Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent

by Mandy Aftel

Winner of the 2016 Perfumed Plume AwardThe “Alice Waters of American natural perfume” (indieperfume.com) and author of the Art of Flavor  celebrates our most potent sense, through five rock stars of the fragrant world Mandy Aftel is widely acclaimed as a trailblazer in natural perfumery. Over two decades of sourcing the finest aromatic ingredients from all over the world and creating artisanal fragrances, she has been an evangelist for the transformative power of scent. In Fragrant , through five major players in the epic of aroma, she explores the profound connection between our sense of smell and the appetites that move us, give us pleasure, make us fully alive.Cinnamon, queen of the Spice Route, touches our hunger for the unknown, the exotic, the luxurious. Mint, homegrown the world over, speaks to our affinity for the familiar, the native, the authentic. Frankincense, an ancient incense ingredient, taps into our longing for transcendence, while ambergris embodies our unquenchable curiosity. And exquisite jasmine exemplifies our yearning for beauty, both evanescent and enduring. In addition to providing a riveting initiation into the history, natural history, and philosophy of scent, Fragrant imparts the essentials of scent literacy and includes recipes for easy-to-make fragrances and edible, drinkable, and useful concoctions that reveal the imaginative possibilities of creating with—and reveling in—aroma. Vintage line drawings make for a volume that will be a treasured gift as well as a great read.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Fashion

290 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2014

About the author

Mandy Aftel is an American perfumer. She is the owner and nose behind the natural perfume line Aftelier as well as the author of nine books, including four books on natural perfume and a cookbook on essential oils.

Reviews

[Valeriu Gherghel · Rating 2 out of 5]

În principiu, Mandy Aftel și-a propus să spună poveștile unor aromate (5 la număr): scorțișoara, tămîia, menta, ambra cenușie și iasomia (pp.18-19). Ceea ce a rezultat nu se ridică la înălțimea nobilei intenții.

Așadar, nici vorbă de o istorie a parfumului, cum pretind editorii. Titlul original al cărții e altul și e tot mincinos: Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent. Mandy Aftel scrie cam tot ce-i trece prin minte despre mirosuri și mirodenii (ca și cum ar fi unul și același lucru), fără rigoare, și urmînd o bibliografie pestriță, formată din titluri de articole de ziar și postări pe bloguri. A consultat mult prea puține cărți serioase, deși istorii ale mirosului, miasmelor și miresmelor s-au tot scris. Cînd ignori orice criteriu cronologic și sari direct din Renaștere în Sumer și apoi mai sari o dată la părerile despre lume, viață și parfumuri ale lui Coco Chanel, nu faci istorie. Încropești un text pe un subiect atrăgător și obții un haloimas. Citatele abundă, dar nu pot fi verificate de nimeni, fiindcă Mandy Aftel nu pune și pagina din care citează, doar titlul articolului sau cărții.

Traducerea e mediocră, am găsit greșeli elementare de gramatică și cuvinte folosite aiurea. Cutare plantă e, de exemplu, „endemică” în Asia de Sud-Est. Dintr-o astfel de compunere poți reține cel mult cîteva anecdote, deși nu poți fi sigur că au vreun temei. Degeaba ai entuziasm, degeaba fondezi o editură, dacă nu ți-ai terminat studiile...

P. S. Cîteva observații în grabă: nici una dintre cele 3 sau 4 Marii din Evanghelie nu a spălat cu mir picioarele copilului Iisus (p.11). Iisus era deja băiat mare. Cf. Evanghelia după Ioan, 12: 3.

„Romanii clasificau mirodeniile în funcție de aroma lor preponderentă” (p.52). Era mai bine „în funcție de aroma lor principală”.

Menta e „o plantă endemică aproape peste tot în lume” (p.101). Endemic înseamnă „pe un spațiu restrîns”, „a trăi exclusiv într-o anume zonă”. Dacă e pe un spațiu restrîns, menta nu mai poate fi răspîndită pretutindeni. Propoziția rămîne imposibil de înțeles. În alt loc, același adjectiv enigmatic: Arborele Aquilaria este „endemic în Asia de Sud-Est” (p.152).

Alexandru Macedon către Aristotel: Îți trimit multă smirnă „ca să nu mai fi atît de econom, cînd e vorba de zei” (p.149). Alexandru scria, săracul, cu mari greșeli de gramatică. N-ar fi fost rău să-și fi terminat Lyceul înainte de a pleca în expediția din Asia.

„În lumea parfumurilor, florile sînt un simbol al frumuseții” (219). Florile sînt frumoase oricum, mai ales în lumea vegetală. De ce ar trebui să fie și simbolul frumuseții în universul miresmelor?

