was set up to shine a light on indie perfumery, which Turin felt was generating most of the innovation in perfumery.

The blog was significant because it marked the halfway point between the approach taken by the authors in the original Guide and that of the 2018 version. In between the original Guide (2008) and the Guide (2018), there was the blogging experiment. Read the 2018 Guide for a current status report. The image freezes and the authors begin the process of picking it apart and seeing what’s what. It’s a screenshot of the thousands of new niche, indie, and mainstream perfume launches that have hit the market in the past 10 years. No looking back to the past glories of the fragrance timeline, nor much prediction of where we’re going. In 2017, they send up a flare, take a photograph, and write an observation on where we are now.

Picture the authors at some remove from the perfume scene, hunkered down in a submarine for a decade, watching things as impartially as God herself. Perfumes: The Guide (2018) is a broad-lens snapshot of a moment in time, like the full-body diagnostic scan they do when you turn 60. Read the original Guide (1998) for context. I’ll never forget the triumphant cackle that my mother let out when she read their entry for Amarige, a perfume worn by her greatest frenemy. Most importantly, though, they make you howl with laughter.

The authors point out the benchmark fragrances that changed the course of perfumery in general or innovated in some way, giving you a blueprint for self-guided discovery. Perfumes: The A-Z Guide (2008) is a panorama of the history of perfume between the last Ice Age and 2008 a university education delivered in one long breath. Reading this book is like being seated next to a scientist who whispers hilarious put-downs in your ear about the hostess’ bottom all night and then gets up and explains Chaos Theory so elegantly you wonder if you’d ever not understood it.ĭifference between Perfumes: The Guide (2018) and Perfumes: The A-Z Guide (2008) Because whether your interest is casual or professional, there’s always space in your life for a book that explains a subject with equal parts erudition and bitchiness. Heck, buy the original Perfumes: The A-Z Guide (2008) too. To the casual browser who’s wandered in here because the SEO on my site is working – yes, you should buy Perfumes: The Guide (2018) by Luca Turin & Tania Sanchez.

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