Back to Perfume...

...because I can't stay away.

I co-wrote with Tania Sanchez two perfume guides published in 2008 and 2018. After writing the second guide, we both felt that the general tone and quality of perfumery had changed. The big brands, with some exceptions, were steadily producing too many unremarkable fragrances. The niche brands, on which rested so much early hope for a renewal of perfumery, turned out to be just as conformist as the big ones. The artisans, aside from some natural-born geniuses, suffered from a lack of access to raw materials and proper tuition.

At that point, Tania and I both felt like giving up. The prospect of smelling and writing about endless fruity-floral or “oud” flankers, skimpy niche things in stock bottles with artsy Futura Light names, or frequently murky amateur stuff was too depressing to contemplate. In the meantime, the relentless reformulation and destruction of perfumery heritage continued.

In May ‘23, I tweeted, “Dear friends and followers, I will not think or write about perfume in the foreseeable future. I have lost interest in it, get little pleasure from smelling new creations, and am finally ready to close a 40-year chapter of my life. Onwards and upwards!” I was hoping to draw a line under perfume and think of other things. But I couldn’t, and nine months later I wrote another tweet: “When I go into a department store, I usually cannot help myself, and I smell the perfumes. This, more often than not, makes me so mad at the swill being served up for outrageous money that I feel like picking up on my perfume writing just to warn everyone.”

I hadn’t expected to see more than 100 or so views on this tweet, but it received 11,000. This told me that (a) at least some people agreed with me, and (b) maybe I should stop moaning and just get on with it. I have therefore decided to get back into perfume writing with three goals in mind. First, to highlight the small but nonzero percentage of actual good stuff out there. Second, to call out some of the most egregious abuses committed by modern fragrance brands. You can go into a department store, drop $250, and come out with a sad little thing that should never cost more than $25. That makes me mad, and I will write about it. Third, to remind myself and others of the great perfumes of the past.

I expect to post weekly reviews, short essays, podcast interviews with people I admire, and the occasional video.

My posts will typically consist of two parts:

(1) Articles about a particular perfumery firm whose work, either historical or current, interests me. These I plan to make free to read.

(2) Paid subscribers will be able to read individual perfume reviews, usually recent releases.

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