Gabe Oppenheim, The Ghost Perfumer, Live Interview
Persolaise Gabe Oppenheim, The Ghost Perfumer author, interview by award-winning perfume critic Persolaise (2022)
The Zest Of Life – Persolaise On Colognes In The Scented Letter
The latest issue of The Scented Letter – the award-winning magazine of The Perfume Society – contains a piece by yours truly on the current revival of the eau de…
Give-Away: Win Roja Dove’s The Essence Of Perfume
image: Roja Dove / Black Dog Publishing Roja Dove‘s much-loved coffee-table tome, The Essence Of Perfume, has just been re-printed in an extensively updated form. I haven’t yet seen its…
Harrods Unveil The Salon De Parfums… And Move The Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie
The Roja Dove Haute Perfumerie photographed in July 2014, a few weeks before its transformation If there’s one reason for the enduring success of Harrods, it’s the fact that the…
Rodrigo Flores-Roux On Re-Making Fougère Royale For Houbigant
When I met Rodrigo Flores-Roux at the London launch of the John Varvatos range of scents, I asked him about his work on the reformulated, 2010 version of Fougère Royale,…
Persolaise Review: Florabotanica from Balenciaga + Fetish Pour Homme from Roja Parfums + Pétale Noir from Agent Provocateur (2012)
This week, I give you three interesting twists on familiar themes. First up is Florabotanica, the latest from Balenciaga. Basically, it’s yet another rose, but thanks to the skill of…
Persolaise Review: Vetiver from Roja Parfums (2012) + Pour Femme, Pour Homme & Jaïpur Homme from Boucheron (2012)
Do we really need another vetivert? Well, of course, the answer to that is No, but then, if perfumery were an art form driven by nothing more than need, it…
Persolaise Review: Reckless from Roja Parfums (2011) + Yellow Diamond from Versace (2012)
It’s all very well encouraging fragrance houses to propel the art of perfumery towards the future, but sometimes, it’s beneficial to look back to the past. Most other art forms…
FiFi UK Best Independent Perfume Finalists
Image: Fragrance Foundation UK On Friday, Fragrance Foundation UK announced the shortlist for this year’s Best Independent Perfume FiFi Award; as a Jasmine Award winner, I was one of the…
Poisonous Candles + Roja Dove At The Wellcome Collection
I hope you’re all behaving yourselves while I’m catching up on my summer reading. I’m just breaking my cyber-silence for a few moments to let you know that an article…
Persolaise Goes Mobile + BBC Four Perfume Documentary Broadcast Date
I’ve already mentioned this on Twitter and Basenotes, but just in case some of you aren’t yet aware: episode 1 of Ian Denyer’s perfume documentary will be broadcast on BBC…
Review: Blessings eau de parfum from Belinda Brown (2011)
I think my brain’s vocab centre has had a slight melt-down. I need a synonym for ‘fuzzy’, but none of the ones I’ve come up with so far capture the…
A Mirror Up To Nature: Diaghilev At The V&A
We’re all aware that, over the years, perfumery has been influenced by other art forms and, indeed, by wider socio-historical developments. Nevertheless, it’s always fascinating to see concrete evidence of…
Fougère Royale Give-Away Reminder
Yesterday, Madame Persolaise and I decorated the entire house (with the help of a few hapless elves), so we’re now officially in Christmas mode and ready to tuck into mince…
When 24 Just Isn’t Enough
Regular readers of this blog will know that, every now and then, I’m drawn to the subject of time… or, more specifically, the lack of time. I’ve been thinking a…
Review: Fougère Royale from Houbigant (2010)
How do you make a fougère that has enough fougère-ness to justify the label but not so much that it smells like a disappointing cliche? That’s precisely the challenge faced…
Baccarat At Harrods
Please click here to be redirected to my Basenotes article about the final event at Harrods’ Perfume Diaries: a presentation by Baccarat. Have a wonderful weekend, Persolaise.
European Perfumery At Harrods Perfume Diaries
Some of you may be aware that Harrods recently hosted an evening of presentations on European perfumery. If you’d like to read my Basenotes article about the event, please click…
Interview With Roja Dove
Please click here to be taken to my exclusive Basenotes interview with Roja Dove, curator of the Perfume Diaries exhibition at Harrods. Persolaise.
The Perfume Diaries at Harrods
A few days ago, Madame Persolaise and I had a leisurely wander around the Perfume Diaries exhibition on the 4th floor of Harrods. There is a great deal I could…