About

Who am I?

My name is Jessica Murphy. 

In my scented life, I’ve been a contributor at the leading perfume blog Now Smell This since late 2006, writing reviews of fragrances and scented body products. I started blogging on my own in 2012 and founded this blog, under this name, in 2017.

You can also find me on Substack and Instagram!

photo by Tessa Liebman @scentsofplates

I’m an art historian and museum professional with a passion for perfume, always looking for new ways to connect art, fragrance, history, and popular culture. I’m an independent writer and I’m not compensated financially by fragrance brands for anything I write at Now Smell This or on this site. 

Since 2015 I’ve offered presentations about the history and culture of fragrance at venues like the Brooklyn Brainery, the Brooklyn Museum, the Institute for Art and Olfaction, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and public libraries in New Jersey and New York. You can find more info on my Events page.

I’ve also done freelance writing work for retail sites including Mad Perfumer and Fragrancenet.

For a round-up of my press mentions, please see my Press page.

My Fragrance Writing on Other Sites

Viscose Journal, issue #7: “‘All about the body’: The Aromatic Anatomy of Donna Karan’s First Perfume” (November 2024)

Sainte Cellier Journal: “A Telltale Heart: Alexander McQueen’s Kingdom.” April 19, 2024.

Olfactive Material: “Suzanne Lenglen: Perfume pour le sport,” Issue 1, May 2021

Odorbet: “The Scent Seller.” December 13, 2020

Atlas Obscura: “Ann Haviland, Forgotten Mastermind of the Celebrity Scent.” December 19, 2017.

Biography.com: “Celebrity Perfumes: Fame in a Bottle.” July 22, 2014.

Podcasts, Etc.

Decoder Ring (Slate), “Mailbag: Scent Strips.” December 18, 2024.

Perfume on the Radio, Episode 2.3: “The Perfumer’s Cat.” March 24, 2022.

VPRO (Dutch public broadcasting), Het Spoor Terug, “Chanel No. 5: spiegel van de tijd,” December 19, 2021.

Perfume on the Radio, Episode 1.7: “Mythical Beasts.” April 8, 2021.

Sylvia & Me, “Perfume Professor.” February 16, 2021.

Perfume on the Radio, Episode 1.3: “Questions of Class.” January 2021.

What’s my favorite fragrance?

It’s impossible for me to pick just one, but a few of my long-time loves (some of which are now discontinued, alas) are Diptyque L’Ombre dans L’Eau, L’Artisan Parfumeur Drôle de Rose, Guerlain Après L’Ondée, Caron Nuit de Noël, Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin, CB I Hate Perfume At the Beach, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Rosé, and Frédéric Malle Lipstick Rose.