Fragrance pop-up Huff encourages guests to expand their olfactory palates. (Photo courtesy Huff)
Science tells us our sense of smell is closely connected to our memories and emotions. That’s a function of the brain’s layout — smell information goes directly to the olfactory bulb, which is nestled near the amygdala and the hippocampus, the structures in the brain that are responsible for emotions and memory.
Perfume makes scents and their associated memories ownable and wearable, but for Eric Tomlin, perfume isn’t just an accessory — it’s an artistic medium that swaps paint and canvas for fragrance. Tomlin is the mastermind behind Huff, a local perfume sampling experience that has taken up residency at West End aromatherapy shop Apothec.
Tomlin, communications manager at the nonprofit ART 180 and an employee at Sub Rosa Bakery, launched Huff in 2024 as a monthly event series for attendees to explore diverse fragrances and build their scent palates. For each event, Tomlin pairs raw materials including sandalwood and rose with a curated selection of perfumes to illuminate how those ingredients show up in the finished product. It’s a self-guided exploration, designed to be meandering, but Tomlin gives his audience some tips: “You don’t have to smell it all. Go to what’s compelling to you,” he says. “If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed, take a beat.”
Once the sniffing commences, Tomlin gets to sit back and watch the magic happen. Eyes light up, nostrils flare, and brows furrow in concentration as the huffers try to understand their associations with a certain scent. “The thing that excites me about Huff is people engaging in [their sense of smell] and asking, ‘What does this remind me of? What is this connected to? What do I think of this?’” he says.
Tomlin draws a parallel to wine tasting as a way to explain fragrance sampling. While winemakers often provide tasting notes, he asserts that those are little more than marketing. The same goes for the fragrance world: The most important impressions are your own. “What you smell is true,” Tomlin says. “You’re the one experiencing it. You’re the one that’ll be wearing it, so what you’re smelling is real.”
A close friend introduced Tomlin to the fragrance world not long before he launched Huff. Seeking a more social experience with the hobby, he and co-worker Bianca Gilliam devised the event series. They hosted their first Huff event at Sub Rosa and, before finding a home at Apothec this year, held samplings at spots including Second Bottle, Na Nin, Maven Theory and Art 180.
But about a year into Tomlin’s aromatic journey, a preexisting case of nasal polyps (obstructions in the sinuses) took away his sense of smell, an ironic development that threatened to upend Huff completely. Tomlin relied on Gilliam to act as his designated smeller for Huff events during that time. Months of treatment eventually brought back his ability to smell.
“I realized how dramatically I hadn’t been able to smell for years,” he says. “Now, I’m intentionally and greedily rebuilding my own scent associations and experiences. It’s also calcified how meaningful smell is on a daily basis. I’m excited that it’s getting better so I can evangelize to people about it.”
On April 11 at Apothec from 3 to 5 p.m., Huff hosts Feast of the Senses — exploring how various fragrant mediums overlap with perfume and pairing a collection of niche fragrances with teas — curated in collaboration with Andrea Post, co-owner of Carytown Teas.
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