Issue 12 of Nez is out: "The Twelfth Issue explores links between scent and design. Nez is an invitation to explore the world through our olfactory sensations, adopting a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses art, literature, photography, science, history, gastronomy and, of course, perfumery, providing its readers with a better understanding of the essential role the sense of smell plays in our lives." 160 pages, $29 at Luckyscent.
The perfect lemming for Book Lovers Day, courtesy of Oakland Fresca: the Scents Gift Box from The London Review of Books. "Beethoven beguiles the ear, Ingres the eye and Ferran Adrià the tongue, but of all the senses scent is perhaps the most neglected. Here’s our personal selection of books to make you smell wonderful." With Perfume by Patrick Suskind, The Secret of Scent by Luca Turin and The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr, plus a Made by Coopers Happy Room Spray in 100 ml (with lime, clementine and basil). £45 at the LRB Bookshop.
The latest special issue of Nez is From Plant To Essence: A World Tour Of Fragrant Raw Materials. "From Sicily to Laos, Paraguay to Madagascar, this book takes you on an incredible olfactory journey for a series of fascinating encounters with perfume plants, the producers who create fragrance essences, extracts and molecules, the perfumers who use them, and the iconic compositions in which you will find them. [...] Thirty chapters explore the diversity and richness of perfumery ingredients: their origins, cultivation, transformation and usage, as well as the innovations devised to address the environmental, economic and social challenges of today. 239 pages (bilingual) for $45 at Luckyscent.
Two more ingredient-focused special issues of Nez: Blackcurrant Bud in Perfumery and Geranium In Perfumery. 96 pages for $25 each, at Luckyscent, where you'll also find lots of back issues (both the numbered issues, and special issues on Orris, Sandalwood, Orange Blossom, Vetiver, Patchouli, Jasmine, Rose and Narcissus).
The truth, as revealed in Karl Schlögel’s gripping olfactory history of the 20th century, is that both perfumes have roots in Tsarist Russia, in particular in a fragrance developed by two French perfumers, Ernest Beaux and Auguste Michel, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty in 1913. Le Bouquet Préféré de l’Impératrice (The Empress’s Favourite Bouquet) was ill fated, appearing only four years before the Bolshevik revolution put an end to the Romanovs and everything they stood for, but it inspired the creation of both Chanel No 5 and Red Moscow.
— Read more in The Scent of Empires by Karl Schlögel review – politics, power and perfume at The Guardian.