Heaven Scent

My interest in perfume was absolutely zero until I heard the French-Italian biochemist Luca Turin on a radio talk show. He described perfume molecules as birds of different sizes and colors lifting up from a white sandy beach—each molecule with it’s own beauty and song. Then I heard that perfume should never be worn for other people, but should be worn only to please oneself—like a tiny breeze of happiness wafting off the desert. I got interested.

Luca’s research partner, Tania Sanchez, says that the ideal perfume decorates your day, makes you feel as if the colors of the air have changed. She also says that great perfume is a substitute for having an orchestra follow you about playing the theme song of your choice.

Then there’s the true story of the dusty bottle of perfume found in the Egyptian tomb. The scent was so perfect that the 3,000 year old scent spread around the world in a slow motion, drifting wave—providing every human on earth a moment of peace.

For most of us perfume is a world of full of confusion, ignorance, and marketing gloss. Few of us have any idea about what we should be doing or how to think about perfume. Often we wear what we were given as a gift, what smelled good to us in the store, what looked sexy in a commercial, or what the counter person pushed.

The great news is that there’s a sudden flood of information available on web sites, blogs, and a new books. And, of the 700 new perfumes being released every year, there’s not much lineal correlation between price and quality. (Realize that only about 4% of the retail cost of a bottle goes to the chemistry). This means, when you know what you’re doing, you can take advantage of it.

Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez’s new book, “Perfumes: The Guide,” opens up the world of smell even if you don’t like perfume. With impeccable credentials these writers tested 1,500 fragrances and held nothing back. Reviewers call the guide totally useful, totally irreverent, brutishly honest, tart-tongued, bitter sweet, laugh-out-loud funny, accurate, no-holds barred, and completely outrageous in its honesty.

If you’re in the mood to have your cherished perfume absolutely trashed look it up in the book’s index. But Luca and Tania are fighting for us all—inviting us to come celebrate their passion; jump in the pool naked and join in the fun.

They aren’t over-refined snobs. They care about making our days better. And apparently the corporate world is angry at their honesty. Apparently the backroom fragrance designers are delighted that someone finally has the courage to tell us what’s great, what stinks, and why. In one example, writers describe Paris Hilton’s “Heiress” perfume as a “hilariously vile... mix of cheap shampoo and canned peaches.”

Surprising Perfume Tips
Tania’s advice for the man is to wear a perfume that’s subtle, where “something’s better than nothing—a scent that George Clooney would be comfortable wearing.”

Luca advises women to keep your fragrance ‘quiet’–not loud. Do not repel the man. Don’t let fragrance get in the way of who you are. Don’t let your fragrance overwhelm the dinner, the wine, the flowers in the garden, or the bed.

They both suggest wearing perfume on the wrist where the scent only occasionally drifts up—little laughs of delight and beauty. If you wear perfume on your head or neck you can’t get away from it. It overwhelms, and you habituate into smell or even nothing.

Luca also believes that the difference between men and women’s perfume blurs if you understand and wear them properly. Even masculine men enjoy a fresh scent such as a touch of lavender – which he often wears himself. If the scent makes your day happier and brighter for a second, then wear it.

Choosing your Perfume
Great perfume must be abstract, layered and full of contradictions. You don’t get tired of it with time, can’t easily see through it, and doesn’t fall apart over time.

Enjoy the Layers of Smell:
Perfumes usually unfold in three (often very different) stages: the sparkling first few minutes are the fragrance’s top note followed by its true personality, known as the heart note, and ending with the base note, aka the ‘dry-down,’ hours later. Something you love at the counter you may loathe by the parking lot. Remember, that many companies put “all of their money” into the first 15 minutes. Take the time to do ‘top-to-bottom tests’ on both skin and on paper. Some scents that disappoint on the heat of your skin may shine on your shirtsleeve.

