Okay, the countdown’s over: the Invasion Of The Day Job has well and truly begun. For the next 8 to 10 weeks, free time is going to be almost non-existent,…
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…
The perfume blogosphere appears to be divided on the subject of long-dead fragrances being reissued. Some people believe that ancient ghosts ought to remain buried. Others enjoy what they consider…
You can’t accuse ÉLdO of cowardice. The instant accessibility of last year’s commendable Like This may have raised fears that one of perfumery’s cockiest houses was starting to play it…
Grossmith Phul-Nana, Hasu-No-Hana, Shem-El-Nessim review by award-winning perfume critic Persolaise (2010)
You can’t say that Guerlain aren’t keeping Thierry Wasser busy. This year saw the release of the third version of Homme, a new Aqua Allegoria and an exclusive, limited edition…
A few years ago, Swiss aromatherapist-turned-perfumer Vero Kern released three extrait-strength fragrances that have since developed a loyal following. She has now formulated distinctly different, eau de parfum versions of…
Many scents are described as soft, but few actually convey the sensation of resting your head on a floating pillow of immaculately-shaped petals. Penhaligon’s Orange Blossom – the latest release…
The Aqua Allegoria range often gets a bad press, but I reckon Guerlain ought to keep going with their fragrance haiku, because every now and then it allows us to…
What’s the smell of the modern dandy? Does a metrosexual wear one of the generic woody cocktails that flood the market at the rate of twenty a week? Does he…
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,…
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…
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…
Persolaise