Perfumes: The Guide by Luca Turin, Tania Sanchez
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Book Reviews of Perfumes: The Guide
Book Review: Indispensable Purfume Buying Guide
Summary: 5 Stars
Every perfume-lover should own this book. Not only an excellent reference book on perfume and perfume-making, but the star-ratings and witty reviews on each perfume (without fear or favour) make this an essential buying guide. Entertaining as well as informative.Book Review: Fun, Funny - and Useful.... Check out the new edition!
Summary: 4 Stars
My father, who wore Old Spice when I was a kid but doesn't own a single bottle of perfume, sat down and read through this for a full hour, just picking out the 1-star reviews for amusement... It's also fun to see what two 'professional' perfume critics think of YOUR favorites! You'll find top sellers with bad ratings (e.g. Bright Crystal -1 star) and outstanding ratings (e.g., Cool Water - 5-stars). There's a surprise on every page. If you have a teenager interested in perfume or science, a book like this could be a nice gift - it gives some real-world context to chemistry.
I read "The Emperor of Scent", and it started my own perfume obsession. After reading "The Secret of Scent", and several perfume-themed blogs, I wanted to start a perfume collection. Of all the guides, when I saw Luca Turin co-authored this one, I chose it because I knew it would be informative. What I didn't expect is how laugh-out-loud funny many reviews would be! The authors smell each perfume (mens and womens fragrances are both technically perfumes) on a paper strip, and also on skin - several times - to provide a very thorough evaluation. The best thing about this book is that it gives just enough history and background to interest even the most casual reader, that will also help you figure out what you like about the perfumes you wear and help you find more to try. And I love that you find Old Spice, Vanilla Fields, Stetson, and other "dime-store" fragrances as well as historic 'greats' and 'artisan' scents... nothing is ignored.
[NOTE: There is a new edition in paperback. If you're new to perfume, or just curious, buy this. If you like it, please seek out the new edition - with another 400 perfumes, and a new format and indices, it makes the jump to 5-stars. There is also a website, where a dedicated reader created a spreadsheet and indexed all the perfumes and ratings.]
Book Review: Well written and handy guide to perfume
Summary: 4 Stars
The Guide is a likable introduction to perfume. The chapters on the basics (genres, difference male/female, bit of chemistry, etc) are informative and to the point. Most of the reviews are pretty fair, well written and, not unimportant, at times very funny. The top-10's aren't without controversy and probably should not be followed/purchased blindly. The only problem I found was that some popular, albeit older male perfumes (for instance Quorum, indeed all of Puig is absent, Drakkar Noir, Lagerfeld or YSL pour Homme) are not graded although they still are in production. Well, you obviously can't review them all. Recommended reading if you want to have an overview of the field before you walk into a store for your next fragrance.
Book Review: A review of: Perfumes The Guide
Summary: 3 Stars
The first part is a 49 page commentary about fine fragrances. The authors discuss the peculiarities involved in writing about a subject as evanescent as fragrance. Then they comment on the feminine and masculine properties of fragrances.
The second part of the book is over 300 pages, and the authors review nearly 1500 different fragrances. The authors assume that the reader already has a lot of experience with fine fragrances. I don't yet know a lot about fine fragrances. I bought this book to learn more about perfumes, and this book was not very helpful. If I just wanted fragrance reviews, I could have just read online blogs. I have since found other books much more helpful in learning about fragrances, particularly The Scent Trail by Celia Lyttelton.
Book Review: A Guide? Think again!
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this book originally thinking that it would be more like a reference for perfumes/colognes. However, it's more like a book about known perfumes/cologne that the authors rate and critique. In my opinion when you title a book "Perfumes: The Guide" you expect it to be a guide - a reference for all the perfumery sales personnel who work at the stores, boutiques, etc, and to the perfumes lovers/collectors. I was hoping that it would be more like "if you like perfume A, you would also enjoy perfume B". This guide doesn't mention top, middle, base notes of the perfumes mentioned nor does it have pictures - so you don't even know what you are looking at. Some of the reviews by the authors I agree with, but the majority of the reviews I don't agree with. In general, I feel like this is a terrible "guide" because it is very biased and completely based off the authors' experiences with the products.
Next time a guide on perfumes/cologne is made I wish that these things are covered, especially the ingredient notes of the cologne and also pictures. Also, I don't feel like a "review" of a cologne/perfume is based on one's personal critique - not everyone noses and personalities are alike.