Recommend Me a Perfume : September 2026

I arrived in Kramatorsk in April to blooming apricot trees. Now, in September, this city on the advancing front lines of eastern Ukraine stands dressed in autumnal colors. Some days, the grape leaves turning crimson catch my attention before I notice that another building has been destroyed during the night. What’s impossible not to notice is how the city is dying–the streets are emptier, the parks deserted, the homes abandoned. In any other war, all of the newspapers would be writing about Kramatorsk, but this war has been going on too long, and everyone is tired. I stay here to do volunteer work, helping with civilian evacuations. In my free time, I study Chinese, write, and give perfume seminars online. If you follow me on Substack, you also know that I have rescued a kitten, and now my teaching assistant is present whenever we talk about accords and notes. Some of the articles you might find interesting about my life: Things That Inspire Me Rose Petals Instead of Ashes I also…