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The Secret of Thai Perfumery: Beyond Luxury Labels
How JOURNAL bottles the essence of Thailand
Did you know that the human nose can remember up to 50,000 different scents, yet we can’t smell anything while sleeping? Our olfactory memory is also one of the strongest connections to our emotions — smells can trigger memories and feelings from decades ago with surprising precision. Even more fascinating, every person has a unique “smell fingerprint” — just like our fingerprints, no two people smell things exactly the same way!
These fascinating facts about our sense of smell made me reflect on my own journey in search of the perfect fragrance. For years, I wandered through luxurious department stores, sampling countless perfumes from prestigious houses like Dior, Chanel, and Hermès. I explored the sophisticated offerings of niche brands like Jo Malone, hoping to find “the one.” Yet nothing quite clicked. Each scent either felt too overwhelming, too synthetic, or simply didn’t resonate with my personal taste.
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A Serendipitous Discovery
I took a trip to Chiang Mai earlier this July. It was my first time visiting this famous, laid-back city, known for its beautiful natural mountainous scenery, elephant sanctuary, and as a center of Thai…
