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A review by rjkamaladasa
The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York by Chandler Burr
3.0
Technically, this shouldn't have been titled "The perfect scent". 'A year inside the perfume industry in Paris and NY' would've been sufficient. If you advertise your book as the Perfect scent, then that would entail giving details into how and why the receptors in our nose become sensitive aromas, and the science behind making a "perfect" scent. The book does not go that far. It doesn't even try.
But having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Being the very secretive industry that it is, Chandler Burr gets the maximum out of the chance he got to spend with 2 great perfume houses and writes elegantly and somewhat humorously about the time he spent with Sarah Jessica Parker, and the master perfumer Jean Claude Elena. The latter came as a pleasant surprise to me because I personally love Terre d' Hermes and how it stands out to be masculine but yet a refined, subtle and non-aggressive fragrance that you can wear without attracting unwanted attention. The book doesn't talk about the making of Terre d' Hermes (it talks about making the Jardin Hermes fragrance), but none-the-less the life and inclusion of Elena made the book so much appealing to me.
The book also goes dwells into the economics of the perfume industry, but it could have done better. There is a reason why there is a growth in the fragrance creation just like constant growth of hard-drives and CPUs. The author doesn't go as far. So I'm a little disappointed there as well.
But all in all, it was an OK book. Educational, somewhat humorous and a relaxing read. A bit more effort on fine tuning the broadness, and I would've given this 4 stars.
But having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Being the very secretive industry that it is, Chandler Burr gets the maximum out of the chance he got to spend with 2 great perfume houses and writes elegantly and somewhat humorously about the time he spent with Sarah Jessica Parker, and the master perfumer Jean Claude Elena. The latter came as a pleasant surprise to me because I personally love Terre d' Hermes and how it stands out to be masculine but yet a refined, subtle and non-aggressive fragrance that you can wear without attracting unwanted attention. The book doesn't talk about the making of Terre d' Hermes (it talks about making the Jardin Hermes fragrance), but none-the-less the life and inclusion of Elena made the book so much appealing to me.
The book also goes dwells into the economics of the perfume industry, but it could have done better. There is a reason why there is a growth in the fragrance creation just like constant growth of hard-drives and CPUs. The author doesn't go as far. So I'm a little disappointed there as well.
But all in all, it was an OK book. Educational, somewhat humorous and a relaxing read. A bit more effort on fine tuning the broadness, and I would've given this 4 stars.