Perfumes: The Guide (2018) - Impressions of a Beginner
Hey there! A fellow Parfumo member recommended me Perfumes: The Guide 2018 and I have been blessed with a good library that is able to get books from other libraries around Canada. Vancouver Public Library was sweet enough to send over their copy so I could peruse it at my leisure (with a due date of course). I decided to expand my review of this book in an article because I was curious to compare Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez' more expert point of view vs my more beginner opinion. I have decided to go with the most recent book published because as we all know, perfumes have evolved over time and I wanted the most recent opinion on the matter. Maybe one day I'll go back to read the OG. This article will thus be about my own thoughts vs the author's thoughts, an interesting take since I'll be comparing my newbie 2023 point of view against two experts in the field from 2018. I'll be leaving snippets of my thoughts compared to what I've been reading which makes this article a sort of personal journal of observations of sorts, which might be a bit disconcerting (and for this I apologize). If you have read this book, I'd be curious to read about your own opinion on the book or on things the authors have said. Don't forget to leave a like, a comment and subscribe to my profile! Here goes!
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Right of the bat, the book gave me another title to add to my reading wishlist. I'll have to take a look at The Little Book of Perfumes: 100 Classics.
I don't think celebrity fragrance are done and gone. In fact I once had a perfume from Ariana Grande and I currently own a fragrance made by Rihanna's company. Sabrina Carpenter has released a modified version of her Sweet Tooth perfume recently and I also know Beyonce will be releasing a fragrance this fall. Are they a little less prominent on the social perfume scene? Maybe, but they're certainly not over.
Oud is a strong ingredient and in the rare moments I have smelled it, I did not particularly enjoy it. At the same time, I'm not a fan of strong odors or woody scents so that may be why. One day I'll maybe smell an oud forward fragrance. Is oud the new vanilla? That I don't think so, since I've seen a lot of cherries perfume in the last year and vanilla is still in a lot of perfumes (thinking of Burberry that juste released a new fragrance featuring vanilla). There might have been an uptick in perfumes featuring oud though.
I can't really pronounce myself either on the drydowns being more beautifully constructed. I've just finished perusing what Sephora and Pharmaprix has to over and I haven't yet gone down the rabbit hole of niche perfumes. I do sometimes feel that drydowns tend to ressemble each other and perfumes seem to evolve a little less effortlessly, but I'm not sure.
Brands releasing so many new perfumes? That I'm entirely in agreement. There's a certain fatigue associated with all of this and FOMO. I'm thinking of the new J'adore L'or that's coming out, another reiteration of a perfume that already exists... How many times can you squeeze something out of a concept? Many times it seems. I don't know if perfumes would be better enjoyed if releases were to be spaced out, but I sometimes feel I'm racing against time to be able to try perfumes I love before they get discontinued in favor of new releases.
Ah price fixing. In this new reality of inflation post-COVID, fragrance has become a luxury hobby (it was an expensive hobby before, but now a little bit more). Not everybody can afford full bottles (even with discounts). Those that can are really lucky. For my part, I'm in the middle. I need to save before getting a full bottle of something that is more than 200$ CAN. I think prices are inflating because of the scarcity of raw materials, but also human ressources. But I have to admit that sometimes I question the prices of a few perfumes. I find Tom Ford's perfume really inflated for what you get (I've smelled a few and I don't really find them spectacular enough to justify the price). I can also think of the more recent Burberry Goddess that I've mentioned previously which I got thanks to loyalty programs, but would never have gotten on its own. 153$ for a 50ml is ridiculous for a designer brand. I remember when 50ml bottles were around 100$-120$. Is it entirely COVID's fault? I'm not so sure...
I gotta be honest, I've gone and smelled a few masculine fragrance at Sephora and I do think that most of them smell overpoweringly similar. Woody, spicy and not much more (sometimes I detect harsh synthetics). My boyfriend has also been trying out samplers I randomly get through purchases and we realized a lot of them have that generic cologne scent or that overpowering "manly man" scent. Which is kind of sad since perfumes should never be gendered and women seem to have more diversity in their choice of fragrances. I've started smelling men that radiate an extreme aura of perfume (I went to the movies once and the guy sitting in front of me was stinking of perfume, like he had doused the whole bottle on himself) which is kind of sad since perfumes shouldn't always be this loud. I thus have to agree with the authors' opinion.
Can't say much about what's happening in other parts of the fragrance world as I'm just starting to branch out. I just know it's hard to ship perfumes I want to try from niche brands to Canada (why?) and I'm sad about that. I've started seeing (broad category) arabian fragrances popping more and more so there's that. The bottles are beautiful and they seem a little less expensive than what we have so I'd be curious to smell them. A lot of influencers have been convinced by them too.
Art perfume is still definitely a thing. Some more niche brands still focus on creating specific stories or moods with their perfumes and thir packaging which is quite lovely to see. I can think of Zoologist or Imaginary Authors. I'm sure there are a lot more brands out there than the two I have mentioned, but those are the ones that popped in my mind.
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I will have to get myself a Perfumer's Apprentice educational kit because wow this book has given me the will to delve deeper in the world of fragrances and practicing my nose.
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A list of perfumes I will have to check out because Luca Turin has made me interested in them. Listing only those that are readily available (remember, I'm in Canada and things seem to be quite difficult for perfume shipping - still trying to figure out why):
- Au coeur du désert by Tauer Perfumes (was given a 5/5): I cannot pass over such a beautiful praise. I had spotted this perfume when perusing Etiket's catalogue and passed it over because usually spices aren't the territory where I go into, but I'm willing to make an exception for this one.
- Because It’s You by Giorgio Armani (was given a 4/5): Mentioned it was a sugared pineapple scent but there's no mention of pineapple anywhere in the notes? Anyhow, my interest has been piqued and I spotted the raspberry note. Interested after the whole Angel Nova fiasco.
- Memoirs of A Trespasser by Imaginary Authors (was given a 2/5): Rated quite badly by Luca Turing, but he mentions a toasted campfire marshmallow scent. Sign me up!
- Mmmm… by Juliette Has A Gun (was given a 3/5): Mentions vanilla vanilla, but there's no vanilla in the notes? Did he confuse his reviews? I've largely passed over JHaG except for Lust For Sun that made it in my collection as a full bottle because the rest all seem to smell the same except a few differences, but I'll willingly go back to test out this one. Interest was piqued.
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Final Thoughts: All in all it's a very interesting read and I loved comparing Luca Turin's scores with those on Parfumo. Obviously perfume taste is quite subjective, but I was delighted to see some of my opinions were alike. I was also sometimes dumbfounded by some of his critics towards perfumes that seem beloved by many influencers and people of the fragrance community. I realize I have a long way to go in perfume knowledge and I'll never be nowhere near as what he has smelled and tested. So many interesting scent combinations out there! He seems quite jaded in a majority of his reviews, but I was glad to see a few 5 stars. Instead of reviewing only the fragrance, Luca Turin often conjures up anecdotes and this imparts a great deal of knowledge tidbits to readers. Quite interesting! I also loved his writing style: direct, taking no detours, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, jaded, but taking great care in making his reviews accessible to all. I also enjoyed reading the glossary and learining about words I have seen thrown around here, but never really understood. It's a great book for newcomers to this hobby, but also a great book for those that are far on the road of perfume. I truly do recommend it for everyone and I thank the Parfumo user that mentioned it in the comments for this article.
Telekinec