[Dave Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was given to me by the publisher for review.

This is a fantastic book. I am very familiar with Aftel's work in both perfumery and her writings on the subject, and I have to say, this is by far her best yet. Often when people ask me for a book suggestion as a starting point, I typically recommend Aftel's book Essence & Alchemy, but give them the caveat that it is on the dense side and is more helpful for those who are starting to create perfumes. Still a great book, regardless. But what Aftel has done with Fragrant is make the spirit of the first book more accessible and streamlined while still keeping the helpful aspects for aspiring perfumers. Personally I don't have much of a desire to create my own perfumes, since it takes a lot more time, skill, and effort than most people think, but I love reading books like this that let me glimpse into the mind of a perfumer and vicariously see the way they see and smell things.

Structurally, the book has five parts, each going into detail about five different fragrance notes, cinnamon, mint, frankincense, ambergris, and jasmine. I love that she chose these ingredients, because most of these aren't the ingredients one would immediately think of relating to perfume (unlike rose, lavender, vanilla, cedar, etc). With most of these, she goes into historical detail about each ingredient's context, and, of course explains how they are used in perfumes. But she also uses these as broader sounding boards for greater topics. Sometimes she might use them to talk about a whole group of notes, a genre, or even use them to talk about philosophical points related to smell and perfume. I like this, because it adds a lot of depth and dimension to ideas that--on paper at least--seem like they would be bland.

As a couple of criticisms, I really wish that each chapter had all the aforementioned aspects together. Some chapters really only majored in one or maybe two of those aspects, history, perfume context, or philosophy. There were points here and there where I really wanted to know more about the genre of perfume these ingredients are in, or I wanted more historical context, or even more philosophical nuances when a chapter was getting too historical. Some chapters are clearly stronger than others because of this.

It wouldn't be an Aftel book without a lot of detail of blending and making perfume, and this book does a stellar job at explaining the process and gives several formulas to the would-be perfumer to practice at home--each formula at the end of its respective chapter, highlighting the notes of that chapter. Here is where you really see the talent that Aftel has. Even when you can't smell the final product from reading, you see how labored the process is, and just how carefully Aftel creates her perfumes. I have always admired and respected her for her perfumes (after smelling them), but I've grown an even deeper respect after reading this book and understanding how deep her knowledge, passion, enthusiasm, skill, and even wisdom really is.

You also see just how well-read and studious she is with subject just from the plethora of books cited. That by itself is an enormous undertaking and really strengthens the impact of the insight she gives. Apparently she has a large library of old perfume books--of which I am very jealous. :)

When reading this book, I felt honored to be a colleague of someone who wrote this. And I felt like I was reading something that is timeless and will be essential reading for future generations of perfumers and fragrance enthusiasts, critics, and collectors. From now on whenever someone asks me where to start with books on perfume, I have the perfect answer without any qualms: Fragrant, by Mandy Aftel.

[Mar · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - docking a star for encouraging the ingestion of essential oils, without much, if any, discussion of risks or safety.

[Kam · Rating 4 out of 5]

“That can’t be mango I’m smelling. Mangoes don’t smell like that.”

This was my first reaction after trying on some luxury-brand eau de toilette I’d received as a gift some two years ago. It was a large bottle, too, and I’d been pleasantly surprised to receive it because no one usually gives away anything as expensive as luxury fragrance unless one is very fond of the recipient. But as soon as I tried it on, I realised that the giver was probably eager to foist the monstrosity upon someone else: it was sweet to the point of nauseating, and the little that I’d sprayed on my wrist was clearly entirely too much. I tried washing the scent off, but even after doing so the smell still lingered on my skin.

Not to say that I don’t like the smell of mangoes, because I do. My grandmother owns an orchard, and though most of the fruits are exported to Japan, the “rejects” (fruits that are too small, too blemished, or just not up to certain specific standards, but are nevertheless still eminently edible) are sent to her children: my mother and her siblings. They fill the house with a delicious sweetness, thick enough that it almost mimics the custardy texture of the fruit flesh itself, with just a hint of tanginess that registers at the back of one’s throat when one inhales deeply; the smell is never overwhelming, never cloying, even when the mangoes have reached the point of overripeness. I associate the scent with the comforts of home, of family, and the pleasures of summer, which is probably why I really disliked the eau de toilette and its poor attempt to mimic the fragrance of something that lies at the intersection of so many things that are special to me.

