Perfume: In Search of Your Signature Scent

If you are looking for a truly interesting subject & wonder about the nuances of perfumery...this is the man who can reveal it all. Neil Chapman chooses individual perfumes & tells us a story about the fragrance and the origin in such a wondrous and delightful way, it will make even the people who could care less-CARE! Neil's Love of each scent is profoundly reviewed upon each beautifully gilded page. He will tweak your brain to find out more, while slipping into your consciousness with devilishly witty insights! I found myself hoping he'll do local reviews where I could hear him in person. This book is a decadent, luscious MUST HAVE! Neil Chapman- do some YouTube videos for all of us who wish to learn more! I realized while reading that I am so woefully uneducated, that I was humbled into wanting more. P.S.: As an aside, I have never seen a more tantalizing book jacket! Its very Noir beauty lures you into opening it...teasing & tickling your desires...

Love this book! I have been reading the author's blog "The Black Narcissus" for ages and when I heard he was publishing a book I was over the moon with excitement. I have been a fragrance lover for my whole life, well over 39 years now, and I felt I knew so much about so many fragrances. Well, after reading this book I have learnt so much more and enriched my knowledge and appreciation of not just fragrance, but the notes themselves that make up the scents. Neil has a magnificent way of talking about fragrance that is witty, wry, interesting and extraordinarily informative as well. I have many books on fragrance and the history of fragrance, this one is definitely in the top tier of all of them. Not only will one enjoy learning about scents, even ones you might have thought you knew well, by you will be transported to far away wonderful places that are exquisitely conveyed by the author, bringing the fragrances to life. A book well worth owning. A must for the fragrance lover.

Neil Chapman has written a marvelously personal, knowledgeable guide to perfumes, which combines erudite chapters about the history and manufacture of fragrance with his individual reviews of specific perfumes, grouped loosely into categories such as "Green", then by notes like "green florals." It is a remarkably user-friendly format with an exhaustive index if one just wants to read one review of a specific fragrance. Neil has a poetic sensibility and lifelong love of perfume, both of which suffuse his writing. As he says, "In its wordless abstraction, a beautifully made scent can encapsulate an emotion; smell, with its visceral link to the unconscious, is unique in its emotional immediacy." His short reviews of individual fragrances combine information about their components and creation with his own deeply personal reactions to wearing them, or memories of times when he wore them. Since his own perfume collection must number in the thousands, including many rare vintage perfumes, even the most profligate collectors of perfumes will find surprises and revelations. The book itself is beautiful and would make a lovely gift to any fragrance-lover, especially if combined with a gift of an actual fragrance. It is a hardcover with a gorgeous metallic Art Deco design and gold-edged pages. Bravo, Neil!

An aesthetically pleasing, eminently giftable book, perfectly presented with gilt edging. The author's love of perfume is evident here, as it was well-known through his beautifully written blog. This being a reference book, we are given a slightly more encyclopedic treatment, with concise, note-focused descriptions of a wide range of scents, from grand classics like Guerlain's Jicky and Caron's Nuit de Noel, to recent scents from niche and artisan houses like Heeley, DSH, Frederic Malle and Tom Ford. The number of scents covered is impressive, all of them categorised in note families like rose, iris, vanilla, leather, tea etc. I particularly appreciated his mostly objective (though not so objective as to be dry) and respectful approach in his reviews, as I usually prefer to form my own opinions about a perfume. I think this is an excellent guidebook to keep on hand for any time one might want a quick reference or just a relaxing afternoon browse.

What an absolutely gorgeous book, an education in a Deco package. I very much appreciated the author's experience and suggestions, and was actually successful in finding my personal dreamboat signature scent-- a vintage, discontinued, spicy floral oriental. Even its name fits my style of personal cool! Very great reading, the perfect bedtime book to read bits at a time before sleep, building well-scented dreams. Well done!

Lovely

I learned a lot. Made for a good read.

I've read many perfume books over the years; this one by far is the best. Scent is notoriously hard to write about, yet Neil Chapman makes it look easy, filling his reviews with gorgeous descriptions, interesting facts, and refreshing humor. I also like the fact that he covers all kinds of fragrances, niche as well as department store brands. Not a snobbish bone in his body - the voice that comes through here is intelligent, warm, never boring. If you love perfume (and reading about perfume) I highly recommend this.

香水のことや香りからのイメージなど楽しいです。

Cnest l’éventail des parfums existants : une bible !

Für alle, die sich gerne in der Welt der Düfte bewegen ist dieses Buch meiner Meinung nach ein must-have. Anders als Luca Turin ordnet Neil Chapman die Düfte nach dem dominanten Dufteindruck. Wer also z.B. für den Sommer einen schönen Orangen- oder zitrischen Duft sucht, bekommt unter dem tag 'Orange/Mandarin' 12 verschiedene Parfums ,sowohl aus dem Parfumerie wie dem Nischenbereich, vorgestellt. Weitere Kategorien in dieser Richtung in dem Buch sind z.B. Neroli, Zitrus, Grapefruit, Yuzu oder Bergamotte, die auch jeweils ein Dutzend Parfumvorschläge besprechen. Dies nur als Beispiel für den Aufbau des Buches, der speziell auf persönliche Duftvorlieben eingehen und dem Liebhaber einer besonderen Duftrichtung ermöglichen möchte, so seinen Signatur- oder idealen Individualduft zu finden. Ausser der stark ausdifferenzierten Abteilung der Blütendüfte gibt es zusammenfassende Kategorien wie Klassiker, Gewürze, Gourmands, Holziges, Aquatisches und viele weitere. Neil Chapman gibt zu den vorgestellten Parfums ausser einer Beschreibung des Duftbildes auch jeweils Hintergrundinformationen zu dem kreativen Kopf hinter dem Duft sowie dem Parfumhaus oder der Bedeutung der Entstehungszeit. Die Düfte selbst werden zusätzlich zu der inhaltlichen Beschreibung oft mit assoziativen Eindrücken und anekdotischen persönlichen Erlebnissen des Autors verbunden, um jeweils einen charakteristischen Aspekt des Parfums einzufangen. Bei mir entsteht so ein besseres Bild des jeweiligen Duftes als bei einer reinen Auflistung der Duftpyramide. Ausserdem ist das ganze Buch äußerst unterhaltsam geschrieben, man lernt nicht nur viel über hunderte von Duftkompositionen, sondern unterhält sich dabei auch noch blendend. Neben Luca Turins beiden Parfumkompendien eine durchaus ebenbürtige Ausgabe von 'Parfumbibel' für den Afficionado.

Muy interesante el agrupar los perfumes por ingredientes.

Physically, this book is beautiful with a gold art-deco designed cover and a heavy weight. This sturdiness is important since the volume will be consulted often. Neil Chapman is a wonderful writer with a poetic sensibility that enables him to create a semblance of the fragrance on the page. I hope that Mr. Chapman will take the very interesting essays in his blog, The Black Narcissus, and put them in book form as well. Always a pleasure to read this author.