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It's said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but at this one-of-a-kind matchmaking show, suitors use the scent of smell to make a match. Smells Like Love, an interactive matchmaking show, will debut on Saturday, February 15 at Caveat on the Lower East Side. It's hosted by Emma Vernon, a comedian and matchmaker turned perfume expert.
While the show will no doubt be a blast to watch in the audience, there's still time to register if you're single and want a chance to let your nose do the picking. Be sure to apply here before February 5 to be considered.
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Think of Smells Like Love as a twist on the classic dating game. With each round, the stakes grow higher—and the smells stronger—as contestants vie for a shot at love, all based on how they smell and what smells appeal to them. One eligible single will take a seat on stage, and a wall will divide them from three suitors. In front of a live audience, they'll answer questions based on their own aromas and how they smell things.
And yes, the single will literally smell the contestants. "With a blindfold, they might physically smell an armpit or a smell a wrist or an article of used clothing," Vernon tells Time Out.
They might physically smell an armpit or a smell a wrist or an article of used clothing.
Don't worry, even if you're not on stage, you'll get to smell a lot of stuff, too, as part of a research-backed smell-and-tell.
Before the matchmaking begins, fragrance expert Justin Welch will take the stage. He's the head of fine fragrance experience at DSM-Firmenich, the world's leading innovator of key ingredients and formulas behind a bevy of beloved perfumes. They're the ones behind Le Labo Santal 33, Glossier You, Marc Jacobs Daisy, D&G Light Blue, Acqua Di Gio, CKOne, and YSL Black Opium, to name a few.
You'll get a chance to sniff some actual perfume ingredients that go into creating the world's sexiest smells. Without giving away any secrets before the show, just know that the results will shock (and delight) you.
Expect plenty of laughs, surprises, and of course, hot, steamy, molecular chemistry.
As Vernon puts it, "expect plenty of laughs, surprises, and of course, hot, steamy, molecular chemistry."
The show will also dig into another hot topic—whether pheromones are actually real. You can study up in advance with a podcast episode Vernon hosted on the subject as part of her series, Perfume Room.
For the brave singles willing to apply for the show, know that you don't need to be a fragrance fiend, but you've got to wear/own at least one fragrance or scented grooming/beauty product. To apply, you'll answer questions about what fragrances you wear, what you want your partner to smell like, what your ex smelled like, what what "weird" smells you like.
Vernon will use those answers as she selects singles for the show. Even if you don't get picked for the stage, you might just end up meeting somebody in the audience—or at the singles mixer Vernon's hosting after the show.
The concept for the show came about serendipitously. Before the pandemic, Vernon hosted a live show where she'd set up singles on stage in improv environments. She turned out to be an adept matchmaker, so much so that she became a private matchmaker for a while.
"I found so much joy in making genuine, earnest matches," she says.
I found so much joy in making genuine, earnest matches.
Amid the pandemic, she rediscovered her longtime love for fragrance and began posting TikToks about perfume content. The account took off, so she took olfactory training and began the Perfume Room podcast, which features reviews, hot takes, and conversations with experts.
To Vernon, "perfume is the final accessory" on any outfit.
"For me, I see scent as multipurpose. It's either to punctuate who I feel that I am," Vernon says. "Or it's who I want to be. It can be escapist."