It is this intersection, where scent meets and entangles with history (both personal and of the world), art, and philosophy, that Mandy Aftel tackles in Fragrant: The Secret History of Scent.

The book’s structure is a somewhat-familiar one, having read books by Diane Ackerman, Victoria Findlay, and Michael Pollan. Chapter One is an introduction of sorts, talking in a general sort of what about what perfume is, what is does, and what it has come to mean to different people down the course of history. It also deals a little with Aftel’s life as a perfumer: what led her there, and what she does now. The next five chapters are more specific, and focus on one particular ingredient used in perfumery, and a theme: Chapter Two focuses on cinnamon, and the idea of adventure and the exotic; Chapter Three deals with mint, and is the thematic opposite of Chapter Two, focusing as it does on the concept of home and the familiar; Chapter Four is about frankincense and the idea of transcendence; Chapter Five is about ambergris and the concept of curiosity; and finally, Chapter Six focuses on jasmine and the idea of beauty. At the end of every chapter Aftel includes a few recipes, focusing on the ingredient tackled in the chapter: most are for perfumery-related things, like body oils and solid perfume, but there are also a few food recipes in there, showing the versatility of the ingredients discussed in the chapter. The book concludes with copious notes, an extensive bibliography, and a list of sources should one ever feel inclined to try making perfumes for oneself.

If anyone is going to talk about fragrance and the special relationship humanity has had with scent and the art of perfumery, then Mandy Aftel is certainly one of the best. She is an artisanal perfumer based in Berkeley, California, where she not only makes perfumes, but conducts classes on how to make them. She also collaborates with chefs to understand how fragrance and food can work together to create a unique dining and olfactory experience. She’s written other books before, but those books have been somewhat more specialised, focusing primarily on perfumery and food. Fragrant, however, is considered to be a very fine introductory book for the beginning perfumer or just the curious looking for something interesting to read.

And I must say, that’s rather true. Though reading Patrick Suskind’s novel Perfume and seeing the movie adaptation of the same made me interested in the idea of perfumery as a whole, I was completely aware that what I was reading, and watching, was fiction. Suskind obviously took the time to do research, but his work was still fictional and probably not completely accurate to how perfumery is done in the contemporary world. Fragrant, then, looked like—and turned out to be—a good gateway into understanding how perfumery is done by people like Aftel, who take the small-batch, artisanal approach espoused by the slow food/locavore movement that is one of the most powerful driving philosophies in the food world today.

That philosophy is present in Fragrant. It’s especially prominent when she’s talking about her work as a perfumer, and in the recipes she includes at the end of every chapter, but it’s there, in the background, in the chapter-length essays for each individual ingredient. The slow food/locavore movement firmly believes that every ingredient has a story, and understanding that story is key to giving an ingredient its proper value, and, therefore, to treating it as it deserves to be treated. When Aftel tells the heartbreaking story of the cinnamon gatherers in Sri Lanka under Dutch colonial rule, or even the rather whimsical Chinese legend of ambergris being solidified sea-dragon drool, she is trying to impart to the reader a belief that these ingredients, though some have become more commonplace, are actually far more valuable than one imagines—and should be treated appropriately and with the proper respect for their origins and the people behind them.

Interwoven with this philosophy are other musings; as noted earlier, each chapter has a specific concept attached to the ingredient being discussed, and Aftel expounds upon that concept, quoting from a very wide variety of sources, from obscure medieval monks to Coco Chanel, to reinforce her ideas as well as to offer different viewpoints. While this is quite interesting, and something I personally find enjoyable, I do find that it made some chapters weaker than others, since my interest in a specific chapter was dependent mostly upon my interest in the theme in question. A certain imbalance among the chapters is also noticeable: for instance, the chapter on jasmine focuses a lot more on beauty and aesthetics, while the chapter on cinnamon focuses a lot more on history. I found myself wishing that there had been more of a balance in the topics covered in each chapter, just so that one can truly understand how all the topics work together to tell the story of the ingredient and how it connects to the theme of the chapter.

Fortunately, Aftel frequently includes her own anecdotes about her work as a perfumer, because I think that the book wouldn’t be quite as firm without them. It’s all well and good to discuss these intriguing philosophical questions, but without some binding thread the book would fall apart. That’s where the whole perfumery idea comes in, and where Aftel’s experience as a perfumer comes into play. If she had not included that aspect, the book would feel very loose and disjointed, something to merely flip through as one pleases, instead of something to really spend time with and delve into.

