Book review - Perfume: A Century of Scents by Lizzy Ostrom

I love books, and I love perfumes, so naturally, I read about perfumes a lot! In this very brief review I will share my impressions of Lizzy Ostrom's "Perfume: A Century of Scents".

The book looks at the history of British culture through the olfactory lens. Which perfumes were popular when and why in the Great Britain, and what processes were happening in the society at the time - these questions occupy the author. If you are British, or are interested in British culture, I can highly recommend this book. As an outsider, the later chapters (on 1990s and beyond) were also highly entertaining because I could relate to them quite easily, as similar (or the same) scents were popular in my country at the time. The Lynx/Axe chapter is particularly hilarious. The book is written in lively, engaging language, and is a fast read.

Each chapter of the book looks at a specific perfume, covering the period from 1900 to 2000s. Even though the book concentrates more on the culture and how people relate to perfumes within the context of that culture, I found quite a few interesting pieces of perfumery trivia that were new to me (about white musks, for example). The first chapters, which talk about the early days of modern perfumery, are also quite illuminating.

What I missed from the books is illustrations. I understand supplying illustrations and handling the slew of copyright licenses for such a volume can be quite challenging, but I do hope that future editions will have at least some photos, or maybe less abstract drawings of the perfumes. I found myself reaching for Google far too often, and usually when I sit down to read a book, I tend to look forward to some off-screen time. Finally, as a Shalimar fan, I wish there was a chapter on this classic, but apparently, it didn't find much popularity in Great Britain.

Overall, a great and enjoyable book which I can easily recommend.