A mouthful of flowers somewhere outside Darien, Wisconsin.

The creative duo behind Clue Perfumery talk their new release Dandelion Butter, child psychology, Blue Moon ice cream, The Virgin Suicides, and anything else that comes to mind.

A new Clue Perfumery release from Midwest hometown heroes Laura and Caleb has certainly been a long time in the works. The ultra-composed, playfully irreverent aesthetic behind Vanden Boom’s design work, and utterly unique perfumery from Laura Oberwetter has won them countless devotees, and far exceeded brand expectations from such humble beginnings. In many ways, I feel like what these two have done with the brand is utterly irreplicable, yet highly sought after in the current wave of DIY pandemic perfumers. To put it plainly - many costal elite have tried to copy the Clue-print, but few have shown the disciplinary chops to follow through. I truly do think every bit of their viral success has been predicated on the years of behind-the-scenes work the pair have put into ensuring the brand is extremely conceptually rich, yet ever-approachable for countless droves of young people inundated into perfume social media content. Having been absolutely wowed by Dandelion Butter, their latest perfume, I knew I needed to sit down with Laura and Caleb in their beautiful Wicker Park studio – lovingly dubbed ‘The Mines' – to chat with them over a bottle of white wine about their creative process.

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AR: Audrey Robinovitz

CV: Caleb Vanden Boom

LO: Laura Oberwetter

AR: Thanks so much for sitting down with me to talk about your new release. It’s honestly crazy, I somehow feel like Clue has been a part of my life for years, but also very vividly remember Winter of 2023 when you first launched. I’m sure it’s been a crazy ride since.

CV: I was thinking about that piece you wrote for us when we first launched. I remember when it came out, I think we were both at home for winter break? It was around Christmas or New Years – but I called Laura and we were both freaking out.

LO: Yeah, it was crazy.

CV: We were so theoretical about things for so long, and were worrying if anyone would get the various threads we were weaving together.

AR: Totally, I happened to not be in Chicago when you launched, which was a shame, because I had definitely been active in the Chicago perfume scene for a while, and I really did feel like we needed what you guys were doing.

AR: Do either of you have a favorite memory over the last two years that really exemplifies what Clue has done for you?

LO: When we did ‘The Point’ screenings, where we played the film and smelled our perfume alongside it. The first screening I think was my favorite memory, because that was an event I wished existed so badly and it felt so good to see other people respond to that hunger that I felt, and be excited to show up and see it. I think we ended up doing four screenings, and by the end of the last one I was definitely feeling overwhelmed. But the first one was such a high. It really did feel like we could do the kind of things we always wanted to see and they would be received well.

CB: I might add too, one of my favorites was our launch party. It truly went so much better than we thought. It was thrilling to see so many random people just show up, and it felt like such a nice introduction for us. I like doing things in person. And another one was definitely our Slipper release: Like Mesh. I was such a doubter about it, and I totally thought no one was going to find it, or it would take weeks for people to become interested. But it sold out right away, and I was totally taken by surprise.

AR: I was shocked too by how quickly you guys sold out. It’s truly an ‘if you build it they will come’ situation, where people are definitely looking for niche perfume events in Chicago, but also a niche perfume house that really works in multiple more intellectual disciplines. It really feels like you guys are scratching an itch very few people have been able to reach.

LO: That’s so good to hear. It’s an itch that I've always wanted someone else to scratch, and working almost feels like a reluctant “I guess we have to do it.”

CV: That one felt exciting to me, because it felt like people were really invested in the work we were doing in a way I haven't quite seen before.

AR: How was visiting Lisbon for your Art and Olfaction Awards nomination? I’m sure that must have been an amazing trip.

LO: Oh, it was really fun! It was kind of funny too, because my whole family came, and then Caleb was there with us. So we were all just going on bike tours, we took a boat ride together. But everyone that was there from the IAO felt like celebrities to me. They were people I had only seen in prerecorded zoom classes, and it was so crazy to see them IRL under such surreal circumstances. Even to this day there are people we meet in the industry who I find out were at that event the same time we were. I almost wish we could go again and really truly meet everyone who was there.

