Scent and Subversion by Barbara Herman
In the last decade we have seen many excellent books written about perfume that are intended for a mainstream audience. Among them …
Mad Perfumista on Le Labo in Man of the World Magazine
I’m happy to announce that I am the new scent critic for Man of the World Magazine, a new publication created by …
Luca Turin: The World Upside Down
Luca Turin’s blog on perfume, “Duftnotes,” began in 2005 and sadly ended in 2010. Some wonderful folks worked hard compiling snippets of …
My Perfume Book Collection
It’s only fair that given the amount of time I’ve spent writing about the smell of books that I should be focusing …
Vive le livre! Long live books!
I adore the tactile experience of holding a book. I like gazing at the cover design, feeling the weight of it in …
Update: Nose in a Book: “In the Library” by CB I Hate Perfume and “Paper Passion” by Geza Schoen
UPDATE: I received the following communication from Caroline Lebar, Karl Lagerfeld’s Head of Communications in Paris, regarding my post on “Paper Passion.” …
Nose in a Book: “In the Library” by CB I Hate Perfume and “Paper Passion” by Geza Schoen
My collecting habits are becoming a big problem. Like most New Yorkers, I live in a tiny apartment. I don’t have enough …
Serge Lutens’ Pleasure Dome: Musc Koublai Khan
In Edward Said’s celebrated book, Orientalism, he discusses the ways in which Europeans–particularly the French and the British–imagined the East in its literature, …
A New, Noisier Way of Writing – from the New York Times
Anand Giridharadas writes in the New York Times about how the digital age has changed the pace of writing. His thoughts are …
Frédéric Malle’s On Perfume Making
Frédéric Malle is my all time favorite perfumer. His ability to attract the most creative noses in the business helped him to …
For the Love of Perfume: Blogging and its discontents
Full disclosure: I am an amateur enthusiast of perfume on Stage 3 of NST’s brilliantly described progression of perfumania. In my short …
And suddenly the memory returns: Marcel Proust
Perfumers love Marcel Proust. The “episode of the madeleine” is the most famous passage from his multi-volume masterpiece, “À la recherche du …
Baudelaire’s Perfumed Imaginary
There can be perfumes cool as children’s flesh, Like fiddles, sweet, like meadows greenly fresh. Rich, complex, and triumphant, others roll With …