Persolaise “Our Job Is To Listen” – Antoine Maisondieu At The Launch Of Bottega Veneta Pour Homme Extreme
It’s always dangerous to draw conclusions about an artist from their work. By most accounts, T S Eliot wasn’t a grey-faced depressive, Charlie Chaplin wasn’t exactly child-like and Toni Morrison…
Persolaise Review: Smoke For The Soul from Kilian (Fabrice Pellegrin; 2014)
I’ve always thought there was something hollow at the heart of the Kilian brand. It goes without saying that it certainly isn’t the only perfume house which tries to seduce…
“I Try To Take You By The Hand” – An Interview With Jean-Claude Ellena, Perfumer At Hermès
image: Hermès “My perfumes are sensual like the women of Hitchcock. I love Kim Novak. I can watch the same Kim Novak movie several times. And Grace Kelly too. There’s…
Persolaise Review: Cologne Indelebile from Editions De Parfums Frederic Malle (Dominique Ropion; 2015)
Frederic Malle Cologne Indelebile review by award-winning perfume critic Persolaise (Dominique Ropion, 2015)
"A Concept Is Paramount" – Oksana Polyakova On The Opening Of Bloom At Covent Garden
image: Bloom It doesn’t seem possible that London’s Bloom perfumery has been around for less than three years. Since it opened its doors at Hanbury Street, it has established itself…
Happy Easter 2015
Another Lent comes to an end! Happy Easter to everyone out there celebrating it. Don’t be stingy with the Lindor. And may the start of another spring fill your days…
Persolaise Review: A*Men Ultra Zest from Thierry Mugler (Jacques Huclier & Quentin Bisch; 2015)
What’s that you’re saying? You want to stick a slice of orange in my coffee? Feel free. If it works as well as it does in this new fragrance, it’ll…
Persolaise Review: Misia from Chanel (Olivier Polge; 2015)
I confess my heart sank a little when I discovered that Misia, Olivier Polge‘s debut for Chanel (he’s gradually taking over from his father Jacques as the brand’s in-house perfumer)…
Persolaise Review: Pichola from Neela Vermeire Creations (Bertrand Duchaufour; 2015)
Only the sunlight moves. As it rises above the bamboos and the white rooftops, it casts everything it touches into immobility. Even the waters of the lake appear to quieten,…
Persolaise Review: Home Scents From L’Artisan Parfumeur, Acqua Di Parma, Diptyque & Alex Simone
I never need an excuse to purchase a new home scent for Maison Persolaise, but the arrival of spring always seems to make candles, reed diffusers and room sprays especially…
ODOU Needs YOU – Make Issue 4 Happen
Although only three issues of ODOU magazine have been printed so far, the publication has won the admiration and respect of many scentusiasts for its original handling of the topic…
News: Persolaise Wins Third Jasmine Award
On Wednesday, I was thrilled to win the Jasmine Bloggers Award for my Basenotes piece on the wonderful work carried out by the Osmothèque (please click here to read it).…
Persolaise Review: Le Jardin De Monsieur Li from Hermès (Jean-Claude Ellena; 2015)
At the Paris launch of his fifth ‘garden’ scent for Hermès – which he refused to concede would be his last – Jean-Claude Ellena stated that Le Jardin De Monsieur…
Perfume Mini-Reviews From Twitter – October to December 2014 [part 2]
Part 2 of my digest of mini-reviews from Twitter, spanning October to December 2014 Hommage À L’Homme Voyageur from Lalique (2014)* The violet leaf of the original leads to a…
Persolaise Review: Amber Aquilaria from Electimuss (2014)
Far too many brands around today rely on aspirational marketing, bling and hackneyed ideas to try to make an impact on potential buyers. Cue: Electimuss, a perfect example of rather…
Persolaise Is 5 Years Old!
Help yourselves Well, well, well, talk about taking me by surprise: 5 years have passed since I published my very first post here on Persolaise.com. It’s a cliche, but I…
Perfume Mini-Reviews From Twitter – October to December 2014 [part 1]
Here’s another instalment of my regular compilation of mini-reviews from Twitter, covering October to December 2014. Nevermore from Frapin (Anne Sophie Behaghel; 2014)*** Curious mix of metallic rose, ozonic note…
Persolaise Review: Icon from Dunhill (Carlos Benaïm; 2015)
Carlos Benaïm‘s recent collaboration with Frederic Malle – the scintillating Eau De Magnolia – was seen by many critics as a modern rendition of 70s-style chypres, chiefly Edmond Roudnitska‘s Diorella…
Persolaise Review: Dior – The Perfumes by Chandler Burr (Rizzoli; 2014)
This article originally appeared in issue 3 of ODOU magazine under the title Meeting In The Garden Christian Dior is one of a tiny number of brands capable of striking…
Non-Perfume Post: The Pumpkin Seed – A Children’s Book By Dariush Alavi
cover illustration: Joy Richardson Many of you will be aware that I hardly ever post anything on this blog which isn’t related to perfume in some way, so I hope…