Review: Bleu De Chanel by Chanel (2010)
Persolaise More often than not, a spray of a new men’s perfume leaves me sorely disappointed. Most of the recipes follow the same, cardboard-cutout pattern: a mono-dimensional burst of citrus leading…
The Perfume Diaries at Harrods
A few days ago, Madame Persolaise and I had a leisurely wander around the Perfume Diaries exhibition on the 4th floor of Harrods. There is a great deal I could…
Perfume Regulation On The BBC
UK readers may like to click on this link to listen to the latest podcast of BBC Radio 4’s You & Yours. About 27 minutes into the episode you’ll find…
Normal Service…
Maison Persolaise is still hosting guests, so I’m afraid I need to apologise for the shortage of posts. But here are a couple of things to keep you busy. Please…
Who Needs Bleu
My month in Mumbai is well and truly over and I’m back at home, trying to restore my routines. Normal life can’t fully recommence just yet, though, because from tomorrow,…
Blissful Attack
It really is impossible to over-emphasise the prominence and importance of smells in Mumbai. My last post was just a brief, tip-of-the-iceberg sample of the stream of chemicals that constantly…
A Two-Minute Walk In Mumbai
You stroll past a sugar-cane juice seller and catch a whiff of an incense cone: rich and smoky, a Catholic scent that feels out of place amidst the noise of…
Classic Scents 1990-2010 According To Grain De Musc
If you enjoy lists, you might like to click here to read Grain De Musc’s proposal for ten ‘classic’ perfumes of the last twenty years. Be sure to check out…
Lawn Sipping
I’ve been in India for almost two weeks and I’ve got so many perfume-related stories to share, I doubt I’ll ever get the time to write them all down, but…
Smelly ABCs
When people are learning a new skill or craft, you quite often hear them complaining about the fact that they’re forced to spend hours mastering the basics. Budding pianists can’t…
Review Showcase: Tauer Perfumes
Andy Tauer’s creations have just been added to the lines stocked at London’s Les Senteurs, which makes this is a perfect time for a retrospective review of one of the…
The Science Of Scent At London's Royal Institution
Please click here to be redirected to my Basenotes article about a lecture I recently attended on the topic of turning an idea into a scent. Thanks very much. Persolaise.
Smoky Mozart
Today the Persolaise household will be busy packing for the imminent trip to India, but last night I managed to find some time for one final, formulation session. I closed…
No Formula Changes Permitted
I recently decided to celebrate my return to the real world by popping out for some pre-holiday shopping, an activity which is always accompanied by a certain amount of perfume…
Review: A*Men Sunessence Edition Orage D'Ete by Thierry Mugler (2010)
As far as I’m aware, Mugler’s key scents (Angel, Alien and A*Men) are still serious commercial contenders. So I don’t quite understand why the firm insists on diluting their impact…
Like This Sample Giveaway Result
Many thanks to everyone who entered the draw for the sample of Like This. Today’s winner is… Christof. Don’t worry if you didn’t get lucky this time: I expect it…
Tauer Perfumes Lily Of The Valley Project + Sample Giveaway Reminder
Some of you may be interested to learn that Andy Tauer is currently seeking submissions for a charity ebook project entitled ‘A Moment With Lily Of The Valley’. A wide…
Sample Giveaway + Les Senteurs + Review: Like This by Etat Libre D'Orange (2010)
How do you bite your thumb at the stream of cynical sub-scents that emerge every summer? Here’s a pretty good, two-word answer: Like This. Need more detail? Well, you start…
Preview: Bleu De Chanel by Chanel (2010)
Here’s a fact: Chanel will soon release a new men’s scent called Bleu. And here’s another fact: most bloggers haven’t had one solitary sniff of it. Put these two facts…