— Rightly or wrongly, most perfumery output is still measured against the standards and aesthetics of French styles. If a scent is considered not to ‘work’ in some way, or…
It’s that time of year again when demons, witches and goblins take over the world. I’ve never been one for ‘celebrating’ Halloween, but as you know, I can’t resist a…
We went from A to B to… P in a recent episode of Love At First Scent, with reviews of new releases from Aesop, Burberry, Boadicea The Victorious, Bentley and…
— With somewhat Bond-villainesque theatricality, buttons were pressed, the lighting changed, and our gaze was drawn to a frieze depicting a desert landscape: a cue for us to be presented…
If ever there was a set of videos that highlighted the stark difference between modern perfume releases and those from a few decades ago, it was the one I broadcast…
— Back in the 80s, in the UAE, a soap was launched onto the market. Little did we know that it came from a brand that had actually been established…
An oud-based flanker is perhaps the last release we would have expected from Les Indemodables, but that’s precisely what they’ve given us in the form of Vanille Havane – Coeur…
If all the spam advertising emails are to be believed, autumn is the time for curling up on a sofa with a warm blanket and a mug of hot chocolate.…
On paper, the idea of a jasmine-inflected Shalimar promises something absolutely terrific — not only would it emphasise the 1925 scent’s floral, animalic aspects, but it would also make sense…
We finally made it happen! A few days ago, Carlos Huber, founder of Arquiste, popped into my virtual studio for a long-overdue interview in which he chatted about his two…
A few months ago, I embarked on my own fundraiser for Great Ormond Street Hospital, to which many of you responded with tremendous, extremely touching generosity. I recently discovered that…
As though determined to send us fragrance nerds into fits of apoplexy, Hermes are calling their latest release, Barenia, their very first chypre. Yes, you may well gasp. But dubious…
Japan, France and a coral reef at the bottom of an ocean were just three of our ports of call in a recent session of Love At First Scent, in…
Given that Love At First Scent has been off the air for several weeks, it was perhaps appropriate that the first post-summer review was of a scent inspired by daybreak:…
– It’s difficult not to be suspicious about a brand that calls itself Born To Stand Out (sorry, I refuse to remove the spaces between the words). It carries more…
– I thought about two lovers hanging out in Paris, during the night. I imagined that patchouli is my lover and that I have to tame it, to make it…
If you’re based in Britain, you might be interested to learn that the September 2024 issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK (out now) contains an article by yours truly on the…
— I’m pretty sure our first encounter was at a perfumery in Nice. It was part of a large Lutens display — an austere assembly of those slim, rectangular bottles,…
— On paper, the scent sounds as though it should be one of the company’s more likeable releases. The website blurb talks of orange peel simmering on a stove and…
In my final instalments of Love At First Scent before the usual summer hibernation, I tied up various loose ends by presenting showcase reviews of a few brands (one of…
Persolaise