AR: Well, hopefully you can come back for another nomination!

LO: We didn't submit anything this year, but the awards just happened. Maybe another time. We’re so busy right now.

CV: So much if it was completely over my head but I had so much fun absorbing it all. I remember someone was passing around pure serotonin, and it smelled like… a chlorine pool? It was in this beautiful ornate wood room, it was so hot, everyone was sweating like crazy, and it all just smelled unforgettable.

LO: It was so like, how did we get here. I have a little bit of that somewhere, I need to find it.

AR: They let you take pure serotonin through Customs?

LO: Yeah, I guess they did!

AR: It’s not related to your new release, but I have to say. I think Candlestick is my most worn perfume of all time. I’m an altar server at my church, and specifically, the moment after mass where I’ve just snuffed out all of the candles, and I have a little bit of pre-consecrated wine on my hands from handing off the cruets to my priest, that’s exactly how Candlestick smells to me.

LO: Oh my God, that's awesome.

AR: That said, I think Dandelion Butter is coming for my second favorite slot, it’s so easy to wear, and truly feels so nostalgic. It seems like nostalgia is a huge reference point for pretty much all of the Clue releases - are you particularly nostalgic people?

LO: I don’t know if I am? I do think I remember a lot from childhood, but I don't spend a particularly long time… reminiscing… I’m not often longing for childhood.

AR: It’s definitely a very confusing time.

CV: I think I might be more nostalgic than Laura. It’s often a reference point for me that comes up a lot. That said a lot of the things we reference are maybe rooted in past memories, but have also stayed around. Like Morel Map for example, we hunted for mushrooms as a kid, but we still do that now. I think this new one might be the most nostalgic by the books.

LO: I think for me, when we’re trying to construct something that might reference an experience that happens in childhood, a lot of the time I don't think the tone is overly celebratory or wistful. It’s a lot of analysis of how you interpreted those circumstances as a child, and how you would face things differently with a little more developed brain. It’s often a reflection on how little we knew back then.

AR: I see that a lot in Candlestick. I remember you mentioned it being a reflection on taking First Communion. And all things considered that can be a really scary situation for a child sometimes, with a lot of things going on that feel very confusing.

LO: Totally.

AR: I’ve noticed such a unique and beautiful consumer response to your fragrances, Warm Bulb especially. When I first smelled the collection before its launch, I could tell the mix of familiar and experimental accords in Warm Bulb would probably make it the bestseller. I remember you mentioning it was a last-minute addition to the line. What’s the story behind how it joined the debut collection?

LO: Yeah. So I had been working on The Point, and we thought The Point was going to be the third one. And it literally just was the first time I smelled immortelle. I was struck by how much it smelled like a warm light bulb, but at the time I just bookmarked it as something to come back to. But then I had ordered a bunch of musks that I think I was planning on using in The Point. One of them I opened, and again I was struck like wow, that's another warm light bulb smell. So I just couldn’t resist combining them, and seeing if that increased the effect, and researching how to push it closer and closer to that electronic buzzing smell. It just became irresistible and distracting. I also feel like it was filling a hole the debut collection needed. It just felt balanced. There wasn't really a conversation between Caleb and I about it, it was just like: this one is getting really close to being done, we should probably add it.

CV: Its really interesting watching Laura work, because it feels like how I've heard musicians describe their process, where you’ll have a melody or a riff that’s been going for years. You often hear artists talking about a certain track being intended for the debut, but they were never able to crack it. But then maybe this other song materialized in a week right before the album release. I like that, some things just naturally taking longer to mature.

AR: I feel like in my own practice, I feel like some of the most successful work I make is the work I make while I'm procrastinating on the work that I feel like I have to be doing. I have this big grand project, and in the meantime I’m like, I might as well just tinker with this little thing. And before you know it the little thing becomes the big project, and the big project becomes overshadowed. And honestly sometimes its really frustrating, but if you open yourself up to the process it's pretty funny.

