Rihanna Once Banned Her Makeup Artist From Wearing a Perfume That Reminded Her of an Ex—Get the Scoop!

Star dishes on how fragrance and memory can be highly associative

Word to the wise: Do not, we repeat, do not give Rihanna associative memories about her exes with your perfume.

The singer took to the Macy’s department store in Downtown Brooklyn on Aug. 31 to celebrate the launch of her new RiRi perfume (you may remember the highly stylized, Marilyn Monroe-inspired ad that debuted last month). E! news caught up with the Bajan beauty to get the scoop on her new fresh-for-fall fragrance, and what she had to say about scent was sort of surprising—but thoroughly on point.

“[Scent] is something that connects you to a specific time, a memory, a place, a person. There was even one point where my makeup artist was wearing a perfume I used to wear with an ex. And I was like, ‘Don’t. I know exactly what you’re wearing. Don’t wear that tomorrow because I don’t want to think about that,'” the star quipped. (Well…can’t blame her, right?!)