It’s also rather clear that Aftel’s writing really comes to life when she’s talking about perfume, or her work, or her life a perfumer. The book as a whole has a relatively unified tone, but where her writing stands out the most is when she’s talking about what she loves most—which is not, necessarily, history or economics or science. There is nothing wrong with this, of course, just something I noted while reading the book, because I realised that I always took a touch longer to get through a portion of text if Aftel was talking about some aspect of her work, or was telling a personal anecdote.

Overall, Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent is an engaging read: it sucked me in the way any good book, fiction or otherwise, ought to, and held me there for its entirety. It’s not without some weak spots, however: there’s a lack of cohesiveness in some of the individual chapters, and none of those chapters really go in-depth into the ingredient itself, focusing instead on the theme that Aftel has associated with each one and discussing history and philosophy as necessary to emphasise her point. However, this tendency towards lightness is what makes this book such a good introduction to the craft of perfumery, and the recipes at the end of each chapter are sure to encourage more than a few readers to give making their own scents a shot. Fortunately, Aftel provides a list of sources at the end of the book, so that readers can find the tools and ingredients they need if they feel inspired enough to give perfumery a try.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was confused. Note, I said confused NOT confusing. The author is a well known natural perfumer and her passion for the subject is apparent, but the book has a bewildering lack of focus. Reading this book, I had the impression the author would a wonderful dinner party guest, with lots of interesting facts about all sorts of things. But translating fascinating chit chat into a well structured book is quite different. For example, the chapter on frankincense and other tree-based scents, includes discussions of incense in worship, the cultivation of frankincense, the evolutionary history of our sense of smell, poetic descriptions of fragrant offerings in world religions, incense-based clocks in Asia, geisha, Chinese peasants telling time using cat’s eyes, natural and herbal medicines using frankincense and myrrh, how citrus oils are distilled, recipes involving frankincense, and perfume recipes – IN THAT ORDER. Everything here was really interesting, but it was also dizzying to find yourself in what felt like a totally different book about every 3 pages. I didn’t make it all the way through this one as it just was not a pleasant reading experience.

[Joanne Kelleher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book because I was doing research about scents. It's divided into 6 sections, five of them dedicated to a specific scent - cinnamon, mint, frankincense, ambergris, and jasmine. I read the sections on cinnamon and mint because they were most relevant to my project.
Aftel is a perfumer and her passion for scents and knowledge of their history is evident throughout the book. I retained some basic facts about spices, such as there are many kinds of cinnamon and it does not grow everywhere, which makes it expensive, while mint will grow anywhere.
The book is well-researched and well-written. These are some of my favorite lines/trivia:
-"Spices, in their role as a major ingredient in incense, were an early forerunner of aromatherapy."
-A poison antidote used in 80 B.C. combining almost all the known spices of the day was so powerful that when a certain king tried to poison himself to avoid capture by the Romans, he was unable to do so.
-"Our modern term 'grocer' originally meant a spice merchant who handled larger wholesale, or 'gross', quantities."
-"Recipes are built on the belief that somewhere at the beginning of the chain there is someone who does not use them."
-"Cinnamon is the Julia Roberts of spices: that blinding smile makes it hard to take in the rest of this dazzlingly beautiful and talented woman."
There were also recipes at the end of each section for creating perfume and for creating flavor.
My one criticism of the book is that there is so much information and it does not fit tidily into the assigned sections. Spices were and are used for food and for medicine and as currency and as status items, as well as for their scents, so the sections were not as focused as they might have been.
Overall, this book was helpful for my project and held my interest not only as reference but as an engaging story about spices. It is the kind of book that takes more than one reading to absorb all that it has to offer.

[Catherine Dubé · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une lecture qui s'annonçait envoûtante: Une incursion dans le monde fascinant de la parfumerie à travers 5 matières emblématiques: la cannelle, la menthe, l'encens, l'ambregris et le jasmin. L'ouvrage est joliment illustré et chaque section est débute avec une citation intrigante en exergue. C'est un genre de livre que j'aime: pointu mais accessible, m'ouvrant sur un univers que je ne connais pas. J'ai appris beaucoup de choses et j'ai trouvé plusieurs passages fascinants, notamment la section sur les essences animales (musc, ambregris). Toutefois, ce qui déroute, c'est le manque de structure entre les sections (chaque section renvoie à une essence, mais au final, le contenu de chaque chapitre est un peu éparpillé, ne présente pas vraiment d'unité). Cela donne au lecteur le sentiment de ne pas réellement progresser dans sa lecture, on passe à autre chose ou revient vers ce qui a déjà été dit. Bref, c'est un peu un fouillis. C'est aussi un ouvrage pratiquement dépourvu de perspective critique, malgré le fait que l'univers du parfum (que ce soit dans sa dimension commerciale ou culturelle) soulève de nombreux enjeux, qui sont tout au mieux effleurés ici. Je conclurais en insistant sur la richesse de la bibliographie, qui donne réellement envie de plonger dans la littérature (scientifique ou pas) de la parfumerie.

