Sniff and find connection? These hip fragrance gatherings tantalize L.A.'s 'smellers' - BERITAJA

On a Thursday nighttime successful West Hollywood, a sleek, multi-level townhome is filled pinch stylish guests holding fragrance vials the measurement partygoers cling to cocktails. They raise scents to their noses arsenic they mingle and float done the space.

In 1 nook, 2 well-known faces successful the fragrance community, Tishni Weerasinghe (@thatbrownperfumegirl) and Chase Chapman (@thescentchase), big stations pinch their favourite location scents — pre-bedtime spritzes to mundane comforts for moving from location — arsenic a mini group leans in, asking questions and noting which scents resonate. Inhaling the blend of achromatic musk, floral notes and amber of Rouat Al Musk by Lattafa, a $16 fragrance from Weerasinghe’s collection, attendees oooh and motion successful enthusiastic approval.

In different corner, guests effort fragrance pairings, scents expertly paired pinch drinks, letting the aroma and flavors mingle done their senses. Outside connected the rooftop, the crowd spills into smaller conversations complete refreshments and metropolis views.

Sarah Bowen, co-founder of the Smellers Club, sniffs a fragrance.

This is the Smellers Club. To an outsider, it mightiness look for illustration a gathering centered about a niche fixation, but wrong this world, fragrance is overmuch much expansive. Here, it’s a span betwixt people, a instrumentality for self-expression, a measurement to understand your ain sensation and increasingly, a logic to connect. The night’s gathering is taking spot successful the location of Daniel Scott and Ronn Richardson, the duo down the good location fragrance statement Space.

Some guests are simply scent-curious, while others person heavy roots successful the world of fragrance. One attendee, Jess Blaise, the co-founder of Haitian Spotlight LA, credits her Haitian practice and the fragrance rituals modeled by her mother for her relationship to scent. She precocious purchased a vessel of Carnal Flower by Frederic Malle for her individual collection, a luxe tuberose known for its achromatic floral floor plan and entreaty among niche collectors. Of her culture, she explains, “Part of your position — of dressing up — is your scent.”

The gathering was hosted successful the location of Daniel Scott, left, and Ronn Richardson, co-founders of the location fragrance marque Space. Space offers a scope of luxury location fragrances and candles.

Across Los Angeles, fragrance clubs are transforming what was erstwhile a solo ritual into thing communal. From rooftop gatherings successful West Hollywood to casual parkland meetups further east, these hangouts pat into a increasing desire for laid-back, low-stimulation ways to walk clip together, offering an replacement to the accustomed rotation of restaurants, bars and crowded nights out.

Reverie of Scent turns a mini nook of Elysian Park into a mini fragrance lounge connected Saturday mornings erstwhile a month. Founded successful November 2025 by Marian Botrous, pinch support from her husband, Errol, and her sister, Marlene, the nine started pinch conscionable 4 members astatine the first meetup. By their sixth gathering this past April, attendance had quintupled, pinch a operation of regulars and newcomers astatine each session.

“It’s a immense world,” Botrous says of perfume. “Exploring it together makes it much interesting.”

Fragrance lovers bent retired connected the rooftop astatine Smellers Club’s West Hollywood gathering.

At her picnic-like gatherings, attendees show up pinch blankets, snacks and scents to switch aliases discuss. With 2-milliliter samples moving up to $12, “collecting caller scents gets costly fast,” Bostrous says. “Our meetups make it accessible and fun.”

There’s a operation of casual socializing and system chat — conversations person explored the motivations down wearing fragrance, from seduction to individual comfort, arsenic good arsenic the taste effect of definite perfumes, for illustration Chanel No. 5 and its relationship to Marilyn Monroe and old-school luxury glamour. At 1 meetup, a personnel brought successful a fragrance called Scentless Apprentice, inspired by the caller “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by Patrick Süskind (which Kurt Cobain loved truthful overmuch that he wrote the Nirvana opus “Scentless Apprentice”).

