Perfume Resources - Books

Resource books - books about perfume, with reviews or historical information


Perfumes; The Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez is a great resource - sharp, witty reviews on many, many perfumes including resources, tips for shopping and selecting a perfume as well as a lot of "Best of" lists.  You may not always agree, and you shouldn't, but this book will entertain you.

We also have a lot of the perfumes from this book available in sample sets at Surrender to Chance.


Luca and Tania have also written The Little Book of Perfumes, a list of the 100 classics. A nice, abbreviated book for the perfume lover to put in their purse and take with them shopping.


Luca Turin's Secret of Scent launched his Rock Star status in the perfume community. It's a little more scientific, but a fascinating read.


Mandy Aftel's Essence and Alchemy takes a look inside natural perfumery and smells. Why is the smell of sweat an aphrodisiac? You may not care, but that perfume lover on your gift list definitely does and will definitely love this book.

Roja Dove's The Essence of Perfume is his selections of some of the most important perfumes of the last century. This book includes some gorgeous pictures of bottles and advertisements. It's not just a coffee table book. It is full of anecdotes and stories that are wonderful.


Snob: Perfume (Le Snob) was written by Darushi Alavi, who is the writer of Persolaise. A guide to perfume, what are the best perfumes across all perfume genres.


Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses is not just about scent, but it is included. Ackerman notes - "One of the real tests of writers is how well they write about smells. If they can't describe the scent of sanctity in a church, can you trust them to describe the suburbs of the heart?" As a perfume review writer for a perfume blog, I can say with certainty that writing about the senses is one of the most challenging writing I've ever done.


Books about Perfume that tell a personal story. These aren't books just about perfume, but perfume is featured in them.


Alyssa Harad's Coming to My Senses covers her journey through perfume - from an academic in denial about being a girl. She faces her fear, finds the pieces of herself she lost along the path to adulthood and tells a great story on the way.


The Perfume Lover by Denyse Beaulieu is her story of a memory of day on a hill outside of Seville with a young man under an orange tree. That memory, through a collaboration with Bertrand Duchaufour, became a perfume, L'Artisan Seville a L'Aube. 

M.J. Rose's The Book of Lost Fragrances is a wonderful fiction story centering around the heir to a perfume company and a mystery that swirls around the company and her family.