[Rhiannon Root · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scent is one of the most powerful and versatile senses we have. It can invoke memory, history and emotion within seconds.

Author and perfumer Mandy Aftel writes about five major scents and their histories in “Fragrant.” She talks about: cinnamon, mint, frankincense, ambergris and jasmine in great detail, though the narrative wanders into tangents occasionally. Each chapter is ended with recipes for perfume and for food (made with essential oils to enhance the flavors.)

I really wanted to like this book. I’ve had a sensitive nose my entire life. I’m someone who will spend a ridiculous amount of time smelling perfumes, candles and anything that smells amazing. And I love learning about history, especially if the narrative is a little funky and something I haven’t heard before.

Unfortunately, the author’s tone was off-putting. Throughout the book Aftel argues that natural scents are better and advocates for creating your own perfumes and scents, even though this is an extremely time-consuming and expensive hobby. Further, there’s a high degree of failure. (Aftel says all of this in the book and yet doesn’t think her audience will be resistant to the idea. Umm…yeah, I don’t have a lot of disposable income and or time. Many people don’t.) I don’t mind having someone having a strong preference for something, but when what you’re advocating is inherently impractical, it makes you look arrogant and snobbish.

What I thought I’d signed up for was a scent literacy and history book. I didn’t get that. Not even a little.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for beginners like me! Lots of interesting and useful tidbits, as well as some recipes. Emotionally charged writing. A lot of piecing together of paragraphs from other books. I find books like this one useful when I'm attempting to find more quintessential books on the subject. I would recommend to a friend! Easy reading, I read it in a couple of days.

[Amy Azzarito · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book multiple times even before I started to write Elements of A Home. The story of scent is told in the most beautiful and compelling way. My copy is completely dogeared as I've attempted to note my favorite stories. If you love history, you'll find this book fascinating.

[Cristina Toretoiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to know the basics and history of the perfumes and their ingredients, this book is an introduction to the secret life of scent. It also says where these ingredients were used in the past and are used nowadays, where you can find them and how to use to make your own solid or liquid perfume.

[Anneliese White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this non-fiction read about the history of perfumes and certain well known scents like cinnamon. I thought it was well written and kept me interested. I found the chapter on animal products used in human perfumes the most fascinating. The sections on creating your own perfumes didn’t interest me, but because this is written by a perfumer it made sense.

[Amala's · Rating 4 out of 5]

It gave me a great foundation to mixing scents for my candles.

[Oana Lambrache · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se pare că am intrat într-un fel de tur al cărților publicate de editura Baroque Books, pentru că și volumul de astăzi face parte din colecția lor. "Istoria parfumului" este o carte care descrie 5 esențe puternice: scorțișoara, menta, tămâia, ambra cenușie și iasomia. Fiecăreia îi este dedicat un capitol care urmărește trecutul și originile, dar și modul în care sunt integrate într-un parfum.

Când am început să citesc această carte, am crezut că va fi asemănătoare celei de săptămâna trecută " Parfumuri de legendă" și că voi descoperi istoria parfumurilor, poate câteva exemple de parfumuri celebre și poveștile lor impresionante. Probabil că asta ar fi prima impresie a multor cititori. În schimb, mi-au plăcut mult ideile de rețete prezentate: parfumuri solide sau pe bază de uleiuri, unturi și uleiuri de corp, balsamuri și creme.

Cartea este un must-read pentru pasionații de parfumuri, dar și pentru cei care își doresc să se joace cu diverse combinații de esențe și să își creeze propriile parfumuri, care să îi reprezinte zi de zi.

[Kara Wong · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lore about the lore of fragrances.

did not finish. but maybe I will once I buy a $1000 oil distiller.

Edit 6/16: I was heading to return my unfinished library book (study season is going to pick up again, and I am trying to rid myself of distractions). Library didn’t open for another 10 mins, so I sat down under the trees and opened this book again. 40 mins later, I’ve finished the book and am once again filled with the joys of life. The harmony the tree’s shade brings upon a hot day, the simplicity of finding my mind to have finally settled down (in what feels like forever) and be present with my book, and the wondrous reminder this book brings on the beauty and mystique that fills this world when we enliven ourselves to all our senses.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stirring, poetic, and enthusiastic with love, Aftel's book on the basics of perfumery and five of its "rock star" ingredients was a thoroughly enjoyable read. It included some really interesting history as well as philosophy, literal poetry, and accessible recipes in which to experience different scents. Rather than painting perfume as this inaccessible realm of the elite, Aftel's approach to teaching this art is approachable and unpretentious, yet deeply artful. Though I'm not a perfumista (incense is my jam), she is obviously a deeply experienced and wonderful teacher.

