the little book of perfumes the hundred classics

'It's not Joy, but it's not sadness either.' So for anyone missing the glorious trademark vitriol of Perfumes: The Guide, they will still find the odd gem in here: I wish! (And instead of star ratings - for these perfumes are of course already the crème de la crème - there are handy $$$ codings to indicate price bracket, like the ones you might find in a restaurant guide.) Then there is a chapter on The Osmothèque museum, together with reviews of four extinct and much lamented scents that the authors would love to see revived, and a chapter on how to beg, borrow or buy perfume samples prior to taking the full bottle plunge, complete with useful names of sources like Luckyscent and The Perfumed Court.īut the main difference between the presentation of reviews in Perfumes: The Guide and in The Little Book of Perfumes is that the wicked humour is confined to some of the updates on reformulations, which have been added beneath a good third of the reviews.

In addition to the introduction, the extra content includes a few new lists, such as Turin and Sanchez's ten 'Desert Island' scents, plus lists called 'Best bang for your bucks' and 'Best big ticket splurges'. 'The fragrances reviewed in this book are not the greatest of all time - instead, they are those that struck us as far above their peers in quality, inventiveness, or straightforward beauty.' In her introduction to the book, Sanchez explains the premise on which the featured fragrances were selected:

I am sure the new publication will do very well for them: it is such a slim and attractively produced volume that I can see it making a perfect stocking filler for perfumistas and 'regular' perfume wearers alike. Turin and Sanchez weren't given any 'additional advances or royalties' apparently to produce The Little Book of Perfumes, though I assume they will get royalties of some kind for this latest reworking. So given that there are a number of reviews of The Little Book of Perfumes in circulation, most people will have caught up with the fact that this compilation of 100 classic scents is a sample of previous reviews featured in Perfumes: The Guide, and has not been revised to include any new five star perfumes which may have impressed the authors since, which I suppose I had half hoped it would. Additionally, Robin of NST hosted a readers' Q & A session with authors Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, which made fascinating reading, even though my own - admittedly rather trivial - question wasn't featured(!), of which more anon.

I have had The Little Book of Perfumes for some time now, and a number of excellent blog posts about it have already appeared on the likes of Olfactarama, Perfume Shrine and Now Smell This.

The little book of perfumes the hundred classics