Happy 2014!
Persolaise A lemon blossom photographed in 2013 a short distance from Maison Persolaise Okay, it’s time to pack away the fairy lights and get this blog-shaped ball rolling again. A very…
Best Perfumes Of 2013
Don’t look now, folks, but I think we’ve made it to the end of another December. Rose-tinted nostalgia goggles aside, it’s probably fair to say that 2013 has been as…
Home Scents For Christmas 2013 – From Diptyque’s Mechanical Air To Kurkdjian’s Supernatural Jasmine
You can keep your boughs of holly and your clove-encrusted oranges. If there’s one thing that’s enjoyable about the yuletide season, it’s the opportunity to scent your home with olfactory…
Persolaise Review: Coming To My Senses by Alyssa Harad (2012) + A Give-Away!
In her Author’s Note at the start of Coming To My Senses, Texas-based Alyssa Harad explains that she decided not to reveal the identity of some of the perfumes she…
Persolaise Review: Un Jardin Sur Le Nil from Hermès (Jean-Claude Ellena; 2005)
There seems little point in reviewing Un Jardin Sur Le Nil. After all, it was granted a status bestowed upon few perfumes when it was placed centre stage in Chandler…
Persolaise Review: Dries Van Noten from Editions De Parfums Frederic Malle (Bruno Jovanovic; 2013)
After the phenomenal, double-whammy success of Géranium Pour Monsieur and Portrait Of A Lady, Frederic Malle had to consider his next move carefully. The latter scent in particular – a…
Love At Chapter One: Perfumes For Valentine’s Day 2013
You won’t be surprised to learn that I think my book would make an ideal present for Valentine’s Day: it’s pretty, it’s entertaining and it might lead the scentusiast (or…
The Many Uses Of Allergen Labelling
A conundrum for you. There’s a new perfume on the market. Its price per ml places it in the upper stratosphere of ‘luxury’ scents. It’s sold as an eau de…
The Enigmatic Illusionist – An Interview With Jean-Claude Ellena
It’s interesting to consider why Jean-Claude Ellena attracts as much reverence as he does. The simplest explanation might be that he deserves it for his work. After all, Déclaration, Terre…
Persolaise Review: Fils De Dieu Du Riz Et Des Agrumes from Etat Libre D’Orange (2012)
Image: Nitzan Klamer Ralf Schwieger’s ability to inject humour into his creations is well documented; smell the first few notes of his Lipstick Rose for Frederic Malle and you’ll see…
Persolaise Christmas 2011 Recommendations + Ormonde Jayne Give-Away
My love of list-making isn’t often reflected on my blog – mainly because I rarely seem to have the time to indulge in this most boyish of activities – but…
Guest Post: Burning Desire – Candles From Editions De Parfums Frederic Malle by Olfactoria
Who doesn’t love Frederic Malle’s perfumes? Anyone? Well, I certainly do, so when he introduced a home scent line in 2009, I paid attention. But somehow, I never got around…
Zeta Winner + Smelling Oud For The First Time
Boozy fruit = Boozy Simnel I could do with a Bloggers’ Retreat. I’ve got so many things I’d like to tell you about, but the clock keeps ticking and the…
NEWS – Voting Open For UK FiFi & Basenotes Awards
The shortlist for this year’s FiFi UK Best Niche Perfume award has just been revealed on Basenotes and it features a few of my favourite releases of 2010. Here’s the…
A Scented Year – 2010
Image: Roxana Villa The year’s almost over, which means it must be time for another list. Today, I’m very pleased to be able to take part in an inter-blog roundup…
Review: Portrait Of A Lady from Editions De Parfums Frederic Malle (2010)
Perfume review: Frederic Malle Portrait Of A Lady (Dominique Ropion), by award-winning critic Persolaise (2010, rose, scent, fragrance)
Tauer Cologne Du Maghreb Giveaway + Christmas 2010 Recommendations
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…
Preview: Portrait Of A Lady by Editions De Parfums Frederic Malle (2010) + Sample Giveaway Reminder
Whilst I’m in preview mode, I ought to mention that a recent visit to the ever-enchanting Les Senteurs led to a sniff of Frederic Malle’s new Portrait Of A Lady,…
Review: Géranium Pour Monsieur by Editions De Parfums Frederic Malle (2009)
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…