Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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...

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.

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.

I have been fascinated with perfume in general since the age of 10, and I very much enjoyed Suskind's Perfume: Story of a Murderer, so I was delighted to come across an ARC of The Perfect Scent.
The book was full of information about many sides of the perfume industry, of which the general consumer has no clue. Though I love scent, I had never given much thought to the agonizing process of creating it, naming it, packaging it, and marketing it. I more or less took it for granted that some content team of chemists in white coats mixed a drop of this and a dab of that from cool glass pipettes and voila!
The book tends to drag in the middle third as Burr gets into the scientific technicalities. My eyes glazed over when I got to the lists of ethyl this and benzone that. Somewhere, my high school chemistry teacher is laughing.
The most interesting part of the book for me was SJP's involvement in the creation of her scent, Lovely (which I am now determined to samlple). I had always suspected that the celebrities of celeb perfumes were nothing but a name and picture, and this book confirmed that suspicion. SJP is an exception, and I have a new-found respect for her.
I cringed at times, particularly at Burr's description of animalics (comparing one of them to various odiferous body parts of a man). Though he says "there's simply no other way to describe it," I think surely there must have been. My other beef with the writing style is the repetition and overuse of extremes like "exquisite" and "extraordinarily." These words lose their power when used on every other page.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, feel somewhat enlightened, and would recommend it to anyone interested in the inner workings of the fragrance industry.

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.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. It was definitely not a page-turner for me. Rather, I savored it steadily over several weeks. Still, rest assured that this will remain one of my favorite books. By the time I was done with it, I had a huge admiration for both the author and his subjects - both American and French. I attribute this to the skillful writing and crystal-clear honesty of the author. I thought it was wonderful to see discussions end with complete candor when things went "off-record", as well as full disclosure when sensitive topics and "hot" documents were discussed. I admire Burr's journalistic integrity, which is unfortunately an increasingly rare thing these days.

Before reading this book, I was, I will admit, a bit of a Francophobe, with no particular desire to ever set foot there again. Not even finished with the book, my wife and I began planning a family trip there. This is purely a product of the author's sensitive but unforced treatment of his French subjects. As noted in other reviews, he takes pains to provide complete yet flowing translations of French dialogue, which actually makes for a wonderful, engaging read. Many authors would toss out the French with an air of linguistic superiority and force the reader to sink or swim. Instead, Burr clearly wants everybody to get on board the train before it leaves, and it works. Whether it was the author or the editor or both, my hat is off to them.

The book teaches - almost unbeknownst to the reader - an enormous amount about fragrances. As a scientist, I can assure you that he does a marvelous job with the scientific aspects, and that he made even the "old hat" science interesting to me. The history, economics, marketing, and politics of fragrances - about which I know far less - was even more fascinating, and - I have no doubt - just as accurate. And the really neat thing is that he made it so damn interesting. I could almost feel the starched lab coats and smell the test strips, and I wanted to be there.

To my fellow fragranauts (or "fragra-nuts"), I offer this. Before reading this book, I knew next to nothing about the Hermès line of fragrances ("Hermès? The scarf people? You mean, they do fragrances?"). By the time I was done, I was *positive* that I would take a liking to "Terre d'Hermès". Sure enough, when I tested about a dozen newer fragrances in Sephora, I walked out with Terre d'Hermès. If you're a fragrance fetishist like me, this book will talk to you.

I have never read anything by Burr before but perhaps if I had, I would have known what I was getting into and thought twice about purchasing this book. I didn't think The Perfect Scent would be about so much about the author. For me, it was too much Burr opinion and story and that took away from the interesting and factual parts of the book. Also, almost every grown man in this book is described as "boyish" and I found that irritating. If I had purchased the paper version instead of the Kindle version there is no way I would have finished The Perfect Scent. Read through a couple of random pages at the book store before buying...

Good book with many interesting observations on perfume industry. It lacks broader perspective, though. On the other hand, Burr doesn't promise to offer one (but it would be helpful if he did). Basically, it is what you would expect from the busy reporting journalist who is trying to understand and describe how the business works, but he depends mainly on the information from other people (and doesn't have time or opportunities to make conclusions). Still, he is the first one who tried to get such information from perfumery companies.

Personal note: I found quite irritating Burr's constant admiration of Sarah Jessica Parker (YES, WE GET IT! She is not like the other celebrities).

Kindle version is ok (there are no pictures or tables).

'The Emperor of Scent' is my all-time favorite read, and Chandler delivers again with a more in depth look--not into the science of smell--but the art and business of perfume. Chandler's style may irk some, but I love the way his stories unfold. I appreciate the journalistic touches and I am amazed at the number of--and details in--quoted conversation (esp. considering many conversations were originally in French--not Chandler's native language).

Luca Turin, the genius biology scientist from Chandler's first book is nowhere in this one...except...I find that Chandler's adopted Luca's metaphoric descriptions of perfume (Luca is GENIUS in this). However, his descriptions lack the startling and fascinatingly accurate descriptions that Luca concocts with sardonic humor and adroit language.

The long narratives on the science of mixing molecules, the story behind natural and synthetic ingredients and the expensive bait and switch marketing in the perfume industry bogged the story down in the middle for me. Rather I enjoyed the interplay between the people, their thoughts and processes to bring all the magic together to a successful perfume.

I'm not a Sex and the City fan, nor do I care about what Sarah Jessica Parker is doing, but I loved the chapters in NY and Chandler's fly on the wall (and one-on-one) interactions with Sarah Jessica through this long and meeting-filled process. Chandler gets us into the life and mind of Hermes' in-house perfumer, Jean-Claude in a way that felt genuine and real.

Chandler is a master in weaving the two story lines together, and creating tension at the end of chapters as the stories alternated, leaving me eager to move ahead in the book to see what happens.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as much as I'd hoped, and look forward to more from Chandler Burr!

I'm neither an expert nor someone who has been specifically interested in the perfume industry in the past, which is exactly what attracted me to this book in the first place - a chance to learn about an industry we all know very little about. I'm glad to say that "The Perfect Scent" did not disappoint.

Chandler Burr chronicles the development of two new perfumes: "Lovely" (Sarah Jessica Parker) by Coty, and "Jardin sur le Nil" by Hermes. Throughout the process he offers a look at the behind the scenes, the players involved, and some of the sensibilities and (many) absurdities of the fragrance industry. If not for the literary part, the insights into the operations and product development cycle of a typical fragrance, as well as the associated business models are worth their weight in gold. However, it's also not all business, the author spends a lot of time analyzing the trends, the ingredients (great discussion on "naturals" vs "synthetics"), and the creative process of creating a fragrance.

Packed with information and an enjoyable read.