Best Perfumes Of 2014 – A Time For Looking Back
Persolaise 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)
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…
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…
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…
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…
Christmas 2014 Perfume Recommendations – French Kisses, Vintage Handbags & A Great Big Nothing
I can’t start thinking about Christmas until we’ve seen the back of All Saints’ Day; any sign of Yuletide shenanigans before then makes my stomach turn. But we are now…
Persolaise Review: L’Homme Ideal from Guerlain (Thierry Wasser; 2014)
It’s probably fair to say that Guerlain is in a tricky position. On the one hand, it has to satisfy its owners by churning out a steady stream of till-friendly…
Persolaise Review: Rose Flash from Tauerville (Andy Tauer; 2014)
Roses are always an easy sell for me – the result of a youth spent in the Middle East? – but when they’re touched by the hand of Andy Tauer,…
A Very Full Day – Olivier Cresp on Angel, Penhaligon’s And The Manic Pace Of Perfumery
If Olivier Cresp is fed up with talking about Angel, he doesn’t show it. Since the fragrance was launched in 1992, he’s probably spent a frightening proportion of his life…
What We Really Wore This Summer – 2014
Guess what, I think we have a regular feature on our hands. About a year ago, I posted an article about the scents which Madame Persolaise and I actually wore…
Persolaise Review: Rien Intense Incense from Etat Libre D’Orange (Antoine Lie; 2014)
Could Rien possibly get any bigger? Yes and no. Soon after it bulldozed its way onto the market in 2006, the scent became the very definition of a perfumery juggernaut.…