The Notebook

on beauty & fragrance

Personal notes on perfume, beauty and the ingredients behind familiar names. Associations, memories and the small details that invite a closer look.

My Notes1–2 of 2 notes

What is castor oil?

Black outline illustration of a castor oil plant with palmate leaves and seed capsules beside a puzzled beaver, its head tilted and broad flat tail visible.

Castor oil comes from a plant. Castoreum is an animal-derived perfume material whose scent can also be reconstructed. A closer look at cosmetic labels and fragrance notes.

Beauty & Fragrance

Can a Perfume Capture a Place?

Outline illustration of an imagined waterfront seen through an open window, with a plain perfume bottle, leaves, a moored boat and distant hills.

A fragrance can evoke a destination through memory and imagination, then gather new meanings as we wear it.

Beauty & Fragrance