Long before his appointment as the world's first professional perfume critic, Chandler Burr had made a name for himself as a perfume journalist with a bit of an edge. His excellent New Yorker article on the creation of Hermès Un Jardin sur le Nil, which gave us a glimpse behind the scenes of this secretive industry, was followed by his regular contributions for The New York Times on the current state of perfumery, in which he wrote passionately about his aversion against the mystification, the anachronistic traditions, and the unspoken rules in the perfume trade. The vastness of his contacts is the envy of most perfume bloggers, and sometimes I wonder if he made more enemies than friends in the past years — which I mean as a compliment, of course. Hardly surprising then, that his latest book was so highly anticipated by many, including me.
If scientific controversy was a central theme in The Emperor of Scent, The Perfect Scent takes a swing at the maladies of the perfume industry. Burr uncovers its deeper mechanisms, from the dilemmas faced by manufacturers who are forced to accept assignments without contracts, to the pointless secrecy in which perfume formulae are still enveloped…
"I really like vanilla perfumes -- Covet has that vibe -- but couldn't wear them when I was engaged," she says. "I just broke up with my fiance. He didn't like me wearing Angel by Thierry Mugler, so I may go back to that." She touches up her pink lipstick in the mirror. "He was so controlling."
"This smells like ... you know when you work out all day and have that really bad scent? Not exactly that, but maybe something more pungent."
When I first came across Etat Libre D’Orange, I assumed on the basis of past experience that this niche perfumery firm had all the hallmarks of the classic snob-value ripoff: great names and high concept, crap fragrances. But I’m co-authoring a perfume guide, so I gave them a try.
Not to sound treacly, but it would be how my son's bedroom smells when you walk in.
(The scent is) clean, and it's mixed with their sweat while they're sleeping and the cotton of their blankets and the moisture that's right underneath their hair.
— Sarah Jessica Parker on "the most comforting smell she would want to bottle and carry around with her", via USA Today.
Covet is Sarah Jessica Parker’s latest fragrance release, following 2005′s Lovely. That Parker waited two years to launch her second perfume sets her apart from her overeager compatriots in the celebrity fragrance market; Britney Spears has done one fragrance a year since she started out with Curious in 2004 (and will reportedly release 2 this year), and Jennifer Lopez has managed to release 7 since 2002.
Despite the fact that I didn’t adore Lovely, I picked it as the best celebrity release of 2005. I thought it very well done, and while it was more of a crowd-pleaser than I’d hoped — Parker herself was known to wear an unusual layered combination of Bonne Bell Skin Musk, Comme des Garcons Avignon and a nameless “Egyptian oil” that she purchased on the streets of New York (via One Nosy Dame by Chandler Burr, The New York Times 10/16/2005) — at least it wasn’t the sweet fruity concoction for ‘tweens that we’ve come to expect from the celebrity fragrance genre.
Long before his appointment as the world's first professional perfume critic, Chandler Burr had made a name for himself as a perfume journalist with a bit of an edge. His excellent New Yorker article on the creation of Hermès Un Jardin sur le Nil, which gave us a glimpse behind the scenes of this secretive industry, was followed by his regular contributions for The New York Times on the current state of perfumery, in which he wrote passionately about his aversion against the mystification, the anachronistic traditions, and the unspoken rules in the perfume trade. The vastness of his contacts is the envy of most perfume bloggers, and sometimes I wonder if he made more enemies than friends in the past years — which I mean as a compliment, of course. Hardly surprising then, that his latest book was so highly anticipated by many, including me.
