Sniffapalooza Spring Fling!
By Raphaella Brescia Barkley
I would like to share with you how the Spring Fling weekend made
me feel and what it meant to me.
Sniffapalooza represents everything positive to me. What a breath
of fresh air! Especially after reading other blogs and fragrance
forums that purposely seem to denigrate others in the industry.
Writers of some of these postings often berate those in the
perfume business while hidden behind the anonymous cloak of
cyberspace. While we all certainly have the right to express
our opinion, it’s becoming a huge turn-off to see posts that only
serve to trash others in the industry.
I give a great sigh of relief that Sniffapalooza is a more open,
public place where people meet face to face and share their
experiences and their love of fragrance. I have a great deal of
respect for the people that I meet at Sniffapalooza and for that
shared experience.
Fragrance is about beauty and art. Maybe that thought doesn't hold true for everyone, but for everyone I know, it does. The positive energy was high at the Sniffapalooza event. There was a solid connection that ran though all of us. People were open, laughing and excited at meeting each other. This was a true celebration! And the shopping; well, the credit cards were flying high.
You will not find an organization like this in the world. Where else do you see the small perfumer alongside the huge perfume houses, all sharing a common bond of fragrance? Where else can you learn about and test fragrances from perfumers you have just recently discovered or never even heard of? What about the fragrances you have heard of, and now, they all are here for you to try. They beckon, don’t they? They all have a voice. Sniffapalooza gives us a chance to meet with perfumers in the industry, famous as well as up and coming young perfumers. The chance to meet such artists; is a once in a lifetime opportunity, one that I truly appreciate.
In that atmosphere of professionalism and respect for others, you have the additional benefit of meeting new friends and becoming family, with even deeper bonds made with old friends. I was truly touched by many people at the event. I had such a good time with everyone and met some incredible people that I cannot wait to see again. There was just a lot of love flying around and a great love of fragrance. I was so involved in having a good time that I did not get to visit with everyone I wanted, nor did I get everyone’s name that I should have.
I must say, we were wild at Bergdorf Goodmans’s. It was hard to keep the crowd quiet and we went wild when Jason from Guerlain came in the room. We loved the stunning Christopher Brosious. Tom Crutchfield made us happy with delight. Seeing the famous Teresa from Creed rap to us was unbelievable and we were almost on the floor laughing with delight. We love the beautiful men and exceptional niche fragrances of Aedes. We love the cupcakes at the famous Takashimaya; the service, the niche perfumes. The visit to the stunning Bond No. 9 boutique to soak in all those beautiful fragrances and bottles, is a huge highlight of the event and generates a great deal of excitement and delight. The hospitality, generosity and graciousness of Laurice Rahme is unparalleled. The list goes on and on. Each
location is a positive experience not to be missed.
Sometimes its not just the fragrances that are memorable. Sometimes it is seeing friends fall in love with new fragrances. I love the critical edginess of some of the perfumista's. They have such vast knowledge of perfumes and they are such aficionados, you won't find any better than this. I adore them for it. I love listening to what’s on their mind about fragrance at that moment and I get an earful, trust me. This sharing is what I love. I love this!!
I love that stunned feeling that hits me by the time I sit down for lunch. The way I feel when I’m ready to collapse at the end of the day, yet I have a smile on my face. All the fragrances on my wish list. The list that gets thrown out the window because I smelled a new scent that was unexpected. The let-down on the plane ride home, knowing the weekend is over. This whirlwind called Sniffapalooza.
I am so happy that one of my male friends bought the Jar that was so incredibly stunning on him. I could not wait to see what my perfumer friends were purchasing and I loved seeing what everyone else was purchasing as well. It was fascinating. I loved when new members would shyly come up to me and put their wrist in my face to sniff. No words were needed, it was instantly comfortable. The secret smile they shared at finding a new fragrance that spoke to them, that made them feel beautiful.
I would like to thank all the sponsors of this event. They truly work hard at making us feel welcome and I truly appreciated them all. Yes, Sniffapalooza weekends are very addictive.
