Media Releases
New video series: Journey of Scent
Released at 11:01 am on 6 November 2025
Photo: RNZ
Journey of Scent is a sensory adventure, inviting viewers into the typically heavily guarded world of perfumery through the eyes of two rebels in the scent space in Aotearoa, Nathan Taare (Ngāti Porou) and Whitney Steel (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Te Ātiawa). This six-part video series launches on rnz.co.nz/video on Monday 10 November.
Taare is a self-taught scent artist and founder of the niche perfume house OF BODY. He made waves in 2023 with his unconventional scent design for Karangahape “K” Road in Auckland, which captured the nation’s attention. Steel is a perfume enthusiast with a loyal online following. She brings a great sense of humour and an expert knowledge in perfume informed by her perfume-school training in Grasse, France – the world capital of perfumery.
In each episode, Taare is tasked by Steel with crafting a bespoke scent for a unique client including artists Te Rongo Kirkwood, Troy Kingi and Ana Scotney; acclaimed poet Tayi Tibble; award winning chef Kia Kanuta; and te reo Māori expert Dr Anaha Hiini. Each scent is informed by their life, memories, emotions, and taste. These briefs take Taare out of the lab and across the motu – anchoring each episode in a specific place, story, and cultural context. He is then challenged by Steel to make the scent the best it can possibly be. Together, they explore the tension and synergy between scent artistry and personal memory, teasing out each client’s identity through smell.
By highlighting one key ingredient: a botanical, raw material, or natural element, it prompts a deeper investigation into its unique story in Aotearoa. From the crisp salinity of the ocean air to the sulphur-rich notes of Rotorua, from botanical basics like mint to tobacco leaves. Sometimes this results in hard decisions, where tikanga and personal ethics lead Taare to abandon an ingredient altogether.
Series creator and co-producer Jessica Sanderson (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Ātiawa) says this is a world we rarely get to see into.
"I’ve always been drawn to shows that capture the creative process. In this series, we’re showing something unique – how memory and identity can inform the scents we are drawn to in Aotearoa specifically.”
RNZ’s Māori Commissioner Jana Te Nahu Owen (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Āti Awa) says Journey of Scent is a visually stunning and evocative journey into the art of making perfume.
"It’s inspiring how Nate and Whitney use their creativity and artistic vision to make something unique in every episode, and weave in stories from the guest’s childhood and themes from te ao Māori.”
Journey of Scent is produced by Fourplait Productions with support from NZ On Air. Watch at rnz.co.nz/video and YouTube from Monday 10 November.
Meet the hosts
Nathan Taare
Nathan Taare (Ngāti Porou) is a multi-media artist who is also the creative force and entrepreneur behind OF BODY – a perfume brand that prides itself on all products being made in Aotearoa. After years of travelling and collecting raw materials, Nathan taught himself the art of perfumery and became obsessed with scent and its powerful effect on people. Seen as a bit of a rebel in the perfume space, Nathan has made bespoke scents for many customers and commercial clients, such as a perfume to capture Karangahape “K” Road. Nathan promotes scent as an art form and has exhibited his creations in many galleries and unconventional spaces. Nathan is currently focusing on the healing dimension of smell and botanicals used in rongoā Māori.
Whitney Steel
Whitney Steel (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Te Ātiawa) is a lifelong fragrance nerd known for her straight-talking take on scent that’s refreshingly jargon-free. With over 40K followers, she’s spent years exploring the world of perfume, including five years running her own candle brand in Melbourne, and studying perfumery in Grasse, France, a lifelong dream. Now based in Aotearoa, she co-hosts Journey of Scent, where she brings honesty, humour, and the occasional challenge to her co-host Nate all in the name of making fragrance feel real. She’s also quietly developing a fragrance-related product that’s not what people expect. She recently had her first baby at 39 and is redefining independence, creativity, and what ambition smells like on her own terms.
Production House
Fourplait is a Māori owned business, founded by Director Jessica Sanderson and Producer Olly Coddington. Collectively, the duo has over 30 years of experience in the television industry and formed Fourplait to further amplify authentic stories from across Aotearoa. The name Fourplait comes from the plait required for a poi. Both Jessica and Olly recall making them as children at their respective kura, where they were both taught that it was a two-person job. While it is possible to create the plait on your own, it’s easier together. The four strands of the plait also represent the different strands required to create the core work of this company; the production; the subjects on screen; the audience who give their time to watch; and the platform & funders – the plait can only take shape when these four distinct groups are in alignment. Woven together, a piece of art is made, with the possibility of creating its own rhythms and reverberations in the world.
ENDS