[Coral · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a history of scent and fragrances, but was presented with a hodgepodge of historical chit chat, perfume recipes, gushing about how awesome perfume making is, and references to people the author knows. It was poorly organized and in dire need of a (better) editor.

Oh well. Sometimes the random shelf grabs at the library pay off...and sometimes they don't.

[Julia Kulgavchuk · Rating 1 out of 5]

I expected to read about those 5 perfume materials (mint, cinnamon etc. that is listed in the description) but it feels like I'm reading a different book. I found it very poorly organized and I just can't find any thread in the book. It's a potpourri of anything that comes to the writer's mind it seems. Really weird.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway.
I enjoyed this book. A fascinating journey through the history and the links between memory and scent.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

More for someone interested in making perfumes. There is some history of cinnamon, mint, frankincense, ambergris and jasmine, but mostly recipes.

[Julie Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An immersive introduction into fragrance on historic, aesthetic, medicinal, and practical levels. Looking forward to reading more from Mandy.

[Galina Krasskova]

i couldn't get through it. Way too new agey. Just not my cup of tea.

[Jen Sunderland · Rating 5 out of 5]

From my blog review:


It's been so long since I've blogged that I've quite forgotten how! But I can't think of a better way to jump back in than to start with an offering from one of the nicest people I know, a friend and a fragrant wizard: Mandy Aftel. Today, though, I'm not discussing a perfume. I'm talking books, my friends.

That's right. Among Mandy's many gifts is her ability to put her thoughts to paper. Perhaps you have read her well-known primer on natural perfumery, Essence and Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume*? Or her book on using essential oils in expected (and not so expected) ways: Aroma: The Magic of Essential Oils in Food and Fragrance (with Daniel Patterson)? Or Scents and Sensibilities: Creating Solid Perfumes for Well-Being? Did you know she has also written about Brian Jones, a founding member of the Rolling Stones? And about finding a therapist? Yeah, she used to be a therapist in a past life. I mean, not like a past life, woo-woo-style, rather that was her profession before she discovered her passion for natural perfumery.

[*Note to self: Self, why have I not reviewed that? I do own it. Must remedy.]

"I create perfume, and people wear it, because beauty is a vacation from reality. It is a place --an ideal place-- that you can visit without traveling. It is restorative, and it makes you feel good. A personal adornment like wearing jewelry, it has no practical purpose whatsoever. It simply allows us to inhale bliss." - Mandy Aftel


Why Fragrant?
Frankly, I'm a bit of a quite a nerd, so no hobby of mine can fully be enjoyed without understanding the background of the whole thing. Luckily, in Fragrant, Mandy makes this not only an accessible bit of research but a very pleasurable one.

But Fragrant is not written for the perfumers and perfumistas of the world. I mean, feel free to read it if you are one. I encourage you to do so. No, more than that: Frankly, I'm quite confused if you don't read Fragrant and still call yourself a perfumista. I don't understand how you can blog about, or "speak knowledgeably" about, your passion if you do not know where the art's roots are. But anyway, I digress.

Fragrant is Mandy's offering to the non-obsessed. To those who, to borrow the online slang, may be noobs. The curious. The folks who wonder-- "who was the first person to rub that on their body? And WHY?!" It's a way to open the door and say, "Come in, explore this amazing world with us!"

At the beginning of the book, Mandy skims through her history. She tells us of various careers that led her, ultimately, to her passion: natural perfumes. She uses words like "joy" and "heady" and "mysterious" and "amazing." You feel how excited she is to share this world of hers with you, the reader, and that's what makes this book such a lovely read. And it's also, by the way, what makes Mandy such a great perfumer and a wonderful person to talk to.

You see, she knows that people have become so accustomed to being bombarded with scents that we hardly register them anymore. Our detergents, our dish soaps, shampoos, our grocery stores, our foods for heaven's sake! Everything has an artificial scent and we've become numb to this constant battering ram of olfactory warfare.