Take the Time for Test Strips:
Write names on paper test strips so you’re not in anguish hours later trying to recall which is the third scent from the left that transports you to Shangri-La. Keep a cheap, paperback book on hand so you can store strips between pages to keep them separate. If you’re really fussy and enjoy the search, order a selection of sprayed test strips or decants from testing services such as the Perfume Court (theperfumedcourt.com). These people help you enjoy your search.

Rest your Nose:
Noses eventually tune out smell, which is why you can smell your friends’ homes but not your own. Smell no more than five scents per day on paper strips and try on only the best one or two to keep your nose reliable.

Check the Radiance:
To get a good sense of how the perfume will smell to other people as you walk past, try spraying a test strip and leaving it in the room while you step out for a bit. Come back fifteen minutes later and breathe in – that’s the radiance.

Favorite Common Perfumes of Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez
Opium (Yves Saint Lauren) – 5 stars, “spice king” “Opium illustrates better than any other fragrance the peculiar phenomenon of love followed by rejection, known as fashion. It is unquestionably one of the greatest fragrances of all time, not only in terms of its phenomenal success, but in having deserved it. Yet I would hate it if anyone wore it near me today.” - LT

Pure Poison (Dior) – 4 stars, “woody jasmine” “With a radiance covering roughly three city blocks, Pure Poison is a no-holds-barred floral oriental, which feels, like its forerunner Ysatis, like a simple tune played on a cathedral organ. This is a massive, sweet orange-blossom-and-jasmine affair, plus candied orange peel, with a few big woody notes to let people know you mean business. It feels designed for the woman who wears a Wonderbra and no discernible blouse under her suit.” - TS

Azzaro Pour Homme (Azzaro) – 5 stars, “anisic lavender” “You can tell it was a perfume aimed at smart guys: the slogan, “ Un parfum pour les hommes qui aiment les femmes qui aiment les hommes,” is not for the slow-witted. I wore it today for the first time in twenty years, and it felt just as it always did: affable, slightly vulgar, completely unpretentious, and overall just delicious. This fragrance is so good and historically so important that I have yet to date six perfumers who claim to have composed it (Gerard Anthony is officially credited), which puts it in the same league as Giorgio and a few others for multiple attribution. Azzaro’s other fragrances have mostly been disappointments, but all is forgiven. Just keep making this one.” - LT

No. 5 (Chanel) – 5 stars, “powdery floral” “The beauty and fragrance industry has lied to women for so long, convincing us to fork over cash for crude in shiny packages, that at this point even pure quality has trouble getting taken seriously. Evidence: the persistent and silly question “Has Chanel No. 5 been a bestseller because of its fragrance or because of its marketing?” Clever marketing can get us to buy something once, but rarely again. We don’t wear Chanel No. 5 because Marilyn Monroe wore it; we wear it for the same reason that Marilyn did: because it’s gorgeous… It is an ideally proportioned wonder, all of a piece, smooth to the touch and solid as marble, with no sharp edges and no extraneous fur trimming, a monument of perfect structure and texture. And some people think perfume is not an art.” – TS

Mitsouko (Guerlain) - 5 Stars, “reference chypre” “On every occasion when I am asked to name my favorite fragrance, or the best fragrance ever, or the fragrance I would take with me if I had to move to Mars for tax reasons, I always answer Mitsouko. This elicits, broadly speaking, three types of responses: perfumers yawn, beginners write the name down, and aficionados decide I am a staid sort of chap. In truth, it is a bit like saying that your favorite painting is the Mona Lisa (not mine, by the way). Mitsouko’s history illustrates to perfection the twin forces of innovation and imitation that move perfumery forward. It was released in 1919, supposedly as the result of a love affair Jacques Guerlain had with Japan or a lady therein. But there is nothing Japanese about Mitsouko aside from the name. It is, as has been said countless times before, an improvement on François Coty’s Chypre, released to huge acclaim two years earlier. Chypre in turn was based on a three-component accord so perfect that it remains unsurpassed and fertile in new developments ninety years later: bergamot, labdanum, and oakmoss.”