Persolaise Review: Opus VIII from Amouage (Pierre Negrin & Richard Herpin; 2014)
Years ago, I used to argue with a food-loving, atheist friend of mine that there simply must be a God. He’d ask me for evidence. And my response would be…
Years ago, I used to argue with a food-loving, atheist friend of mine that there simply must be a God. He’d ask me for evidence. And my response would be…
The results of the Jasmine Awards are in and I am absolutely thrilled to announce that the winner of the Digital prize is Thomas Dunckley – aka the one and…
On the fourth anniversary of my blog, I once again find myself in the privileged position of being able to say: I’m off to BAFTA HQ tomorrow for the Jasmines!…
Pick a blotter… read the question… give a short, snappy answer! Céline Verleure‘s perfumery experience is far too vast to be reduced to a brief, introductory paragraph. But here’s a…
I seem to have forgotten how impressed I was with Florabotanica. For some reason, my brain decided to file it under ‘pleasant yet unremarkable floral’, ie the type which evokes…
I’m sure most of you are aware that the ever-contentious issue of allergens in perfumery has raised its head again. As has been reported on various sites, the EU is…
Some landscapes are easy to enjoy, but almost impossible to describe. They offer many pleasures, yet they defy attempts to capture their charms in words. They may not even be…
Quentin Bisch (left) with Etienne De Swardt at the Etat Libre D’Orange shop in Paris Quentin Bisch’s connection with Etat Libre D’Orange goes back to the days before the young…
I dismissed the first three fragrances from Andrea Maack as derivative and uninspiring. The next two, Coal and Silk, were marginally better, but they didn’t possess sufficiently distinct personalities to…
Matthew Zhuk at Fenwick, the latest retailer to pick up Thirty Three Matthew Zhuk is in an interesting position right now: his brand, Ex Idolo, attracted serious attention in 2013,…
*** For background information on my Osmothèque reviews, please click here *** It goes without saying that the stars of the Osmothèque‘s collection of perfume reconstitutions are the post-1880 classics:…
Many thanks to everyone who entered last week’s A Life With A View give-away. The draw has now been carried out on Random.org and I’m pleased to announce that the…
Uncle Serge is playing the trickster again. When he released the first of his Eaux (L’Eau De Serge Lutens, 2010) you could almost picture the wry smile on his face…
According to advertisers, nothing spells ‘love’ as powerfully as flowers, chocolates and a bottle of perfume. So although I’d never dream of dissuading someone from buying a fragrance for their…
You never know who you’re going to bump into at Harrods. A few weeks ago, I had some time to kill in London, so I decided to pop up to…
Every single name on this year’s Jasmine Awards shortlists deserves to be feted, but there’s one success which is especially remarkable. ODOU Magazine – the creation of Liam Moore –…
The shortlist for this year’s Jasmine ‘Digital’ Award has just been released and I’m excited (make that: ‘ecstatically over the moon’) to announce that my name appears on it twice.…
I wonder whether the home scent market is harder to break into than the world of fine fragrance. At least when someone launches a new perfume brand, they can invoke…
During a recent interview with Etienne De Swardt, founder of Etat Libre D’Orange, I asked him if it’s difficult to expand his brand without diluting its personality. “That’s the permanent…
Guerlain Jicky Osmotheque version review by award-winning perfume critic Persolaise (Aime Guerlain; 1889)