239: Falling back into The Gap Scents (2026 versions)

Nick Axelrod-Welk can be credited with a lot of beauty culture's millennial-charged evolution in the 2010s, having co-founded Into The Gloss, Necessaire, and Homecourt. For his next act, he's launching a beauty house: Contrapposto, beginning with fine fragrance — 3 of them, in fact. We welcome Nick on this week's episode to talk us through the three scents created with master perfumers Frank Voelkl and Shyamala Maisondieu, the early days from editorial beauty to brand building, and how true luxury involves collaborating with artisans and masters of their own craft, the privilege to create without bounds, and such joyfully detailed nuances that further one's point of view in beauty.[What we smell like today: Contrapposto Musc Petille, and Melting Flowers]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

Perhaps you've heard of Athena Club, one of the millennial-era DTC personal care brands of the 2010s that offered period products, razors, and deodorant. Once fragrance entered the mix (and the brand entered Target and Walmart), Athena Club unofficially reintroduced itself with an assortment of eight scents across body wash, lotion, and fragrance mists. Most recently, their scents Banana Sunmilk and Pink Marshmallow gained traction on ScentTok, and got our attention as well. We welcome SVP of Marketing Emily Ferber on this episode to discuss creating compelling scents for the mass market, how she got her start in beauty at Into The Gloss and Glossier, and what it takes for a brand to find its legs in an oversaturated market.[What we smell like today: Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste, Phlur Vanilla Canyon]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

We have the pleasure and delight of welcoming comedian, director, and actor John Early as a guest on this week's episode to discuss his film Maddie's Secret — AND the fragrance of the same name, made in collaboration with Marissa Zappas and Ruby McCollister for the film. We get into the gourmand of the fragrance and how it reflects the foodie elements in the film, how so many "LA girl" ingredients have come to define culinary culture,  body odor anxieties, and channeling your insecurities into a character narrative in an era of body positivity's tyranny.[What we smell like today: Elorea Prelude, Kayali Boujee Kitty Caramel Milk]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

We're catching up with new scents we've been living in for the past couple of months — some of which were embargoed by The Brands, some of which flew under the radar until recently, and a suspicious many of which are milky, musky, lactonic scents. In short: what's the deal? In long: this episode.[What we smell like today: d.grayi Pandan, Valentino Vendetta Donna]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

The Gap re-released its beloved fragrance line, "re-imagined" for today, which, in fragrance-speak, we know to mean reformulated. Formula updates are industry standard for quality protocols, but how do they change the scents themselves? Well, we can tell you in this episode just how the new line compares to the originals we have, and as we remember them.[What we smell like today: Athena Club Banana Sunmilk, El Morocco Lulu's Back In Town]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

A repeat guest is a rare occurrence on Smell Ya Later, but when we heard that fragrance aficionado Funmi Monet had something big in the works, we had to bite. Influxious is Monet's brand-new fragrance line, inspired and informed by her Nigerian heritage. She joins us on this episode to talk us through her four debut fragrances, each with its own expression for how you want to feel, connected with a thread of Nigerian ginger. There's the party scent, the vacation scent, the confident scent, and the comforting skin scent with a rarely-smelled base informed by her personal upbringing.[What we smell like today: Abel Double Scoop, The Nue Co Good Spirits]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

We hosted the scent swap of the scentury last week (kidding, but also not kidding) at the Standard Highline, and 115 of you showed up to contribute to the second annual (?) scent circulation trade. This episode is a breathless recap of everything that went down: the community, the energy, the interlopers (we had a swaplifter!), and the lovely folks who helped it all happen: shoutout The Standard team, Marc Jacobs Fragrances and Coty for sponsoring, and Purple PR for helping coordinate. [What we smell like today: Mugler Starlicious Pistachio Praline, Atwood Penuche]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

We would never be flip about attending such illustrious events as a Knicks championship viewing party or the Fragrance Foundation Awards (affectionately known as the Fifis). Ha ha, of course not. We take the honor as seriously as we take this podcast, which has its own ideas about how awards categories could probably benefit from a bit more diversity. (But no one's paying us to award perfumes anything, so don't listen to us!)Also, if you haven't gotten your tickets for Hotel Smell Ya Later, it's this week! 🏨HOTEL SMELL YA LATER🗝️6/25/26 6-9 pmJoin us at The Soda Shop at The Standard High Line to sip and swap with a few surprises... Tickets are $15, and all proceeds will go to Make The Road[What we smell like today: Discothèque Next To Me Or Nothing, Viktor & Rolf Bonbon Cola Fizz]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

Not to be boring, but we're talking about body mists again. Particularly body mists from luxury brands that we'd assume have a slightly more restrained strategy with releases. But, you know what, maybe it is actually that $imple, and we've been overthinking brands again for our allotted weekly yap.[What we smell like today: NETTE Mochi Banane]Don't forget!: 🏨HOTEL SMELL YA LATER🗝️6/25/26 6-9 pmJoin us at The Soda Shop at The Standard High Line to sip and swap with a few surprises... Tickets are $15, and all proceeds will go to Make The Road🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only) 

Well, you can, technically. But the collective understanding of cologne is very gendered. So, something to think about...Which, we do! in this yap-centric ep about a bunch of new smells we've smelled recently, AND a very exciting announcement: 🏨HOTEL SMELL YA LATER🗝️6/25/26 6-9 pmJoin us at The Soda Shop at The Standard High Line to sip and swap with a few surprises...  Tickets are $15, and all proceeds will go to Make The Road[What we smell like today: Rite of Way Waterfall, Chloe Atelier Des Fleurs Vanilla Plantifolia]🌐 Find more info, episodes, and merch at Smellyalater.live☎️ Leave us a voice message on the SYL Hotline at Speakpipe.com/smellyalater, and we may respond on a future episode.📱 Follow us on Instagram @smellyalater.mp3💌 Leave a comment in our Spotify episode prompts and/or a (nice) review wherever you stream (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ only)