Deborah Vance's Signature Scent and Djo's Vera Bradley Obsession
Hi! Hope everyone is enjoying the beginnings of spring and is horrified by our continuing plummet into fascism! This week let’s talk about what I’m into at the moment, Deborah Vance from Hacks, and some Scraps with Djo (aka Joe Keery). Also, going to have a very cool interview coming up that I’m going to paywall in the next few weeks, so get those credit cards out.
What I’m Into
I read two really great fragrance related articles this week. One from British GQ about the mysterious fragrance Avestan that was Deciem founder Brandon Truaxe's final project that he worked on before his untimely death. You’ve certainly heard of Deciem before because they own The Ordinary (my recommendation: the AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution). Writer Olivia Ovenden does a deep dive into the fragrance and the different notes that many claim it smells like since no one really knows. It’s such a compelling read and I need to smell this scent ASAP. I also loved Dirt’s Diary of a Fragrance Diplomat, a week’s diary from Em Seely-Katz about working at Portland, Oregon’s oldest niche fragrance house. It’s dishy, has great information about fragrance, and made me laugh—Seely-Katz saying they were targeted as an “olfactory unicorn” for a couple is the funniest phrasing.
I went on a wonderful press trip to Puerto Rico last week. I had never been before and had the best time and met several very glamorous women, including one who said that she “loves sexy things.” I brought my warm weather scents to try out some newer ones. A couple didn’t work that well on me (D.S.& Durga Grapefruit Generation, Ellis Brooklyn Sunfruit, which I was particularly bummed about because I love fig scents. Both felt kinda powdery on me?). But I gravitated to Jusbox’s Carioca Heart which I got at the end of last summer and didn’t get to wear enough. It has notes of pineapple and mango with sandalwood and rhum absolute. It’s totally dreamy—I basically used most of it there. I got Brown Girl Jane’s Carousel at the Fragrance Foundation pop up and it’s based in gourmand more than I usually get into—spun sugar, caramelized apple, SANDALWOOD CREME (which sounds like a dessert that would be on Top Chef—this Toronto based season is excellent) But the black currant and cherry leather with some musk really balance it out into something I’ll be wearing a lot once it’s warmer.
What Does Deborah Vance’s Signature Scent ‘Black Pashmina’ Smell Like?
Hacks in my humble opinion is one of the best shows currently airing and the show’s fourth season began a couple weeks ago just might be my favorite so far. The complicated friendship between standup comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) has gone through its ebbs and flows of success and hatred. Right now, Deborah and Ava might be at the pinnacle of both, after Ava blackmails Deborah to get the head writer position for Deborah’s new late night show. But it used to be a simpler time back in season 2 when Deborah and Ava were on the road, trying out new material across the country.
In season 2's episode 5 “Retired,” we learn one of the most important things a person can learn about another person—their signature scent. Deborah’s is Black Pashmina that Damien (Mark Indelicato) has the unfortunate news of letting Deborah know is being discontinued. As the fragrance she’s worn for 25 years, she’s rightfully distraught, which takes them on a massive detour to buy out the Black Pashmina stock at a “nearby” (200 miles out of the way) Lord & Taylor where she even takes the testers. She calculates that in order to wear Black Pashmina until the end of her life (ideally at 109) she’ll need 57 bottles.
To my knowledge, Black Pashmina is not mentioned again probably since Deborah has all the bottles she needs, but what exactly do we think Black Pashmina smells like? The easy option is that it smells like an older woman, a department store staple of the 80s and 90s like Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds which has notes of rose, neroli, and jasmine. But Deborah doesn’t seem like a powdery, heavy floral, kinda woman to me. A Hacks subreddit gets into what her fragrance might smell like, also mentioning classics like Donna Karan’s Black Cashmere and YSL’s Opium. However, my first thought when thinking about what Black Pashmina might smell like would be Tom Ford’s Black Orchid—it’s a classic scent, one that announces when you enter the room, and is glamorous. Similarly to Black Cashmere and Opium, there are patchouli notes and sweetness, but I imagine Deborah veering a little less intense, just since her presence is already intense sans fragrance. Black Orchid has Mexican chocolate, orchid, amber and some other intense notes, so I think Deborah needs a bit more lightness thrown in there. What came up in my research might be the closest to what could potentially be Black Pashmina is Van Cleef and Arpels Precious Oud, a scent that the internet fragrance girlies say is a near dupe of Black Orchid except lighter. It has similar notes like bergamot but I think the notes of iris, tuberose, and jasmine feel like a good middle ground with the allure of Black Orchid which Deborah oozes in spades and a bit of a lighter touch that she can better barb you with.
Scraps: Djo
I got to have breakfast with Djo (aka Joe Keery’s musical ‘alter ego’) for his new album The Crux which recently came out and is very good. We were at the Bowery Hotel in early March, where I had recently been to talk with Bing, the Great Dane from The Friend, at a “doggy influencer” press day. He was even cuter than one could imagine and very nice and smart to chat with. There were two things that particularly stood out during our interview. First, he put a bit of salt on his banana and honey toast to the horror of his publicist. I get it, you want sweet and salty! Secondly, if you haven’t watched his incredible cover of Haim’s “Gasoline,” I hope you smash that link right now. We talked about how ready we were for new Haim before they announced “Relationships” when we talked in early March. Then this happened.
I do not know which Haim it was or if he got the single earlier which came out the next week.
“Basic Being Basic” has so far been the big single from The Crux (I’m personally partial to “Potion”) and I was obsessed with his name dropping of Vera Bradley—the quilted bags that haunted my Ohio college campus, so I asked him about it.
Vera if you are reading this, you gotta find Joe Keery.
Perfume Ad of The Week
The bottle exploding into all the smoke (?) which I guess is supposed to be the fragrance is weirdly funny to me.
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