Fabrice Pellegrin is particularly skilled at finding a balance between accessibility and distinctiveness. In The Odd Fellow’s Bouquet (one of two works he’s created for the revived house of Atkinson’s,…
I worry about reviewing another Bertrand Duchaufour creation almost as much as I worry about reviewing another oud scent. They are both extremely ubiquitous; some would say excessively so. I’m…
This was one I approached with dread. “It’s an oud,” I was told. ‘Just kill me now,’ I thought to myself. “It’s exceptionally good,” they said. ‘Please, make it quick,’…
When Aramis released their commendable Perfume Calligraphy, I saw the move as an attempt to corner the Arabic sector of the chest-beating, alpha-male, testosterone-fuelled territory the brand has long claimed…
In the press release for the latest addition to the Collection Privée, Dior‘s in-house perfumer, François Demachy, is quoted as saying that the “chypre is the grey of the perfume…
The latest from Lutens and Sheldrake is a delightful exercise in wrong-footing the wearer. At first, a potential buyer is likely to notice its colour: dense, purple and almost opaque,…
Just a link from me today, to a Basenotes article about a ‘rose masterclass’ by Andy Tauer. Please do read it, if you can spare the time. The Top Secret…
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…
Regardless of one’s views on his family firm’s recent output, it would be churlish to deny the importance of the work of Jean-Paul Guerlain. A CV that includes names like…
L'Artisan Parfumeur Traversee Du Bosphore perfume review by award-winning critic Persolaise (Bertrand Duchaufour, 2010)
Perfume review: Frederic Malle Portrait Of A Lady (Dominique Ropion), by award-winning critic Persolaise (2010, rose, scent, fragrance)
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…
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,…
Tauer Une Rose Vermeille perfume review by award-winning critic Persolaise (2010, Andy Tauer, scent)
Today the Persolaise household will be busy packing for the imminent trip to India, but last night I managed to find some time for one final, formulation session. I closed…
How do you bite your thumb at the stream of cynical sub-scents that emerge every summer? Here’s a pretty good, two-word answer: Like This. Need more detail? Well, you start…
On a peaceful street in Knightsbridge, hidden behind an unsightly pyramid of scaffolding, is London’s first stand-alone boutique for Amouage, the highly-respected house founded in the early 80s by a…
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…
Persolaise