Message from the Editor

Welcome to your new creative refuge. A place to celebrate olfaction through literature, free of commercial influence and residual pressure to churn out content in order to maintain a certain level of engagement. Heart Note Press is not an assembly line, it’s a secure place to disassemble with intent. Perfume is a trade, a craft, something that requires the handiwork of a violinist, and it should be written about as such.

Perfume is currently platformed in a poorly constructed, haphazard discursive charcuterie. We aim to scoop it all up, placing it in a soft nest of streamlined, intentional work that keeps the classical principals of writing in mind while continuing to build on the ever-changing ideals we have about fragrance in the 21st century. Substack serves its purpose, we serve ours.

There are countless apps and blogging platforms that house fragrance communities. We hope to serve as a fortified stronghold for the community at large, filling glaring gaps left by existing contemporary online spaces dedicated to the fragrance world. As the internet becomes more and more fragmented, join us in our mission to super-glue the pieces into a mosaic. Heart Note Press is for everyone, no matter what your relationship to perfume is.

Thank you for being here! You smell great.

Love,

Lauren Lexa Brown xx

OUR VIRTUES

COMMUNITY

We welcome diverse voices, fostering an ongoing exchange of ideas that inform how perfume exists in time and space. We love highlighting niche brands and independent artists. Fragrance is for everyone.

CURIOSITY

Some say it killed the cat—we say the cat simply holds inquiry over assertation. Fragrance is multi-dimensional and requires investigation to uncover its broader cultural and material networks.

PLAY

We should take risks, focusing on intellectual improvisation and honing into our sensory skills. Whimsy is the backbone of fragrance. Maintaining a sense of play is paramount in giving our minds a break from goal-driven thinking.

AFFECT

Affect helps us acknowledge perfume as a form of storytelling, honoring subjective experiences and fragrance as a catalyst for feeling. Never ignore an emotion brought on by fragrance.