Customer Reviews

New Perfume Handbook - Second Edition

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This is a valuable tool in perfume research. Most men's and women's scents, as well as their fragrance houses, are listed here in a no nonsense format. I find 98% of what I need here-fragrance notes of individual perfumes, history of the perfume houses, years of introduction of scents,etc. However, the book is in Black & White, with few photographs. It addresses the making and composition of perfume; with no emphasis whatsoever on collecting. There is little science of perfume and no real chemistry. There is an interesting bonus chapter on recipes for ancient perfumes. The price is a bit high for a small reference book that is a few years old.

Contains very good information on recent perfume releases but lacks detail on vintage manufacturers. Due to the emphasis on the ingredients of perfumes and the bottle designers, there is a shortage of information on the older and rarer manufacturers which perfume bottle collectors need.

The book itself is great. The price is insane. As I write this in 2011 the information is 14 years out of date. It was published back in 1997. I bought this book new from a competitor back in 1999 for $65 which was absurd then, but at least the info was up to date. Now it is ancient history. And a Kindle version for $114? This is just crazy. Any Kindle version of a book is not a rare book. It does not warrant such a ridiculous price.
My original review was written in 2000, which is why the date for the review is 2000. This is an update