Parfüm: Alles über die Welt der Düfte

by Le Collectif Nez, Jeanne Dore

The team from Nez, the olfactory magazine invites you on a very special journey to explore perfume in all its facets, delving into the heart of a fascinating yet little-known world. This book lifts the curtain on the best kept secrets of perfumery, answering all your questions about the world of smell.

How does the sense of smell work?

How has perfumery developed over the centuries?

Where do perfume ingredients come from?

What does a perfumer do?

How is a fragrance created, developed, and produced?

How is mainstream perfumery shaped by marketing?

What is the role of independent perfumery?

What happens to a perfume after it is launched?

How do I educate my nose and become a knowledgeable perfume lover?

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, Science

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2018

Reviews

[Camille Taboulot · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai adoré ce livre ! En tant qu’amatrice de parfums, je ne pouvais que l’emprunter en l’apercevant sur les étagères de la bibliothèque. Je ne regrette pas ma lecture : très instructif, joliment illustré, simple à comprendre mais historiquement et scientifiquement pertinent, le livre a tout pour plaire. Vous y apprendrez un peu de tout : comment fonctionne l’odorat, comment est fabriqué un parfum, ce que fait un parfumeur exactement, comment commercialiser un parfum, comment l’appliquer et plus encore.
Un gros + pour les idées reçues reprises à la fin et démantelées !

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Big Book of Perfume is really very big and detailed guide in the world if perfumery.
Explaining allt the aspects of perfumery non just the perfumes, but the world behind them.
Discover various myths, opinion and history for very curious perfume lovers 🌹👍💯

[Luisa Ripoll-Alberola · Rating 4 out of 5]

He aprendido un montón! Aunque siento que al final contaba muchas más cosas de la industria perfumera que de la historia del perfume... Me habría gustado que estuviera más equilibrado. Pero bueno, no pasa nada porque voy a leer más libros sobre estas cosas jejejejeje

[k0ntrasty · Rating 4 out of 5]

dobra książka dla raczkujących perfumiarzy - autorzy przeprowadzają czytelnika przez naprawdę KAŻDY etap powstawania perfum i pracy "nosa". czasami tylko czułam, jakbym czytała kilka razy te same informacje na różnych stronach

[L BZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a look into perfume as an industry. It's very informative, packed with interviews with Firmenich perfumers, marketers, indie brand owners, etc.
Be careful if you get this book expecting something like Turin's Perfumes A-Z or Michael Edward's Fragrances of the World/Perfume Legends.
It's an industry-side guide. Well written and illustrated. Look below to see what all it has in it.
-------
This is a guide to:
- the science of olfaction
- perfumes history, including product development
- the development and purpose of different aromachemicals that make up modern perfumes
- the extraction of natural aromachemicals
- The day-to-day of the perfumer, what jobs are available for a perfumer - either at a large house, devoted to a brand, or independent
- proportions in order to produce certain classic accords, like chypre, oriental etc
- the process of product development and consumer testing
- the science behind production, maceration, chilling
- sales strategy and distribution worldwide, broken down by region and country, online, in person, etc
- how the entire process of brief, development, production and distribution works from a mainstream and indie perspective
- the cost of materials for the bottle and ingredients on average, for both mainstream and independent production
- Why and how perfumes die or are reformulated
- the true legality and facts behind dupe and clone houses, at least in France
- advice on how to start to understand notes
- how to store perfume
- how to apply perfume
- explaining the difference between EdP, EdT, etc

This is not:
- a review book of perfumes with pictures and notes and the like
- a full guide to becoming a perfumer, although it will help you learn what you need to do in order to get there.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mein Freund hat im letzten Jahr eine Leidenschaft für Düfte entwickelt. Es ist ein etwas außergewöhnliches Hobby, und damit ich seine Faszination daran besser verstehe, habe ich dieses Buch beim Verlag angefragt.

Alles dabei
In diesem Buch wird der Weg des Parfums von Anfang bis Ende beschrieben. Es beginnt mit der Geschichte des Parfums, wie es entstand, woher es kommt. Und endet bei einem Parfum-Guide, in dem wir unter anderem nachlesen können, wie und wo wir Parfums richtig anwenden.
Das alles wird mit Illustrationen untermalt, deren Stil mir unglaublich gut gefällt. Dadurch ist das Buch nicht nur informativ, sondern auch sehr ansehnlich und gibt quasi ein eigenes kleines Kunstwerk ab.

Interessante Inhalte
Besonders spannend fand ich den Part über Parfumeur*innen. Es wird beschrieben, welche unterschiedlichen Möglichkeiten es gibt, in diesen Beruf einzusteigen und wie sich das Business dadurch zeigt. Gerade mit meinem Hintergrund aus dem Buchhandel fand ich in der Hinsicht auch den Vertrieb sehr interessant. Denn auch in diesem Gewerbe gibt es die Mainstream-Parfumerie und die unabhängige Parfümkunst. Diese Parallelen zum Buchhandel mit den Ketten und den unabhängigen Buchhandlungen waren mir überhaupt nicht bewusst.
(Übrigens habe nicht nur ich hier das Gender-Sternchen gesetzt, das Buch tut es auch.)

FAZIT
Das Buch hat mich jetzt natürlich nicht zu einer Parfumverrückten wie meinen Freund gemacht. Aber es hat mich seiner Leidenschaft doch ein bisschen näher gebracht und sie mich besser verstehen lassen. Allein optisch gefällt mir dieses Buch super gut und ich finde die Kombination von Illustrationen und Sachinhalt hier absolut geglückt.

[Riti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wondered what we perfumistas do all day?
Exactly what is our industry all about?
Try this book which details the secrets of the fragrance industry in particular the fine fragrance industry and not so much the functional perfumery industry but you will get a bird's eye view anycase.
I didn't read the full book because it's not new for me however the anecdotes about the origin of materials were interesting to read.
Many industry experts contributed articles to the book to make it wholesome.
The book itself has a pretty layout, one that could be a coffee table book for.perfune enthusiasts. eBook doesn't do justice but nevertheless served the purpose of reading and seeing what it is about.

[Chibimagic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of the entire perfume industry. There's not much information in here that's truly new, but it gathers together little bits and pieces into a comprehensive look at the industry, from history to material to current business structure.

This was originally written in French, so there's minor translation weirdnesses here and there (e.g. "consensual fragrance"), and the conversion from Euros/kilograms/etc to US dollars/pounds/etc is awkward, but the overall information shines through.

Recommended for anyone getting into fragrances as a hobby.

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It should be called "The Big Book of the Business of Perfume" as (it felt like) the focus is on the machine behind making perfume and less about perfume itself.

Interesting, but not perfume focused.

[Léa PRADAL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livre très intéressant et qui explique bien l'histoire de la parfumerie

[Jiost · Rating 3 out of 5]

别让广告、营销或店铺助理有时候非常偏颇的观点左右你。没有人比你更了解自己。因为习惯使然或者缺乏自信，你会常常寻求亲友的意见；虽然人在社会生活中为达到和谐的状态充满妥协，但允许自己自己一点，做出自己的决定。