There’s a lot of anti-Chanel feeling around at the moment. Before the venerable house had given everyone an opportunity to recover from the various Chance flankers, they released Bleu which…
Although Madame Persolaise’s French is pretty good, she thought it might be useful for us to take a culinary dictionary on our travels this year, just to make the process…
There’s at least one person in the world who thinks Kokorico is a work of genius. A couple of weeks ago, when I picked up the scent’s tester at a…
Some of you will no doubt be aware that perfumer Andy Tauer has entered into an intriguing collaboration with film-maker Brian Pera (of Evelyn Avenue). Over the course of the…
One of the reasons I’m an admirer of the music of Björk is that it combines the finest elements of classicism with a reckless love of everything that modernity has…
I wonder if I would’ve detected an unfamiliar quality in Mandy Aftel’s perfumes if I’d first smelt them without knowing that they contain no synthetics. I’d like to think that…
I’m sure you all know this by now, but please, just indulge me, because I’m going to get a real kick out of typing the following words: Tauer Perfumes’ Orange…
Although I haven’t got the world’s greenest thumbs, I’ve somehow managed not to kill all the trees in our garden, two of which produce an annual crop of rich, dark…
It’s been a while since I’ve written in any meaningful detail about my own perfume making. Paradoxically, this isn’t because I haven’t been doing any, but because I’ve actually been…
I managed to find some time this weekend to work on a couple of formulae I’m trying to develop, which means the air in my study is now a bizarre…
Before I announce the winners of the draw, I just want to thank all of you who entered. I did, of course, read and enjoy every single one of your…
You wouldn’t necessarily know it from this blog, but I’m quite fond of lists, so I thought I ought to mark the first weekend of December with a round-up of…
For the last few days, a mysterious smell has been bugging me in my study. Most of the time, it’s been totally undetectable, but every now and then, as I’ve…
A few weeks ago, Madame Persolaise and I were on an escalator, descending into London’s Tube network. She was wearing vintage Diorissimo; I’d dabbed my wrists with a few drops…
I realise I’m running the risk of turning this blog into a daily whine, but I’m afraid I still feel like letting off a bit of steam about the scarcity…
A presentation from Andy Tauer never sounds like a sales pitch. With charm and humility, he invites his listeners to share his enthusiasm for perfume creation, providing enticing insights into…
This is just a brief, pre-weekend reminder that you’ve still got a couple of days left to enter the Tauer Perfumes draw for a bottle of either Une Rose Vermeille…
My head’s full of smoke and leather. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for the empty vials on my window sill. I keep telling myself that one day,…
Some truths are worth repeating: excellent fragrances feature a delicate harmony of all their disparate components. Few contemporary perfumers are as acutely aware of this as Andy Tauer, creator of…
Where did September go? It feels like it was only yesterday that I returned from India, filled with determination to get back to my pungent potions without delay. Time slips…
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