Charlotte Palermino Found Her Favorite Fragrance at a Greek Drugstore

Welcome to The Sniff Test, a column about everything that smells good. For each edition, we speak to interesting people about what they — and their spaces — smell like. This time, Charlotte Palermino shares the best-smelling products in her substantial arsenal, beauty finds she discovered on vacations to Europe, and how she keeps her home smelling like a cozy campfire. 

Charlotte Palermino will happily cross an ocean for a body wash. A good one is worth the plane trip. The Dieux Skin co-founder has made plenty of beauty discoveries abroad, specifically at the drugstore. On Instagram, she shares a reel highlighting a "pharmacy Française raid," in which she breaks down two standouts from La Roche Posay. Each product's very French name rolls off her tongue in the lovely way it only does for a native speaker. Some of what she picked up isn't available stateside due to ingredient restrictions. "Anyone know legit sources on where to buy these? Lmk," she writes at the end of the video description.

As Palermino and I chat over Zoom one Monday afternoon in March from our respective New York City apartments, she's talking about a visit to a Greek pharmacy where she discovered her new favorite fragrance, Cashmere Kumquat, was actually from a skin-care brand. "When we went to this drugstore, there was like this altar of Korres," she recalls, describing the wall unit laden with square amber bottles boasting white labels and matching caps. Even in a market abundant with product, the brand owner and skinfluencer can still discover something that was just under her nose the whole time. In a different country, no less. 

If we're talking about skin-care products, ingredients, and demystifying "clean" beauty, Palermino's an expert. While she admits that she's still learning about fragrance, the self-described "skin-care fairy godmother" is very clear on what smells good to her — and she isn't afraid to pay a little extra for a well-formulated fragrance. "Half of the price is the scent," she says of some of the go-tos she keeps at her home in Brooklyn. Whether she's spraying it on her body, smoothing it into her hair, or burning it in a glass vessel, these are the scented products Palermino reaches for.  

Body Washes and Lotions

I like to shower in the morning. I'm obsessed with Jordan Samuel's body cleanser; it smells like oranges. I know a bit about the psychology behind different scents because I learned about consumer behavior in business school. Orange and citrusy scents wake people up, it's very much a thing. Whereas I love an orangey citrus in the morning, at night, I like lavender and chamomile — calming scents.

I'm a fan of the different scents of Cowshed products, the SoHo House brand. I'm pretentious. The products themselves are fine, but what stands out most for me are the fragrances of the body washes and shower gels especially. I also like Humanrace's body bars. I love anything that's a scrub body bar, but these have no fragrance. [When I want one,] I'll use Method's Sea & Surf Exfoliating Bar Soap. It's like five bucks. 

One really fun body product I should add is from Le Petit Marseillais. I'm a person who will travel for brands, and whenever I'm in France, this is what I buy and stock up on — Lait D'Amande Douce, the almond milk one. It's honestly the fucking best and makes your skin feel really nice. 

The thing with cleansers is the smell dissipates, so [when it comes to body lotions] I want a really strong scent. I've been trying more body products and while I love things like La Roche Posay Lipikar, it has no fragrance, and I get it. If you have eczema, you're not going to want that. But for me, I'm like, "load up me on the fragrance, it's fine." Caudalie's Vinosculpt body cream smells so good. It's like a vanilla-y, gourmand type scent. They did such a beautiful job with it.

Shea butter has a lovely scent when it's not rancid. So many shea butters can be like that — that's actually the real reason why I think a lot of people have had bad experiences with it, they don't get good shea butter. Hanahana Beauty… their source is impeccable. The scents, too. So good. 

Nivea Creme's fragrance, I don't know what it is but it reminds me of my mom. I have a pretty bad memory. I don't remember much from my childhood, but I have these flashes, and they always are usually around scents, food, or things like that. This cream just brings me back to my mom, and it also works really well. I love that combination. It's a hand cream, and I find that hand creams are another thing that I want to have a really nice fragrance. Your hands are often close to your face. And so it's really nice [to get a whiff]. I don't like using Nivea Creme on my face, though, because it's too much scent for that area.

For my hair, I really look for stuff that's going to work because I have what I like to call "toddler hair." You know how toddlers can have fine hair that breaks and is very easily tangled? Well, it's fucking annoying. My sister always has me comb her children's hair, she's like, "you have the same hair they do." Kids love it because I have special combs and brushes for our hair. 

