Perfumes: The A-Z Guide

This is an enjoyable book to flick through and you may well discover some new perfumes along the way to slap on a 'to try' list, but a comprehensive guide it is not. I understand that perfume is largely subjective, but consider the Terre d'Hermes review, headlined "Fresh Bergamot" with a following review stating that it's full of "pineapple and gardenia" and "no terre in sight". Now, if you've smelt TdH, you'll know just how painfully wrong that review is, I mean, on an objective level, that review is just wrong. It has no bergamot (the only fruit is a *very* obvious orange, it's famous for it, and it is positively full of 'terre', of which again, it's famous for...). I can only think it was an overlooked mistake, but then, this is the second edition and TdH is one fragrance you might think they'd want to 'get right' given its popularity and status.Anyway, I don't want to detract from the book too much because it's great fun to read, addictive and especially in short little bursts, it's wonderful to just pick up, have a flick, read a few reviews and move on with something else, but as I say, you can't consider this as a guide in any meaningful sense. Showing it's age a little now, but full of more classics than you can shake a stick at. I haven't bought the 2018 guide yet but I'll pick it up at some point as they're excellent books, you just have to take them for what they are and don't give them too much weight. Follow your own tastes and take the reviews with a grain of salt, or a skip-full.

Luca Turin is so mean, I love it, I enjoy his scathing reviews even when they're about perfumes I love, they're just so amusing. Tania Sanchez tends to elaborate a bit more on her 1 star ratings, but her reviews can be as equally cutting as her co-author and husband. If you're a bit precious about your faves, this book might hurt your feelings a bit, but you may also be surprised (as I am) to find yourself agreeing with many of the authors' opinions and quite happy to realise how much you already know about perfume. There are a lot of perfumes packed into this edition, the chances are you'll have heard of and possibly own quite a few of them and you'll definitely learn some history/facts about your favourites and the world of scent in general.

This book is glorious. I have learnt so much from it and now have a collection of amazing perfumes I may otherwise never have heard of. Apart from being extremely informative it is also hilarious (check out the review of Stetson for example). I have bought this book for nieces along with a bag of classic samples so they could learn themselves from the masters. I am also educating my sons with it and after initial reluctance, just to shut me up, they started to dip into the book and are so interested now and developing their own individual taste. Although it must have been an enormous undertaking, I would love them to produce a follow up book as there are so many new fragrances and producers I would enjoy hearing their reviews. There is no one who wouldn't enjoy this book. Its my own bible and always comes with me when I am fragrance hunting.Buy this and pray he writes a new one.

Hehe I'm laughing my way through this book. It's funny in more ways than one - many of the reviews are really spot on with great stories and associations in a very bitchy way. Love that. And some of the reviews are just so self important that I can't help but laugh. Sometimes my taste collides with the authors but often that is not the case. This book is great if you read it as two people's opinions on perfumes and I've found more than a few perfumes that I've never heard of and are now dying to try out. No question that the authors know their smells but don't use this as a guide. Go out and follow your own nose.

Absolutely deserves all the plaudits lauded on it. Informative, biting and utterly hilarious in places. Who knew the world of fragrances could be so interesting? Has sparked a lifelong love affair with perfumes much to my husbands dismay! Buy this book for your wife and you will earn lifelong brownie points.