Perfume 101: 517 posts

Last year you helped Patricia pick a perfume for her daughter’s wedding. Today she reveals the bride’s choice.

The venue and caterer had been booked months before, the flowers selected, and the dress chosen and on order. The musicians had been given their sheet music to learn, the photographer and videographer lined up, and the bridesmaids (her closest high school friends, his sister) and maid of honor (her sister) had saved the date. But one decision still loomed large: which perfume would my daughter wear on her wedding day? I had promised that the bottle of her choice would be delivered well before the date of the ceremony.

In search of good perfume ideas, I proposed the question to my friends here at Bois de Jasmin in one of our Recommend Me a Perfume threads and received many thoughtful suggestions ranging from dusky roses to light white florals. Since at that time my daughter lived halfway across the country, I lovingly prepared a box of samples to send to her, based both on what I could decant from my collection and gather from the list of recommended perfumes.

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Acacia blossoms mark the beginning of summer in Poltava. White clusters appear on craggy trees that ordinarily get noticed only because their powerful roots crack the pavement around the city. But come May, the streets are filled with their perfume of sweet orange and jasmine and the sidewalks are covered with a carpet of white pointy blossoms. “Now it’s really the end of spring,” remarks an elderly woman to no one in particular. She rearranges bunches of green onions and dill on a makeshift stall she set up near a bus stop and brushes off the fallen acacia flowers onto the pavement.

I count spring not in months but in flowers. First come apricot blossoms and star magnolias. Then cherry blossoms make their brief entrance turning dreary Soviet-era street blocks into Impressionist etudes. Apples, lilacs, and viburnum move in successive waves, and finally it’s the time of acacias. In their heady perfume I smell the blistering heat of summer and dusty chestnut leaves.

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“The art of fortunate proportions” is how Edmond Roudnitska described perfumery. The idea is simple–all elements in the right dosages and in the right balance, but as is often the case, the simplicity is the most elusive attribute of all. Whenever I revisit his fragrances, I’m moved time and again by their grace and harmony. In Perfumes: The art of balance and proportion, my new FT column, I describe Roudnitska’s art, the elegance of Guerlain and the feisty brilliance of Germaine Cellier.

When I speak of balance in perfumery, I mean both the aesthetics and technique. Consider Guerlain’s Chamade, one of the most perfectly balanced fragrances. From the bright-green top notes to the rose and hyacinth heart and velvety, woody notes, the perfume unfolds like a silk scroll. Similarly modulated is Dior’s Diorissimo, one of Roudnitska’s masterpieces and the subject of many articles in this column. To continue reading, please click here.

Image via FT HTSI

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On October 20-24 I  will be giving a glimpse inside the world of perfumery during a 3-day science & art event in France. I will be joined by Luca Turin and together we will explain various aspects of smell, from the chemistry and neuroscience of olfaction to the art and culture of perfume.

The event is part of the Science & Vacation program, and it’s designed to give you as rich and multifaceted an experience as possible. You will learn about the anatomy and physiology of the sense of smell, study the perfumer’s palette, smell rare vintage fragrances–and by rare, I mean Coty Chypre, original versions of Guerlain Mitsouko and other Osmothèque worthy treasures, and even learn about the basics of fragrance composition. The course will take place in the Lubéron region famous for its lavender fields, and there will be lots of good food, wine and interesting discussions.

Reservations can be made via Science & Vacation. For all of the logistical details, accommodation and prices, please contact Science & Vacation directly.

Also, on October 6-10th, Science & Vacation will have a food related course presented by Guelia Pevzner. “Over the course of a long weekend in October, we are presenting a series of lectures and discussions on the subject of food and its future. We also plan to indulge in sampling a variety of regional French cuisines.” It’s worth taking a look.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin

In my weekly FT column Scents of the East, I’m taking an oriental family to task. What makes perfumes “oriental”? What does this term mean? Is it any useful?

The world of perfume press releases is one in which Edward Said never wrote Orientalism. Odalisques lounge in the incense-scented harems of marketers’ imaginations. The Mughals are still ruling India, and the Arabian Desert is a vast expanse of golden sands populated with handsome explorers – no oil wells in sight. There is even a fragrance family called “oriental”.

The article is no longer online, but you can continue following the discussion via Is It Time to Rename Oriental Fragrance Family?

Image via FT