Persolaise Review: Coming To My Senses by Alyssa Harad (2012) + A Give-Away!
Persolaise In her Author’s Note at the start of Coming To My Senses, Texas-based Alyssa Harad explains that she decided not to reveal the identity of some of the perfumes she…
Persolaise Review: Ylang 49 (Frank Voelkl) and Lys 41 (Daphné Bugey) from Le Labo (2013)
THIS POST WAS SHORTLISTED IN THE ‘DIGITAL’ CATEGORY OF THE 2013 JASMINE AWARDS Wearing Ylang 49 has reminded me of a claim several perfumers have made about fragrance critics: apparently…
Is Poison On Its Way Back? – A Perfume Trend For Winter 2013
Predicting trends is a dubious business: as long as you do it often enough, a few of your pronouncements will inevitably turn out to be correct. That’s one of the…
Persolaise Review: Angel extrait from Thierry Mugler (Olivier Cresp & Yves De Chiris; 2006)
I don’t really like Angel. There, I’ve said it. I acknowledge that it is a supremely well-made fragrance with an important place in perfume history, but in terms of my…
Wrath In A Bottle – Seven Sinfully Angry Perfumes
This time, I seriously considered throwing in the towel. When Carrie asked us to pick one of the seven deadly sins for our next joint-list project, I immediately claimed ‘wrath’…
Alberto Morillas On Making Amouage’s Opus VII
When I chatted with Alberto Morillas at the London launch of Penhaligon’s Iris Prima (the full interview will appear on Basenotes) I asked him about co-authoring Amouage‘s Opus VII with…
Death By Candy: Eva Wiseman On The Power Of Scent
A few weeks ago, the consistently readable Eva Wiseman addressed the topic of scent in her Observer Magazine column. Here’s an extract: I often think about M&M’s World. It’s a…
Persolaise Review: Eau De Mandarine Ambrée from Hermès (Jean-Claude Ellena; 2013)
You can’t blame me for getting excited by the prospect of two new colognes from Jean-Claude Ellena. If there’s one thing the man knows how to do well, it’s producing…
Rodrigo Flores-Roux On Re-Making Fougère Royale For Houbigant
When I met Rodrigo Flores-Roux at the London launch of the John Varvatos range of scents, I asked him about his work on the reformulated, 2010 version of Fougère Royale,…
Looking For The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
It’s time for me to lock the study door, pull down the blinds and calm my nerves with a sniff of my beloved Habit Rouge. The Invasion Of The Day…
Persolaise Review: Eau De Nuit from Armani (Marie Salamagne; 2013)
Knock me down with a blotter and throw me in a barrel of Pink Friday: for once we have a mainstream scent that actually delivers on its promises! Armani‘s Eau…
L’Artisan Parfumeur Closes London Boutique; Penhaligon’s To Take Its Place
An extra post today to convey some news which many of you will no doubt be sorry to read. L’Artisan Parfumeur have announced that they are to close their sole…
Persolaise Review: Sahara Noir from Tom Ford (Rodrigo Flores-Roux; 2013)
Is Tom Ford on a gender-bending mission? Last year he energised the masculine market with the female-friendly Noir (recent winner of the Perfume Extraordinaire award at the UK’s FiFis). Now…
Twenty Blotters For… Rodrigo Flores-Roux
Pick a blotter… read the question… give a short, snappy answer! I mean this as a compliment: Rodrigo Flores-Roux loves to talk. The Givaudan perfumer is a bundle of anecdotes,…
Persolaise Review: Gris Montaigne from Christian Dior (François Demachy; 2013)
In the press release for the latest addition to the Collection Privée, Dior‘s in-house perfumer, François Demachy, is quoted as saying that the “chypre is the grey of the perfume…
Buttons, Dots And A Whole Load Of Gatsby Dresses – London’s FiFi Awards Ceremony
My FiFi evening began with a wardrobe malfunction. Just as Madame Persolaise and I were about to step onto the red carpet at the entrance to London’s Brewery, I felt…
The (Not Entirely) Unbearable Lightness Of Lightness – Perfumes For Summer 2013
There was once a pot which called a kettle black. I try to remind myself of this each time I feel the urge to become snooty about so-called ‘summer scents’.…
Off To FiFi 2013
Later today, I’ll be attending the FiFi UK awards ceremony at The Brewery in London. I’ll be particularly interested to find out who picks up the prizes for Best Independent…
Persolaise Review: Autoportrait from Olfactive Studio (Nathalie Lorson; 2011)
Most of the scents in the photography-inspired Olfactive Studio range possess an ingenuous, translucent signature which failed to seize my interest, but Nathalie Lorson‘s Autoportrait is an exception. Even though…
To Comment Or Not To Comment: Some Thoughts On Interacting With Perfume Blogs
I keep berating myself for not doing things I genuinely and sincerely want to do, but which I never seem to be able to do. As far as this post…