August 2026

The Joy Of Taking Your Time – Thoughts On Slow Perfumery

Persolaise 18th August 2026 No Comments

– By all accounts, back in the 1990s, when it first appeared, Mugler Angel was a flop. However, key figures such as Mugler himself and, crucially, Vera Strubi, believed in…

Perfume review

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Crush Absolu (Olivier Polge; 2026) and ‘new’ No. 5 eau de toilette reviews

Persolaise 8th August 2026 2 Comments

If Gabrielle is the Chanel perfume I most frequently forget exists, then Coco Mademoiselle is the one I most struggle to understand. Goodness knows, I’ve smelt it enough times. Since…

Interview

Speaking The Same Language – An Interview With Calice Becker At The Launch Of The Merchant Of Venice Renaissance

Persolaise 1st August 2026 No Comments

I’m teaching at a perfumery school for 10 years, and we look at what our elders have done, and what history has to teach. The first thing we learn is…

I am a four-time Jasmine Award winning writer with a lifelong interest in the world of fine fragrance.

I have written for Harrods Magazine, The Sunday Times, Conde Nast Traveller, Wallpaper*, Business Traveller, Grazia, Feelunique, Glass, The Scented Letter, Basenotes.net and Now Smell This, amongst others. I have been a regular columnist for Esprit Magazine and ParfumPlus.

My knowledge and expertise have been recommended by the Financial Times, the BBC, The Guardian, The Observer, Die Zeit and several other publications.

My perfume guide, Le Snob: Perfume, is published by Hardie Grant. For more information and to order a copy, please click here.

To read my award winning London Perfume Shopping Guide, please click here.

Please feel free to write to me at persolaise at gmail dot com or by using the email form on my Contact page.

Persolaise.com features reviews of perfumes, interviews with fragrance industry figures and general articles related to the world of scent. The site is not affiliated in any way to any brands*, wholesalers, retailers or organisations involved with the fragrance industry.

All reviews are entirely independent. The content of posts is never ‘sponsored’ by any external agencies.

Some reviews are based on samples provided by brands; others are based on samples obtained by the author. This has no bearing on the content of the reviews.

* I am occasionally commissioned by brands to carry out specific projects, such as consultancy or copywriting. In such situations, I do not review the relevant brands’ perfumes for an extended period of time, nor do I mention the brands in any posts/articles where perfumes from several brands are presented as part of a selection/collection.

Regrettably, my current site provider doesn’t offer an automatically-updated blogroll facility, so the best I can do is this set of links to the other blogs I try to read. I believe many of the below have some kind of subscription function that works either through email or social media, so perhaps you could use that to receive updates about new posts. If anyone knows of some way to include a ‘live’ blogroll widget on WordPress, please get in touch.

Basenotes
Black Narcissus
Bois De Jasmin
Now Smell This
Parfumo

August 2026

The Joy Of Taking Your Time – Thoughts On Slow Perfumery

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Crush Absolu (Olivier Polge; 2026) and ‘new’ No. 5 eau de toilette reviews

Speaking The Same Language – An Interview With Calice Becker At The Launch Of The Merchant Of Venice Renaissance

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The Joy Of Taking Your Time – Thoughts On Slow Perfumery

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