Every great perfume probably loses the market test. It affronts, and so they mark it down. Yet it’s that very quality, I am convinced, that makes it memorable. Give me a fragrance that five per cent of people are totally addicted to and 70 per cent loathe, and I’ll give you a $100 million grant. The reality is that broad appeal means you have to compromise: you end up with the best of the worst and the worst of the best. The average perfume is nice and pretty and forgettable. It’s hard to find one that has enough guts to keep you going.

— Fragrance expert Michael Edwards, author of Perfume Legends. Perfume Legends II has just been published (look for an announcement later today). Read more at A fragrance connoisseur explains the ingredients required to make an iconic scent at Vogue Australia.