It's not goodbye, Fragrant Friend — it's see you later 🤍

Hello, Fragrant Friend 👋,

Did you know: the scents we love most are rarely the loudest. They're the ones tied to a moment — a person, a place, a memory you didn't know you were keeping. That's the whole reason this newsletter ever existed.

And it's why this one is so hard to write. Today is the last Scently Speaking.

A thank you, first

Since May 9th, 2024 — sometimes weekly, sometimes whenever life allowed. It has been an honour to land in your inbox. To bring you the news, the deep-dived myths, the quizzes, the people and the perfumes that don't show up on the first page of a search.

For me, Scently Speaking was never a finished thing. It was the start of what I hope is a lifelong apprenticeship. A curious student of perfumery, learning out loud, motivated by one stubborn belief: that this craft can be done differently. You came along for that. You read, you replied, you voted in the polls, you told me when I was onto something and when I wasn't. That made it ours, not mine.

I won't pretend I'm not a little heartbroken to stop.

Why I'm closing this chapter

Let me be clear about one thing: I'm not walking away from Scently Speaking. I'm walking toward something.

The honest reason is a painful one: it's a question of priorities. My time and focus now have to go fully into building NewNiche: the change I actually want to see in this industry, not just write about. Choosing that means letting go of a format I love, and I won't lie to you, that choice is one of the hardest I've made. But the little time I have has to go to what is right, and to what matters most to me.

Scently Speaking has, in truth, already been a daughter of NewNiche for a while. From here on, the brand as you know it won't continue, and the Instagram channel will become NewNiche.

Where I'd love for you to follow

Here's the part I'm genuinely excited about.

Going forward, I'd love to keep writing to you, this time as NewNiche, and take you behind the scenes of building what I can only describe as the Frédéric Malle of independent perfumery. That's at least the vision that keeps me awake at night.

I know that's not for everyone. And that is completely okay. But I have a hunch about the people reading this: what unites us is that we go looking for the stories, the scents and the people that are hard to find at first glance. If that's you, I'd be honoured to have you stay.

You don't need to do anything, you'll simply hear from me next under the NewNiche name. If you want to make sure, you are among the first ones to receive news, please sign-up here: NewNiche - The Letter

One last question before we close the doors

Before we lock up for good, would you do me one final favour? It would mean the world, and it'll shape what the NewNiche letter becomes.

So this is me, signing off this format, but not signing off.

Thank you for smelling the world a little more closely with me. For every reply, every "I never knew that," every recommendation you chased down because of something you read here. A scent fades, but it leaves a trail. I hope this one did.

It's not a goodbye, Fragrant Friend. It's a see you later.

With gratitude — and a lot of it,

Yours Sebastian

Founder, NewNiche (formerly your host at Scently Speaking)