Essence and Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume Book

Someone saw me reading this book, and the comment was, "But you don't even like perfumes!"

That's partly true. I don't like synthetic perfumes. I don't like being bombarded by someone's overzealous application of scent. I don't like synthetic fragrance. (Every time someone tells me their homemade soap or perfume has "only the best all-natural essential oil of banana/cucumber/lilac/fill in blank with any other synthetic scent masquerading as "natural oil," I cringe. There is no such thing as cucumber EO.) Now, what I do like are things that smell good and are subtle. I like history. I like thinking about an everyday thing in a new way or understanding how something works and why.

This is a book that likely receives both more praise and more criticism than it deserves, but how well one likes this book will depend on why one is reading it. It's neither a "how to" book nor a straight history, but it contains elements of both. Within the "how to" part, the author does much better with the explanation of how scent affects (most) people and how to approach the process of building a fragrance blend than she does the nuts-and-bolts of making a specific perfume. There are recipes, but they are either skewed to her preferences -- and she seems to be overly fond of floral and sweet scents-- or contain ingredients that are unlikely to be within the budget (or accessibility) of a hobbyist. Within the history part, she does a nice job of covering how alchemy and perfume-making are related, the history of using scents for ritual and pleasure, and the beginning of the perfume trade; however, don't expect to find the scuttlebutt about the big perfume houses or famous brands.

Because I was reading it for entertainment and as a general history of fragrance, I enjoyed it. The author has a lovely writing style, sensuous and descriptive, although she comes off a little assumptive in a few spots. (No, everyone does not like rose or ylang-ylang and everyone does not like sweet powdery finishes.) The writing reminded me a little of Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses.

I found her recipes the least interesting part of the book, but I understand that she is including them as exercises on how to train one's sense of smell. For me, the best parts of the book were the history of how fragrance has been used throughout various ages/cultures and the section comparing building a fragrance to composing music.

There is a substantial bibliography, and the text is indexed and sourced. The vendor list is likely out of date, but perhaps will be updated in e-book format.

In all, an interesting and enjoyable read.