The best brands are those that disrupt the industry in some way, big or small. These brands bring a new perspective to a world that, at times, relies ...
New to the niche fragrance market, éveilleur is an independent brand from Croatia. Its founder, Dajana Juki?, entrusted Olivier Cresp and Nathalie L ...
Diptyque?s holiday collection for 2024 once again features three candles. This year\'s decoration features felt labels by British artist Lucy Sparrow. ...
In the vast universe of perfumery, there are creations that transcend the mere act of perfuming the skin to become authentic artistic expression ...
Day 22 in Ukraine. Sunlight?s soft ballet through lace of old curtains? glimpses of empty streets. — Dusk descends quietly Sirens wail through t ...
Luca Turin and I will engage in a series of conversations about perfumery: fragrances we can’t imagine the world without, trends we hate, indust ...
I heard a dull sound far in the distance, a slight reverberation of the earth under my feet and then the air raid siren blared. Or maybe it was the ot ...
I returned to Ukraine after a long absence. After a flight, several trains and a sleepless night in a small town in Poland, I watched the familiar cou ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
Due to a last-minute change, I have a space available in our Scent Training Masterclass on August 24, Saturday, 6pm-7:30pm CET (12pm-1:30pm EST). Loca ...
Oud is a paradox. The exquisite aroma that set the imagination of Japanese poets and Sufi mystics aflame develops as a result of a disease. When healt ...
When did we develop our insatiable craving for sweet perfumes" I could point to Thierry Mugler?s Angel, the grandmother of all gourmands; launche ...
Did you know that smelling is one of the most effective brain exercises" Studies indicate that olfactive training “improved verbal function ...
?Art does not reproduce the visible, it makes visible,? wrote the expressionist painter Paul Klee. The same could be said about perfumery, which is an ...
I used to look down on flavored teas. If tea is of high quality, why add anything else to it, I thought. Then, I reconsidered my prejudices, because i ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
Munnar, a hill station in the southwestern state of Kerala, is one of India?s largest tea producers. Ensconced in the Western Ghats mountain range, th ...
A special announcement for my readers in Taipei. I will be participating in a discussion about Ukraine on Tuesday July 23rd. You can find the informat ...
Announcement: I have an opening in the workshop/seminar on Japanese Incense. Location: Online, Zoom Date: July 14th, Sunday 12:00pm-1:30pm EST/6:00pm- ...
My book The Rooster House is available in Chinese (traditional characters), titled ???? and published by Faces. I will be in Taiwan in July for a few ...
I?m inspired by the scents of spring, but this idea has little to do with the calendar season. My ideal spring is a state of mind, which is why the pe ...
The Bois de Jasmin new class schedule includes new classes on Vetiver, Balsamic Notes, Musk and Japanese Incense. We will decode these fundamental per ...
Syrnyky is a dish I order anytime I see it on the menu. Traveling around Ukraine, I ate these small fried cheesecakes at canteens in Odesa, diners in ...
One of the most intriguing aromas, that of roasted coffee beans, can be elusive. Anyone who has swooned over the perfume of freshly ground coffee̵ ...
?This is a tree of life.? Pani Olga?s fingers traced the embroidery on a rushnyk depicting a fantastical plant. From its branches sprouted opulent blo ...
Russian rockets struck our village the other day. It was a beautiful early summer day in June and people were outside working in their gardens. Our vi ...
My travels in Pakistan started in Sindh, the third-largest province of the country. The ancient Persians referred to the land east of the river Indus ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
Bois de Jasmin new class schedule is now available for late June and early July. This will be the last session before my summer vacation. The new onli ...
The first time I smelled iris absolute, I stood for a few minutes with a paper blotter under my nose before I regained my senses. In one instant, I sa ...
Yesterday, Ukrainians celebrated Vyshyvanka Day, the day of the national embroidered shirt. This traditional garment has so much significance as an em ...
Every spring I make a Persian rhubarb sherbet by cooking sliced stems and sugar in water. Once the flavor and pink color infuse into the syrup, I filt ...
You have to be a sleuth to learn about perfumery. As I already mentioned several times on this blog, there is not one definitive textbook or publicati ...
I’m often asked for guidance to identify notes in specific perfumes. This question touches upon the larger topic of learning about fragranceR ...
Crushed young linden leaves — milky, tart, reminiscent of overripe lemons Moist soil — pencil shavings, moss, steeped black tea, lingering ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
Despite a persistent belief that perfumers aim to imitate nature, fragrance is about a fantasy. So looking for the exact smell of a rose in a bottle i ...
As I was updating my ISIPCA course and preparing my new spring seminars, I tried a selection of new launches, some of which seemed interesting enough ...
Spring is not spring for me unless it has hyacinths. I buy the forced bulbs and leave them around the apartment to wait for the moment when the flower ...
Update: the dates for the classes in my Brussels studio are now available. Please take a look below. It’s been such a pleasure to teach my onlin ...
To inspire those of you who will be taking my Osmanthus classes. Once the weather turns cool in Tokyo, a sweet perfume fills its streets. It escapes f ...
It?s almost the sakura season here in Brussels. While sakura blossoms don’t have much fragrance, their petals and leaves contain coumarin, which ...
Whenever I browse the accessories racks in vintage shops, I furtively sneak a whiff of the leather purses. They are always full of surprises, these ol ...
“I will bring you cassie, if you still enjoy its perfume,” wrote French novelist Prosper Mérimée in Lettres à une inconnue (Letters to ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
Mimosa, violet, jasmine, incense. Our spring classes will cover different aspects of perfumery, so you have lots of choice. We will talk about the fun ...
Today have a wonderful giveaway made possible by Bois de Jasmin’s reader Tamara. She would like to give away a nearly full bottle of vintage Mis ...