LO: I can't wait until we've been out for so long that we can put out something we've been toiling on for years and years. I really want a hard nut to crack, one that's just baking forever.

CV: There’s a few that Laura had before we even launched that I’m still thinking about.

AR: Looking back on the creation of that scent, do you see a thru-line between Warm Bulb and Dandelion Butter? They both share really warm almost dusty vanilla-like tones to me.

LO: Mhmmm. That’s so interesting. I think that Warm Bulb and Dandelion Butter feel like sisters, but then we’ve had a couple of people call Dandelion Butter the sweet little sister to Morel Map. I don’t see it, but they both have the same sort of soft comfort I guess.

CV: Morel Map is closest in story definitely.

AR: One of my favorite things about Dandelion Butter is how the gourmand tones blend seamlessly with the floral notes. The “snapped stem” and “milky sap” notes come through so vividly it makes me want to start eating flowers. How difficult was it to keep that balance in creating the formula?

LO: The balancing is kind of my favorite part. I love finding harmony in scents. I was having a lot of fun – and this is also similar to Warm Bulb – I was finding the materials I had to use to create the floralcy of Dandelion Butter were flowers that felt gourmand in the same way that immortelle felt gourmand. There was just a lot of existing synchronicity in those materials. Honestly it was so hard to get actual dandelions when I was working on it, it felt like so much of my effort was spent on finding a lot of real dandelions so I could have something to reference in my work.

AR: That's fascinating. I feel like when I first heard about the perfume I was like, I need to go smell some dandelions, because I honestly wasn't too familiar with how they smell. But its a sort of musty smell? It’s also sort of gritty in a way that's really visceral and delicious. I feel like you did a good job capturing it. I’m thinking of a lot of other dandelion scents, like maybe the Perfumer H one was my previous reference? Tthat scent is pretty good, but the focus seems to be more on soft florals. Just generally, there's a focus on what something should smell like vs what it actually does. I feel this way about cherry blossom notes or peony notes. A lot of those flowers really don't smell like you think they do. Cherry blossoms barely have a smell, and if they do, it’s chalky and weird and not fruity and bright. I think you did a good job getting across that more realistic sense of a dandelion.

LO: Thank you so much. That was definitely the hardest part.

AR: This question is more to Caleb, but I’m sure both of you could answer. I’ve always loved how the design work you’ve done for Clue mixes really sophisticated references and techniques with childish whimsy. It’s cute, but never unserious. What inspiration did you take for the visuals behind this release?

CV: Have we talked a little bit about the folklore behind it? It’s a story we love, and have talked about just between us so much. It’s often a childhood tale that's passed between children. It’s funny. We talk to people, and its about 50/50 how many people have actually played the game we’re referencing before. And some people in places you wouldn't expect, like in Europe even, are very familiar with the story. So I think childhood whimsy is totally a part of it, but we wanted to capture that feeling of the scrawl and the messiness and the play without it feeling too immature. Some of the visuals we’ve thought about that might be tertiary, but still inform the public-facing designs were grass stained jeans, things like that. We looked at a lot of interesting stuff, some things I found on Ebay and got for Laura. This is from an old dandelion festival in New Jersey. I love the colors and the irreverence of it. A big part of the visuals for this have come from an artist we worked with, his name is Rasmus Nilsson. When we started this project I really wanted to work with a different illustrator for each scent, so that each time it could feel like its own little world with its own stylistic reference point. And his work really felt like it captured the whimsy and humor we were looking for, but with a real refined sensibility. And we were so excited, because he sent over literally hundreds of little sketches. He scanned his whole sketchbook and just sent over raw pages. Tons of little bits of lettering and doodles and scribbled dandelions. I was genuinely so surprised we could use all of these - because artists are normally so protective of their rougher processes, but I was so happy to be pulling from these messy, more in-process sketches, because it really felt like the feeling I wanted to capture. Not all of that work is out yet, but its definitely going to come out over the release of this perfume more and more.