We think perhaps we just don't care about scent. But Mandy has discovered the joy of introducing - or rather, reintroducing - people to the pleasure of natural scents. And that, my friends, is why Fragrant was written.
"...they've come to believe they have no appetite for scent itself. Watching them discover authentic aromas and their sensual pleasures is profoundly thrilling, like watching a starving person feast on a delicious meal. It's these experiences of reawakening people to scent that led to this book." -Mandy Aftel


The Main Characters

Mandy has taken a clever approach to introducing us to the world of scent. She's chosen five "main characters" to lead the reader through history and perfumery. Each gets a chapter. I'll happily introduce them, but let me point out that the real bonus is that if you purchase Fragrant from Mandy's website, Aftelier Perfumes, you get this amazing Companion Kit that actually gives you samples of all five of the main characters!

Full disclosure: I really do not react well to spearmint. Well, whatcha gonna do?

How cool is it to know that the cinnamon and mint oils that come in the kit can be used in food or drink? And should you choose to do so, you may wear the (already diluted) ambergris tincture and jasmine on your skin. The frankincense? Rub it between your fingers, on your skin, or layer it with the other two skin-appropriate oils and make your own perfume!


The inside of The Companion Kit

Cinnamon is a spice, and leads us through the spice route, educating us on history, passion, some myth, and how perfumery really got its start.

Mint represents home and Americana. It symbolizes all things authentic, comforting, and welcoming.

Frankincense, as part of a tree, ties us to the earth and to the sky, being a crucial part of incense. This character leads us to the spiritual.

Ambergris is one of those "who in the heck saw that and decided to burn it or put it on their bodies?" items. This character, a highly animalic, very prized, quite expensive ingredient, introduces us to the concept of "other" but also ties us to our own animal side. Not familiar with the ingredient? Wait until you hear how it's "made"...

Jasmine. Ah, sweet, sultry jasmine. This character represents the human craving for beauty, but also artfully introduces the concept of wabi-sabi. Well, you'll see. This may have been my favorite chapter.


Quickly...

Other neat features of the book include recipes for perfumes, foods, drinks; gorgeous quotations and poems (Mandy, you make my heart sing with these!); delightful illustrations from old books; insights into perfumery; and so much more.


For example, would you like to learn...
The best cure for olfactory fatigue?
How to think about/describe a smell?
How scents are captured from the thing-- the flower, the tree, the bark, the fruit?
Some really mouth-watering tips for using essential oils in food and drinks?
A pretty sexy poem about being the wife of a cinnamon peeler?
Where the word "grocer" originated?
Which surprising spice, still used everywhere, was used as currency in medieval England?
How many perfume ingredients had elaborate stories involving snakes "back in the day"?
How to discern, yourself, what raw ingredient is a top, middle, or base note?
Which popular herb was thought to be an effective form of birth control in Japan at one point?
How to make Toad Ointment? (spoiler alert: the toad does not fare well in the end)
Why Wrigley's Gum owes a lot to some geese?
Which common perfume ingredient was found in King Tut's tomb?
What Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are finding out about frankincense and why it is really, really important?
How incense was used as a clock?
Why a dog rolls in the nastiest, grossest filth it can find and then proudly trots off?
Why, although I love it, butyl mercaptan will never be used in perfumery?
What butterflies smell like?
Really, how many times snakes are mentioned in this book?
Would you try jasmine-ambergris chocolate?
Which perfumes would you compare with rococo architecture? Ok - only you can answer that, but the question is obliquely posed in Fragrant.




In Summary

I found this book a fantastic read. I not only enjoyed the history -and I'm not a history gal if it's dry, which this was not- but I really had a good time learning about how Mandy picks particular ingredients. What makes a specific cinnamon Aftelier-worthy? Fascinating.

I thought that it was quite cool to learn how modern marketing hasn't come too far from ancient times, when stories were embellished to make the ingredients seem more valuable, more exotic, and voila- more expensive!

And I laughed out loud when Mandy compared Pinterest to a modern cabinet of curiosities. Indeed it is! More laughs came when reading the story about the man who got an leaky package in the mail...

I have a fondness for old American stories, so the section on peddlers and old ointments and backwoods tales was right up my alley.

And of course, digging into the gross but amazing roots of some of my favorite vintage scent ingredients (ambergris, castoreum, civet, musk) was so cool. I have my qualms about their use currently, but in my vintage perfumes I figure those ethical dilemmas have long gotten on their ships and sailed away, so this vegetarian and animal rights activist can rest easily. Kinda.

I learned a lot about perfume itself, not just the ingredients. New terms made themselves known to me. Accessory Notes. Burying, Chameleon Perfume. Cresol. Who knew? Well, Mandy Aftel did.

At any rate, this book kept my interest, and if you are intrigued with perfume I assume it will do the same for you.

