Burning questions with Perfume Room’s Emma Vernon 👀✨

Addison Rae, bad dates, cat breath, and more

To the fragrance-obsessed, Emma Vernon is essentially a pop star. The New York-based scent whisperer hosts the cult-fave podcast Perfume Room, where she talks scent with everyone from master perfumers like Frank Voelkl to random fragheads like Anna. With Smell Club, she leads a monthly virtual event for listeners to discover new scents together, like a book club but with perfume! She’s also a comedian and matchmaker, matching people to people and with perfume. Below, we pick her brain on some very important questions.

Photo by Ashley Markle for WWD

First things first: how many spritzes do you apply, and where?

I have no set ‘spritz routine.’ Depending on the day, time, occasion, fragrance, my current mental state at time of application, etc. it might be as little as 2, as many as like… 20? At the minimum, I’m doing wrists and neck. At the maximum, add to that arms, inner elbows, front and back of neck, chest, stomach, back, and clothes too. And a few sprays that I walk into (for good luck).

What was the first perfume you ever bought? What’s the last one you bought?

First: Gap Dream!

Last: Le Pere!

You’re a dating expert—what’s the best date fragrance?

Whatever makes you feel most sexy. Lucky for humanity, we’re not all into the same people, or smells. Confidence, though, is ubiquitously attractive. If you’re wearing a perfume that feels like your secret weapon, you’ll act like it is too. And if this wasn’t the answer you’re looking for from me, then fine—I’d say a soft but diffusive skin musk. Something like Nemat Amber (which is a purse-sized, $18 cheap thrill btw) is universally pleasing, smells good on everyone, and is a light, airy smell with a big sillage.

What were the fragrance notes of your worst date ever?

Oh -- def, a lawyer who told me what he’d be making hourly if he weren’t with me on a date and then of course Venmo’d me the second after I declined a future one. 🙃

If I had to scent that date (ok I’ll admit, there were 3 (I was 24 and the bar was 6-ft under)), it’s prob a perfume I’d actually wear tbh…

· juniper berry (drank too many G&Ts on our first date to make good decisions, which unfortunately led to a second…)

· poopy indoles – I remember telling him I was a type b/messy person and that he in no way gave me a similar vibe. He told me he did occasionally have ‘shit on his bed.’ Jokingly (BECAUSE IT WAS FUNNY), I was like ‘well if you have shit on your bed, we have bigger problems.’ Then, he angrily replied, ‘not actual shit.’ Would you have laughed? Reply ‘Y’ or ‘N’ in the comments 😘

· Leather – I remember him pulling up to our second date in a limo (lol). If my memory is exaggerating, it was at least like a corporate black car.

Wait, I would wear this scent. I do. It’s Lubin Korrigan.

What’s a perfume that destroyed you? (Emotionally, financially, spiritually?)

I’ve been sitting with this question for like 10 minutes wondering if there’s something wrong with me. No scent has destroyed me? There are a few that make me think of people I no longer speak to (ex-relationships, friends, whatever) but I am also deeply nostalgic, so even smells that evoke bad memories still… feel good?

(No drunken night has ever ruined any alcohol for me either, so maybe I’m just incredibly ~resilient~?)

You’re also a comedian—what do you wear on stage?

I don’t know if I can claim the title anymore since I am not performing regularly, but when I was (2016-2020) it would have been Essential Faith (overpriced version of Nemat Amber), Le Labo Bergamote 22 liquid balm, or Glossier You, prob all layered with random headshop roll-on oils claiming to be aphrodisiacs.

Are there any scents you’re a little embarrassed to love?

Honestly – no. Although I love the smell of my cat’s breath, which smells like low tide, and that feels like something I should keep to myself.

Who’s your favorite perfumer and what are their hits?

I love different perfumers for different signatures so it’s impossible to pick one. In terms of who has created the most scents that I wear the most often, the answer is Olivier Pescheux (RIP). I would describe his style as chic, tailored, complex but easy to wear, and very signature. ‘Parisian chic’ gets thrown around too casually, but to me, that’s totally the essence of his style.

Some of my faves from him include Diptyque Orpheon, Benjoin Boheme, Eau Capitale and Essential Parfums Vanille Divine. Also, like perfumery’s Robin Hood, he apparently duped some of his greatest hits for H&M’s now defunct fragrance line (which cost like $7/bottle.) I haven’t been able to get my nose on most of them so I cannot confirm, but he did create my fave cheapie, which happens to be another H&M scent: Pear. It smells like a cross between a green apple jolly rancher x Herbal Essences.

I could easily rattle 30 other perfumers and what I’d seek each of them out for…

What perfume house has your favorite branding?

Clue Perfumery is brilliant. The inspiration, packaging, copy, design – all of it! Their new butter-inspired scent comes wrapped like an actual stick of butter.

What celebrity should have a fragrance, and what would it smell like?

Addison Rae, who already technically has her own fragrance line, but it feels very aligned with her image PRE- alt it-girl rebrand. In 2023, she launched an entire line of ‘mood-boosting’ fragrances that are all named [Insert Emotion] AF. The bottles are neon, ombre, and pebble-shaped and the copy reads like it was written by a tired elder millennial. The entire rise of Addison Rae needs to be studied and I would love to see how she’d approach a fragrance now. (I still feel like a fruity body splash scent makes so much sense for her, but I just think the marketing could be so much more intentional.)

What does your favorite movie smell like?

I’m not someone who has a favorite movie or tv show for that matter (but I do keep a list in my phone for emergency situations like these(!). No list required though because James & The Giant Peach was the first one that came to mind.

Big juicy peach, concrete, salt breeze, and each character would have their own scent too…Grasshopper = celery, Spider = a rose chypre, Ladybug = violet leaf, earthworm = dirt, Mr. Centipede = tobacco.

If you had to commit to just one scent for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Probably Orpheon for its versatility, but signature quality.

📸📸📸Camera Roll 📸📸📸
😻 Emma Vernon Edition 😻

Emma’s cat Violet to be paired with How You Love by Jazmin Saraï.