Scent and Memory: Episode 2

By Rowen Holder 

Scent and Memory – Episode 2: Alexa Vittoria

Have you ever opened up an old box of clothing from the attic and been taken to another time and place? 

This startling—yet beautiful—experience is explainable by science. 

In an article released from The Harvard Gazette, Colleen Wash explains: 

“Smells are handled by the olfactory bulb, the structure in the front of the brain that sends information to the other areas of the body’s central command for further processing. Odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory.”

Yet, despite this phenomenon being a result of brain chemistry, the emotional charge that smells can provide humans is undeniably an act that transcends mere science—smells can act as a scrapbook for past moments in our lives. 

In this video and blog series, Olfactory NYC seeks to gather the memories of our team and create a scrapbook of our own memories, demonstrating that fragrance is far more than a cosmetic purchase—it’s a vessel of memory, weaving invisible threads that bind the scent community in shared experiences.

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The card table. 
Formia, Italy

In light gusts, the wind lifts the hem of the tablecloth and rifles through their game of Burraco like an unseen hand. Alexa quickly presses her cards to the table to hide them from the prying eyes of her cousins, the thick paper warm from the bright beams of the sun. Her skin, slightly darker and freckled than the day prior, glows faintly—not burned, but kissed just enough that it radiates a slight warmth. 

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“Rae takes me back to my childhood summers in Italy—we’d go every year,” says Alexa Vittoria, the head of product development at Olfactory NYC. 

When she first smelled Rae during the scent’s development a few months ago, she was surprised by its immediate pull to her summers in Formia, a seaside town in southern Italy that lies between Rome and Naples. 

With notes of blood orange, bergamont, and sugared amber, Rae directly conveys the classic scents of southern Italy, which is known to host many groves of citrus fruits. 

According to Alexa, the bright citrus notes of Rae even evoke the sun itself. 

“The blood orange scent really kind of makes me think of coming back from the beach, when it's a summer day and really warm,” she says. “Honestly, Rae is like sunshine in a bottle.” 

Yet, the true compliment to the bright citrus of the scent is the sugared amber element, which reminds Alexa of the sun’s lingering kiss on the skin. 

“The sugared amber is really that warmth on your skin after a day in the sun, like when we're just playing cards in the garden,” she adds. 

In truth, the fragrance acts as a magic portal to her sun and fun soaked childhood days. 

“I would spend my time on the beach reading, on a boat on the Mediterranean, playing with my cousins, playing cards in the evenings, eating lots of pasta, and going into town for the best gelato,” she says. “My summers there are such vivid memories for me, and this fragrance takes me back with just one smell.”

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Rae officially released on June 20th, 2025. 

Be one of the first individuals to smell this new addition to the Olfactory NYC line by coming in-store to any of our locations or purchasing the scent online—who knows where it might take you. 

Follow us on TikTok or Instagram to hear more about this scent memory.

Comment and share your own scent memories @olfactorynyc.