So my thoughts come back to this Magazine I created - all these glorious people contributing, coming together, highlighting
all types of perfumers and people in the industry, creating and writing about fragrances, sharing their stories and putting it
all out there to the Universe. Whatever success this Magazine has is due, I believe, to the attitude of its contributors.
Everyone has a unique opinion and we are like a living room where all are welcome, where the light shines on
everyone who enters. We make no distinction between the small perfumers and the large houses; everyone gets a
chance to shine.
I love being with "like-minded" people that truly enjoy the high art of fragrance, are gracious, passionate, vibrant and alive with
true goodwill and sharing this love of fragrance.
EDITORS NOTE:
This past year Sniffapalooza Magazine has enjoyed a huge increase in popularity and readship.
The success is almost overwhelming and I can barely keep up with it all. As one person from the Sniffapalooza Magazine Guest Book says:
“I love this magazine. Where else do Genies come out of bottles, real men wear roses, Jason Bourne wears ivory soap, a new fragrance from Neil Morris brings us the tranquility of Japanese gardens and finally, you can listen to super stars like Yosh and Andy Tauer talk about the industry as if you were all having a cup of tea together? Brava! Amazing!”
This sums up what we are all about. Where on earth would you find so many interviews in just a few issues with power perfumers such as Serge Lutens, Francis Kurkdjian, Frederic Malle, Jean Claude Ellena, Michel Roudnitska, Olivier Gillotin, Aurélien Guichard, Thierry Wasser, Monsieur Olivier and Erwin Creed, Christopher Chong, Camille Goutal, Bertrand Duchaufour, Roja Dove Andy Tauer, Neil Morris, Mandy Aftel, Yosh Han, Vero Kern, Roja Dove, Ralf Schwieger, Antonia Bellanca, Ron Robinson, Ulrich Lang, Gerald Ghislain and many others? We also feature industry powers such as Marian Bendeth, Raymond Matts, Laurice Rahmé and Kilian Hennessy.
They inspire us. They have the inspiration within them to respond to any question just as any celebrity would do. Their creativity shines forth for us, no matter what the situation or question. They do this so well…they don’t criticize, they are not negative; they just shine forth.
I see that many of the Magazine’s contributors shine forth too. Where else can you read fragrant Halloween stories such those written for Sniffapalooza Magazine by the infamous Dr. James Dotson? Many of the contributors have been with the Magazine since its inception.
Is a great honor when perfumers and industry persons such as Michel Roudnitska, Vero Kern, Ron Robinson, Neil Morris, Sarah Horowitz-Thran and Mandy Aftel sign our Guest Book.
The content of the magazine is intended to be broad and varied and its success is due to its contributors. This is why it is so popular. The success of the Magazine, I feel, is due to the mass and general appeal of our vast and international readership-for our readers, we are not too high-brow nor so intellectual that you can’t understand what is being said. As another reader said: "There truly is something here for everyones reading pleasure - from the erudite to the delightful".
An interesting aspect of the Magazine is that we are not limited to “members”. Although Sniffapalooza.com itself is a consumer event group, Sniffapalooza Magazine’s viewers are not all members. Perfumers and others from the industry read the Magazine as do serious perfumistas, including both new fans of perfume and the very experienced. I have received wonderful e-mails from major beauty and fashion magazines that love our magazine. Sniffapalooza Magazine readers are very savvy and sophisticated.
One of the most real and interesting stories I’ve come across in the story that belongs to Caroline Ilacqua of Téo Cabanel. Now, that is an honest and very fascinating story of how a company was resurrected. Jessica Dunne of Ellie perfumes has a real story too as does Dorothy McCall of Kingsbury Fragrances, Neil Morris and many other niche perfumers.
This broad appeal is what we try to accomplish at Sniffapalooza Magazine, plus all the varied content such as rocking interviews with perfumers. We have all this in Sniffapalooza Magazine and this is what our readers crave and love.
