"Turin confirms his right to be classed alongside Proust or Patrick Suskind as a poet of smell." -Lara Feigel, ObserverIn 1992, Luca Turin wrote the first truly critical guide to perfume, Parfums le guide. It has been out of print until now.This new edition includes both the original French and the first authorized English translation, plus a new, highly personal foreword by Turin. LUCA TURIN wrote the first critical guide to perfume. He is a biophysicist, popular lecturer, and author of several books on science, perfume, and culture.TANIA SANCHEZ is a writer with an interest in perfume, aesthetics, and culture. She is the co-author with Luca Turin of Perfumes: The A-Z Guide and The Little Book of Perfumes.
'I've long wished perfumery to be taken seriously as an art, and for scent critics to be as fierce as opera critics, and for the wearers of certain "fragrances" to be hissed in public, while others are cheered. This year has brought Perfumes: The Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, which I breathed in, rather than read, in one delighted gulp.' Hilary Mantel, Guardian Perfumes: The Guide is the culmination of Turin's lifelong obsession and rare scientific flair and Sanchez's stylish and devoted blogging about every scent that she's ever loved and loathed. Together they make a fine and utterly persuasive argument for the unrecognised craft of perfume-making. Perfume writing has certainly never been this honest, compelling or downright entertaining.
From 2003 to 2014, scientist and perfume critic Luca Turin (The Secret of Scent, Perfumes: the A-Z Guide) wrote two widely admired columns for distinguished Swiss magazine NZZ Folio. First in the "Duftnote" he discussed all things smellable, from Blue Stratos to Mitsouko and the fragrance of a particular Air France jet. Afterward in "Either/Or" he helped readers examine the relative merits of such as heels vs. flats, trains vs. trams, or Captain Nemo vs. Captain Haddock. Written in Turin's inimitable and highly quotable style, full of passionately held opinions on subjects major and minor, pulling on culture high and low, Old World and New, aesthetic and scientific, these essays were some of the best loved parts of the magazine. However, the columns were only intermittently available in English. This is the first time many of these writings have been published in the original. Included are four feature articles also published in NZZ Folio, plus a foreword written by his co-author of Perfumes: the A-Z Guide, Tania Sanchez.
The quintessential guide to the one hundred most glorious perfumes in the world. When Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez published Perfumes: The Guide in 2008, it was hailed as "ravishingly entertaining" by John Lanchester in The New Yorker, "witty and knowledgeable" on Style.com, and "provocative and hugely entertaining" by the Times Literary Supplement. The Little Book of Perfumes focuses on just one hundred masterpieces of perfume: ninety-six five-star perfumes from the original book, as well as four "museum" perfumes-legendary scents that are preserved in the Versailles Osmothèque. This stunningly produced petite volume offers lovers of perfume the best of the best-a perfect gift book for anyone looking either for a brilliant fragrance or an intelligent, witty read.
For as long as anyone can remember, a man named Luca Turin has had an uncanny relationship with smells. He has been compared to the hero of Patrick Süskind’s novel Perfume, but his story is in fact stranger, because it is true. It concerns how he made use of his powerful gifts to solve one of the last great mysteries of the human body: how our noses work. Luca Turin can distinguish the components of just about any smell, from the world’s most refined perfumes to the air in a subway car on the Paris metro. A distinguished scientist, he once worked in an unrelated field, though he made a hobby of collecting fragrances. But when, as a lark, he published a collection of his reviews of the world’s perfumes, the book hit the small, insular business of perfume makers like a thunderclap. Who is this man Luca Turin, they demanded, and how does he know so much? The closed community of scent creation opened up to Luca Turin, and he discovered a fact that astonished him: no one in this world knew how smell worked. Billions and billions of dollars were spent creating scents in a manner amounting to glorified trial and error. The solution to the mystery of every other human sense has led to the Nobel Prize, if not vast riches. Why, Luca Turin thought, should smell be any different? So he gave his life to this great puzzle. And in the end, incredibly, it would seem that he solved it. But when enormously powerful interests are threatened and great reputations are at stake, Luca Turin learned, nothing is quite what it seems. Acclaimed writer Chandler Burr has spent four years chronicling Luca Turin’s quest to unravel the mystery of how our sense of smell works. What has emerged is an enthralling, magical book that changes the way we think about that area between our mouth and our eyes, and its profound, secret hold on our lives.
