note to cypriot: it’s not supposed to taste like coffee
September 12, 2006 – 12:49 pmwho needs the crutch of a coffee flavor wheel when you can read the new york times’ new perfume critic instead? it’s like a word-of-the-day calendar confined to sensory observations! some chandler burr excerpts (courtesy cjr):
“Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue is an absolutely terrific perfume, rich without a trace of heaviness, sweet without a hint of stickiness. It smells like the freshest lemon-cake batter. Ever.”
“Narciso Rodriguez’s For Her smells like talcum powder and confectioner’s sugar sprinkled over slightly unripe plums sitting on an aluminum plate …”
“… what is wonderful about Diorella is that it smells like a new fur coat that has been rubbed with a very creamy mint toothpaste. Not gel. Paste. It is a great, great fragrance …”
the chandler’s latest: “Bigarade smells like a person trapped in a complex weather system, the wonderful scent of a guy’s armpit and a woman’s humid skin washed in fresh rainwater and ozone.”
this blog was just about to say that very thing — well, the armpit part — about the ethiopian green stripe!
2 Responses to “note to cypriot: it’s not supposed to taste like coffee”
I really enjoyed Chandler’s book - “The Emperor of Scent” about Luca Turin and his theory of scent. It was an excellent introduction to perfume, smell science and was presented in such a way that most of the science was very approachable. Of course, it was a little one sided on the different theories.
I wonder whether Mr. Burr will be able to emulate the success, as well as the skill, of his subject when it comes to perfume reviews. Luca Turin’s blog is sadly no more but there is a pdf available of the whole thing here:
http://www.flexitral.com/research/Blogtextweb.pdf
Turin has also published a book himself, and the first couple of chapters are excellent but then my interest was lost a little.
By Hoffmann on Sep 12, 2006
shaysh, james. why am i not surprised that you read the book? me, i’m just now printing out burr’s new yorker tome. link:
http://www.chandlerburr.com/articles/chandlerdetail.htm
burr’s critical stuff in the nyt seems really engaging, actually. within the journalism world, where i’m employed, there’s also been a lot of talk about whether mr. burr will have the ability to affect perfurme sales to the tune of millions of dollars (which perfume executives fear, of course).
regardless, i say it’s about time we start appropriating his vocab. no longer do i believe the mesmerelda was merely crazy-floral with some chocolate lily. i would self-revise to say that it was “like a wild ferret’s pelt dragged through an orchard just after dusk and encrusted with orchid stamen.”
By bz on Sep 12, 2006