The Top 25 Perfumes Of The 21st Century… So Far
Persolaise As 2024 came to an end, many of you asked if I’d compile a rundown of the best perfumes of the decade so far. I found the idea appealing —…
Top 10 Best Perfumes Of 2024 – Searching For The Human
— It doesn’t seem possible that twelve months have passed since I put together my last end-of-year roundup, but the reality is plain to see in the electronic diary beaming…
Tom Ford Amber Intrigue (Pascal Gaurin & Julien Rasquinet), Memo Abu Dhabi (Mylene Alran), Memo Indian Leather (Juliette Karagueuzoglou) reviews – 2024
— The person who introduced me to Tom Ford Amber Intrigue (currently exclusive to Harrods) proudly announced that the scent marks the brand’s first use of dates in a composition…
Christmas 2024 Perfume Gift Guide
I have no doubt that the vast majority of you are forward-thinking, super-organised, careful-planning types, so I expect you finished all your Christmas shopping in October. However, if some of…
Calvin Klein CK One Essence review – Alberto Morillas; 2024
For my review of this brand new – and fairly interesting – flanker to the original CK One, please click on this link to my Substack: Calvin Klein CK One…
DS & Durga Black Magenta, Big Sur Eucalyptus and Deep Dark Vanilla reviews – David Seth Moltz; 2023/2024
— Rightly or wrongly, most perfumery output is still measured against the standards and aesthetics of French styles. If a scent is considered not to ‘work’ in some way, or…
120 Years Of Disruption – Coty Celebrates Anniversary In Paris
— With somewhat Bond-villainesque theatricality, buttons were pressed, the lighting changed, and our gaze was drawn to a frieze depicting a desert landscape: a cue for us to be presented…
Cartier Declaration review – The Favourites – Jean-Claude Ellena; 1998
— Back in the 80s, in the UAE, a soap was launched onto the market. Little did we know that it came from a brand that had actually been established…
Finding A Simple Happiness – An Interview With Marc-Antoine Barrois On The Launch Of Tilia
— There are two people Quentin Bisch loves to work with. I hope he loves to work with me. And he has great admiration for Renaud Salmon . The lucky…
Born To Stand Out Showcase Review – various perfumers; 2024
– It’s difficult not to be suspicious about a brand that calls itself Born To Stand Out (sorry, I refuse to remove the spaces between the words). It carries more…
Sometimes Magic Happens – An Interview With Guerlain’s Delphine Jelk
– I thought about two lovers hanging out in Paris, during the night. I imagined that patchouli is my lover and that I have to tame it, to make it…
Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan Review – The Favourites – Christopher Sheldrake; 1993
— I’m pretty sure our first encounter was at a perfumery in Nice. It was part of a large Lutens display — an austere assembly of those slim, rectangular bottles,…
Jo Malone London Orange Marmalade review – Marie Salamagne; 2021/2024
— On paper, the scent sounds as though it should be one of the company’s more likeable releases. The website blurb talks of orange peel simmering on a stove and…
Book review – American Legends: The Evolution Of American Fragrances – Michael Edwards; 2024
— If the perfume world has a guru, then it’s almost certainly Michael Edwards, the Australia-based expert whose Fragrances Of The World database has slavishly tracked and chronicled the rising…
Coty Infiniment review – various perfumers; 2024
— My first encounter with this much-hyped range was at a launch event in London last year. As far as these shindigs go, it was one of the less easily…
Thoughts On Frederic Malle Leaving His Own Brand — And Reviews Of Some Of His Classic Scents
— The speculators I alluded to above are theorising about all manner of likely (and less likely) reasons and scenarios. Take your pick from whichever of the following you fancy:…
Tom Ford Vanilla Sex review – Nathalie Gracia-Cetto; 2023
– Upon being presented with a blotter doused in Tom Ford Vanilla Sex, the correct response is to recoil in confusion. I am delighted to report that this was precisely…
Yves Saint Lauren Paris review – Sophia Grojsman; 1983
The other day, I finally managed to catch Still, the documentary about Michael J Fox’s life and career, the last few decades of which have been affected by the increasingly…
Christine Nagel On The Creation Of The New Hermes Oud Alezan And H24 Herbes Vives
“In my entire career, I’d made only one oud perfume. I didn’t like oud; I never had a passion for it. If you look on the market, there are many…
Obey What The Fragrance Is Telling You — Frederic Malle On The Estee Lauder Legacy Collection
“The ideas were great, but the formulas were very, very long. I mean, Azuree was more than 200 products. We just had to shorten the formula, take all of the…