Katie Puckrik Smells BBC Radio London



Yesterday morning, encouraged by bright sunshine and the merrily swaying daffodils in gardens and window boxes from Bloomsbury to Oxford Circus, I strolled with a cup of "flat white" (the dry cappuccino that is currently Londoners' preferred form of caffeine) to BBC Broadcasting House. The occasion was an appearance on a Sunday a.m. radio show hosted by Penny Smith.

Turns out Penny is quite the connoisseur of smells of all kinds, as she spoke rapturously of the scent of turned earth and open graves (whoa, goth lady!), and she was happy to hunker down with the selection of perfumes I'd brought:

Miller Harris L'air de Rien (Penny descibed it as "talcum powder and feet," which wasn't necessarily a criticism.)


Boudicca Wode (Penny's favorite.)


Madonna Truth or Dare ("Parma violets and love hearts...too sweet!" declared Penny. But to be fair, Truth or Dare is the furthest from open graves of all my selections.)


Annick Goutal Nuit Etoilée ("Like walking in a forest sucking on a mint," said Penny.)

The interview lasts about 15 minutes. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio London, 94.9, Sunday March 25, 2012 at 10 a.m.

40 comments:

  1. Katie, I heard you but tuned in a bit late so will avail myself of the listen again facility!

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  2. I wish you could do a regular review slot, I just loved listening to this.

    Mary

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  3. Katie, I do believe you love the smell of the skin of your husband. I also believe you don't want him competing with yours! ;) My wife and I actually think out ours to compliment each other and not compete with each other. Did a great job on this! Now that we heard you working, when we going to see a day a Harrods or Arabian Oud?

    Cheers!

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    1. I heard this, Fantastic. Penny Smith took me by suprise, she was realy cool. L' Air de Rien + Boudicca Wode: Genius Perfumes.

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    2. Correct on both counts, Gojira: I love the smell of my husband's unadorned skin *and* I will brook no competition with my own perfume. That would just be too much coordinating to contemplate.


      Chris - yeah, Penny certainly knew her frankincense from her vetiver.

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  4. Forgive a country mouse question, but what is a dry cappuccino? Also, good to hear your voice again, greetings from the central coast!

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    1. Ahoy there! A dry cappuccino = easy on the milk. Some cappuccinos are so milky, they might as well be lattes - not my cup of joe. Although I'm still trying to get to the bottom of what a "flat white" actually is, because some say it's milkier than a cap, others say it's dryer.

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    2. From what I've been told here in New Zealand (land of the flat white, too), a flat white is dryer than thin American Starbucks lattes but milkier than a dry cappuccino, and it traditionally incorporates only one shot of espresso.

      But the scuttlebutt is that lattes and flat whites can be very similar. I've had lattes in the US (Seattle), made in a Northern Italian style -- with a rich dense foam called "microfoam" -- that are identical to the flat whites I get here.

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    3. I knew you would have expertise to bring to this topic, Nathan, what with your being a foodie who has lived in both Seattle and now NZ. I've been asking for a definition of "flat white" in every specialist espresso bar I've frequented, and I always get a different answer! I think I'll stick with a cappuccino.

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  5. 'Scentertainment'? Really?!?!

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    1. Yeah, facts with fun. Not strictly egghead.

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    2. It just seemed a portmanteau too far!!!! The entertainment value of your blog and videos just isn't to be questioned by anyone!. I just smelt Absolue Pour Le Soir in Liberty (having read about it on fragrantica) and thought it was a def. recommend for you, but checked first that you hadn't mentioned it already (I couldn't recall), and there it was rhapsodised about it all its rosey filthy honeyness. What a classic!

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    3. Your robust support of the shipworthiness of KP Smells' entertainment value is much appreciated. But I'm always a sucker for a portmanteau - in a parallel universe, I'd be Mad Men-era copywriter.

      Yes indeedy on Absolue PLS!

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    4. Just be careful that if you describe yourself as a scentertainer, people don't think you are a vaudeville act in the manner of le Petomane!

