Scent

What should a man smell like? This is not an inquiry to be undertaken lightly - particularly at this time of the year when the gantlet of parties, events and mixers that stretches from Thanksgiving into the new year is destined to put the fragrance profiles of near strangers beneath our noses as surely as stockings dangle from the fireplace mantle. It's a timely question for other reasons. According to the NPD Group, a market research firm, one-quarter of all annual sales in the prestige fragrance category (defined as the scents sold at the department store level and higher)

Eat. Pray. Love. Spritz. Now inhale deeply and feel your life transform. It's only May, but 2012 is already shaping up as the year perfume wafted from the lively online blogs and into mainstream publishing in a big way. These days, new fragrance releases are greeted - and critiqued - with the intellectual sophistication formerly reserved for Paris fashion shows. Perfume is an art form and the "noses" who compose cutting-edge fragrances are rock stars. Writers, always hip to the zeitgeist, are avidly chronicling this renaissance and some books have even inspired their own perfumes.

Eat. Pray. Love. Spritz. Now inhale deeply and feel your life transform. It's only May, but 2012 is already shaping up as the year perfume wafted from the lively online blogs and into mainstream publishing in a big way. These days, new fragrance releases are greeted - and critiqued - with the intellectual sophistication formerly reserved for Paris fashion shows. Perfume is an art form and the "noses" who compose cutting-edge fragrances are rock stars. Writers, always hip to the zeitgeist, are avidly chronicling this renaissance and some books have even inspired their own perfumes.

Authorities launched Burbank's largest manhunt in 20 years in search of a missing FBI agent who was believed to be suicidal and possibly carrying a handgun, officials said Saturday. More than 150 law enforcement personnel joined in a search that began Friday and fanned through the rugged Verdugo Mountains and other parts of Los Angeles County looking for Stephen Ivens, 35, a Los Angeles-based agent specializing in national security affairs. He was last seen Friday at his home in the 1700 block of Scott Road in Burbank.

It's not difficult to imagine Elizabeth Barrial, 36, the chief perfumer for Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, as a sorceress of the night. Besides practicing her potion-making craft, the esoteric perfume house's matriarch appears otherworldly. She wears her black and red locks down to her waist, and her eyes sparkle as she takes a whiff of one of her bottled concoctions. She and business partner Brian Constantine typically work behind the scenes, with her wares available only online . But once a month, during the full moon, Barrial escapes her laboratory to peddle her wondrous and macabre scents at the horror shop Dark Delicacies in Burbank.

Southern California weather doesn't change too drastically from winter to spring and there's no specially branded latte being served at Starbucks to nudge us into the next season, but we can count on lighter fragrances to bring on the feeling of bright sunshine, blue skies and longer days. Spring's newest fragrance releases are whisper soft but upbeat and bright with citrus, fruit, aquatic and floral notes — qualities many women look for when adding a new scent to their fragrance wardrobes.

Looking to beef up your mojo this holiday season? Burger King Corp. may have just the thing. The home of the Whopper has launched a new men's body spray called Flame. The company describes the spray as "the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat." The fragrance is on sale at New York retailer Ricky's NYC in stores and online for a limited time for $3.99.

In Southern California, "seasons" are more loosely defined than in other parts of the country, but many of us still crave a change in style, scenery and mind-set once spring rolls around. A new scent can signal the onset of a new season, and beauty counters are more than ready to fulfill any yearnings for change. One of the easiest ways to achieve these changes is through scent, and with a new round of fragrances hitting beauty counters now, dabbing these behind your ear could kick-start your spring and be that subtle shift you're searching for. Finding a spring fragrance doesn't mean having to douse yourself in a garden full of freesia or lily of the valley.

Re Dana Parsons' column "Scent of Fear Sends Scribe to Library Seeking Answers" (Oct. 3): Dana Parsons' humorous attempt at looking at the Santa Ana Library issue fell flat. To him it may be a situation of levity, but to those directly involved, it's mighty serious. Maybe Mr. Parsons has never worked in an environment in which staff has been afraid to come to work the next day because of tension in the workplace. The library staff and library board have been attempting to resolve this volatile situation for two years.

Woooo! Did you get a whiff of the new Los Angeles Times Magazine? Pretty strong stuff with the sample perfume advertisement. Since people are having problems locating the Book Review in Calendar, I think it would be a very wise and definite solution to everyone's problems if you give the Book Review a scent. Maybe after a tea, such as Earl Grey, an intellectual fragrance, a tranquil chamomile, or maybe even Red Zinger. No, no, Zinger would be quite unsuitable for the Book Review.