Frankly, I am now inspired to mix my own gorgeous naturals. Ok, I expect them to be much less gorgeous than Mandy's, but the process is the thing. And the smelling, the diving in, the reveling in the scents... that's what I have gotten from this book. So thank you, Mandy.

PS: I'm totally making frankincense shortbread.

"What is beauty for? The beauty of beauty is that it is not for anything-- it doesn't stand for something else, it doesn't have to do something, it only needs to be." - Mandy Aftel

[Hugo Gonçalves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meu Deus, que livro!
A Mandy é super querida (já tive oportunidade de trocar algumas palavras, com a mesma, no instagram) e acessível! Uma apaixonada pela perfumaria artesanal, ingredientes puros e todas as suas histórias.
O olfato é um sentido tão, mas tão necessário, em nós, que nem damos conta!

Este livro trouxe-me, também, uma nova forma de ver os narizes! Tornaram-se tão singulares e especiais que até os comecei a fazer em argila! 😅

“Os egípcios retiravam os órgãos dos cadáveres e enchiam-no de perfumes e outros aromas para os preparar para o afterlife. Os romanos salpicavam pombas com água de rosas e soltavam-nas nos salões de banquetes para aromatizar o ar. Marie Antoinette teve o seu próprio perfumista, Jean-Louis Fargeon, que criou perfumes à sua medida para combinar com os vários estados de espírito da rainha. As pessoas festejavam com materiais aromáticos, perfumavam temples com eles, ofereciam aos convidados. Seja qual for o veículo - flores ou comida, incenso ou perfume - as pessoas em qualquer altura e lugar saíram do seu caminho para exercitar e saciar o olfato. Porquê? Porque nenhum outro sentido nos faz sentir tão vivos, tão humanos, tão profundamente, inconscientemente, e imediatamente conectados com as nossas memórias e experiências. Nenhum outro sentido nos move tanto.” - Mandy Aftel, “Fragrant, the secret life of scent”.

[Elena Stefanescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Istoria parfumului te poarta prin povesti si mirosuri exotice, orientale, unele folosite de oameni de mii de anii. Povesti cu flori, locuri exotice, păduri, arbori magici, pe care nu i-ai vazut vreodata, dar le cunoști mirosul, scorțișorul fiind un exemplu cunoscut, esențe care traversează mări și oceane. Cartea cauta istoria evanescentă a mirosurilor de-a lungul secolelor.

Cartea este structurată în 5 capitole majore, fiecare fiind dedicat unui grup de esențe: scorțișoara cu mirosul exotic adus de peste mări și țări, menta cu un sentiment de cunoscut, proaspăt și de acasă, tâmâia și rășinile cu semnificațiile lor simbolice în cadrul ritualului religios, ambra cu origini aprope necunoscute și iasomia cu esența ei fină și fragilă ca reprezentantă a regnului floral atât de fascinant ca diversitate și ca parfum.
O carte care îmbogățește și extinde vocabularul pentru de descrie un miros: agar, castoreum, enfleurage, velvetine. Sunt explicate și clasificate notele de bază, de mijloc și de vârf prin care putem să distingem layere oricărui parfum.
Pentru mine a fost și o călătorie prin propria istorie personală prin care mi-am amintit mirosuri de mult uitate sau mi-am explicat de ce ne place un anumită esență și cu ce anume o pot asocia.

[Rachael Maier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know why this book took me a year to read, except maybe that I was savoring it, like an ephemeral natural perfume. I don’t know of anyone who writes more beautifully or passionately about her craft than Mandy Aftel. She sure knows her stuff and has done her research. The book is filled with historical anecdotes, recipes, stories, and more. Plus lots of practical, helpful info too. A great read for anyone, but especially those who can appreciate finer things like a really good scent.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and enlightening contemplation on fragrance and its place in history, our lives, our memories, our experiences, and our bodies. I learned a great deal about various aromatic materials, how they were/are sourced, how a perfumer creates intoxicating scents, and more. It gave me a new appreciation for all smells and to ponder them more deliberately.

[Lanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fragrant was an atmospheric read. Aftel takes on a bit of a history lesson without all the dull dryness typical of the historical approach. Sprinkled throughout are a number of mini-gems on how to approach making perfume blends. Glad I read this

[carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part philosophy of why she creates perfumes, part history of key ingredients, and part recipe book. I wasn’t certain what she was going for. The history was interesting to me and I appreciate what she has to say about beauty and scent.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but just bored me in places while other chapters were fascinating. Very informative for learning the lingo about and how to create perfume.