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  6. "A narrative that happens on your skin" -- I like that.

    And the sound of the Boudicca Wode bottle shaking on-air was great.

    Nice interview, Katie. I enjoyed listening and hope you do something like this again. Soon!

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    1. Aw thanks Nathan. Boudicca Wode really delivers: the sound, the action, the smell. It packs a punch of a surprise.

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  7. Oooh, something to add to the 'Listen at the weekend' list! Thanks for the link :-)

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  8. I am glad you posted this link - I firked around in the Listen Again schedules on Sunday night, but couldn't get them to work on my iPhone (which has sound), plus I was homing in on Jeni Bartett's show, with Vanessa Feltz as first reserve. Will go back and have another go! Aha, looks like Penny Smith shares the same slot as JB, so my hunch was correct - though my technology woefully lacking. I don't even have on my main pc, how poor is that?

    The Madonna perfume is Parma violety? Oh know, there's my illusion busted before I have even smelt it!

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    1. The sound on my main pc is so silent in fact, that the word doesn't even register when you type it.

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    2. Truth or Dare is not Parma violety - that was Penny's assessment, but I think that was an expression of her general disapproval of TorD's candy sweetness. It's actually not all that bad, but it's not great for those who love "rotting wood" scents, as she does.

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    3. I have now caught up with the whole interview on Mr Bonkers' MAC and thought it an informative hoot. In fact, it was "infohoot-tastic", at the risk of coining a portmanteau word too far. I recently lit upon "fumeheadonism", a postmanteau flanker to your "fumehead"...

      The open graves ("unoccupied", as you were quick to clarify!), the Banksy business with the wode can, and the discussion of borderline halitosis and insalubrious feet were all a lot of fun.

      And I will bear your comment in mind about Truth or Dare, which I had been looking forward to trying most of all of the upcoming designer launches. The lemming was nearly slayed on the spot, so thanks for that clarification.

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    4. Oh no, two "clarify" derivatives in one comment! It must be time for dinner.

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  9. What have you been inhaling that enhances your sense of humour?

    I couldn't laugh(at 'Night of the Living Dead', 'borderline halitosis' etc) because I just put on vintage Shalimar extrait before I tuned in...

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    1. I guess I was just inhaling the perfumes themselves...

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  10. I'm glad to hear that a "flat white," isn't actually DRY, dry.

    I thought, "WHOA, Katie is HARDCORE! Coffee pixie sticks!"

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    1. "Coffee Pixi Stix" - hahahahhahahahhaaaa! Just you wait - I'll bet those are in the pipeline.

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  11. Hi Katie. Really enjoyed meeting you at "the leather event" the other week. This broadcast was a lot of fun. Didn't take Penny Smith for an open graves kinda gal. You just never know.

    I am very curious to try L'air de Rien.

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    1. Lovely to hang out with you too, Tara! I was also surprised by Penny's bent towards all things rotting and woody.

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    2. Wode sounds fabulous. Are you aware of any other snuffed-out candle smells?

      Also, ha ha--you said "woody."

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  12. Maybe Penny should try "Black March" for that rainy day, wood, moss smell.

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    1. She'd be in open grave heaven with that one.

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  13. I smelled "Truth or Dare," yesterday, and I got more gardenia out of it than tuberose.

    I'm curious to hear any more expert opinions.

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  14. I loved hearing you on this show. You are so knowledgeable and great at painting a picture with the perfume's ingredients. I am surprised some big perfume house hasn't hired you away to promote their perfumes because you do it so well.

    The only problem with a radio show, tho, is we can't see your face! But the interview was great and loved getting a chance to hear it on your blog.

    ScentsofSmell

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  15. Also loved the comments about "coffee pixie sticks" and "fumeheadonism".

    Good ones!

    ScentsofSmell

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  16. OMG! was this interview really a year ago! Geez....

    redface

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    1. Ah...the wonder of technology for reliving the distant past as if it were the recent past! No red face required.

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