Forget new car, percolating java or even newborn baby. I realize it now: I love the smell of fresh MacBook in the morning. "A distinctive scent can be observed when unwrapping a newly purchased Apple product from its packaging," according to Air Aroma's blog post .  "Apple fans will certainly recognize this smell. " Although I do distinctly remember the smell of my most recent MacBook's unwrapping in November, I think I mistook that for excitement and elation -- and the smell of $1,100 leaving my account.

Lately, it seems you don't have to be anywhere near a garden to stop and smell the roses. Smell is the latest way that businesses are attempting to woo customers, whether it be the vanilla and cloves wafting through the air at Williams-Sonoma or the pungent smell of colognes at trendy clothing chains. Technology to spread the scents has become more elaborate and includes a device that pumps fragrances through ventilation systems. And it's all in an effort to create scent branding that helps to attract and keep customers.

Dennis Montano stood on a corner in Granada Hills one recent brisk morning, lifted his nose to the sky and sniffed. "Right now, I don't smell anything," Montano said. That was good news for the embattled Sunshine Canyon Landfill. The disposal site operates roughly a mile away in Sylmar but has roiled the Granada Hills North neighborhood with a potpourri of foul smells. In the face of numerous complaints and dozens of public nuisance violations, the company has organized an "odor patrol team" in an effort to improve community relations and comply with state regulations.

What should a man smell like? This is not an inquiry to be undertaken lightly - particularly at this time of the year when the gantlet of parties, events and mixers that stretches from Thanksgiving into the new year is destined to put the fragrance profiles of near strangers beneath our noses as surely as stockings dangle from the fireplace mantle. It's a timely question for other reasons. According to the NPD Group, a market research firm, one-quarter of all annual sales in the prestige fragrance category (defined as the scents sold at the department store level and higher)

Some smells are strong enough to break through even the stuffiest noses. You can have the cold of the century, but you'll still be able to sense a splash of Pine-Sol or a ball of wasabi. And no matter how clogged up you are, you can pick up the unmistakable scent of menthol. It feels soothing and oddly cool, almost like a nasal injection of Freon. Now that the cold and flu season has arrived, the smell of menthol is wafting through many homes. In a ritual that goes back more than a century, stuffed-up kids and adults are going to sleep with gobs of menthol ointments smeared over their chests.

Anyone who's ever been trapped in a crowded elevator intrinsically understands: Few people are gifted with noses so finely tuned to fragrance that they can distinguish between scents that allure and ones that merely annoy. Scents that fall into both categories — and the entire spectrum in between — were chonicled in the 2008 "Perfumes: The Guide. " That book has now been culled to 100 classics in the authors' new "The Little Book of Perfumes," which is scheduled to go on sale Monday.

Re "On Scent, We've Barely Scratched the Surface" [Nov. 4]: I started reading, pen in hand, to underline the names of manufacturers so I could inform them of my reaction to scents. Much to my surprise, you covered the subject and gave leads to an information network as well as the smell and taste treatment foundation. Because I must explain why I back away from people, or can't come to their homes due to their use of scented products, I am finding that many people know others who react similarly.

Your own Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine needs to pay attention to the article, "Dollars and Scents: Some Magazines Are Rethinking Those Perfume Ads," by Bruce Horovitz (Nov. 17). I have to put the Sunday Magazine out in the hot sun (after first disposing of the offending scent pages) for a number of hours before I can start the crossword puzzle. JERRY MILLS Vista, Calif.

Inhaling the Scent of the Wind Sydney, 12 Magic Pen Kids Irvine The scent of apples whispers through the air, reminding me of our lazy days in the orchard, lying in a bed of violet morning glories, inhaling the scent of the wind. Remember the day we held a butterfly funeral in Grandma's backyard? You found it in the dirt beneath the bougainvillea bush with only one fiery wing that fluttered into silence. We talked about everything and nothing, by flashlight, under pink and purple sheets — Biscuit asleep between us, tail curled in comfort.

Justin Bieber's line of perfume — for women — recently made its debut. He seems to know his market. One teenage girl gushed, "I love him! I love him! When I use the perfume, I feel him!" And it's not only Justin — I call him Justin although we travel in different universes. Last year, there were 69 new celebrity perfumes. There was Katy Perry's Purr, Beyonce's Heat and Jennifer Aniston's creatively named Jennifer Aniston. It got me thinking that we seniors should have our own scents.