Practicing what I preach - in life and smells

This year I am trying, very consciously, to practice what I preach.

That has meant making some decisions that looked strange from the outside and felt uncomfortable from the inside. The biggest one was leaving a job that I genuinely loved. It was a good job. It taught me a lot. It gave me confidence and room to grow. It also stopped fitting the person I was becoming, and staying would have meant ignoring that truth for the sake of comfort.  Leaving became imperative, but the sense of loss was real.

So when I found myself very intentionally choosing the sent that I would wear to quit my job (how do you say "we've grown apart" with a smell!?  I chose to say it with with Byredo's Bal D'afrique Absolu!), Fume & Flora stopped being an idea I talked about and started becoming something I was actually building.

I wanted to create a business that let me highlight brands and perfumers whose work I am consistently moved by. These are perfumers creating the sort of fragrances that feel thoughtful, emotional, and sometimes a little strange. Giving those makers an expanded platform feels deeply satisfying.

And, in the course of building this business, I have connected with people who are far more emotionally open than I am by default. People who talk honestly about grief, longing, anger, and desire without needing to soften it or explain it away. I am spectacularly inspired by people who regularly open themselves up to criticism, be they perfumers sharing deeply personal art, or content creators sharing their innermost thoughts.  Being around that level of openness has been quietly challenging. It has pushed me to try sharing more, even when my every instinct is to protect myself.

I am still learning how to do that well.

As we move closer to launch, I feel a kind of excitement that is different from anything I have built before.  There is a real launch date coming soon. There are early conversations around pop-up shops and physical space. There are collaborations with creative, artistic and mostly - emotive! people and brands on the horizon.  There are early art collaborations, photography ideas, and social support that feel generous rather than performative.

2025 was about choosing passion and authenticity and vulnerability, and about the art of fragrance as the olfactory 'soundtrack' to all of it.   2026 will be about opening new doors (what do new beginnings smell like?  Maybe fresh laundry and neroli?) and continuing to challenge myself to be real and open to feeling (and sniffing!) deeply.

How I’m feeling: Grateful.
Grateful for the encouragement, the curiosity, and the people who show up to help make this idea a reality.

How I’m smelling: Soft Tension by Andrea Maack.
Quietly charged, slightly uneasy in the best way, and exactly the kind of scent I am excited to bring to you.

More soon.

— Beth