Perfumes: The Guide by Luca Turin, Tania Sanchez
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Book Reviews of Perfumes: The Guide
Book Review: The Perfume Police
Summary: 5 Stars
Turin and Sanchez bring to my mind the Fashion Police. Any version of the Fashion Police. Yes, they review and critique. They praise and admire and gush, and every once in a while, the claws come out and they're as catty as Joan Rivers. Funny, too.
No house is sacred (except Guerlain) in this book. Each perfume reviewed has a two-word caption providing a short description. For example, L'Heure Bleue's caption is "dessert air," which is apt because it's sweet and light. Reviews of various lengths and seriousness follow. Some are raves, some are descriptive, some are rants.
But the real reason to read this book, and you SHOULD read this book, is for its entertainment value. Sure, you'll learn some things along the way, and sometimes you'll disagree. I regret to inform M. Turin he is entirely wrong about Jicky. It is not a timeless classic. I bought a sample. My deperate attempts to like it failed, and for good reason: Jicky is icky.
Read this book because parts of it are hysterically funny. And if you see a fragrance on sale, well, maybe the reviews can help you decide whether to try the fragrance. Just don't take the book too seriously, because I guarantee you'll find a perfume you love dismissed as soapy!
Book Review: Perfumes the Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez
Summary: 5 Stars
The descriptions of perfumes in this book are AMAZING. I actually started highlighting and post-it marking different scents and have been on a mission to track them down and smell!!! There are several brief chapters in the beginning about the science of smell, the types of fragrances and the history of perfumes. And then! wonderful descriptions of perfume, some quite amusing. Jicky, Cuir de Russie, Apres l'Ondee, Lolita Lempicka, Mitsouko...names I've read over the years, but magazine reviews and scent flaps really are pitifully inadequate after reading this book. This book is probably not for the person who is content to wear the latest Britney Spears scent but for someone who is a lot more adventurous. I would recommend also "The Emperor of Scent - A True Story of Perfume and Obsession" about scientist Luca Turin and "The Perfect Scent - A Year Inside the Perfume Industry" a great story about how a perfume is actually created, both by Chandler Burr (no, I do not know him). It would have been a very nice touch to see photos/illustrations of
the perfume bottles, but still, a great book. Enjoy!
Book Review: Fantastic read
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading an outstanding review in the New Yorker for this book, I went out and bought it, and have loved it. As that review says, it is a model for anyone who is interested in aesthetics, particularly talking about food and wine. It is a fantastic combination of art (whimsical, evocative, and funny descriptions) and science (describing the chemical families and compounds that make up perfumes). The authors provide a five star rating system for lots of perfumes, which makes for amusing reading (a friend who had just spent $100 on a perfume was shocked to hear it called "reminiscent of ham"), and has interested me in seeking out some of the five-star perfumes. This book also makes a great gift.Book Review: Absolutely the best perfume guide
Summary: 5 Stars
This is, in my opinion, the absolutely best perfume guide. Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez review perfumes in a manner unlike any other. Their descriptions make use of all the senses to describe what is would otherwide be solely a very personal olfactory experience. They confirm what I have always suspected: that some very popular perfumes are overrated and that the "nose" should be educated much as the palate for tasting fine wines. Makes for quite enjoyable reading.Book Review: A gift for perfume lovers
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are a perfume lover, always on the lookout for new or old and forgotten scents; if you feel a special kinship to particular categories of scent; if you want to know more about what makes particular perfumes what they are - then this is the book for you. The writing is vivid, almost graphic. It will make you spend money, but you'll enjoy the discoveries!