• About
  • Login to comment
    • Bluesky
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Archives
Browsing by tag: michael edwards

The first American masterpiece

Posted by Robin on 16 November 2024 2 Comments

The first was Estée in 1968. It was Mrs. Lauder's first foray into perfume. Not Youth Dew. When Youth Dew came out in ’53, she was into skincare. That was her love, and she wanted a bath oil. That was a skin perfume. But her first real perfume that she was part of was Estée of ’68. It was also the first American perfume that made the French perfumers sit up and take notice. When you look at some of the interpretations of Estée, think of First by Van Cleef & Arpels, that kind of went there. And Roure Bertrand Dupont’s Geoffrey Webster, told me, for example, that he regarded Estée as the first American masterpiece.

— Michael Edwards, quoted in Liquid Emotion, Cultural Artifact: A Conversation with Fragrance Taxonomist Michael Edwards at BeautyMatter.

A faint note of horse piss

Posted by Robin on 11 May 2024 7 Comments

Discovering that entrepreneur Estée Lauder once rejected an entire scent because she detected a faint note of horse piss was not on my bingo card for 2024. But according to author Michael Edwards—who highlights this moment in his latest book, American Legends: The Evolution of American Fragrances—the colorful anecdote helps Lauder seem more relatable to those of us who know her exclusively as beauty royalty.

— Read more in American Legends Reveals the Backstories Behind Some of Your Favorite Scents at Harper's Bazaar. (And you can see a partial list of the fragrances covered by the book here.)

It’s an interesting question. American fragrances, when you smell them close up, they’re not always that pretty, but in the air they resonate. That’s the American spirit. Estée Lauder believed that women expect American fragrances to start the way they end. She had little patience with this idea of top notes, of fragrances changing over time: It has to be straight, she believed. It has to be direct.

— Michael Edwards on the difference between American and French perfumes. Read more in Spotlight: Michael Edwards, Debuts American Legends at Fragrance Foundation Accords.

“To the French, perfume is liquid art; to the Italians, liquid style; to the Americans, liquid money,” Edwards said.

— Read more in A Journey Through American Fragrance with Michael Edwards at FIT Newsroom.

American Legends: The Evolution of American Fragrances by Michael Edwards ~ new perfume book

Posted by Robin on 22 January 2024 21 Comments

Michael Edwards, the author of Perfume Legends: French feminine fragrances (and the updated version, Perfume Legends II), will publish American Legends: The Evolution of American Fragrances later this year. I have no official details other than an announcement of a book signing in April and am posting this now just because I am excited about it. Perfumes I can see on the cover (and do comment if you know the bottles I am missing): Elizabeth Arden Blue Grass, Old Spice, (?) Evyan White Shoulders, Estee Lauder Youth Dew, Aramis, Brut, Norell, Clinique Aromatics Elixir, Charlie, Estee Lauder Private Collection, Halston, (?) Oscar by Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren Polo, Estee Lauder White Linen, Giorgio, Estee Lauder Beautiful, Calvin Klein Obsession, Calvin Klein Eternity, (is that Elizabeth Arden Red Door?), Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds, Donna Karan Cashmere Mist, CK One, Demeter Dirt, Bond no. 9 Chinatown, something by Le Labo.

Update: Here is the description from the Fragrances of the World website...

American Legends is the long-awaited companion to Perfume Legends, the cult book in which French perfumers spoke openly for the first time about their work and the sources of their inspiration. “There is no book like it,” stated Edmond Roudnitska, the celebrated perfumer.

Now, in American Legends, Michael Edwards documents the evolution, the richness and the sheer originality of American fragrances from Elizabeth Arden’s Blue Grass (1934) to Le Labo’s Santal 33 (2011). The result is living history, told through the words of the creators behind forty legendary American perfumes.

The book covers 40 fragrances, so more than the 25 shown on the cover. The Hardcover is $150 USD, if you pre-order you get a 20% discount (I believe that offer is good through the end of July 2024).

A more inclusive vocabulary

Posted by Robin on 25 June 2021 3 Comments

"Fragrances of the World," first published for nearly 40 years [sic] by Michael Edwards, is adopting "a more inclusive vocabulary" for his [sic] Fragrance Wheel and doing away with the outdated fragrance term "oriental." Beginning in July of this year, Edwards will instead adopt the term "ambery."

In addition: Soft Oriental will now be known as Soft Amber; Floral Oriental will change to Floral Amber; and Woody Oriental will shift to Woody Amber.

— Read more in Goodbye 'Oriental,' Hello 'Ambery' at Global Cosmetic Industry.

The nursery school of the future

Posted by Robin on 25 November 2019 2 Comments

So we are seeing a whole new evolution of luxury. Many of the great brands of the Eighties and Nineties have become almost masstige. Limited editions are so pervasive; flankers so frequent. The aspirational qualities don’t last. On the other hand, I’m fascinated by the explosion of creativity, the opportunity that is taking place in the niche fragrances. For me, niche is the nursery school of the future.

— Author and fragrance expert Michael Edwards, in Michael Edwards Discusses Luxury Fragrance History, Niche Fragrance’s Future at Women's Wear Daily.

Older articles »

Advertisement

Search

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

15 March ~ swapmeet

3 April ~ damage poll
26 April ~ splitmeet

3 May ~ spring reading poll
17 May ~ Haiku challenge!

 

Back to Top

Home
Archives
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Books

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2025 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.