I can’t start thinking about Christmas until we’ve seen the back of All Saints’ Day; any sign of Yuletide shenanigans before then makes my stomach turn. But we are now…
She reaches into the plastic tray, takes out her handbag and slings it over her shoulder. She hoists her bright orange case off the conveyor belt and places it on…
On Friday 21st November, I’ll be giving a talk at the Dana Centre at London’s Science Museum on the subject of writing about perfume and smell. The event will part…
It’s almost 100% safe to assume that if you’re the sort of person who has made the effort to come to this site and read these words, then you’ve heard…
It’s probably fair to say that Guerlain is in a tricky position. On the one hand, it has to satisfy its owners by churning out a steady stream of till-friendly…
I’m reliably informed that mere hours before its official opening, a few sections of Harrods‘ Salon De Parfums didn’t even have a floor yet. Well, someone must have worked their…
Roses are always an easy sell for me – the result of a youth spent in the Middle East? – but when they’re touched by the hand of Andy Tauer,…
In 2010, the site of the year’s most exciting perfumery event in the UK – the Perfume Diaries exhibition – was Harrods. And now, in 2014, it looks like the…
I don’t often pass comment on the price of new perfume releases, but sometimes it’s hard not to. The latest scent from Serge Lutens – the first in what is…
If Olivier Cresp is fed up with talking about Angel, he doesn’t show it. Since the fragrance was launched in 1992, he’s probably spent a frightening proportion of his life…
Cartier‘s menagerie is growing. Less than a year since the eau de parfum of La Panthère was released, the brand has just revealed the extrait version – in an equally…
Guess what, I think we have a regular feature on our hands. About a year ago, I posted an article about the scents which Madame Persolaise and I actually wore…
A few of you may remember that a little while ago, I gave in to football fever and I published a piece on my favourite tropical perfumes. A tweaked version…
Could Rien possibly get any bigger? Yes and no. Soon after it bulldozed its way onto the market in 2006, the scent became the very definition of a perfumery juggernaut.…
Anyone who’s a fan of the output of Etat Libre D’Orange owes a debt of gratitude to Antoine Maisondieu: working either on his own or with Antoine Lie, he has…
A big Thank you to everyone who entered last week’s draw for a copy of the new edition of Roja Dove’s The Essence Of Perfume. I’m pleased to announce that…
Wearing Oeillet Bengale makes it clear why the collective noun for a group of carnations is usually ‘spray’. Rodrigo Flores-Roux has put together this new release from Aedes De Venustas…
image: Roja Dove / Black Dog Publishing Roja Dove‘s much-loved coffee-table tome, The Essence Of Perfume, has just been re-printed in an extensively updated form. I haven’t yet seen its…
Even though it was published just last week, my review of Cartier’s new gardenia scent, La Panthère, was written quite some time ago, whilst I was in the process of…
image: Andy Tauer In the third and final instalment of this exclusive interview, Andy Tauer talks about innovation, the blogosphere and formal perfumery training. For part 1, please click here…
Persolaise