NEWS

The Last Duftnote; summer scents, etc

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 15:31:18 -0400

After seven uninterrupted years of writing monthly about smelly subjects for NZZ Folio’s Duftnote column, Luca Turin has decided to move on. NZZ Folio retains him, however, for a new column on no particular subject, starting in August. His final Duftnote looks not back but forward, to techno-utopian perfume in 2030.
“Duftnoten — Die letzte” (Deutsch)
“Notes from the nose — The Last Duftnote” (English)

Luca Turin was an invited speaker at the Quantum Effects in Biological Systems (QuEBS 2010) conference at Harvard University on June 17.
A French version of the guide is being prepared by City Editions with a planned Christmas release.
LT’s evening lecture, plus LT and TS’s presentation with Patricia de Nicolaï of the Osmothèque at the French Embassy, presented by Smithsonian Resident Associates, have been rescheduled for October 1-2 and will be advertised in the Resident Associates August magazine.
“Essence of Summer,” Tania Sanchez’s article on smells of summer for the July issue of Psychologies (UK) is on newsstands. During editing, the whine of mosquitoes turned into the buzz of bumblebees, perfumes went missing (Vanilia, Azzaro Couture) and the descriptions of Ma Dame and Pamplelune were reversed. A nonexistent eau de parfum of Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia is mentioned; the parfum was meant. Regrets: I failed to mention Diorella, Osmanthe Yunnan, Calyx, Missoni, White Linen, and the requisite big spray bottle of 4711 that in summer is less perfume and more first aid. Print only.

Lectures postponed, more press, best-of lists

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:45:37 -0400

Due to a massive winter storm, we were forced unfortunately to postpone our scheduled February lectures with Patricia de Nicolaï at the Embassy of France. We will post the rescheduled dates as soon as we can.
And here’s a selection of press that has appeared since last post:
Guide named by Kevin Jackson as one of the three or four reference books of the last few decades that can be called works of art. BBC Radio 4’s “Open Book,” January 10, 2010

“Authors choose their favourite books of the decade” by Alison Flood, Guardian, March 2, 2010

I wasn’t prepared to be dazzled quite as much as I have been by this most evocative and entertaining book. I’ve found myself uncontrollably laughing out loud or squirming with delight on every page at the authors’ tart and acidic criticisms or their rapturous praise.
“Smells and belles lettres” by Stephen Hough, Telegraph Blogs, January 17, 2010
“A Rose by Another Name” by Corby Kummer, MIT Technology Review, March/April 2010 (behind a pay wall)
“Guide helps you build a ‘perfume wardrobe’” by Adrienne Johnson Martin, Raleigh News Observer, March 1, 2010 (TS note: This transcript seems quite inaccurate—I liked the old Avon fragrances, and I never bought Samsara, etc.)
You don't have to wear scent - or, if you're still splashing on the Old Spice and think you smell OK, you don't have to know anything about it - in order to enjoy this book. Nor do you have to know about Carlos Kleiber, but it helps.
“It rang out in great, clear peals like church bells” by Michael Shmith, The Age, January 27, 2010
You'll spend much more than three minutes with this book. It's so engaging you might want to bring it out at your next dinner party.
“Fragrances source of endless fascination” by Anastasia Hendrix, SF Gate/San Francisco Chronicle, January 10, 2010

In Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, which reviews perfumes as if they were works of art (which they are), Luca Turin compares No. 5 to a Brancusi sculpture
“Why Are You So Fat” by Bee Wilson, London Review of Books, January 7, 2010

“Confessions of a Perfume Slut” by Lisa Kupferberg Carter, The Huffington Post, January 11, 2010

"It's a little bit like painting," Turin says. "Everyone mentions Picasso because that's the only artist they've heard of." But the greats, like No. 5, live on because they are "technically fantastic," "abstract and well-constructed," he says.
“Message in a Bottle” by Suzanne S. Brown, Denver Post, December 21, 2009

And here are LT’s most recent columns for NZZ Folio (in English):

