Author Archives: Shawn Maher

From the first time I heard it as a kid, the expression always seemed so mystical and full of wonder. Red skies at night, sailors delight. Red Skies in morning, sailors take warning. For a kid who only knew about the high seas from books and stories, it fed into the larger-than-life idea of lifeContinue reading “Red Skies from Maher Olfactive: A Maritime Chypre”

Sometimes, when you smell a material for the first time, everything just clicks. When I first opened the bottle of Siberian rhododendron essential oil, the multifaceted aspect of this amazing material got the gears turning in my head immediately.  Long-time readers will know that most of these columns begin with me discussing the story behindContinue reading “Sagan Dalya by Maher Olfactive: Fresh, Rich and Resinous”

In Saint Louis, the 1904 World’s Fair came along at at the perfect time to leave a lasting impact on the city. It was on the verge of becoming a major textile manufacturing hub, leading to a boom in population in the early 20th century. Forest Park, the largest urban park in the United States,Continue reading “1904: Revisiting the World’s Fair”

For the past year, I’ve been working with Dave Kern from on a new perfume. After releasing Madame Chouteau, he and I were talking about perfumes, as we tend to do. Of course, as two guys who adore vetiver, we spoke about the terroirs and the infinite possibilities of this wildly varied root. Maybe itContinue reading “Benton Park for American Perfumer: Evolving Tradition with Tuberose and Vetiver”

As the world turns a corner and optimism abounds, it feels like the sun is rising on a new chapter. With that in mind, I have been thinking about bright, pleasant scents, but scents that do not smell like anything that we’re used to. Something new and unexpected. When I think of bright, pleasant scents,Continue reading “Sunrise on LaSalle: Fresh and Unexpected”

I have always loved the phrase, sun soaked. The idea that something was so saturated with sunshine that it would overflow. On a sun-soaked day, the air always is thick with scent, the solar energy causing a vibrant, radiant feeling. So now, in a season of both springtime renewal and also renewed hope, I composedContinue reading “Sun Soaked Eau de Parfum: Contemplative Fun in the Sun”

Growing up, my grandmother lived south of Saint Louis close to the Meramec River. As a child, I loved hiking out in the woods behind her house down to a creek that was a tributary to that river. There were fun hills to climb, and the smell was so fresh, green and vibrant. As IContinue reading “Orris Forest: A Hike to the Meramec River”

Recently, I have become fixated on orris butter. This is quite the legendary material in perfumery, known for both its beauty and its expense. It is associated with the iris (the official flower of Saint Louis, no less, due to its association with the fleur de lis and the namesake of my city), but withContinue reading “Tempo Rubato: A Celebration of Timeless, Natural Beauty”