LO: We were really so lucky, it was just like a peek into his head.

AR: And I love that archival reference you found online. The little guy here is giving. It’s so you guys.

CV: And at our launch event in Chicago at Tusk, a friend of mine is going to make drinks based on the recipes found in that old book. I'm so excited.

LO: It really does feel like between these references and the work Rasmus Nilsson sent us, we're sitting on a gold mine of material for this release.

AR: It’s definitely best to work from an abundance of material, and just have the work by subtracting.

CV: We have this video coming out soon, where I used a ton of his drawings to form the intro.

AR: Oh wow, that design reminds me of the negative etching of woodblock prints or something.

CV: I’ve loved his work for a long time, and am so glad he was interested. And the actual illustration we ended up using on the bottle, we went back and forth on it for a while, but the one we landed on its a little mini version of the story. The whole game is putting a dandelion under someone else's chin, and here in this little illustration there’s a little dandelion under the bigger flower's chin.

AR: OMG that's so adorable I never noticed that!

LO: It’s subtle, but we appreciate that. If it was any more on the nose, it would be too much.

AR: It’s funny that’s a great transition into the next question I wanted to ask. I have my new bottle of Dandelion Butter sitting right next to the original bottle of With the Candlestick, and it made me reflect on the ways in which your bottle design has subtly been refined. What were the decisions you made in making and improving upon your bottle design?

CV: Oh totally. When we started, we didn't know what we were doing at all. We quickly learned what we originally had wasn't going to work long-term. Is your original bottle even holding up still?

AR: It’s definitely discolored, but structurally it’s fine!

CV: The first batch of bottles we made was under 100 total copies for everything. At at a certain point we were just like, these things aren’t holding up. its tricky because in order to do a lot of what we’re doing you need to be hitting high minimums, unless you have a lot of money. And we don't have investors, and we’re not rich. We started from a little bit of money that we basically put right back into the process. We were trying to look for clever solutions when we started that allowed us to cut costs, but now that we have some profit we were able to print on the actual glass, and switch who we worked with for the caps, and really dial in the color and finish. Because the first ones were a little…

AR: Yeah that was the first thing I noticed, the new caps look so much cleaner.

LO: They're crisp now, and so milky…

CV: It’s hard, because without getting too in the weeds – there's basically only two places in the world that do stuff like this, and if we were starting with investment money we would have likely ordered tons of trials to evaluate them, but we were only really able to look at a blurry picture on WhatsApp and be like… yeah, I guess that’s good. I want to redo everything eventually. We’re going to redo the boxes soon, but it’s always an iterative process for us. The main idea is still there, but the new ones are definitely better. We honestly just needed some more money to get it to that point.

AR: More specifically, behind the inspiration for Dandelion Butter - did either of you play that childhood game when you were young?

CV: Oh yeah.

LO: Caleb did. When he first explained the story to me, I honestly thought it was just something that happened in his school. But the more I sat with it the more it felt familiar, and to this day I can't tell if its something I actually did experience when I was a kid, or if I was just able to tap into these memories that everyone else was having. There’s something so intuitively familiar about the game, which is odd because its so illogical. There’s nothing there that actually makes sense, so there's no way it would be stuck in your brain unless it happened to you.

AR: It was definitely pre-internet too, so its not like kids could have been looking up the game. it was spread through a sort of oral tradition.

CV: We started out just researching it for fun, and there’s not that much out there. It doesn't show up in movies, we haven't really found it much in literature.

LO: It’s in The Virgin Suicides.

AR: I was going to bring that up!!

LO: I just so happened to be listening to the audiobook while I was filling bottles, and it honestly stopped me in my tracks, because that was the first time I had heard anyone else refer to it.

AR: The Jeffery Eugenedes book is interesting. I was a huge fan of the Sofia Coppola movie when I was younger, then I got really into comparing the movie with the book to point out subtle creative choices Coppola had made. I think Eugenedes gives himself way more license to fill out his world in the book. Sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.

