‘tis the season of the witch 🌝

+ manifesting laundry scents

Oct 09, 2026

The Brief—

in today’s letter: spooky happenings, witchy scents, and a very chic way to add some magic to your laundry ✨

Hello friends! It is I, Nadia, returning to your inbox with my rarely scheduled programming.

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be experimenting with some new formats for Perfumeverse: updated sections, new discoveries, and another letter each week in the works. I hope you’re as excited as I am! I’m also on TikTok as @newyorknose, so come say hi! 👋🏽 I’m officially in my cringe era. We’re embracing it.

Apparently, I manifested laundry…

Since having a baby, I’ve been thinking about little ways to bring more fragrance into my day. Naturally, this led me to fine fragrance laundry detergent. The complication: my current roommates either have sensitive skin or have only been on Earth for three months. So, for now, most of this has been wishful thinking. I even posted a weird TikTok asking what the scent girly pops are using in their laundry. Spoiler: no one answered. LOLSZ.

Then an invitation landed in my inbox: Laundry Sauce was collaborating with Arquiste, one of my favorite fragrance houses, on a laundry collection scented with MISFIT. We spoke with founder Carlos Huber in 2024, and we’ve been obsessed ever since. I could have wished for literally anything else. Financial security. A full night’s sleep. But alas, it was laundry.

I attended the launch party (take a peek here), and especially loved the choice of MISFIT for the collaboration’s debut. On my nose, MISFIT feels like warm cashmere: a gorgeous, enveloping scent. Earthy, woody patchouli softened by florals, creamy tonka, and a vanilla-like warmth. Cozy, but very well dressed. It’s plush, decadent, and a little witchy —perfect to spruce up your October wardrobe.

I was also gifted the new MISFIT-inspired candle, and WOW. Even unlit, the scent is remarkable. Under my candle warmer, it filled the entire space so quickly and intensely that I switched it off in under one hour. Everything I love about the fragrance came through beautifully.

This is the candle for making your home feel a little spookier as the weather chills, or inviting people over and reminding them how sophisticated you truly are. It’s a scent that can turn any perfume party into a friendly séance. If you’re looking for a splurge, I’d recommend Maison de Plaisir, inspired by MISFIT from Arquiste’s new home collection ($70).

What’s making your laundry smell good? Hit reply! I’m still collecting answers.

THE SCENT EDIT— a little bit of sorcery

Eau the Audacity, Penhaligon’s: smoky incense, leather, vanilla.
Coven, Andrea Maack: galbanum, oakmoss, clove.
Evoking Eidesis, Aesop: sandalwood, cedar, vetiver.
L’Orpheline, Serge Lutens: incense, musk.
The Witching Hour, Dark Tales: cocoa, coffee, fir balsam.

Scent & Culture— an imaginary botanical world + smell-o-vision

What would a fictional flower smell like? Reykjavík-based perfumery and art collective Fischersund explores that question in Faux Flora, an exhibition at the Anchorage Museum combining fragrance, sound, and visual art. Its imagined plants move through five stages of growth that echo a human life, from birth to death. On view October 9, 2026–September 12, 2027.
A24 and Joya have created a Scent Score for Backrooms: five fragrances timed to specific moments in the film, designed by Joya founder Frederick Bouchardy. Think scorched dust, heated plastic, wet industrial carpet, and synthetic candy sweetness. Deliciously unsettling. The Discovery Set ($65) includes five 2ml sprays, blotters, and a timed guide to follow as you watch. Prefer your atmospheric dread by candlelight? DRIFT ($48) captures the final movement with metallic, ashy, humid, and sweet notes. A very different kind of movie night, and exactly the kind of scent-meets-cinema experiment I want to see more of.
Were you able to get your hands on Flamingo Estate x Practical Magic 2 seasonal box? The perfect amount of purple, the perfect amount of magic! Ten objects — from a mandrake candle, flower essence, to a woody pillow mist and oracle cards. I live for these collaborations and am so excited for the where else we’re going.