Ari of Scents Of Self is a very special person. She is very young, very quirky, sometimes weird, always funny and incredibly likeable. She blogs about perfume. Most of the time, that is. Other times she blogs about what is dearest to her heart at the moment. And then there is Zelda… it is never boring at Scents of Self – The Nerdy Perfume Blog.
Thankfully today you don’t have to take my word for it, just read her interview…
A good day starts with… all days, good or bad, start exactly the same: with the cat, Zelda, biting my feet at 7 AM.
Editor s Note: I would forgive her for biting my toes – that innocent face!
I’d never leave the house without… my Nintendo 3DS. Someone has to save Princess Zelda.
I always feel good when… I can help someone.
My favorite thing in the world is… Kanye West’s water bottle tweet.
The next thing I want to buy is… Sylvia Plath: Drawings, a collection of, well, Sylvia Plath’s drawings.
The place I always come back to is… The National Aquarium in Baltimore, and the Temple of Dendur exhibit at the Met. My favorite part is the pool where you can throw pennies.
My personal style is… dresses with full skirts and cinched waists, sorority t-shirts and Pikachu pajamas at home. My style icon is Victoria Beckham; I love the structure of her dresses.
My favorite perfume… L’Artisan Parfumeur Safran Troublant, with Lubin Idole EDT and Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose tied for second.
When I travel I always… get less writing done than I think I will.
To relax I need… a body of water to stare across.
When I have a bad day… I have an ironclad routine: I make a cup of decaf green tea, then paint my nails with a Miyazaki movie playing in the background.
I like to gift people with… books. My mom is getting the new Wes Anderson book for her birthday. Shhh, don’t tell!
I find my inspiration… frustratingly rarely.
Something I would never want to miss… My little brother’s high school
graduation.
My last mistake was… I knew the Modcloth Start Spreading The Mews dress was going to sell out in my size, but I hesitated for too long. How am I supposed to spread the mews now?!
In my fridge there is always… leftovers from Daisy, gimlet ingredients.
On my nightstand I keep… Please see photo! The Mitsouko box, gorgeously hand-painted by Olenska of Parfumieren, holds my favorite decants; the books are A Journey To The Center of the Earth, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Andersen’s Fairy Tales; “Pond Smelt” is a graphic novel by my favorite cartoonist, Jane Mai; the nail polish is Deborah Lippmann’s Ruby Red Slippers.
The perfect weekend starts with… please refer to question #1.
My role model is… my grandfather Harry, a Holocaust survivor who spoke eight
languages.
Something I always want to be asked in questionnaires like this is… Why do you take so much time between blog posts? Answer: I get depressed a lot.
Now don’t you agree with me? About Ari being incredible likeable? And funny? (And a bit weird and wacky to boot?)
I look forward to seeing what Ari does in the future, I hope she lets us take part through her writing.
Olfactoria's Travels 
Heya Arielle and Birgit,
Great interview again. Is that a Neela Vermeire 10ml from the Discovery Set? Which one is it?
Portia xx
Hi Portia, I was wondering this too – according to the colour, I guess it’s Trayee…
It is indeed Trayee! My very favorite Neela Vermeire.
Love Ari’s style, so original – the mews dress is brilliant and a good lesson to seize the day! Guerlain box gorgeous too. Saffran Troublant and Lipstick Rose – great perfume choices, would never be without either of them.
I love the dress too, I feel so bad for Ari that she missed it.
I would like to send Ari a virtual hug.I know how depression feels like and it ain’t pretty.I hope she’ll feel depressed less and less from now on and that everything will go well for her.In actual fact I wish that for all of us.We all need balance,contentment and some happiness from time to time in our lives.We all have the right to feel that life is good to live.
Thank you Ana, very wise words. I hope we all can have what you so succinctly express.
Yes, I completely agree with you, Birgit – Ari seems incredible likeable, funny and pretty, thanks for featuring her. Off I go to browse through her blog. And I would like an alarm clock like Zelda!
Have fun exploring her blog, Anka!
Zelda is a Beauty !!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, wow, wow, drawings from Silvia Plath ? – WANT
She is a gorgeous cat!
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Ari on person and I can attest that she really is witty, fun, and adorable. I have not met Zelda the cat. I feel bad that Ari missed out on that dress. I can relate to that. I’m one of those people who sometimes thinks too long about whether or not to buy things and the same thing happens to me.
As Lila points out above, the dress story is a lesson to seize the day and go for what we want.
I call Zelda “Hell-Beast,” and Ari very, very gracefully tolerates me verbally abusing her fur baby.