Snow Mountain Pai Hao black tea (Trà Shan Tuy?t Pái h?o) is a rare tea variety harvested from 300-year old tea trees in the central Vietnamese provi ...
“Bush warblers start singing in the mountains.” This is the name of the current season, according to the traditional Japanese calendar. Th ...
I was recently having dinner with a friend at Le Soufflé, a restaurant in Paris specializing in the iconic French dish comprising little more than eg ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
The scent of sandalwood is glorious–creamy, velvety, with a rich rose nuance. It’s as if wood shavings had been steeped in rose liqueur an ...
With the holidays behind us and still too many winter days ahead, it’s important to find ways to add a splash of color to the grey, cold morning ...
?Bring, bring that musk-scented wine! That wine is the key to joy, and it must be mine? that wine is the key that will open wide the door to the treas ...
These winter days are cold and grey, and I would like to light them up with scents. So I propose a new perfume winter training schedule. Rose, Orange ...
I’ve always heard while working in the perfume industry that the incidence of brain-degenerative diseases among perfumers is fairly low. Given t ...
A few years ago, I wrote an article about winter fragrances for the Financial Times. I enjoyed working on that piece and I still like rereading it, bu ...
Happy 2024 to my readers and friends! I wish you many wonderful experiences, health and success. Above all, I wish that 2024 will be a more peaceful y ...
I’m always reluctant to sum up the year, especially one as complicated as 2023. We all read the news and we know that the world is in a terrible ...
Merry Christmas! Warm wishes to you this holiday season. Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume ...
I’m immensely grateful to all of you for your support and kind words about my book The Rooster House. I’ve received many warm letters and ...
Update: I have a last-minute opening in the Citrus workshop on Wednesday. You don?t need any essential oils for that class, just citrus fruit and easy ...
Any style rule stated too categorically is circumspect?don?t pair black and navy, avoid mixing prints, or hide colognes away till the summer. The last ...
Since many of my readers are avid tea drinkers, I decided to start my 2023 holiday gift guide with a selection of my favorite tea stores. Once I made ...
I’ve discovered my passion for teaching early in my career. As a political science and perfumery student, I’ve taught introductory courses ...
?What makes a perfume beautiful"? I pose a question to Maurice Roucel knowing fully well that it is a complicated question to answer. Roucel is a ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
I was preparing the materials for my ISIPCA lectures when I remembered a wonderful series of articles that the Osmothèque kindly made available to me ...
Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have used liters of cologne. While exiled on St. Helena, his servant Mameluke Ali created a blend that approximated the ...
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating! The combination of rose and black tea is gorgeous–the honeyed, citrusy note of rosewater complements ...
I’m delighted to share that I have joined ISIPCA and I will teach a Perfume History course starting this fall. ISIPCA (Institut supérieur inter ...
I?m delighted to share that my book The Rooster House was selected among ?The Best Books of 2023? by Waterstones. I?m grateful for this recognition a ...
Today have a generous giveaway courtesy of Bois de Jasmin’s reader Valerie. She would like to give away a 1/2 full bottle of Guerlain Chamade ex ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
I already shared that I will be visiting Germany to speak about Ukraine and my book The Rooster House. I also would like to ask you for your recommend ...
One of the most interesting principles in Japanese garden design is the idea of borrowed scenery, shakkei. Using existing landscape elements?distant m ...
I will be in Germany from October 18th to 26th teaching a writing seminar and talking about Ukraine and my book The Rooster House. I will be visiting ...
I prepared a different article for today over the weekend, but when I spoke with my cousin in Israel and learned some of her friends ended up among th ...
The news of another Russian attack shook me, because it touched Kharkiv and claimed more than 50 lives. I couldn’t read the news without breakin ...
I often receive letters from women explaining that they feel guilty about their interest in perfume, because it?s ?too indulgent? or ?unnecessary ...
I’m happy to share that I will be presenting my book, The Rooster House, during the Frankfurt Book Fair 2023, the largest book fair in the world ...
If you?ve ever wondered what ?solar musk,? ?lunar petals? or ?electric vanilla? smell like, you aren?t alone. Fragrance marketing lingo is in a world ...
Today have a generous giveaway courtesy of Bois de Jasmin’s reader John. He would like to give away a nearly full bottle of Serge Lutens La Myrr ...
The colors of Kateryna Bilokur (1900-1961). Born into a peasant family, she learned painting on her own. Her family thought that she brought shame on ...
Eau de cologne, eau de toilette, eau de parfum, extrait de parfum. What do these terms mean" Open any perfume book, and I guarantee that you will ...
I’m participating in the Hay Festival Querétaro 2023 and I have two events, during which I will present my book, The Rooster House, and talk ab ...
Today have a generous giveaway courtesy of Bois de Jasmin’s reader Carla. She would like to give away a nearly full bottle of Chanel Gardenia ED ...
Our ?Recommend Me a Perfume? thread is open this week. You can use this space to find perfume recommendations, to share your discoveries and favorite ...
Perfume wearers and boats have more in common than one might reasonably suspect. Sillage (pronounced as see-yazh) is a French word that means ?wake?, ...
What a beautiful fragrance do sweet peas have! Until I grew these flowers in my garden, I didn’t realize the full dimensions of their scent. In ...
Marie Kondo, the author of the best-selling book ?The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,? suggests that only items that spark joy should be kept aroun ...
Bitterness is usually to be avoided. We take easily to sweet flavors and scents, but it takes time to get used to the bitter ones. Yet, I find them mo ...
This year I once again couldn?t go to Ukraine. I miss my family, but I also miss our garden in Bereh. Over the years that I have been visiting my gran ...
I’m participating in the Edinburgh International Book Festival this year, and I hope to meet some of you there. I will be in conversation with t ...
