Perfume: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Finest Fragrances

Rating:
Summary: Book looks better on internet then in real life
Review: Charming COFFEE TABLE BOOK, and NO more. "Ultimate" nothing. Book has no voluptous descriptions, and WHERE is the part that tells you how to choose? I didn't find it in the book. Contents are too utilitarian, and overall book is too boring for the bathtub or bedside, but fine for coffee table. Key perfumes missing. Goes into details and boring history on the HOUSES, NOT the scents themselves. Dissappointing.

Rating:
Summary: For perfume connoisseurs
Review: For perfume connoisseurs 'The Perfume Companion' by Nigel Groom is the book to read. Nigel has lived and worked in South Arabia, which had previously been the centre of the incense trade; frankincense being a staple of ancient perfume. It is a book for amateurs and professionals alike. The book contains a highly regarded 'Perfume Directory', which is a résumé about 97 major perfume houses. Read about grand old French perfume houses such as Coty, Houbigant and D'Orsay; the perfumes of couture houses such as Chanel, Christian Dior and Givenchy and the big American names such as Estée Lauder, Elizabeth Arden and Donna Karan. The book also describes the history of perfume, principal ingredients, classifications as well as the leading perfumers and perfume manufacturers of today.

Rating:
Summary: Book looks better on internet then in real life
Review: I absolutely adore this book. It gives the basic profiles of many well known fragrances. No, it does not give exact
recipes, but just having a starting point from some fragrances that you have loved, and knowing some of the things to avoid from some fragrances that you have detested makes this an invaluable volume! (Avoid those costly errors!) This is a great help to the amateur perfumer, as it helps make better use of materials, by learning from the masters.

Actually, his descriptions are full enough that I might even consider buying some of the scents that he describes, even without having smelled them myself!

Rating:
Summary: Inspiration for the kitchen perfumer!
Review: I absolutely adore this book. It gives the basic profiles of many well known fragrances. No, it does not give exact
recipes, but just having a starting point from some fragrances that you have loved, and knowing some of the things to avoid from some fragrances that you have detested makes this an invaluable volume! (Avoid those costly errors!) This is a great help to the amateur perfumer, as it helps make better use of materials, by learning from the masters.

Actually, his descriptions are full enough that I might even consider buying some of the scents that he describes, even without having smelled them myself!

Rating:
Summary: At Last A Key!
Review: This book is an invaluable handbook for anyone interested in the components of different fragrances, what the exact scents used were, and to get a feel for the "personality" of a perfume without having to go out and try on every single one.

It is especially a treasure trove for me, oddly enough because I have a very poor sense of smell due to a skull fracture. But I am utterly fascinated by scents, and I just got tired of asking other people to choose a perfume for me. Who knew what I was getting? This gives me a wonderful sense of whether a perfume is something I would feel comfortable in, and now I get a great many compliments!!

Well written, with good descriptions of the various perfume ingredients, and even the mood they are apt to evoke. Plus an interesting bit of history on each of the major houses, and where they appear to be headed. It's my bible, and a fascinating peek into the finest fragrances of our time.