Persolaise Review: Idylle eau de parfum by Guerlain (2009)
When Idylle hit the shelves late in 2009, the response from Guerlain acolytes was muted. The realm of the soft-focus floral was, they felt, best reserved for flash-in-the-pan celebrity fragrances,…
The Scent Of Blighty
This is too good not to post; it’s extracted from an article in the current edition of the Times Education Supplement: The tourism quango VisitEngland was pilloried for spending £8,500…
No Scent Please, We're British
If I may be permitted to resort to generalisations for a moment: the British attitude to perfume never ceases to leave me dismayed and disappointed. The other day, during my…
And The First One I Sprayed Was…
Although this blog doesn’t have thousands of readers, I flatter myself that perhaps one or two people wander by every now and then to read my ramblings, so I thought…
Glass, Ash & Sand
I guess my refusal to buy some civet-infused oud must have angered the gods, because the volcano in Iceland has meant that my wife and I are now stranded in…
All Rosy In Istanbul
Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar doesn’t offer nearly as many olfactory temptations as the markets in Marrakesh and Tangiers, but I can’t deny I’ve spent a good deal of time sniffing the…
I Need My Hit
Further to my last post, I can’t help mentioning that, at the airport, en route to the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, I actually sampled some of what’s being…
Somewhere Between Europe And Asia
This blog will be quiet for a little while, because I’ll soon be rummaging through the wares on offer at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Wifi permitting, I might upload a few…
Evasion Tactics
As a rule, I’m not a fan of big gatherings. Today was Easter Sunday. The entire clan came over to our place for lunch. Was I a happy bunny? I’ll…
Review: Malabah by Penhaligon's (2003)
This isn’t quite a scrubber, but it outstays its welcome very quickly and adds fuel to the argument made by several critics that Penhaligon’s scents aren’t nearly weighty and meaningful…
Happy To Pay
Who would ever have thought I’d be looking forward to paying a custom’s charge! I arrived home today to find a slip left by Royal Mail which meant only one…
Review: Voyage d'Hermès by Hermès (2010)
The idea of a perfume taking you on a trip has been a cliché for quite some time, so when you encounter a new creation which dares to call itself…
Questionable Secretions
The other day I was carrying out a totally non-perfume related presentation at work. One of the points I wanted to make was that we need to appreciate that many…
Squeeze
Over the last couple of days, my Net-roving eye has been caught by some articles about the increasingly tight restrictions imposed on the perfume industry by regulatory bodies. Apparently, jasmine…
Mountain Voices
I’ve got considerable experience of teaching, so I should know better than most people that the first steps up the mountain tend to be the hardest. Still, when you’re the…
Weekend Knowledge
If too many cooks spoil the broth, then maybe one cook can spoil the broth with too much tinkering… especially if the broth needs several days – if not weeks…
Vert 14
I should have been doing other things last night, but I’m afraid I pushed them all aside and set up my mini-lab on my window sill. It’s typical of me…
Vert 12
No preambles… except to say welcome to the blog if you’ve only just got here. The plan is for this to be a space where I chronicle my attempts to…
On The Move…
I’ve got free wifi for a few minutes, so I just wanted to say that my wife and I are doing ok and using trains to head north-west towards Britain.…