LO: The book is really fun. The way that the Dandelion Butter game is so stylistically typical of the whole book, its written in with such a malaise. Like they’re lounging in the grass, asking if Lux likes butter. It’s such a subtle reference. It’s kind of a prattling description of summer in the suburbs.

CV: It’s kind of weird, because you feel like it would be out there more. I definitely have lots of good memories of doing it as a kid. I mean, do you?

AR: I didn’t personally, but It does remind me of the different ways children in my hometown played with flowers. When I was growing up in South Carolina, we took honeysuckle and ate the stamen and sap like candy. I feel like that was my version of interacting with flowers. It was barely even a game, you just ate them and were like “yayyy.”

LO: I think dandelions particularly, because they’re weeds no one is precious about and adults don't yell at you for touching them… We’ve had people come to us with other games they played with the flowers… Like one that goes “Mama had a baby and its head popped off!” Which is just when you would pick it and pop off the cap. I don’t really know what it means.

AR: I feel like the only dandelion game I remember is you just blew them and you made a wish.

LO: There’s a similar thing where you blow on it and the number of seeds left is supposed to tell you the time… I don’t know if it works but–

AR: It’s definitely a participatory flower.

LO: It really is. They’re so abundant, they’re just always there.

CV: I feel like it’s almost just like a toy at the ready. Laura and I were talking about theories behind how it started, it’s in different regions of the world. One theory says it could have just started with one kid. And maybe he told his friend who moved away, and it traveled like a virus. Another theory could be that its just instinct, and it sprouted all over the world independently of itself. It’s almost natural for children to play with it and think of something.

AR: I’m reminded simultaneously of religion and memes. It’s both an inside joke, but also something where people are seeing the same natural world and developing similar theories on how to interact with it. Like differing religious traditions across the world that all point to similar places.

CV: I think that's another reason we got so excited about this idea. It feels like something that's in so many people’s heads, but decades old. A lot of people, when we tell them the story, they’re so surprised they remember it. And I love that. It feels like something that hasn’t been tapped into for a really long time.

LO: I got that book over there: “The People of the Playground,” hoping it would have an answer. Because when we were trying to find a cause for this, I got really into the study of children's games, like rhymes and clapping games. And that book is literally just a woman who sat on a playground every day for fifteen months and wrote down everything children were doing. And I think there are a couple rhymes about butter in there, but not the game specifically. It’s really funny how in a lot of cases, the same things are being said on lots of different playgrounds.

AR: Totally. When I was in school I read a lot of Winnicott. He’s really into children’s play as a very psychoanalytic indicator of maturation. The main work he did on the subject is called "Playing and Reality.” I think he mostly talks about how children play as a way to test out establishing psychic independence from the mother. Like it’s all basically just them making these little worlds, where sometimes there’s hostility or conflict, and testing out operating within them on their own. It plays a huge part in how they differentiate themselves from being attached mentally and physically to their caregivers.

LO: Totally, I read a lot about that. There’s also a lot about who rhymes and games help children who don’t have the innate social skills to have a conversation. So they can have these rules to follow. We were really interested in how specifically, this ritual provides such an easy excuse for a child to get close to somebody. And for a lot of kids, this might be the first time someone who isn't your family was so close to you. It feels so intimate, and really revealing of something greater than your preference for butter. Just because children are sort of emboldened to interact with each other by this script that doesn't really make any sense.

CV: Yeah, I mean the way I remember doing it as a kid felt very much like teasing, almost in a flirty way. I wonder if that game was some children’s first time flirting? Or interacting with someone they like…

AR: This is the question I wanted to ask you guys the most. It ties back into a lot of what we were talking about. What were each of you like as kids? I was a weirdly intense child. I spent a lot of time in my local public library, and I loved foraging for flowers. I spent a lot of time alone.

LO: That’s a fun question, I was just thinking about this. I wish I had an outside perspective, because I feel like I was just so… normal.

AR: Not to flex!

