What’s your idea of leather? Ever since my perfumery student days, I’ve associated it with the green-dark paradox of iso butyl quinoline—or perhaps the horse-sweat pungency of cresols. I’ve tried many leather perfumes, but Ganymede redefined what a leather fragrance could be. Created by Quentin Bisch for Marc-Antoine Barrois, it replaces smoke and darkness with light and air. The result feels both ancient and futuristic.

The first impression is mandarin peel tinged with saffron—a brightness so sharp it seems to refract. Then comes the abstraction of leather: smooth, mineral, almost tactile in its absence. The familiar warmth is replaced by a sense of polished stone.

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As the weather cools, my tea shelf changes character. The delicate greens of summer give way to darker, more contemplative leaves—Pu’er, Liubao, and smoked black teas. Recently, I discovered Teayucafe, an artisanal Chinese tea house founded by Michael Laing, whose family has grown tea for generations in Guangxi. His collection of teas captures that same shift in mood—from brightness to depth, from freshness to warmth.

When Michael wrote to introduce his work, I was drawn to his story. He grew up in Wuzhou, Guangxi, the birthplace of Liubao dark tea, a region where tea is not merely a drink but a way of life. His goal with Teayucafe is to share the joy of authentic Chinese teas with the world, at affordable prices. “Even in China, opportunities to drink truly high-quality tea are rare,” he told me. “I hope our website can serve as a window—a way for people everywhere to experience these flavors.”

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Tonight, the moon rises full and radiant, the harvest moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival. In many places across Asia, families gather to share tea and mooncakes, to light lanterns, to pause. I’ve always loved this idea: the celebration of something as mysterious and serene as the moon.

When I read my childhood journals from Ukraine, I find many references to it—the crescent moon I saw on Christmas Eve, the full moon glowing above a blooming cherry garden at dusk. The moon made me look up, take a breath, and let beauty flood in. It still does.

When I lived and traveled in Asia, the Mid-Autumn moon became a kind of companion. I remember sitting on a balcony in Singapore with a cup of green tea, the city humming below, the sky pale gold. One marvelous autumn in Tokyo, I experienced the scent of osmanthus mixing with the soft moonlight. And tonight, from my home in Brussels, the moon will rise again, the same moon, the same quiet invitation to look and remember.

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Our “Recommend Me a Perfume” thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite scents, and to ask any questions about scents, aromas and flavors. Or you can just tell us what perfume you are wearing.

If you received recommendations from this thread, please let us know what you sampled.

How does it work: 1. Please post your requests or questions as comments here. You can also use this space to ask any fragrance related questions. To receive recommendations that are better tailored to your tastes, you can include details on what you like and don’t like, your signature perfumes, and your budget. And please let us know what you end up sampling. 2. Then please check the thread to see if there are other requests you can answer. Your responses are really valuable for navigating the big and sometimes confusing world of perfume, so let’s help each other!

To make this thread easier to read, when you reply to someone, please click on the blue “reply” link under their comment.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

My Favorite Autumn Fragrances (Ukrainian)

Lately, I’ve been finding it difficult to sleep. The news from Ukraine is overwhelming, and it’s painful to experience this war from the outside, knowing that my family and friends are living through it every day. For now, my obligations keep me here, and I have to find ways to keep myself going.

Perfume has always been a source of joy for me, but in recent weeks I’ve leaned on it even more consciously. Ever since studying the effects of scents on mood and cognition, I’ve noticed how much a small ritual can change the texture of a day. Choosing a perfume, putting it on slowly, pausing to inhale it—it may take only seconds, but done with intention, it becomes a grounding act. In autumn, when the days grow shorter and the light fades too quickly, these moments are especially precious.

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