Persolaise Widian Luban, BDK Pas Ce Soir extrait, Ojar Encens Cuivre and other reviews – 2024
For the year’s first regular episode of Love At First Scent, we had an incense theme running through many of the scents, notably the new releases from Widian and Ojar.…
Chanel Coco review – Jacques Polge; 1984
It’s currently cool to be dismissive of Coco, in much the same way that it’s deemed acceptable to be snooty about Chance. Curiously, there’s a whiff of ageism in the…
Sophie Maisant, Bastille, Live Interview
For my first YouTube broadcast of the year, I did one of my favourite things: ask lots of questions. The person at the receiving end of my nosiness was Sophie…
Persolaise Now On Substack
New year — new project. For reasons I’ve tried to explain in my introductory post, I’ve just launched a Substack. Hopefully, it’ll turn out to be an interesting, enjoyable and…
The Most Popular Perfume Videos And Posts Of 2023
The lists below make it pretty clear that you love a list, so I feel duty-bound to maintain the tradition of starting the year with lists (if you’ll forgive the…
Top 10 Best Perfumes Of 2023
It’s often been said that perfumery doesn’t set trends: it simply latches onto the coat-tails of those formed by other creative endeavours. Perhaps this is why we had to wait…
Christmas Wishes 2023
After a year in which we handed over the hosting reins to others, we’re back in the kitchen again, sharpening the knives, softening the butter and firing up the ovens.…
Gucci Guilty Elixir Pour Femme & Pour Homme, Puente Eaden, Ulrich Lang Suncrest and other reviews – 2023
For this year’s final regular episode of Love At First Scent, we went all the way from sunny peaches to asteroid-bound rocket fuel, via delicate orange blossom and butcher-than-expected lavender,…
Dolce & Gabbana Devotion, Carine Roitfeld Forgive Me, Le Galion L’Astre and other reviews – 2023
The penultimate review video of the year was broadcast on YouTube the other day, featuring new releases from Dolce & Gabbana, Carine Roitfeld and others. Here’s a link to it,…
Creed Absolu Aventus, Gucci A Floral Verse, Peosym Horn OK Please and other reviews – 2023
Perhaps because two Aventuses weren’t enough to make us lose faith in humanity, Creed have just released yet another flanker to their inexplicably popular 2010 release. And to the alarm…
Top 10 Best Perfumes For Winter 2023 – Scents Of Timeless Wisdom
Everyone needs a Gandalf in their life. Or an Athena, or an Atticus Finch. Sadly, such figures aren’t always easy to find, so perhaps that’s why I’ve recently been drawn…
Scented Madonna – Perfumes For Her 10 Best Songs
I blame all of you. A few weeks ago, on my YouTube channel, one person suggested that I should match my favourite Madonna songs with appropriate perfumes. And from that…
Roberto Greco Rauque, Aesop Ouranon, Crivelli Oud Stallion and other reviews – 2023
From exploding stars to imploding bodies — there was no shortage of curious concepts and bold ideas in the perfumes I reviewed in episode 416 of Love At First Scent,…
Puente Showcase Review – 2023
What a delight it is to discover an exciting new fragrance house. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of making just such a find when I tried a…
Strangelove Showcase Review – 2023
Better late than never, I suppose. In 2014, Elizabeth Gaynes launched Strangelove, a brand all of whose scents so far have been put together by Christophe Laudamiel, under the creative…
Lilanur Zafran Boise review – Honorine Blanc; 2023
Convincing woody-saffron scents aren’t exactly ubiquitous, so I was curious to see what Lilanur did with the idea in their latest release, Zafran Boise, composed by Honorine Blanc. Here’s a…
Renaud Salmon, Amouage, Live Interview On The New Exceptional Extraits
As part of their 40th anniversary celebrations, Amouage have just added two scents to their range of Exceptional Extraits: Jubilation 40 Man (Bertrand Duchaufour) and Dia 40 Woman (Alexandra Carlin).…
Persolaise Masterclass – Episode 9 – Ingredients – Labdanum & Ambergris
Two ancient materials featured in episode 9 of my Masterclass series on YouTube the other day — labdanum and ambergris — both of which have been used over the years…
Christmas 2023 Perfume Gift Guide
I started last year’s Christmas gift post by saying how hectic things were and how worried I was about getting everything ready in time for the big day. Little did…
Guerlain Les Extraits Signature review – Thierry Wasser & Delphine Jelk; 2023
As promised, over on YouTube the other day, I shared a few thoughts on the new, excruciatingly expensive extraits Guerlain have released under the L’Art & La Matiere banner. The…