This book is an introduction to the world of aroma chemicals, essential oils, fragrances and flavour compositions for the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry. Present technology, the future use of resources and biotechnological approaches for the production of the respective chemical compounds are described. The book has an integrated and interdisciplinary approach on future industrial production and the issues related to this topic.
Modern perfumery is a blend of art, science and technology, with chemistry being the central science involved. The Chemistry of Fragrances aims to educate and entertain, and inform the audience of the very latest chemistry, techniques and tools applied to fragrance creativity. Beginning with the history of perfumes, which goes back over fifty thousand years, the book goes on to discuss the structure of the Perfume Industry today. The focus then turns to an imaginary brief to create a perfume, and the response to it, including that of the chemist and the creative perfumer. Consumer research, toxicological concerns, and the use of the electronic nose are some of the topics discussed on this journey of discovery. Written by respected experts in their fields, this unique book gives an insider view of ""mixing molecules"" from behind the portals of modern-day alchemy. It will be enjoyed by chemists and marketeers at all levels.
The idea of publishing this book on Perfumes: Art, Science and Technology grew out of the observation that, on the verge of the 1990s, there was really no state-of-the-art compilation of the relevant know-how on which the fragrance industry is based. It was obvious that such a compilation would be well received, not only by perfumers and fragrance chemists, but also by those involved in related trade and marketing or in the development and distribution of consumer products, by researchers from other fields, by students and, finally, by amateurs of perfumes in general. Therefore, we set out to find competent authors who were willing to contribute to the endeavour, and we did not do this unselfishly; on the contrary, we selected a wish-list of specialists who would provide us with new insight and characterize the trends and research priorities determining the future. Thus, we were counting on learning much ourselves in the course of the project. We were more than pleasantly surprised by the reactions to our first letter-and so was Elsevier. We certainly had not expected perfumers who are usually much more 'doers' than 'writers' to react in such an enthusiastic way; especially, the spontaneous affirmative answer from the famous E. Roudnitska created a momentum which contributed significantly to the successful comple tion of this book. But, of course, we should not create the impression that the other authors' chapters are less important, and we thank all of them heartily for their invaluable effort.
'An authoritative guide from two experts who really know their way around scent' – FUNMI FETTO The Perfume Companion is a beautifully illustrated compendium of almost 500 recommended scents, designed to help you pick out your next favourite fragrance. Perfumes have the power to evoke treasured memories, make us feel fabulous and help us express our best self. But with so many out there, how do you choose something new? When the scents in the perfume shop are merging into one aromatic haze, how do you remain focused? And if your favourite scent goes out of stock, how do you replace it? The Perfume Companion is here to help. Sarah McCartney and Samantha Scriven deliver a host of scents for you to try – including bargain finds and luxury treasures, iconic stalwarts and indie newcomers, the lightest florals and the deepest leathers. With insider information about how perfumes are really made, discover hundreds of new fragrances and find the scents to share your own memories with. This is the perfect companion for your scented adventures.
A beautifully made scent can encapsulate a particular feeling, transport you to a very specific time in life with clarity, or remind you of a special loved one or friend. And just like wearing your favorite outfit or shoes, your favorite perfume can make you feel invincible. The question is, how do you find such a creation? With the number of new releases steadily increasing, it can be bewildering even attempting to find a perfume you like, let alone love. In Perfume, Neil Chapman guides readers through a world that can at times seem overwhelming. Fragrances of every variety are listed 'note by note' in clearly divided categories that will steer you in the direction of a perfume you not only like, but love and cherish as 'your' signature scent. Chapters explore popular notes (for example, vanilla, sandalwood, jasmine, rose, patchouli, chocolate) or a broader identifiable group (such as 'oceanics', 'green florals' or 'anti-perfume'), giving an insight into that particular category as well as a clear sense of the similarities and differences between the scents described within it. Featuring over 700 scents, from vintage perfumes to department store classics, rarities and niche boutique fragrances, Perfume is a true portal into the beautiful world of perfume. The further you go on this journey, the more you will be amazed by how many beautiful creations do exist if you take the time to look.
