Fragrant Alchemy
Yosh Han Unveils Her New Passion At Scent Bar

Independent fragrance designer, Yosh Han, recently introduced two new perfumes at the Scent Bar in Los Angeles. The Scent Bar, which opened in December 2005, is the brick and mortar version of the very successful perfume website, www.luckyscent.com. Scent Bar owner, Franco Wright, says the wine bar design of the store was an ingenious suggestion made by his wife (isn’t it always the gals with the bright ideas?)

Adding to the casual elegance of the perfume shop’s bar-like atmosphere, Han demonstrated her fragrances for a gathering of customers and sophisticated perfume fans on the store’s counter in champagne flutes. It is for practical reasons, Han noted “if you put the fragrance on your skin, you only get the top notes and you’ll have to wait for the dry down to get the full impact.”

Photo: (left to right) Scent Bar Owner Franco Wright, Fragrance Designer Yosh Han, Scent Bar Store Manager Angela Chang, and Scent Bar Owner Adam Eastwood.

Han keeps a studio space in San Francisco, where she creates limited edition fragrances and signature scents for customers by appointment only. Her life experiences inform her work as a fragrance designer. Her mother was an ikebana master, trained in the art of Japanese flower arranging, and after a stint at an upscale perfume store in Aspen, Colorado, Han created her own perfume line. She calls the six fragrances included in her Luxury Elements Collection, a “fragrance wardrobe.” Each scent in the collection is designed to enhance a different element of a woman’s personality. Han notes, “You don’t wear the same clothes every day and you aren’t in the same mood every day, why should you wear the same fragrance?”

A passionate traveler, Han used her experiences to create two new fragrances, Winter Dream and Phenomenon. With notes of rose hips and cold weather ever lasting, the intoxicating Winter Dream was inspired by Han’s recent trip to Turkey, “I love going to new places and discovering new cultures. Turkey is the rose capital of the world and Winter Dream was inspired by the Grand Bazaar.”

Han’s other new fragrance, Phenomenom was created for a more sophisticated perfume palate. “This is for the bloggers, ” she says, referring to the members of the internet community who frequent makeupalley.com, nowsmellthis.blogharbor.com, and aromascope.com and will attend the upcoming Sniffapalooza in New York City. The intriguing Phenomenon features more unusual aromas, including osamanthus, boronia and rhododendron. “It’s sophisticated and complex,” Han says. “I really wanted to throw the bloggers a curve ball.”

The Scent Bar is located at 8327 Beverly Blvd., Los
Angeles, CA 90048 (323) 782-8300. Check out Yosh Han’s
fragrance philosophy at www.eaudeyosh.com.