The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York [Paperback]

Chandler Burr (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 6, 2009

The Perfect Scent is the thrilling inside story of the global perfume industry, told through two creators working on two very different scents. The first is commissioned by the French luxury brand Hermés, and developed by a perfumer named Jean-Claude Ellena, who begins his search for the scent on the banks of the Nile. The second is a celebrity fragrance, developed in New York by movie star Sarah Jessica Parker and a team of perfumers from a global conglomerate. Chalder Burr, the New York Times's perfume critic, spent a year behind the scenes watching both creators at work. His thrilling narrative follows each scent from the initial concept to the worldwide launch. The Perfect Scent is the story of two daring creators, two very different scents, and a billion-dollar industry that runs on the invisible magic of perfume.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. New York Times perfume critic Burr (The Emperor of Scent) follows the creation of two new scents—Un Jardin sur le Nil by French luxury house Hermès, and Lovely, a celebrity fragrance by Sarah Jessica Parker—in a kind of travelogue through the international perfume industry, one of the most insular, glamorous, strange, paranoid, idiosyncratic, irrational, and lucrative of worlds. The former perfume was conceived by Hermès, informed by a trip to Egypt, then crafted by Jean-Claude Ellena, who represents a breed of ghosts known in the biz as perfumers. For the latter, Parker worked as artistic director of a corporate scent-making team. Burr illuminates perfumery's clash of cultures and values—French artistic purity versus American commercialism. Worldwide, this highly secretive industry's PR machine propagates several anachronistic myths. For example, it insists that perfume ingredients are naturally derived (the overwhelming majority are not, because of concerns about quality control, ecological impact and allergies, among others) and that the big names on the bottles are personally involved in creating scents (perfumers alone typically do this; Parker was a rare exception). Burr makes a strong case that this mythmaking works to the industry's detriment, and that inviting the public behind the scenes might help to reverse the industry's declining sales. Burr's is a thorough and often hilarious account of perfumery's colorful characters, the science and art of fragrance creation and the human experience of scent itself. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Filled with fascinating revelations about an industry built on illusions . . . entices you to marvel all the more at the power of fragrance."--The Dallas Morning News

"The Perfect Scent has drama, unforgettable characters, history, and location."--Los Angeles Times

"An inside, Hollywoodesque account."--The New York Times Book Review

"Burr winds his way deep into the secretive, dark, high-stakes world of perfumery, where following the scent can be hazardous to your career. . . . He smells the story in each bottle."--Associated Press

"Passionate and captivating."--The Toronto Star

"An appealing writer and an acute observer, [who] tells his two stories well."--The Wall Street Journal

"Filled with fascinating revelations about an industry built on illusions."--The Kansas City Star

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1 Reprint edition (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312425775
• ISBN-13: 978-0312425777
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars As Addictive as a Great Perfume February 23, 2008

By Bec

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

First I read "Emperor of Scent", but this is totally different from 'Burr's prior work on the world of fragrance. This one is an easy quick read (I finished it in a single day), but also addictive - you bounce back and forth from Paris and Jean-Claude Ellena's story of Hermes' "Jardin sur le Nil" and New York, where Burr see first-hand how Coty works with Sarah Jessica Parker to create "Lovely". Francophiles will delight in the liberal use of French phrasing and direct quotes (always translated), which gives a wonderful sense of place to the Paris/Grasse side of the story. The New York story is a mini biography of SJP herself - who turns out to be an incredibly likeable and compelling woman with a great sense of self.

I was also intrigued at the idea that fragrances were all unisex until the early 20th century - prior to then, men and women wore what they liked, rather than what was 'marketed' to them. And finally, finally! I understand why the majority of American fragrances smell the same to me - because they ARE the same (common ingredients in standard proportions)... and also why French perfumes are so vastly different.... and most interestingly, perhaps, is a wonderful and insightful discussion of "naturals" vs. "synthetics" in fragrance, which has forever altered my perspective on what is a 'quality' ingredient.