LO: I don’t know! I think I was really… My mom would get annoyed with me because I would get really obsessed with things and not let them go. And those things were like halloween costumes or decorating my room. I was on a swim team, and I was really obsessed with beating my times. I really loved the smell of certain items. Like Ban Fresh Cotton Deodorant, I was addicted to that smell. So I guess as normal as you could be while also being addicted to deodorant.

CV: The thing my mom always said is when I was a kid I was extremely polite. Like almost too polite. That was the feedback I always got when I slept over at other people’s houses. It was just a lot of like… “thank you so much for dinner!”

LO: You’re still like that, that’s so funny!

CV: I think I was a pretty social kid. I really loved trains. I liked making forts and playing with sticks.

AR: To be fair, I feel like making forts is one of the top three things to do as a child. It really did hit different.

CV: Totally.

AR: Do each of you have a favorite ice cream flavor? I swear this will become relevant soon.

CV: It reveals so much about me, but last week I was talking to someone about Blue Moon. I think it’s regional?

AR: I think so too. Because I was talking with a childhood friend about Superman ice cream, but the one I had in South Carolina apparently didn’t taste like it was supposed to. Because the one I had was definitely more like blue raspberry. And I think in the Midwest it’s actually its own unique thing.

CV: Woah! Supermint was like blue raspberry. Yeah, I’ve never heard of that. I’ve only ever had it sort of like vanilla. Which in retrospect was weird because it has such bright colors.

AR: Yeah when I had it as a kid it was totally like neon raspberry, but it didn’t have the actual Blue Moon flavor in it I think. We never had that in the south. I don’t think I've ever tried it.

CV: It’s really plain. I had a birthday party recently, and my mom used to make me a treat called Purple Cow, which was like a root beer float with grape ice cream. And for my birthday party I made it for everyone, and it definitely got mixed reviews - a lot of people did not like it. But I remember it being really good. I guess these are like similar stories resurfacing, like childhood games and childhood treats.

LO: I feel really bad about my stance on ice cream, because I don't really like it that much, and I don’t know why. But I do really like Affogato, if that counts. And the other thing I like, which feels a couple steps removed from ice cream, is the cream cheese base ice cream that Jeni’s makes.

AR: I love that one, it basically just tastes like eating cream cheese frosting.

LO: And cream cheese frosting is one of my favorite foods. So yeah, definitely that.

AR: Now do each of you have a favorite flower? What kind of combination would your favorite ice cream and favorite flower make?

CV: This is such a fun question.

LO: I think mine is dandelions! I like how humble and plentiful they are.

AR: I feel like cream cheese ice cream and dandelions is literally just Dandelion Butter. So that actually makes a lot of sense.

CV: I really like bleeding hearts.

AR: That’s such a good answer. What they lack in smell they make up in appearance.

CV: Oh yeah, I guess they didn’t really have a smell. We always had them in my yard, and they were so crazy to look at. There’s really nothing like it. Another favorite, it’s not really a flower… is Jack-in-the-pulpit.

LO: He’s always going on about Jack-in-the-pulpit!

AR: That’s such a Protestant flower name. I love it.

CV: It’s called that because, and you’re going to love this, when you look at it from the front, it looks like a little preacher inside of a box, if you lift up the top part.

AR: Aw that’s so cute! That’s a good plant, I’ve never heard of it before. I feel biased, but my favorite flower is definitely lily of the valley – it’s really difficult to do in perfumery, but they look like little fairy hats and smell like baby angel's tears.

CV: What’s your favorite lily of the valley perfume?

AR: Oh that's a good question. I think the original version of Diorissimo, if you can get your hands on it from Surrender to Chance or something, is immaculate. In terms of modern lily of the valley perfumes, Comme des Garçons has a good soliflore, it’s very bare bones. That new brand Serviette, I really like their perfume Frisson d'Hiver. It has a strong Lily of the Valley opening with a cool vanilla drydown. I smelled the debut line in New York at Stéle a few months ago. I was surprised. People in New York don’t seem to know about Clue as much! They’re not tapped in.

LO: That’s why we’re going on tour!

