Perfume maven Maria McElroy’s pint-size tenth-floor studio on Jay Street in a Dumbo can only be reached by a slow-moving industrial elevator from yesteryear. It’s the perfect introduction to her fairy-tale lair with a bright-orange staircase she painted herself and a handmade paper parasol she found in a small Japanese village when she was studying papermaking there. Photo: Wendy Goodman
McElroy, well versed in the art of the Japanese tea ceremony, served up a delicious treat of cookies and candies while she started to mix a special blend of Matcha green tea. Photo: Wendy Goodman
McElroy stirred the powdered tea to just the perfect strength. “The first three fragrances I created were based on tea,” she told me. Photo: Wendy Goodman
“This antique portable tea set has everything you need for a proper tea ceremony,” she explained. McElroy found it when she was living in Japan. Photo: Wendy Goodman
This glass skull holds aroma M’s fragrance, Immortal Mine, resting on an array of Maria’s books on Japanese arts. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Her fragrances are created with an unusual combination of ingredients”like litchi with rose and white chestnut blossom with muguet. Pictured here are the limited-edition House of Cherry Bomb scents (a line she created with fellow perfumer Alexis Karl), presented in green and clear vintage poison bottles. Photo: Wendy Goodman
The shelves hold McElroy’s Aroma M Geisha perfume oils, House of Cherry Bomb’s Immortal Mine, and Atelier scents. The roll-on perfumes to the left are wrapped in Yuzen papers. These limited edition scents are all made with organic oils and mixed here in the studio. I found the Cardamom Rose and Tobacco Cognac”part of the Atelier line”to be delicious new olfactory experiences. Photo: Wendy Goodman
Aroma M also has a line of soothing bath, hair, and skin oils”perfect for this time of year. Photo: Wendy Goodman