Artist Megan Lindeman, who founded Silverlake Scent Club successful August 2025, is besides bringing group together to research scent arsenic a shared societal experience. Lindeman says she was inspired by Los Angeles’ broader scent civilization and a curiosity about what it would consciousness for illustration to halfway smell successful a communal setting. The group meets monthly successful her Silver Lake backyard, wherever attendees research fragrance arsenic some worldly and memory.

Black Girl Perfume Club was founded successful 2023 by Taylyn Washington-Harmon, launching online earlier expanding into in-person meetups. Across Substack, Instagram and IRL gatherings, it brings together fragrance lovers and newcomers eager to deepen their knowing successful an interactive way. “I started the nine backmost erstwhile fragrance’s fame was still beautiful niche, and now seeing it move into the mainstream is really exciting,” says Washington-Harmon. As liking grows, she hopes much group will besides research the scope of artistry produced by Black-owned fragrance lines.

Back astatine the location successful West Hollywood, group proceed to vibe astatine the arena led by Sarah Bowens and Jon Kidd, Los Angeles natives and the duo down the Smellers Club, launched successful January. They’re siblings-in-law who grew up together successful the religion and are speedy to statement that their respective partners, Zana and Zion, are unofficial squad members and rock-star supporters.

Jess Blaise tests retired a scent by Selnu.

Between the some of them, Kidd brings the “fraghead” power — a sanction for fragrance devotees who bring a passion and definite fluency of fragrance culture. Bowens, who comes from an events background, heads curation and considers herself much successful the opening stages of her fragrance journey.

When they first started hosting these events, Bowens wasn’t judge really captivating they’d be. “I was like, could group really beryllium present for hours and talk about fragrance?” she says. She sewage her reply quickly, watching guests chat, laughter and dive into lively conversations for hours.

Kidd points to vino and book clubs arsenic “event muses” for the Smellers Club. “At a definite point, it stops being about the books aliases the vino — and for us, moreover the fragrances,” he says. “It becomes about the people.”

Chase Chapman sets up scents from his individual postulation of fragrances for guests to observe astatine the Smellers Club gathering.

As group navigate adulthood and individual maturation cycles, challenging habits and shedding aged identities, location are a fewer underlying questions: Who americium I, really? What do I really like? And what feels bully and successful alignment pinch being astatine ease? Fragrance communities could beryllium a amazingly grounding spot to research these existential meditations. Bowens, for example, was precocious drawn to strawberry-forward Fruits of Love by Dossier, which amazed her since she considered herself personification who didn’t for illustration fruity scents. Such realizations are acquainted successful the community: You could miss retired connected thing satisfying simply because it doesn’t lucifer your predefined tastes.

Farah Elawamry, a fragrance-focused contented creator known arsenic Farah’s Thoughts, has examined fragrance trading and its ties to rigid gender norms, explaining that “the iris statement is ever fixed to women’s fragrances and orris is ever fixed to the masculine fragrance genre, and they’re virtually the aforesaid statement — 1 is the root, 1 is the flower.” Once you commencement diving into the history and psychology of fragrances, she says “you statesman to mobility what you really for illustration versus what trading group are telling you to enjoy.”

Compared pinch the emblematic nightlife segment successful Los Angeles, attendee Shaunt Kludjian says gatherings for illustration these consciousness much intentional. “This turned retired to beryllium amended than the clubs successful L.A.” he says. “Everyone’s conscionable vibing and connecting complete scent.” Kludjian is laminitis of the Los Angeles candle institution Whiff and came to the arena to network. Frustrated by accepted candle formats, he launched a statement of portable candles packaged successful small, tuna-like tins designed to make “home travel you wherever you go.”

As Kidd looks about and watches strangers go friends complete a sniff of musk aliases jasmine, he reflects connected portion of the magic of the Smellers Club and different fragrance communities.

“Fragrance is simply a portal to your memory,” he says. “So by coming to thing curated that’s a awesome night, you’re ingraining a memory.”

What started arsenic a mobility of what smells bully has go thing other — mini moments of nickname betwixt galore group who, conscionable hours earlier, had been full strangers. Maybe that’s the point. The bottles will get put away. Everyone will return to their abstracted corners of the city. But the emotion of being seen, of uncovering your group — moreover concisely — sticks pinch you agelong aft the scents dissipate.