Kitten Fur, High School Summer, and Snow on Concrete—Meet Nostos, My New Favorite Fragrance Brand

Have you ever fallen for a brand before it even launched? That’s exactly what happened with Nostos, a new niche fragrance line that became an instant favorite of mine before its first bottles even existed.

Started by Jackie Mayol from her New York City apartment, I first discovered Nostos while deep in a perfume TikTok rabbit hole. In the months that followed, it felt funny to realize how invested I was in a product that technically didn’t exist yet, so much so that it quickly became one of my most anticipated releases of the year.

What sold me immediately was the distinctness of each scent. If you’re looking for something cozy and comforting, Calico is for you, which has kitten fur as a note. Teen captures the fleeting feeling of high school summers spent at the mall, with a nostalgic reference to Victoria’s Secret body sprays, which is easily the flirtiest and most playful of the three. Meanwhile, Shiver is the most vivid winter smell: snow on concrete, the embodiment of cold.

As I did more research, I learned that all of them were developed in collaboration with perfumer Marissa Zappas, with design by Special Offer, Inc., the creative agency behind Charli XCX’s Brat and Rosalía’s Lux.

Month after month, I found myself checking to see if the launch had finally happened, and after nearly a year of anticipation, Nostos finally debuted this December.

Below, I spoke with Mayol about launching Nostos and her first fragrances: Calico, Teen, and Shiver.

What was your experience with fragrance before starting this brand?