The Earth's Own Scent

It's been bucketing down here in L.A., which has me thinking about the particular smell of rain & the weird bacteria that creates it.

In 1891, a French scientist presented the first documented paper on the smell of rain called 'On Earth's Own Smell.' He hypothesized that the comforting fragrance comes from the rain releasing plant oils stored in the ground, and he was partly right. However, the critical ingredient comes from a particular bacteria that live in the soil. Discovered in 1966 and named Geosimn, or earth odor, our noses are incredibly sensitive to this scent. We can smell geosmin 200,000 times better than a shark can smell blood in water! 

To get this unique smell into our Earth Perfume, I used a rare ingredient called Mitti Attar. Made by macerating pieces of sun-baked earth in sandalwood oil for 30 days, it captures the comforting geosmin note we know so well. There's also a tiny amount in LA Woman, which is finally back in stock today - just in time for Valentine's!

Best scented wishes,
Emily