Opium - March 2010
Schiff bases - February 2010
Tiare - January 2010

More press, thoughts on photos

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:57:47 -0500

More recent press for the paperback:
I’m not going to lie to you. I was out earlier. I was in the pub. I had this book with me. They asked me what I was talking about. I told them it was this book. There was a loud groan from the entire table. I chose two separate segments [to read aloud]. I had the audience in the palm of my hand, because it’s exceptionally funny and well written. It is a really, really bizarre example of a book that shouldn’t work but works incredibly well. Book expert Alex Heminsley recommending Perfumes “for the glamourpuss in your life” on Claudia Winkleman, BBC Radio 2, Dec. 11, 2009 (segment begins at 1:37)
*Heminsley also recommended Perfumes on Angela and Friends on Sky TV (UK)
Perhaps the best book on the subject: “Perfumes: The A-Z Guide.” ... A work of love and serious, if accessible, scholarship. “Perfume-mania: Buying right fragrance can be a battle of the senses,” Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 15, 2009.
It’s scent-sational!  (Under “Best for...Lovely Ladies) “The Ultimate Christmas Book Guide,” Rochelle Warner, Fabulous (News of the World magazine), Dec. 6, 2009
Paperback of the Week, “Making scents of perfume,” Scottish Herald, Nov. 21, 2009 (print only)

Our apologies to the people of Ireland whose eyes fell upon this travesty on November 29, 2009, accompanied by the article “Heaven Scent.” Please have pity for the poor photographer from Newscast working for the Sunday Business Post (Ireland) who snapped a photo of LT and TS according to instructions from an overworked and under-imaginative picture editor to include large beakers full of colored liquids, which apparently is the only acceptable pictorial representation of science.
Speaking of photographs, having finally got around to doing something about them—the hasty self-snapped shot on the book-jacket threatening to become canonical—we’d like to heartily recommend the services of the exceptionally clever and charming Kate McElwee in Boston. It says something about her knack for knowing when and where to press the button that we embraced her shots unretouched, creases and all.
Note: tickets are still available to “The Art of Fragrance,” LT’s Friday night lecture for the Smithsonian Resident Associates program, at the French embassy in DC. Tickets to the Saturday three-hour presentation by LT, TS, and Patricia de Nicolaï of the Osmothèque are extremely limited (and perhaps gone).

Some recent press for Perfumes, LT and TS

Sat, 5 Dec 2009 15:19:39 -0500

Luca Turin’s column in Swiss magazine NZZ Folio this month is on the connection between cocktails and perfume: “Cocktails” — English “Düfte trinken” — German

LT profiled in December 2009 issue of German magazine Myself:
Gab es einen Vermeer der Duftwelt?
Das war François Coty! Ein Genie. Er hat zwischen 1904 und 1933 fundamentale Kompositionen erfunden, die noch heute verwendet werden.

(Was there a Vermeer of the fragrance world?
That was François Coty! A genius. From 1904 to 1933 he invented fundamental compositions that are still used today.)
“Lavendel, Amber—und Schinken,” Myself (www.myself.de)

LT and the guide mentioned in ELLE:
“The Scent Detective: How to Sniff Out Fragrances,” Maggie Bullock, ELLE (US), Dec. 1, 2009

LT quoted in the Nov. 29 Los Angeles Times magazine special fragrance issue:
“If you’re talking fine fragrance, if you don’t put cash into the composition, you won’t get anything wonderful.” —LT Susan Carpenter, “Golden Age of Perfume?” “Somebody who arrived from another planet might think that something great for grandmothers might also work for them.” —LT Susan Carpenter, “The Right Perfume for Your Age”
Three fragrance picks for women and three for men from TS in the Financial Times (TS note: contrary to the article, these are not necessarily her “favourite perfumes of the past 10 years”): “How to Pick the Perfect Perfume,” Rebecca Johnson, Financial Times, Nov. 21, 2009
Claire Armitstead, literary editor of the Guardian, asks her family to give her the guide for Christmas in this podcast: Guardian Books podcast, Nov. 27, 2009

Recent press for the paperback:
“A staggeringly complete compilation of perfume reviews ... ridiculously entertaining.” Hephzibah Anderson, The Daily Mail, Nov. 20, 2009
“This collection of reviews of almost every perfume made today could have been a tedious consumer guide, but it is transformed into something genuinely wonderful by the encyclopedic knowledge and pithy views of its two authors ... in each there is something worth reading, if only to marvel at their linguistic range.” Pick of the Paperbacks, The Daily Telegraph (UK), Nov. 17, 2009
“It brilliantly combines technical knowledge ... with evocative, poetic and often laugh-out-loud-funny prose.... I can’t recommend it enough.” Perfumes: The Ultimate Guide, Elle UK Beauty Notes Daily, Oct. 22, 2009

