The Fragrance Files

Josh & Michy

The Fragrance Files is a long-form podcast about perfume as lived experience.

Through reflective conversations and thoughtful interviews, the show explores scent as identity, memory, culture, and personal ritual. Moving beyond notes and rankings, The Fragrance Files creates space for slower, more meaningful conversations about fragrance and the people who wear it.

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32 episodes
Updated Friday
Explicit

Episodes32

Newest first

March 20 · 1 hr 12 min
Apocalypse Renaissance with Arabelle Sicardi
This week we sat down with beauty world maker, Arabelle Sicardi, to discuss the world of ingredient sourcing including historical context, beauty marketing traps, and the issues with greenwashing in perfume.
March 13 · 54 min
The Gender Gap
This week's conversation delves into the gender stereotypes associated with fragrances and the impact of marketing on gender in the fragrance industry. We explore the historical context of fragrance gendering and the societal expectations placed on men and women in relation to fragrance choices as well as the way queerness and queer fragrance liberates us from the binary. Chapters 00:00 Gender Stereotypes in Fragrance 15:36 Marketing and Gender in Fragrance 32:38 Gender and Fragrance 42:14 Queerness and Fragrance 50:07 Gendered Marketing 57:02 Storytelling in Fragrance 01:03:01 Freedom in Fragrance
March 6 · 1 hr 21 min
LC & The Politics of Perfume
This week we sit down with LC, a brand consultant and interdisciplinary artist to have a conversation that delves into the political identity of perfume, highlighting the intersection of gender politics, colonial history, and social stratification within the fragrance industry. Chapters 00:00 Perfume as a Political Identity 14:46 Colonial History and Perfume 24:29 Policing of Women's Scent 33:14 Competitiveness and Exclusivity in Perfume TikTok 01:04:53 The Business Model and Exclusivity Clauses in Perfume Sponsorships 01:10:37 The Impact of Brand Rebranding and Political Implications in Perfume Marketing
February 27 · 59 min
Brand Behaving Badly
This week we dive into different ways perfume and beauty brands treat and act in the fragrance community. To love perfume as an art means not being afraid to critique it as an industry. From content creation tips to shading some egregious missteps, we're here for accountability and transparency.
February 20 · 53 min
Kyle & Fumed Expo
This week we sit down with Kyle Mott-Kannanberg of Blend, the umbrella brand for OSM perfume and the upcoming Fumed Expo in Chicago. See The Fragrance Files there, March 28 - 29 in Chicago.
February 20 · 45 min
BONUS: OSM Goth Fragrance Dialogues
Bonus episode, a re-issue the 2025 interview with Kyle and Josh as Goth Fragrance Dialogues. Hear a bit about who Kyle is, how OSM developed, and hear the early foundations of our discussion in Episode 7 of The Fragrance Files
February 13 · 47 min
The Scent of Letting Go
This week we discuss evolving with and past our fragrances. How we are emotionally tethered to fragrance, and the moment that tether breaks. Whether you've moved on for a season or a lifetime, taste and emotions change so your fragrances should too. The Scent of Letting Go is about how to find out what works, and what doesn't. We also discuss our approach to decluttering- or selling/trading/gifting fragrances that we no longer need.
February 6 · 43 min
The Myth of Signature Scents
Maybe the desire for a signature scent isn't about fragrance, it's about wanting to be known and remembered. This episode, we explore the myth of Signature Scents, where the idea comes from, why it still matters, and how committing to one fragrance can make sense in todays highly saturated perfume culture.
January 30 · 55 min
Memory & Nostalgia with Cult of Kaori
In Episode 4 of The Fragrance Files, we’re joined by Cult of Kaori for a conversation about perfume as process—how fragrance is made, what it’s meant to hold, and what it costs (emotionally and creatively) to build something with a real point of view. We talk about identity before marketing, intention before output, and why perfume deserves more than first impressions and content cycles. If you’re here for thoughtful fragrance conversations that go deeper than notes and performance, welcome.
January 23 · 49 min
The Sample Spiral
Sampling can be discovery or distraction. Michy and Josh explore decants, discovery sets, and the modern “sample spiral,” asking what we gain from endless testing and what we lose when we never commit.
January 16 · 36 min
Who is The Fragrance Files
Before we talk about perfume, we need to talk about why. In this episode, Josh, your goth fragrance bestie, and Michele, MichySmells, slow things down to define what The Fragrance Files is, what it isn’t, and why this conversation needed to exist in the first place. This isn’t an origin story in the traditional sense. It’s a conversation about pace, intention, and the kind of fragrance discourse that feels increasingly rare. We talk about what frustrates us in modern perfume culture, what we want to protect, and the kind of listener we’re hoping to sit beside rather than impress. There are no rankings here. No hot takes for the sake of noise. Just an invitation into how we think about scent, memory, and meaning; and how this podcast plans to move through fragrance differently.
January 9 · 45 min
2025 Post-Mortem
A reflective post-mortem of 2025 through fragrance: what stayed, what faded, and what the year revealed about how we wear scent. No rankings. No hype. Just lived experience.

The Fragrance Files

Apocalypse Renaissance with Arabelle Sicardi

The Gender Gap

LC & The Politics of Perfume

Brand Behaving Badly

Kyle & Fumed Expo

BONUS: OSM Goth Fragrance Dialogues

The Scent of Letting Go

The Myth of Signature Scents

Memory & Nostalgia with Cult of Kaori

The Sample Spiral

Who is The Fragrance Files

2025 Post-Mortem