...Especially since these days everyone in the multibillion-dollar, overpopulated fragrance industry (400 new scents are introduced every year, 395 of which the brilliant perfumer Frédéric Malle insists are “very mediocre”) has an eye on making the overwhelmed consumer feel, well, special — singled out by a scent that sidles up like a shy boy at the prom instead of strutting past you like the class hottie.
— Columnist Daphne Merkin, The Story of Eau, in today's New York Times. Her favorite perfume at the moment? Carnal Flower. Elsewhere in the Times, Chandler Burr calls Yves Saint Laurent M7 a "misfire" in Where There's Smoke...; and in Odor Decoder, John Lanchester reviews Luca Turin's latest book, The Secret of Scent.
And across the pond, in the UK Times, columnist Tina Gaudoin writes about the Susanne Lang line.
Lindsey Lohan is reportedly in talks to release her own perfume.
I *like* Chandler Burr, I think he's a good writer and I support what he's doing, but I don't think I've agreed with a single review of his yet for NYT. And I remember his “Five Favorite Scents” column that was running for while there: Coco Mlle., En Passant, HM for Men, Rose Barbare, Vera Wang. Then came the J.Lo he mentioned in your excellent interview with him. It's like we have completely opposite tastes. I think he's very big on “pretty” – a genre I mostly couldn't care less about.
We have liked some of the same things (Terre d'Hermes comes to mind) but I almost never agree with his ratings. Sel de Vetiver is a great scent, but not a 5 star scent. Ambra de Venezia is pretty, but not a 4 star scent.
And M7 is just brilliant.
Agreed!
Re. Lanchester's review: 'He [Luca Turin] first fell in love with perfume while working in France, via an encounter with a Japanese perfume called Nombre Noir.' Hello? Since when is Serge Lutens Japanese? Or the guy who worked with him (who died a couple of years ago and whose name escapes me this minute) for that matter.
Well, its Shiseido, so the brand is Japanese…I guess that works the same way as anything else — you'd call a Donna Karan scent American even if the nose was french.
And it was Jean Yves LeRoy, BTW…which I only know thanks to you
So true on the Montales, or on anything with lots of oudh. It clearly isn't his favorite note!
I think his style is better suited to a reader who isn't already a fragrance addict, and in fact, I think he said something to that effect himself at some point, somewhere. He rarely tells the things I want to know…what are the notes, what does it smell like…but then, what are the notes, what does it smell like isn't always entertaining or even mildly amusing.