“The writing is the olfactory equivalent of mouthwatering.” Hermione Hoby, The Observer (UK), Nov. 15, 2009

“These authors seduce you, with superb prose, into believing that fine discriminations matter, even in areas you may not previously have cared about.” Sebastian Smee, “Books of the Year,” Spectator (UK), Nov. 12, 2009 
“As scintillating as it is comprehensive” Christopher Hirst, The Independent (UK), Oct. 30, 2009

“A Christmas must-have.” Handbag.com, Nov. 24, 2009

“From riotous one-liners to elaborate reviews ... an authoritative guide to the best and worst scents.”
“Paperback Picks of the Week,” Charlotte Vowden, The Daily Express (UK), Oct. 30, 2009

“A description of every perfume known to man, which sounds peculiar, but is mesmeric.” William Leith, “The best books of the year,” The Evening Standard, Nov. 19. 2009
“Instant classic ... definitive, no-holds-barred handbook ... Perfume writing has certainly never been this honest, compelling or downright entertaining.” Cosmetic News, Oct. 19, 2009
“A wise investment ... an addictive read.” “Heaven Scent,” Gillian Nelis, Sunday Business Post (Ireland), Nov. 29, 2009

Spot something we missed? Please let us know at mail@perfumestheguide.com.

Two lectures with LT and TS at the Smithsonian

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:05:12 -0500

In collaboration with the Smithsonian Resident Associates, the Embassy of France, and the Osmothèque, Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez will be presenting two lectures on the art and history of perfume and LT’s own adventures in the science of smell.
Friday, February 5, 2010, at 6:45 p.m. The Art of Fragrance will be a lecture by LT on the art, history and science of smell, with insider (and outsider) anecdotes about his years of experience with the fragrance industry, plus the latest experimental developments in his vibrational theory of how we smell, recently covered by Nature, Physical Review Letters, and the BBC. Copies of Perfumes: The A to Z Guide will be available for signing and the lecture will be followed by a glass of bubbly and perfume samples provided by Bloomingdale’s. Tickets are $25 for members, $40 general admission, and $23 for senior members. Click here to go the Smithsonian Resident Associates website.
Saturday, February 6, 2010, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Perfume: An Exquisite Exploration will be a cultural and practical primer on fragrance for the truly passionate perfume lover. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience long-lost fragrance masterpieces in formulations true to the perfumer’s original intent. Patricia de Nicolaï of the Osmothèque, France’s official perfume museum in Versailles, will bring samples from their vault to accompany the presentation by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. The audience will have the chance to smell the great inventive progenitors of beloved and familiar abstract fragrance types that we take for granted today—fougère, chypre, oriental, floral, floral oriental, and more. Space is very limited. Reservations required. Price of ticket includes a copy of Perfumes: The A to Z Guide and a special gift from Bloomingdale’s. Tickets are $125 for members, $160 general admission. Click here to go to the Smithsonian Resident Associates website.

Unedited, unreformed

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:49:59 -0500

The Nov. 22, 2009, issue of Style magazine, the fashion and style supplement of the Sunday Times of London, contains two articles of reviews by LT, one on new feminines and one on new masculines. Because the reviews have been considerably cropped and edited from their original length and content, as submitted in September, we are providing the original batch of reviews as a free downloadable PDF (279 KB).

This brief supplement contains critical reviews by LT of the following perfumes:

Alberta Ferretti (Alberta Ferretti); Ambre Nuit (Dior); Brioni (Brioni); Chloé eau de parfum Intense (Coty); CK Free (Calvin Klein); Cologne Noire (Van Cleef & Arpels); D&G: 1 Le Bateleur (Dolce & Gabbana); Dover Street Market (Comme des Garçons); Eau d’Ambre (Prada); Eau Mega (Viktor & Rolf); F by Ferragamo Black (Salvatore Ferragamo); F for Fascinating Night (Salvatore Ferragamo); Flower Essentielle (Kenzo); Grey Vetiver (Tom Ford); Idole (Giorgio Armani); Idylle (Guerlain); Jil (Jil Sander); Kenzopower Cologne (Kenzo); Lola (Marc Jacobs); Parisienne (Yves Saint Laurent); Patchouli Nobile (Nobile 1942); Ricci Ricci (Nina Ricci); Rose the One (Dolce & Gabbana); Scarlett (Cacharel); A Scent by Issey Miyake (Issey Miyake); She Wood Velvet Forest Wood (Dsquared); Standard (Artek)