Welcome to the perfume room, my send of the day today, very appropriately for this episode, for this time of year, and for the fact that my birthday is indeed tomorrow, is Aris Scorpio Rising.

I will hold off on my thoughts on this fragrance for right now, because you will indeed

hear them later in this episode because I have no chill, and I simply cannot meet my favorite

artists without telling them why I love their art. Spoiler alert, if you're not picking up what I'm

putting down, is that today's guest is, of course, the perfumer behind this wonderful scent.

Today we are joined by legendary perfumer Antoine Lee. It's interesting. In this episode,

you'll hear Antoine reference several of the fragrances that he reveres specifically for their

pivotal signatures and contributions

to the world of perfumery. And personally, as a perfume lover, the reason that I, and I know

so many of you, admire Antoine's work, is for this exact same reason. Antoine Lee is masterful

at creating distinct and culture-defining signatures. In fact, you know

and wear many of them. Versace Crystal Noir, Armani Code, Com de Gerson Wonderwood, the entire

heirs perfumes line, secretion magnifique, and so many of the Atat-Lebe fragrances. He's created

perfumes for Tom Ford, Trudan, Givonchi, Kenzo, Elizabeth Arden, Ubigant, and other burgeoning niche brands like Les Indemadab and Les Abstray, and I am merely scratching the surface.

Antoine's career is fascinating. He's classically trained, and he spent the majority of his career holding big positions at major oil houses.

Today, however, he operates independently of, as he calls it, the industrial perfumery world.

He owns his own company and works primarily in the niche space.

Now, I don't do my standard hot take question at the beginning of this conversation, because to be clear, this episode is chock full of

them. You will love this conversation. And guess what? Have I got good news for you? It's a two-parter.

Today, you will hear from Antoine about what inspires him, how he became a perfumer, and what he

thinks it takes to be a successful one. He shares his thoughts on the current state of fragrance

and why he ultimately chose to leave the corporate world.

...