Marissa Zappas is a perfumer, scent designer, and poet whose ethereal and nostalgic fragrances blend fantasy, reality, the gothic, and the modern. Her approach to perfumery finds fuel in her background in anthropology, her admiration for avant-garde perfumes of the early twentieth century, and her collaborations with New York City artists. 

Marissa believes that perfume –– both creating and wearing it –– conjures our past, present, and future selves. Her academic work explores the intersection of perfume’s history, attitudes towards death, and the history of cemetery construction. While completing her M.A. and ethnographic training, Marissa also worked at Givaudan and later became an apprentice to master perfumer Olivier Gillotin. 

Marissa is the co-founder of Gumamina, a side project she created alongside her friend and fellow independent perfumer, Courtney Rafuse of Universal Flowering. Gumamina launched in December 2023.

Marissa has lived and worked as a freelancer in New York since 2017. She’s available for scent design projects, including fragrance, candle, and home goods development. Contact her at marissa@redamance.com for more information. 

Copy by Eva Berezovsky.