The only reason I gave the book for stars instead of five is honestly because the very end of the book felt rushed - felt incomplete. Given that it started life as an article in the New Yorker, I'm not surprised... articles and books have different requirements for endings.... But I was very sorry to see the creative process that brought Parker's latest fragrance, Covet, to market in 2007 given only a paragraph in the end (though the origins are clearly visible throughout the early creative process and then meetings where IFF is trying to discern Parker's scent preferences. It would have been a nice coda to the original story, or perhaps to weave the Covet story throughout.

I bought the book on the strength of Burr's earlier work, and those who used it (as I did) as a virtual shopping list of fragrances to try will find this book an even better resource. And for the record, Jardin sur le Nil is one of my favorite fragrances, along with Jardin Mediterran and the newly-released Kelly Caleche. I am not a big fan of Lovely - but Parker's personal favorite scents are some of my own, and I also wear Covet on a regular basis... and now I will look forward to her next release, which I hope will have that 'dirty' feel she's been wanting to put out there from the beginning... Read more ›

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Mysteries unraveled February 14, 2008

By Vermeer fan VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are intimidated by whippet-thin, well coiffed, stylish clerks at the cosmetics counters or simply wish to learn more about an industry that sells dreams, Mr. Burr peels back some of the layers of marketing and spin put out by the perfume industry. Over the course of about a year, he follows the NY-based production of a contemporary fragrance issued under Sarah Jessica Parker's name and the Paris-based building of a "scent image" for the ultra protective Hermes house. He discusses the pros and cons of natural vs. synthetic ingredients, schools you in how fragrances are designed and described and sheds light into the reclusive, spotlight-shunning world of the trained perfumers who build the fragrances that fuel the industry. A bit of gossip, some dish on his disdain for any of the Hugo Boss products, a reveal on that final marketing push to capture the eye and nose of the media and public. A quick read, funny and a good introduction that makes you want to run the gauntlet of fragrance-spitzing women at the local Nordstroms, Sephora or Macy's to see what he speaks of.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Makes you wish for a scratch and sniff edition! February 14, 2008

By Elaine Walsh

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I came to this as a fan of Chandler Burr's fragrance reviews already, some of which I've clipped out not because I wanted to try the fragrance, but because the language is both so gorgeous and precise at the same time. So I came to this book with a great deal of anticipation and was not disappointed. It reads like a novel, with great characters and plot, and the world of perfume making is so exotic and unlike anything I can ever imagine that there is something intriguing and interesting on every page. Fun to read, full of great facts (okay, you can use them to impress your friends, I'll admit that) and if you love perfume...or just stories of those who are passionate about what they do...it's a terrific read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a perfect book, but a good read June 8, 2009

By Andrea Dickson

Format:Paperback

I'm of two minds with Chandler Burr. He seems to have unprecedented access to perfume industry insiders, and the kind of personality, perseverance, and patience that it takes to deal with difficult types that seem to permeate the entire field. He can get information out of scientists in chem labs, celebrities, artists, and high-powered executives, so he must be adept at asking the right questions and tolerating ridiculous egos.

He fills this book with so many interesting tidbits about perfume and scent that I have frequently quoted from it when trying to make a point about fragrance to a friend or colleague. I love the bits of science that are injected into this book, the overviews of molecules and their uses in many industries. The information is so fun (and for me, mind-boggling), that I have read the book several times.

That said, his writing style drives me just about batty. I get so tired of his sentences structure, his fragments that are meant to drive home a point, that I have to stop reading every few pages and put the book down. As other reviewers have noted, he is slightly obsessed with describing exactly how each and every individual is dressed (always to the nines, no matter what); on one hand, this can get a bit grating, but on the other, it does help the reader visualize and mentally sort all of the players in these stories. If you speak French, you may be thrilled with the French sentences that are inserted every other paragraph or so. If you do not speak French, you might still find these delightful, as they are helpfully translated. If you are a grumpy person like me, you might wonder if Burr isn't showing off just a wee bit.

If you are interested in fragrance, this book is a must-read.... Don't let the fact that Burr has some rather startling pronouncements about smells terrify you - he might be wrong. Read more ›