I also color my hair now. It turned black during the pandemic, jet black. I look back at pictures and my eyebrows are a totally different color. Stress can do crazy things to your body, and I think that was one of them for me. [So I'm dyeing it] to match my natural color, which is more like a reddish brown. Now that I'm doing that, I'm using K18. I don't think it has a discernible fragrance. But what I do love, if we're going to talk about fragrances in hair care, is Bread Beauty Supply.

Can we just do chef's kiss? Oh, chef's kiss. Their products are a bit heavy for my hair because, as I said: toddler hair. But sometimes, I'll use the conditioner as a mask, sleep in it, and rinse it out the next day. The oil is also amazing. Then, there's Briogeo — beautiful, beautiful scents. [ed.'s note: Bread's conditioner has a "cereal milk" kind of scent and Briogeo's bestselling Don't Despair, Repair! collection has a soft, slightly floral powdery-clean smell.] Whoever's their perfumer deserves a raise. They are so good. I would say those are two brands I feel are amazing, even though they don't always necessarily work in my hair. But then again, I've used children's products that work better for me than adult ones: L'Oréal's kids shampoo, the one that looks like a fish. 

I don't really know that much about perfume. But I was recently in Greece, and found out Korres makes beautiful fragrances that I knew nothing about. Their body washes are beautiful, too. Honestly, I was so impressed. I was with two of my friends, one of which is obsessed with fragrances. She bought a whole wall of Korres's while we were there! I mean, look at how beautiful the packaging is. And it's $40! Cashmere Kumquat is the scent that I've been really into. Korres is a brand that I never really thought twice of for fragrance in the U.S. because I think of them more as skin care. 

I actually found it quite helpful that the bottle lists the top, heart, and base notes. You know when you're like, why do I like a scent? This helps me figure that out. Now I know what to ask for. This one is kumquat, mandarin orange, orange blossom, jasmine, almond — I fucking love almond. Then cashmere, cedarwood, and vanilla. I was like, oh, okay. These all sound like things that I've liked in the past — like this fragrance when I was a child that was in this blue bottle. It's French — Cacharel. It's so iconic, basically, every kid had it. Must have been a French thing. 

Anyway, I know it's not "cool" to like vanilla, but I like vanilla. This one from Violette, Avec Amour, is part oil, part perfume. You can keep it in your purse. Florals are the one category I don't think I like, but Krigler's Extraordinaire Camelia 209 is one I choose if I'm wearing tulle or something. It's very expensive. 

Funmi Monet's videos are teaching me a lot about fragrance. I used to get perfumes and was like, "this doesn't work," but I would be applying three sprays for the entire day. That was my problem. Funmi says things like, "You have to coat yourself," or "bring it with you and reapply throughout the day." And I'm like, "Thank you. It's sunscreen." Somebody finally gave me context! I apply [the Korres] normally in the morning and then I bring [Avec Amour] in my purse to apply throughout the day. They complement each other pretty nicely.

Having a little bit of a fragrance is actually quite comforting. I feel like leaving your home is uncomfortable now. And for some people, it's really scary, if you're immunocompromised. I can't imagine what it's like to go out there, especially with all people who don't care about masks anymore. So it's one of those things where fragrance has actually been an incredible comfort. I think that's why I got into it. I also think I'm a lot more sensitive to scents now because I've been able to control my environment for so long. 

I've always loved candles. Let's go through all the ones I have! I really like Otherland. I feel like their candles last a long time. I've been really into their Rattan and Chandelier Champagne candles as well as their Kindling one — I'm obsessed with sandalwood and firewood-type smells. I find them to be very comforting because I grew up with a lot of firewood as a child. 

I adore Lit Lab Co. Fireside. The one I have is huge and it lasts forever, plus it smells like a portable fire. It's so cool. Another reason why I like this brand? They also break down the notes for you. I want to know why I like this. I actually really appreciate that brands helped me understand the science of why I like the scent. Before, if you suggest a lavender candle to me, I'd be like, "No," but it turns out, I like something with a lavender base, apparently. Amber and sage, too — I love an ambery scent.

Then, I'm obsessed with this candle from Acqua di Parma. It's a collaboration with Emilio Pucci, Notte de Stelle. I really like Maison Margiela Replica candles as well. I think they're beautiful scents but I also love how they look. This one is Beach Vibes and I have At The Barber's, too. 
People always say that they're more masculine scents, but I just feel like, no. Let's stop gendering everything.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length. 

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