Ari is a sweetheart and a joy to be around. And I had no idea that Zelda was so darn pretty! I love the Kanye twitter as her favorite thing! 🙂
Have you met Ari in person?
Zelda is a true beauty (and she knows it too!)
We did meet during Sniffapalooza last Fall and I was lucky enough to have dinner with Ari and her Mom, Daisy from CoolCookStyle, Poodle and Barbara Herman from Scent & Subversion fame. We had a great time and I hope that we can do it again this coming Fall!
Oh that sounds like a wonderful get -together indeed! Daisy is the only one I met in person and she is so lovely!
She is lovely… and a hoot! 🙂
I met Daisy a year ago and ever since then, we’ve gotten together A LOT. She’s an absolute hoot, you can smell her (in a good way of course with her minimum 12 spritzes) a mile away and best / worst of all, she’s an enabler 😉
She is!!! But such a lovely one. 🙂
AW! YOU GUYS! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!
Wow, Ari’s answers did not disappoint. She is always so completely herself. Not trying to put on a front like many of us. At the risk of sounding patronising I have always had the greatest admiration for her. She speaks out on issues she cares about and retains her sense of humour despite her struggles.
I admire the fact she has an ironclad routine for a bad day. Still working on mine – I may add the nail painting. Very cool that she feels good when she helps someone and she has a true role model in her grandfather.
What great pics too. Ari has the best smile.
What a beautiful comment, thank you Tara.
That Mitsuko box is so cute!! What a great idea to keep the decants in. And Zelda… What a beauty!!!
The Mitsouko box is awesome!! Olenska is a wonderful artist indeed.
I have a real soft spot for Ari – the kooky little sister I wish I had had, type of thing. I love her zany sense of humour and the freshness and directness of her language. That said, I’d be alarmed about owning a bitey cat, but Ari seems to accept Zelda’s idiosyncrasies with a good grace. I also enjoyed the Kanye West tweet, and was amused and chagrined in equal measure about Ari’s inability to ‘spread the news’ in the dress she missed. 😉
You two could be sisters indeed! The same kind of humour! 🙂
Even worse than the news, Ari cannot spread the MEWS now that she missed the dress. Look closely at the fabric’s print! It’s hilarious!
Why so it is! I am getting a iPad, I swear. 😉
Zelda is gorgeous! There is nothing like a good pet to keep you on your toes (I know that is a horrible joke, but I just had to share…sorry).
I love Ari’s blog, which sounds exactly like she does in her interview 🙂 She is wonderfully kooky and charming, and I hope she continues to share her thoughts and writing with us in the future!
Haha, love the toe joke! 😀
Kooky and charming are two very fitting words for Ari’s style.
Hi Ari! Glad to have you here and learn a little bit more about you.
Great books at the nightstand, loved Howl’s Moving Castle and Journey to the Center of the Earth 🙂
I love Zelda, she’s incredibly beautiful and looks very wise too. So nice meeting Arielle here, great answers to great questions 🙂
Sorry, it’s the crazy cat lady here, mentioning the cat before Arielle… Obviously Arielly also looks beautiful and clever 😉
Hihi, you are among like-minded people here… 😉
I always love Ari’s tweets and enjoyed her interview here. Zelda is adorable!
Glad you enjoyed it Mrs Scents!
Incredibly likeable indeed, and what a gorgeous cat. Smitten by both.
Me too! 🙂
Incredibly likeable yes, but also incredibly loveable. And she makes me laugh. — Ari’s Mom
Hello Linda,
what a lovely comment! Thank you for visiting.
I have followed her for a while, actually. No one writes more succinct reviews. It is refreshing (and frequently, as you say, hilarious!)
She is the definiton of refreshing.
Except for FM Lipstick Rose being one of her favorite perfumes, I love everything else about Ari…and Zelda (gorgeous blue eyes!). I’ve met Ari several times and recently had a shopping spree (how could we not with Daisy enabling) and dinner with her and Daisy. She’s lovably quirky and I’ll stop there.
That must have been a memorable day!
Expensive 😉
What a great interview, and Ari, you’re looking as gorgeous as ever! I hope the dress pops up on ebay or something. It’s very cute.
I have a feeling she will be united with this dress eventually, it’s meant to be… 🙂
I’m so happy to see Ari her in the People in Perfumeland series! She is truly one of the kindest, most original, funny, authentic souls I have ever had the privilege to call my friend and to feed silly.
I also agree with you that she will find that dress eventually!
Air’s blog is one of my favorites. I wish she would write a book.