A trained researcher, educator, writer, and editor in the life and medical sciences, I have been forever hooked on fragrances. My name is Damiana and my love for scent started as a young child, sniffing perfumes and soaps, and also scented erasers, pens, and dolls. The love continued to grow as I started to collect perfume at age 11 after my mom brought me a set of five miniatures from Paris – Gres Cabochard was my favorite. From then on, my parents continued to feed my passion: my mom with the perfume bottles she would happily share (I remember YSL Paris, Lancôme Magie Noire, Trussardi for Women), and my dad with mini-size bottles he’d bring me from his trips. I spent years discovering, wearing, and collecting fragrances, and the passion became even stronger after I discovered artistic perfumery in 2013.
I was born in Italy, but raised in both Italy and the UK before moving to the USA sixteen years ago.
I love how the fascination for fragrance not only continuously develops my sense of smell and expands my olfactory culture, but also enriches the spirit of sharing through the use of samples, decants, bottles, impressions, and stories.
Other than perfumes I love literature, poetry, art, theater, movies, traveling, good food, and, of course, reading and writing.
My credentials
Although I am not formally trained in the perfume industry, I have been writing in the science and medicine fields for almost twenty years.
I have authored and edited journal articles, book chapters, pocket guide books, and magazine pieces (articles, research highlights, interviews), both as an academic and professional writer. I have also produced content for websites, brochures, social media platforms, and bulletin boards. I regularly teach classes and workshops for professional medical writers, editors, and proofreaders, as a contributing member of the American Medical Writers Association.
I have also been taking perfumery classes to learn more about raw materials, notes, and accords, and how they can be combined to create fragrances.
Writing about perfume and other life-long passions is a new adventure that will bring together thirty years of sniffing, collecting, discovering, reading, and communicating about scents and other topics I am interested in. I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Disclaimer
I Sniff Before I Sleep is my personal blog and the opinions are my own. I primarily review fragrances from my own bottles and samples I either purchased or received for free. If bottles or samples were gifted or won as part of a draw, I will indicate that in the review or article. I review new releases as well as vintage or discontinued fragrances, depending on what inspires me. Receiving samples does not guarantee a review. Unless otherwise indicated, all pictures are my own. I am dedicated to fact-checking and any mistakes will be corrected promptly.
Affiliate links
I Sniff Before I Sleep may contain affiliate links to fragrance websites or online stores. This means I may receive a small commission from some of those websites if you make a purchase through their link (at no extra cost to you). Click here for more information about affiliate programs, in compliance with IAB Guidelines.