Celina is one of those people you just want to talk about perfume with. Like the rest of the Ministry of Scent crew, she helps make that cherished perfume shop feel like a home for fragheads. She’s warm, curious, and brimming with fragrance knowledge.

Celina got the perfume bug in childhood, when a family friend gifted her a French EDT tucked inside a box set with potpourri and lotion. From that frosted-glass moment to her high school rotation of Chanel Chance Eau Tendre, Miss Dior Chérie, and Chloe EDP, perfume has always been part of her life. After years of running her own lingerie business, she joined Ministry of Scent in 2023, first on the fulfillment team and now on the floor, where she brings the same creative magic she brings to her sewing machine, cosplay builds, and very excellent TikToks (where she pairs perfumes with video game characters, naturally). She loves being surrounded by other scent-obsessed, creative weirdos and says the community reminds her of her theater kid days, with more grown-up taste but just as much passion and excitement.

Celina is a big part of what makes the Bay Area’s perfume community so vibrant. If you see her at Ministry of Scent, ask what she’s loving right now, she always has the best picks. You can also catch her on Ministry of Scent’s excellent IG and TikTok.

As a reminder, this series is about getting to know someone through the bottles they keep, not about suggesting you need a sprawling collection to enjoy fragrance. You can love perfume deeply without owning a lot of it. Samples, decants, travel sizes, and swaps are great ways to do that.

I love that you ask this question because I’d absolutely want to be smelling good even in uncertain danger or extreme solitude.

So, first is undeniably Odile by Gumamina. This is one of those scents that stirred something in me before I even got my nose on it. When I did, I felt like a missing puzzle piece had been set in place. It’s dark, sexy, goth, vintage, playful, and just the right amount of freaky. I love her and need her in every lifetime.

Second is also easy - Portrait of a Lady by Frederic Malle. This is the first “big girl” niche that really evoked a strong reaction in me. It also made me realize that Dominique Ropion is my favorite perfumer. This is like the perfume equivalent of your perfect shade of red lipstick. It’s your white whale, but when you find it and put it on, your entire look is elevated. It’s simply a work of art, and I’m a better woman when I have it on.

Last but certainly not least is Little Flower by Régime des Fleurs. This one is so nostalgic and special to me because it reminds me of the Chloe Roses EDP that was my signature scent for 10 years, and it was the first true niche I ever coveted. This perfume is basically what runs through my veins. When my oldest friends or family smell this they always say “this smells like you”. It’s beautiful and almost like identity affirming - perfect for descending into heat stroke induced madness on a desert island!

Tell me a story about a bottle in your collection.

Oooh this one is special for many reasons. It’s my vintage miniature bottle of Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood. Vivienne Westwood is my favorite designer and an overall inspiration to me. When I started getting deeper into niche and collecting, of course, I started to research more obscure or discontinued designer frags. Seeing the name*, the bottle, and the notes on Boudoir made me desperate to get my hands and nose on it. I quickly searched on eBay and was instantly dissuaded by the prices. Later, I posted a Fragrantica screenshot of it online, just saying, “What I would give!!” It turns out my nearly lifelong best friend was taking notes. For my 30th birthday, she sent me an unopened bottle that was still in the box! It was such a surprise and such a creature comfort for me during that time specifically, having lost my dad just days after my 30th birthday. It was one of those things that just moved me so deeply because of all the significance and the timing of receiving it. It’s still my most prized bottle and probably the cutest looking one too. It smells like a classic 90s kitchen sink hot girl chypre. It’s not something I’d even want to wear all the time, but I’m kinda glad because I’d be devastated to go through it.

*The name excited me because I’m a lingerie designer and the longtime connection between lingerie and fragrance was clearly a huge influence on me!

What's a bottle you never wear but will never give away?

My bottle of Angel Glamorama by Mugler. This is a somewhat recent purchase, and my first bottle of any Angel. It’s a 2014 flanker I blind bought off eBay because it’s all black (hello goth Angel?!) and because the Fragrantica reviews all said it smells just like the OG version. I wouldn’t know what that one smelled like because I was born a year after it came out, but I’d heard enough people wax poetic about that perfect chocolatey fruitchouli to be deeply curious. Now I’m not sure if it’s because the bottle is old or that the storage over the years was unclear, but there is such a strong (unlisted) cumin note that it has been hard for me to reach for. I’m actually a cumin fan, and overall, I don’t even dislike the smell of it, but it’s just so strong at the end of the day that I’m still not sure when the right occasion is to wear it. I hope I find it because I do actually love it… it’s also kind of just a kitchen sink nuclear bomb it’s hard. And that says a lot because I’m a proud oversprayer and love a strong scent! But the bottle alone would make me never get rid of it. It’s too iconic!

The first bottle you would bring to a fragrance swap?

If you had asked me a few weeks ago, I would’ve said my discontinued bottle of DS & Durga’s Crystal Pistil from 2020, but I just successfully swapped that one (for Mistpouffer from Stora Skuggan yayyy). So now I would say my bottle of holy_wood by Nomenclature. This is another early niche FB purchase that felt like I pulled the trigger too soon. And it was purchased before I learned that you should never buy a perfume you tested while traveling if the climate is totally different. I first tried it at Aedes while visiting NYC in the summer of 2021. I loved it and used up my whole sample during the trip! I ordered it a couple of months after I got home, and to my disappointment, it didn’t smell the same on my skin as I remembered. Something about it in the dry California heat made me realize it smelled a little too similar to my beloved Le Labo Rose 31, but in a way I liked less. It’s a 1970s Hollywood-inspired rose chypre built around the Firmenich synthetic patchouli accord “Clearwood”. I love a spicy rose patchouli, but I don’t need *that* many.

If I was over right now, what would you spray on me?

Probably my adorable little bottle of Pumkini by Tamburins! This is a special one because it has a cool pumpkin and shiso leaf note, and smells so unique from anything else I’ve tried. It’s also from a Korean brand you can’t purchase in the US! I was lucky enough to get my hands on it because one of my favorite customers, the beautiful Angelique, arranged for her friend to bring me back one of their egg-shaped travel sprays when visiting Seoul. And it was thanks to her that I even fell in love with it when she brought in her bottle after her trip to Korea. It’s the perfect light, starchy gourmand. If you like rice notes and anything bordering on a savory gourmand, you’ll love this.

Which bottle do you reach for when you want to feel comforted?

Saffron Flour by Universal Flowering, hands down. I don’t know what kind of witchcraft Courtney put in this one, but I crave the smell of it if I haven’t worn it in a few days. The comfort it brings is on par with the feeling of tucking into your own bed after a super long trip. It’s like ASMR for my nose. It’s this delicious blend of saffron and rosewater (already nostalgic and comforting notes for me coming from a half-Persian household) with creamy butter, horchata, and ambrette. The color of the juice is also this perfect pale pink that scratches an itch in my girl brain. It’s my favorite bedtime scent and overall comfort fragrance. I wish it also came in a body oil or something! I love her brand so much in general.

Anything else you want to share?

Not to end on a negative note, but I hate the greenwashing of perfume. The idea that you even need something “clean” and “natural” as if synthetic fragrance accords are “toxic” and “hormone disrupting” or whatever is so silly to me. Natural ingredients often cause the most allergic reactions and are partly the reason for creating synthetics! I mean, iso e super alone carries the weight of so much of this industry on its back. Her and ambroxan are in all those “clean girl skin scent” white musks. I love synthetics. I don’t like my perfume “clean”, I want them “DIRTY”!!