Essence and Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume

I perhaps should have expected a book on perfume to waft about. Very emotional, romantic, idealistic writing. Which I was fine with actually. I appreciated and enjoyed her passion for perfume and her strongly held opinions on it, though I may not agree (I am fine with synthetic scents). And I personally wasn't bothered by the magic/alchemy bits either. But the way the information jumps around! I was reading aloud some parts to my boyfriend, and he asked for a definition of volatile. So I told him, something about how easily a substance evaporates. Then about 5 pages later a definition of volatile is given. 5 pages after the word! I thought, well either do that after the word first appears or don't define it at all. Just an example. The show more book does that sort of thing pretty often, but that's the example I told myself to remember. Other than it, she does tell you her perfume making process and recommendations for how to train your nose to appreciate scent. Those were the best parts of the book. Just wish it was written clearer and more succinctly! I am interested in the author's other books, written with a more specific idea. This book just being on perfume, generally, doesn't seem to have been doing the author favors, focuswise. show less

I picked this up for the history of perfume part. Content-wise it was interesting, but I found Aytoun Ellis's "The essence of beauty : a history of perfume & cosmetics" a more enjoyable read.

If I had been reading this as a how-to manual on sourcing and mixing essential oils to create my own compositions, I think I would have found it more useful.