Customer Reviews
A splendid book - By: Joan Cecil, 31 Oct 2008 
This book is hugely readable. I bought it really out of curiosity - could anyone really write about perfume, surely you would need to sample them to appreciate their qualities? Not so. This is written so well, you can really get a feel for the product, the descriptions of the perfumes that I do know are so accurate, & actually make me appreciate all the complexitiesin them. Very witty, with some laugh-out-loud moments, I read thisin two sittings & turned back immediately to start again. This is the next best thing to having a perfumeryin your living room , without the hovering assistants. I read this on holidayin France, & on the ferry home took it into the onboard shop, reading, spraying & sniffing to the puzzlement of some passengers. I tried perfumes that I would have normally ignored, recognized the levels & descriptions from the bookin each of them. A beautiful book, one you could read again & again. I do highly recommend this, it would make a great present for your best friends, male & female.
Refreshing honesty and splendid wit - By: Colin Roth, 27 Sep 2008 Quite apart from its sheer range & depthin tackling its subject, this book is really entertaining. It blows a welcome blast of fresh air through the fragrance business, exposing some of its frailties ('We *never* change our fragrance formulas' is the lie you hear most often) & gambollingin the glittering light of enthusiasm when reviewing favoured scents. The fragrance reviews are splendidly opinionated, but it's always clear that what's being praised is quality, coherence, balance, rather than 'niceness', so you're still free to exercise your own preference when you're shopping. I'm particularly impressed by the authors' recognition of the part appearance & presentation playin our enjoyment of fragrance, so they tell you when the packaging is the best thing about a scent, & when the opposite is true, too. They're also very good at pointing out that where fragrance is concerned, you very rarely 'get what you pay for', because some of the cheapest products on sale are very good, & some of the most expensive are not. Even if you fall into the least favoured category of person - someone who wears fragrance because they're frightened of smelling of themselves, rather than because they actually like what they're wearing - you'll find constructive suggestions here, with splendidly direct warnings about pitfalls you might want to avoid. A splendid read, & a reliable guide - which will need updating with new editions every few years!
A trip down memory lane.. - By: J. A. I. Poole, 18 Sep 2008 I spent last night poring over this book with my friends, male & female, looking up the various scents we have proudly worn then laughing & reminiscing while reading out the dead-on reviews. E.g. Poison 'The fragrance that everybody loves to hate...a must for every collector but please don't wear it to dinner'! It's warm, witty & wise - unlike anything else I have read on the subject.
A must have for handbags and manbags alike! - By: Becky Sharp, 09 Sep 2008 A danger to credit cards everywhere! This book is so evocative - descriptions of the good perfumes make you want to rush out & buy them without even smelling them first & reviews of the bad ones are screamingly funny. It's absolutely beautiful & a perfect present - also a brilliant way to drop a hint to your boyfriend, either because you want one of the scents or if you don't like his.
