Perfumes: The Guide,   ISBN:B001JJBO74

Customer Rating: 

If this doesn't at least make you laugh, then you lose. I love this perfume guide because it offers such an extensive selection of reviews to whet your appetite for perfume if you know nothing, and someone/thing to discuss scents with besides your worn out friends and the people on basenotes if you are an avid perfume collector/sniffer. Luca Turin is informative and hilarious without being snobby. Tanya Sanchez is knowledgeable, opinionated, and nostalgic. They also have great anecdotes throughout. I only wish they reviewed more perfumes. =)

Customer Rating: 

I bought this book originally thinking that it would be more like a reference for perfumes/colognes. However, it's more like a book about known perfumes/cologne that the authors rate and critique. In my opinion when you title a book "Perfumes: The Guide" you expect it to be a guide - a reference for all the perfumery sales personnel who work at the stores, boutiques, etc, and to the perfumes lovers/collectors. I was hoping that it would be more like "if you like perfume A, you would also enjoy perfume B". This guide doesn't mention top, middle, base notes of the perfumes mentioned nor does it have pictures - so you don't even know what you are looking at. Some of the reviews by the authors I agree with, but the majority of the reviews I don't agree with. In general, I feel like this is a terrible "guide" because it is very biased and completely based off the authors' experiences with the products.
Next time a guide on perfumes/cologne is made I wish that these things are covered, especially the ingredient notes of the cologne and also pictures. Also, I don't feel like a "review" of a cologne/perfume is based on one's personal critique - not everyone noses and personalities are alike.

Customer Rating: 

The book starts off with a couple very interesting and informative essays, but the bulk of the book is mostly reviews of mass market perfumes. Some of the reviews are informative and in-depth; some are brief one liners. The authors are often incisive and funny, and many of the one-liners are very entertaining even if they're not terribly informative. It's a pleasurable read, but if you don't have access to a wide variety of samples to sniff while you're reading, it's tough to get a lot out of it.

Customer Rating: 

If I were teaching a course on writing, I would use this book. Luca Turin produces some of the most inventive, joyous prose I've read in years. When I read the book I have to laugh out loud. Bravo!

Customer Rating: 

The descriptions of perfumes in this book are AMAZING. I actually started highlighting and post-it marking different scents and have been on a mission to track them down and smell!!! There are several brief chapters in the beginning about the science of smell, the types of fragrances and the history of perfumes. And then! wonderful descriptions of perfume, some quite amusing. Jicky, Cuir de Russie, Apres l'Ondee, Lolita Lempicka, Mitsouko...names I've read over the years, but magazine reviews and scent flaps really are pitifully inadequate after reading this book. This book is probably not for the person who is content to wear the latest Britney Spears scent but for someone who is a lot more adventurous. I would recommend also "The Emperor of Scent - A True Story of Perfume and Obsession" about scientist Luca Turin and "The Perfect Scent - A Year Inside the Perfume Industry" a great story about how a perfume is actually created, both by Chandler Burr (no, I do not know him). It would have been a very nice touch to see photos/illustrations of
the perfume bottles, but still, a great book. Enjoy!