, especially for some for people like us who are into really weird like, you know, off-brand stuff that are usually available in like one store in the United States. it's a a nice way to exercise the app and see like, ⁓ does it pop up or does it not pop up? And ⁓ yeah, you should definitely support it. It's like just a part of, you know, setting like those solid foundations and ensuring the information is correct. And then, ⁓ you know, the goal beyond getting like some user feedback and generating that database and building those features out, which we're building super fast, by the way. Like the speed at which the developers are moving is like actually super impressive. ⁓ is getting perfumers involved as well and helping like guide it from ⁓ an educational standpoint and then also like through that verified lens, and so that they can have some level of control over the their products that are being surfaced on the app as well, which I think is very important. Michelle DeLorenzo: That is we we love to hear that. What a novel idea, perfumers being involved in their creations. ⁓ man. Liz: The Vapor Parade: I know, right? Josh: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Ha ha. Josh: So more broadly speaking, do you think that just like the curiosity is more important than the expertise? Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ absolutely. Because I believe that curiosity leads to a level of expertise. ⁓ I think that's one thing that has ⁓ benefited, like ⁓ I think that's one thing that's been very true for a lot of like my longest and oldest friendships and like my relationship with my partner is that there's always a level of curiosity and kind of intensity about like learning about things that you don't know about and having Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ a moment of recognition where you're like, I don't know about this thing, so let me figure it out and learn about it and satisfy that level of curiosity. I think it's ⁓ it it it leads to that expertise after after a while. And ⁓ I I'm always been somebody who's like really eager about learning and educating myself and filling those gaps. I one of I I hate not knowing about things in general. I think like ⁓ growing up, I was always that person that had like really weird facts to just rattle off for no reason. It might be because I I had ADHD that was undiagnosed for a really long time and for better or for worse, it's like one of those things. But ⁓ yeah, I think that you know, having having a level of curiosity and ⁓ an eagerness to learn is is critical and leads to a lot of, you know, good understanding. And also with things like perfume and wine, you will never be an expert. I want to make that so fucking clear. Like anyone who says that they're a true hundred percent expert about wine is lying to you. Or they have like a horrible ego. Like, ⁓ you know, and I feel the same way and I've talked to perfumers about this too and Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: The ones that I've spoken to tend to agree is that there's always something new at that's coming to the table. There's always something that's changing ⁓ here and there. And you'll you can be a student of those worlds in perpetuity and you'll still not know everything. so yeah, I think it's a it's a good those are good ones to go into if you're like an eternally curious person. Michelle DeLorenzo: So moving into our closing ritual, Liz, if fragrance disappeared tomorrow, what would you miss the most? Liz: The Vapor Parade: follow-up question. Fragrance as in perfume or the ability to smell? ⁓ general fragrance. ⁓ Both. Okay. ⁓ if I lost the ability to smell, I think that, you know, it it would be like taking the hues taking ⁓ you know, the highlights ⁓ a painting down several notches. Those ⁓ Michelle DeLorenzo: Ooh. Josh: Both. Both. Why ask a follow up? Just say both. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: ⁓ extra nuances that bring ⁓ you know joy to your life would kind of be muted in a way. I was in a flo like for instance, I was in a flower shop last week because it's towards the end of spring and there's still like tons of awesome flowers that are in season that you don't get most months out of the year. And just going through and getting to experience how beautiful they are, but also the nuance and how they all smell is like such a joy, you know? And ⁓ so I think that it's ⁓ it it tickles the senses in a very unique way that a lot of other things don't. And there's always ⁓ it it allows you to also kind of slow down and experience certain nuances in life that you might ignore in the day to day. just trying to like get by, you're hustling to work, trying to get shit done and all of that. And taking a moment to like sit and like just smell mint in your yard is a very lovely ritual that I think is very beneficial and good for your mental health and and all that. So yeah. I I would be I would be a less happy person probably overall. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. I agree. Same. Josh: What are some perfumes that you keep coming back to, no matter how many you smell? Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm, I think there's a general theme of resinous scents, s scents that have a smoky quality to them. ⁓ also I'm having a big moment coming back into florals after deserting them for quite a while. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: and I think that's because there's some ⁓ my I think though one thing that I always l like to say is I love an unusual application of any note because it ultimately gets me into it. And ⁓ for instance, the Epicron line from Michael Wong, like it's a there's a smoky through line, there's like smoke through all of those fragrances. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: And it there's one in particular Pudra that I cannot get enough of. Do you have Night Child? It's so good. Twin Peaks. Twin Peaks, I mean, honestly, like the three of them. I was talking to Michael about it. I was like, the the tr the the trio of those fragrances is so perfect because you can just cycle through them all year round. Nightchild is great, like fall, you know, spring transition scent. Michelle DeLorenzo: I have twin peaks. Ugh. Mm. Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Twin Peaks is fantastic for the winter and deep fall. And then Poodra, which ⁓ came out more recently, is like ⁓ my god, it is so I cannot get enough of it right now. It is a fantastic like spring-summer scent. It's this like heliotrope ambrette with this like really vague layer of smoke underneath, and it is unlike anything I've smelt before. Michelle DeLorenzo: Haven't smelled that one yet. Liz: The Vapor Parade: It is absolutely gorgeous. He describes it as an iris scent, but there are no like disclosed iris, there's not disclosed iris in the notes, but it's like a purpley flower ambrette ⁓ smoky fragrance. And that line of fragrances does not get enough of enough flowers in general. ⁓ yeah, yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Hmm. Yeah. Well, I'm gonna need Michael Wong to restock because I think that's probably the biggest reason is that they're always out of stock and I want more. Liz: The Vapor Parade: I know. They are. They are. They are. I know. I know. And they're so they're so fucking good. But yeah, I'd say that like resinous sense because also I grew up a cradle Catholic. I went to Catholic school K through eight and for better or for worse, I mean I hated going to church, but ⁓ r religion they they they they rock the resins for a reason. They do have some kind of spiritual quality to them. And ⁓ yeah, the the resins, the the smoky ⁓ notes and then I think I think the flowers are gonna stay. those kinds of like eternal classics ⁓ in my mind are are the ones that I always kind of go back to. But I love an unusual application of all of those things. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. ⁓ I have two that I'm sort of rediscovering in my collection again. So I have incense water from Santa Jardine, which is unfortunately a brand that is not around anymore. ⁓ the perfumer behind this was ⁓ Car Carlos Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm. Michelle DeLorenzo: Benjamin It was one that when I first smelled it, like I enjoyed it. And then when I heard that I couldn't get it anymore, I like I needed it immediately. ⁓ and it's this really watery rose with this like kind of airy incense in the base that's really pleasing. ⁓ you know, it I struggled with rose for so long, and it's definitely one that stood out to me as like really exceptionally different and beautiful. I I'm sad that this one is not around anymore and I will probably have to find another bottle of it. ⁓ also, and it's funny because I put these two on my the internet's weird. I put these two on my desk and then I searched for one and then this one also came up. I'm like, wait a minute. ⁓ but this is in plain air from Jouesans. And I this is just like a really beautiful, like bright zippy citrus that ⁓ it Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm. Michelle DeLorenzo: F it feels like you're expressing the oils from an orange and lemon peel. ⁓ I love it so much. It's so effervescent. And this is the kind of scent profile that I think I'm really drawn to this time of year. Like I want something that's gonna make me feel refreshed. But yeah, those two are there. I'm living with them a little bit right now. Josh: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: What about you, Josh? Josh: I think it's gonna surprise no one to hear me say Ghost to View by Mythologia. it is the the scent that really changed a lot for me in the fragrance landscape. ⁓ cat knows how much I love it. And like I've repeatedly said, like, if something were to happen, if my house were to burn down and I had to start my collection over again, finding a way to get to the UK to get a bottle of Ghost of View would be the number one. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Mm. Mm. Ha ha ha. Josh: ⁓ I always go back to it. It doesn't matter how many cardamom musks I smell, it doesn't matter like that's the one. ⁓ and then my easy second would be Loves by Philippo, if it weren't for the fact that I am still lusting so heavily over outer realm by right of way. ⁓ Loves is like my like velvet blanket. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Mm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm. Michelle DeLorenzo: Yeah. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Mm. Yeah, those are both so good. Josh: ⁓ of of perfume. I love it so much. I love how it wears. I also love an incense. But Outer Realm by Right of Way is such a sparkling presentation of incense that's so different. I don't know which of those two I would gravitate towards if I had to pick between the two. Liz: The Vapor Parade: It's so good. Outer Realm is like the incense you could wear in like the h on the hottest summer day and get away with it. It was so unusual. And I'm right there with you with Loves. I thought that Avignon would be my go to, but there's some kind of and the Loves and Avignon from Comte de Garcane are quite similar. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Liz: The Vapor Parade: But there's something about Laves that I think g it has a little bit more nuance to it or it's a little bit less ⁓ straightforward, I guess, than Avignon is, where I I think that one would be like the the ultimate church scent in a lot of ways. Yeah, yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm. Yeah. Josh: Yeah, I saw a content creator that was doing a a TikTok that was series on like Catholic guilt fragrances and was like, You don't have to research this, it's lobs. He literally is the atelier of the Pope. Like Michelle DeLorenzo: Exactly. Okay. Liz: The Vapor Parade: A hundred percent. I saw that exact same one and it was like a very long series and I kept saying it's it's Filippo Sorcinelli or it's Avignon from Comte de Garçon just because it's been around for so long. That was made in like 1999. Like yeah, yeah, yeah. But I mean, yeah, let's be real. Who's the greatest like Catholic slutty boy? Michelle DeLorenzo: Mm-hmm. Josh: Yeah. Michelle DeLorenzo: Like to throw one. I'd like to throw one in there if you want a churchy incense fragrance that also feels appropriate for hot ass weather. Faces of Francis from Wilhelm. I quite enjoy that one. It's very bright and very ⁓ it it feels like the church doors are open on a spring day and there's beams of light, like. Pulling through and sort of like the smoke is wisping through those beams of light. I love that one. It's one of my favorite Wilhelm fragrances. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Hmm. Michelle DeLorenzo: you ⁓ so much for joining us and chatting with us tonight. you tell the where to find you? Liz: The Vapor Parade: Yes, you can find me on TikTok at The Vapor Parade. or you can find me on Instagram at The VaporParade. I should have a Vapor Parade website up soon where you can buy my wares Josh: so thank you much for joining us, ⁓ Liz. ⁓ And if for that are interested, please check out Perfume Lens. It's available on the app stores. And if you enjoyed this episode, like and subscribe. It helps us reach new audiences. Thank you so much. Michelle DeLorenzo: Love you. Bye. Liz: The Vapor Parade: Thank you, lovey bye.