Whilst watching Joe Wright’s over-egged version of Anna Karenina, I wondered if the impeccably groomed counts and countesses waltzing across the screen could possibly have worn François Demachy‘s new Grand…
Perfume review: Cartier Declaration D'Un Soir & Eau De Cartier Essence De Bois, Acqua Di Parma Colonia Intensa Oud
I don’t envy anyone trying to start a niche perfume brand today. In an environment where over 1000 fragrances are released every year, standing out from the crowd is virtually…
Most of Dior’s recent alterations to their main fragrance range (fiddling around with the names of the various Miss Diors, tinkering with the Addicts etc) have been baffling, to say…
It’s always round about this time of year (can’t think why) that I tend to be asked what makes so-called Arabic-style perfumes smell so… Arabic. If I were a chemist…
Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics Ltd – the company that currently owns the licence for Robert Piguet Parfums – was always going to face a tricky, ‘turning the corner’ moment at…
Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire perfume review by award-winning critic, Persolaise (2012, Thierry Wasser, fragrance)
Image: Papillio Asking whether a perfume contains real East Indian sandalwood is almost as pointless as asking whether it contains real oud: as has been widely reported, the finest quality…
It’s always tricky going for a unifying theme when creating a fragrance range. Some ideas seem more forced than others: the ‘Indian history’ approach of Neela Vermeire Creations generally attracted…
In the catalogue of olfactory families, there’s a sub-set of florals that do everything they should with no unnecessary fanfare. They’re clever without being show-offs. They display excellent tenacity without…
The subject of inspiration in perfumery often attracts sniggers. According to some critics, it’s acceptable for a creator to claim that a particular scent emerged from the experience of smelling…
Serendipity is surprising at the best of times, but perfume serendipity tends to be especially astonishing. A few weeks ago, I drew a parallel between the creations of Angela Flanders…
You’re haunted by a ghost… but unlike other spectres, it seems to be approaching you from the future, rather than shadowing you from the past. You feel its presence upon…
Do we really need another vetivert? Well, of course, the answer to that is No, but then, if perfumery were an art form driven by nothing more than need, it…
Clinique’s PR people call Wrappings their best kept secret, and they may well be right. Since its original release in 1990, it’s been available solely at top-end department stores, often…
It wasn’t too long ago that I was lamenting the inexorable rise in the number of oud-based releases. Although many people are willing to concede that some of these fragrances…
Since he took up his post as in-house nose at Guerlain, the quality of Thierry Wasser‘s creations for the house has been variable. Idylle continues to attract derision from fans…
Yesterday I showcased the finalists in this year’s FiFi UK Best Fragrance Commercial categories, so today I thought I’d publish the shortlist for the Hall Of Fame. The twenty fragrances…
It’s all very well encouraging fragrance houses to propel the art of perfumery towards the future, but sometimes, it’s beneficial to look back to the past. Most other art forms…
Image: Jean-Paul Gaultier Alberto Morillas is the Steven Soderbergh of perfumery: he makes fragrances which appeal to a broad spectrum of consumers, but he never seems to pander to the…
Persolaise