A curious release, this one. Subjectivity aside, it’s a musky lavender in which Jacques Polge has chosen to emphasise the lemony, herbaceous aspects of Provence’s ubiquitous sachet-filler whilst placing it…
It’s a cliché, but like many clichés, it happens to be true: India is a land in which you’re constantly confronted by smells. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that it’s often…
The moment I tried Goutal’s latest, I knew I
Here’s something that doesn’t happen very often: I don’t have a perfume I’d like to review this week. To be more precise, I’ve got plenty which I could review, but…
The pixies and elves of Marketing Land would have us believe that Bang Bang is for “men who
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…
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…
Uncle Serge and Christopher Sheldrake have been up to their old tricks again. Their latest release could easily be dismissed as an old-fashioned feminine, a woody floral stuck somewhere in…
The spirit of orientalism is alive in the latest masculine from Caron. Yuzu takes its inspiration from the East Asian (predominantly Japanese) fruit of the same name, and as you’d…
Would it be too cruel to say that Penhaligon’s Anthology series of re-issues comes to a close not with a bang, but a whimper? Eau Sans Pareil is pleasant enough,…
If I must have a fragrance that isn’t flawless in its entirety, then I’ll choose one whose weak section is the top notes: at least they fade away fairly rapidly.…
Free Wifi hasn’t been as easy to find as I’d hoped, but I’m pleased to say that so far the holiday has gone very well (although I gather the situation…
Is there anyone out there who thinks there should be more perfume releases? Clearly, the answer to that question is a resounding Yes, because the number of new creations emerging…
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…
It’s hard to believe, but almost twelve months ago to the day, I published a post saying that Madame Persolaise and I were busy packing for our summer holiday. Well,…
The unifying concept behind Pierre Guillaume’s Huitième Art certainly seems promising on paper. “What would Chanel N° 5 be without its aldehydes,” asks the range’s dedicated website, “L’Eau Sauvage without…
Okay, here we go. Time to bite the bullet and articulate my thoughts on what is unquestionably one of the most important perfume releases of the year, regardless of the…
You know you’re exhausted when you place an order for what you think is a new raw material only to discover that you’ve already got it in your lab. In…
You know the onomatopoeic ‘sound effect’ captions used in comic books? Well, Owari opens with a KA-POW, BANG, SHAZZAM! The top notes leap off the skin in a burst of…
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