On Friday evening  I took the subway out to Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood. DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass; you can see the bridge here, from the Brooklyn side of the river, with the lower Manhattan skyline in the background. I took this photo from the roof of the building where Aroma M Perfumes has just opened its new “atelier.”

Part studio, part showroom, the Aroma M Atelier is a new space to experience this family of fragrances: Maria McElroy’s original Aroma M Geisha line, collaborations like Immortal Mine and Cherry Bomb Killer Perfume (with perfumer/artist Alexis Karl), as well as Alexis Karl’s own line of fragrances.

The red door bears images and labels for each collection, just so that you know you’re in the right place.

Aroma M‘s Geisha perfumes, wrapped in their signature Japanese papers, are arrayed next to Japanese-themed books and other precious objects. (My favorites are Geisha Violet, Geisha Blue, Nobara-Cha…)

Then, of course, there’s the elegant Aroma M skincare line, including camellia oil-based formulas for the body, hair, and face. They all smell heavenly.

A corner arrangement of Geisha oils, a gilded mirror (Alexis Karl’s handiwork), an antique chandelier, and two tiny paintings.

Cherry Bomb Killer Perfume is one collaboration between Maria McElroy and Alexis Karl: the scents are youthful and sweet, but also a little bit rock-and-roll.

The two perfumers also collaborated on a fragrance for the multi-media Clarimonde Perfume Project, and a limited amount of their creation Immortal Mine is still available.

A new Scent by Alexis collection has been taking shape: it was developed for an exhibition by Alexis Karl’s husband (also an artist), with fragrances inspired by various paintings. You can read more about these fragrances here. More information about this collection’s release to the public should be available soon…

Since the Atelier also serves as a studio, there are some tantalizing glimpses of products in various stages of development and storage.

Here’s a cluster of the beautiful Japanese papers that Maria McElroy uses to wrap her Aroma M Geisha bottles. And there’s a pale purple paper with actual flower petals embedded in it!

Maria and Alexis were joined by quite a few visitors and well-wishers that evening, including my friends Gaia (of The Non-Blonde) and Lucy (of IndiePerfumes). Good conversation, good smells, and chilled jasmine tea were enjoyed by all.

If you’re planning a day in Brooklyn, and you’re an admirer of any of these fragrance lines (or you’re just curious and want to know more), you might want to add the  Aroma M Atelier to your itinerary. The space will be open for visits on Monday-Friday, 1-6 p.m. For directions and more information, contact info@aromam.com or call 212.686.7601.

Images: all photos by Tinsel Creation.