Thank you so much for the support, respect and love shown by all of our fans and friends alike.
Raphaella
Founder/Creator
Editor; Sniffapalooza Magazine.com
Raphaella Brescia Barkley
Editor In Chief of Sniffapalooza Magazine
Sniffapalooza Magazine was founded and created by Raphaella Brescia Barkley out of love and passion of fragrance.
She formed the popular international on-line fragrance site in early 2006 after joining the Sniffapalooza organization in 2005.
You are welcome to browse the latest news, articles, events, reviews and new releases on the fragrance front. The Magazine, in it's first year,
has received thousands of hits and already has many fans the world over. The publication was designed to fill the need for a true Magazine/blog
format that supported the world of fragrance. Sniffapalooza Magazine is an independent entity that was created to enhance the exclusive,
truly sophisticated and exciting world of fragrance and the fragrant world around it.
Passionately involved in fragrance, Raphaella has spent the past few years researching and studying fragrance before
joining Sniffapalooza. She founded and formed Sniffapalooza Magazine as an outlet for creativity in April, 2006, instead of chatting on
the perfume blogs/forums which she found unproductive and left her feeling unfulfilled. Under her direction, she has pulled together an assortment of professional writers to contribute to the magazine she founded, sharing with the world a huge assortment of unique articles, interviews and reviews.
The magazine currently has readers from around the world sharing a love of fragrance. Her personal philosophy is to never write a negative
review of a fragrance; as she believes that all fragrance is subjective. She believes that negative reviews are "time wasting"
and causes the public to believe what they read; she believes that negativity causes unjustifiable confusion and does a great disservice to the fragrance industry as well as to the perfumers and creators. Here at the magazine, everyone has a unique opinion and we are like a living room where all are welcome, where the light shines on everyone who enters. The Magazine makes no distinction between the small perfumers and the large houses; everyone gets a chance to shine. She agrees that while we are all very opinionated, negativity or snarky remarks has no place here.
The Magazine is about the love and beauty of fragrance, without compromising integrity.
Sniffapalooza Magazine and Raphaella Brescia Barkley has exclusive permission and licence agreement (since 2006) to use the copyright and trade mark of Sniffapalooza.com for the purpose of producing Sniffapalooza Magazine only and it's archives. The event-based group of Sniffapalooza is not a contributor to the Magazine nor does Sniffapalooza MAGAZINE (owned and operated by Raphaella Barkley ) and Raphaella Barkley does not work for/or with the event based group of Sniffapalooza.com. Sniffapalooza Magazine is independently owned and operated by Raphaella Barkley since it's inception in 2006.
A former model, beauty queen and professional ballet dancer, Ms. Barkley also has a business background that includes executive experience in marketing, fundraising and event management. She served as Artistic and Executive Director for two successful major arts organizations; working
with international ballet super stars with primary responsibility for all event productions. She was also responsible for all fund raising/grant
writing in excess of $500,000 and for all event management, including overseeing 100 volunteers. Raphaella is also a former artistic director of two professional ballet companies and a choreographer who has directed musicals, television commercials and was personal manager to dancers
from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. After retiring from the performing arts world, she became the General Manager of a historical boutique hotel in a ski-resort. She has been involved in animal rescue for many years, is an avid book and music collector and enjoys traveling with her husband.
Passionately involved in fragrance, Raphaella has spent the past few years researching and studying fragrance. She has had a fragrance library of over 400 fragrances of which she blames her grandmother. View "Couer de Fleur...Heart of the Flower" here. Other interests involve
is currently in the process of re-discovering classic and iconic fragrances, mass luxury fragrances as well as certain commercial fragrances.
Raphaella is also the new Contributor for Beauty Fashion Magazine, a national industry beauty magazine featuring her new column,
Raphaella believes that fragrance is an art form, magical and healing. She still stops to smell the roses.
Sniffapalooza Magazine is independently owned and operated by Raphaella Barkley.