CV: Well just based on stats I do think that’s our highest market, but it’s also just a way more populous city, so it might not really show.

AR: Do you guys have a previous butter perfume you looked at for inspiration? To me, January Scent Project’s Selperniku is the definitive butter fragrance. It’s so gorgeous.

LO: When we were nailing down the final version, I did get a couple samples to reference. But like you said, the way something smells in real life and the way it always smells in perfume is hugely different, which is what we saw with dandelions. The way the smell in real life wasn't really the way we were seeing them portrayed by most perfumers. Butter was a bit different though. I got some Hilde Soliani, some others I can’t remember. But what was really exciting for me about this release was trying to capture a cold salted butter accord. I didn't want it to be too fatty or rich. There’s something about most people mixing a butter note with caramel or vanilla that pushes the smell in that rich direction, but we really wanted to capture the aroma of a cold salted slab of butter on its own.

AR: I think you guys did that really well! It honestly does not smell like anything else I’ve ever come across.

LO: Thank you so much! I honestly don't know that many other perfumes that smell like butter, so I would be interested to smell the ones you were mentioning.

AR: Onto some more abstract questions. If Dandelion Butter was a person, what would they be like?

CV: The dandelion wine guy on the vintage pamphlet. Not really but–

AR: Omg totally, let me look at that again. He’s so cool.

LO: No but really, I don’t want to say it would be a child. Because I don’t think it would be. That's sort of a line we’ve been dancing around with all of our visual work, and we’re working on a piece of music even. With all of these things we’re working from a world that is sort of specifically the flavor of idea that could only come from a child's brain. But we didn't want to have it be a juvenile, simplistic baby scent. So I don't think it would be a kid. I think it would be… a sweet, kind girl. Somebody with grass stains on their jeans, a really nice lotion on, soft skin, shiny hair…

CV: I think somebody that likes being outside. A very warm person.

LO: I’m thinking no sunscreen and freckles.

AR: Exactly. have you anthropomorphized your scents before? Your collection is like a cute little family to me.

CV: That's a fun exercise! I don’t think so.

AR: But you did it before a little bit, when you said Dandelion Butter was like a little sister to Morel Map. I can totally see them all as like… little people interacting with each other.

LO: I think the default we always go with is pairing each of the scents with a specific space, or a sound, or even a time period. And color obviously.

AR: I’m really fascinated with the idea of pairing perfumes with a time period. What time period are the Clue scents?

LO: Well with Warm Bulb, this is something we hear from customers all the time – it feels like its sometime in the not so distant past. The time of your grandparents who have an electric blanket that is a little more dangerous than the electric blankets we have today. Or lightbulbs that are way less energy efficient than the ones we have today. And With the Candlestick feels like… 2003 in a church.

CV: Yeah I do really think that there’s a strong connection between Morel Map and Dandelion Butter. I mean they're both these little magical things that come from the earth. They both sprout at their own unique times of the year, we seek them out and we interact with them both in the past and today. I really like that connection.

AR: I think Warm Bulb and Dandelion butter would be best friends.

LO: I could see them being two sisters. One likes playing outside and the other stays inside all day.

2ml decants and 30ml bottles of Dandelion Butter can be purchased from Clue Perfumery’s standalone website, and through affiliated stockists.

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Established in 2022 by childhood friends — perfumer Laura Oberwetter, and designer Caleb Vanden Boom — Clue is an independent perfumery finding delight in unexpected places. Drawing upon surprising references, Clue’s work balances surreal vignettes with the familiar appeal of perfume. With a close group of friends and collaborators, Clue develops everything in-house. Every product produced has been designed, composed, formulated, bottled, assembled, and shipped by hand from Clue’s studio and lab in Chicago.

Audrey Robinovitz is a multidisciplinary artist, altar girl, and self-professed perfume critic. Her work intersects with the continued traditions of fiber and olfactory arts, post-structural feminism, and radical orthodox theology. At this very moment, she is most likely either smelling perfume or taking pictures of flowers.