Persolaise Persolaise Review: Kerbside Violet from Gorilla Perfume (Simon & Mark Constantine; 2014)
Violet leaf absolute is one of those materials which serve to show how utterly impossible it is to describe smells with words. In perfumer-shorthand, it’s called ‘green’, but that places…
Happy 2015!
A very happy new year to all of you. I hope you’ve recovered from the excesses of the festive season and are looking forward to twelve months of peace, happiness,…
Best Perfumes Of 2014 – A Time For Looking Back
If a pining for the past is a sign of social disquiet, then 2014 must have been a worrying year for the perfume industry: a significant proportion of new releases…
Christmas Wishes 2014
We’ve nearly made it, folks. We just need to get through that pile of mince pies in the corner, the presents under the tree, the turkey in the oven… and…
Persolaise Review: Tobacco Rose, Anubis & Angélique from Papillon (Liz Moores; 2014)
When I interviewed Papillon’s founder, Liz Moores*, I told her that, putting aside the issue of personal taste, the most striking feature of her debut scents is that they are…
Persolaise Review: Mitsouko from Guerlain (Jacques Guerlain; 1919 [and Thierry Wasser; 2013/14])
Guerlain Mitsouko reformulation review by award-winning critic Persolaise (Jacques Guerlain, Thierry Wasser, scent)
Perfume Mini-Reviews From Twitter – July to September 2014 [part 2]
Here’s the second part of my compilation of Twitter mini-reviews published between July and September 2014. Cologne from Etat Libre D’Orange (Alexandra Kosinski; 2014)* Pays homage to Mugler’s Cologne. Citruses…
Persolaise Review: Dior Homme Parfum from Christian Dior (François Demachy; 2014)
Dior Homme parfum review by award-winning perfume critic Persolaise (Francois Demachy, 2014)
‘It’s Still A Challenge’ – Arquiste’s Carlos Huber At Bloom Perfumery
Carlos Huber at Bloom image: Bloom Although I remain a massive fan of the brand, I find myself unable to give an unqualified thumbs up to Arquiste‘s new The Architects…
Perfume Mini-Reviews From Twitter – July to September 2014 [part 1]
Here’s another round-up of my mini-reviews from Twitter, this time spanning the period July to September 2014. Royal Extract from Guerlain (Thierry Wasser (& Mathilde Laurent?); 2014)** This new Harrods…
Persolaise Review: Patchouli Absolu from Tom Ford (2014)
Watch out, the 70s have just walked into the room. Or have they? The first thing that attacks you from Tom Ford‘s latest Private Blend is, appropriately enough, a bell-bottom-wearing,…
Tauer Perfumes Advent 2014 Give-Away Winner
Thank you so much for all your contributions to yesterday’s Tauer Perfumes draw. Honestly, I enjoyed reading every single one and I wish I had the time to reply to…
Advent 2014 – Win An Explorer Set From Tauer Perfumes
There are 27 days to go until the end of the year, and I don’t know about you, but Madame Persolaise and I are definitely not ready to bid farewell…
‘Something Very New York’ – An Interview With Kelly Kovack Of Odin
I’m not sure how it’s perceived in the USA, but here in Britain, Odin seems to be one of those brands which are always slipping beyond the reach of most…
Persolaise Review: Sylvan Song from Grossmith (Celine Guivarch; 2014)
Sometimes you just need to stick to what you know best. On occasion, the output of the revived Grossmith has been dismissed as mere ‘heritage perfumery’, but there’s nothing intrinsically…
Kicking Up A Stink – The Definitive Guide To The Best Oud Perfumes
Guide to the best oud perfumes by award-winning critic Persolaise (feat. Tom Ford, Amouage, Dior, Le Labo, Montale, Nicolai, Ajmal, Francis Kurkdjian)
Persolaise Review: Concrete Flower from Atelier PMP (Mark Buxton; 2014)
As far as I’m concerned, any brand which releases only one new perfume per year is worthy of serious attention. In an environment where even niche outfits seem unable to…
Persolaise’s Summer 2014 Perfumes In ParfumPlus
An edited version of my post on perfumes for summer 2014 has appeared in the latest issue of ParfumPlus magazine. If you’d like to read it, please click on this…
‘My Most Important Ally’ – Chandler Burr On Dior
As someone who owns very well-thumbed copies of The Perfect Scent and The Emperor Of Scent, I was excited to discover that Chandler Burr’s distinctive prose style has once again…
Persolaise Review: Cuir D’Ange from Hermès (Jean-Claude Ellena; 2014)
In David Almond’s book, Skellig, a young boy encounters a strange man in the ramshackle shed at his new house. He’s filthy, his clothes are in tatters and he reeks…