Author Michael Edwards will release the 2010 edition of his yearly Fragrances of the World, known as “the fragrance bible”, in January.
The 26th edition lists over 7000 fragrances (around 800 more than the 2009 edition) classified by fragrance family. It is used by numerous retailers to help customers find fragrances they might like…
The new paperback version of Perfumes: The Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez is now available under the name Perfumes: The A-Z Guide. The retail price is $20; Amazon has it at the moment for $13.60.
The book includes the reviews from the hardback plus the reviews from the three quarterly updates, and a handful of new reviews and a few other changes…
The downtown Goodwill has been good to me. Over the past year alone, it has yielded a bottle of vintage Guerlain Mitsouko Parfum de Toilette, a pair of midcentury Carlo of Hollywood watercolors, and a taxidermied pheasant (now in my office and nicknamed “Fester” by the finance department). Two weeks ago, I really hit the jackpot: copy number 172 of Visionaire No. 42, Scent.1
Of course, I had no idea what it was when I found it. Sitting on Goodwill’s perfume shelf next to bottles of Prince Matchabelli Wind Song, Liz Claiborne Realities, and a few other fragrances I found easy to pass by was a rectangular, white padded-vinyl box with nearly inscrutable lettering stamped into the vinyl. I did, though, recognize “IFF” stamped at the top…
In my late teens I often dreamed about moving to Japan. I longed to experience different colors, shapes, and tastes, and felt a strange, visceral attraction to Japanese style and culture. I pictured myself living in an old regal city like Kyoto, surrounded by temples and shrines, losing myself in a sea of red maples and blossoms. I ended up working in a Japanese company for nearly a decade, which was altogether a good thing, but my urge to relocate eventually faded away. That is until I recently got hold of Della Chuang’s latest book, which rekindled my old fascination with Japanese life and tradition.
KyotEau: Bottled Memories documents the creative process behind KyotEau (or Eau de Kyoto), a tribute to the author’s favorite city. A former art director at Ralph Lauren Fragrances and Tom Ford Beauty, Taiwanese-born Della Chuang tells us about the idea behind the project, its conception, and the hurdles she had to take before it was brought to completion. She reflects on Japanese art, design, culture, and philosophy, and uses her own photography, sketchwork, and correspondence with friends and colleagues to bring these subjects to life. In a cut out insert in the back of the book you’ll find a sample vial of KyotEau, created by none other than perfumer Christophe Laudamiel…
Black Dog Publishing is offering 50% off on copies of Roja Dove's The Essence of Perfume (the regular prices: £40 in the UK, $70 in the US). To order, just send an email to jess@blackdogonline.com with the words 'Now Smell This' in your subject line. The offer is good through 7/31, and they can ship worldwide.
