WHY am I reviewing a book from 2008?!?! And not even a very good book, at that? I’ll tell you: because nothing will make you understand modern perfumery and the perfume market better.
Recently I picked up The Perfect Scent again when I did a deep dive into Hermès’ Un Jardin en Méditerranée. The Perfect Scent is ostensibly about the creation of two fragrances: Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely for Coty, and Jean-Claude Ellena’s Jardin sur le Nil for Hermès. It isn’t, though.
The blurb (Goodreads)
From the New York Times perfume critic, a stylish, fascinating, unprecedented insider’s view of an industry and its charismatic characters No journalist has ever been allowed into the ultrasecretive, highly pressured process of originating a perfume. But Chandler Burr, the New York Times perfume critic, spent a year behind the scenes observing the creation of two major fragrances. Now, writing with wit and elegance, he juxtaposes the stories of the perfumes–one created by a Frenchman in Paris for an exclusive luxury-goods house, the other made in New York by actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Coty, Inc., a giant international corporation. We follow Coty’s mating of star power to the marketing of perfume, watching Sex and the City ‘s Parker heading a hugely expensive campaign to launch a scent into the overcrowded celebrity market. Will she match the success of Jennifer Lopez? Does she have the international fan base to drive worldwide sales?
Goodreads
In Paris at the elegant Hermès, we see Jean Claude Ellena, his company’s new head perfumer, given a he must create a scent to resuscitate Hermès’s perfume business and challenge le monstre of the industry, bestselling Chanel No. 5. Will his pilgrimage to a garden on the Nile supply the inspiration he needs? The answer lies in Burr’s informative and mesmerizing portrait of some of the extraordinary personalities who envision, design, create, and launch the perfumes that drive their billion-dollar industry.
Review
As it so often is, the blurb is rather wrong. Sure, we see SJP and Jean-Claude Ellena trailed by and through the eyes of Chandler Burr in the role of the intrepid reporter. (Who was, coincidentally, ‘perfume critic of the NYT’ only from 2006 to 2010, when the paper ditched the whole concept and hasn’t a designated person for perfume coverage anymore.)
But first, the book doesn’t span a year, but several. And then, it’s not really about the success of both scents, but their creation. And on top of that, it’s not even mainly about that. We get a crash course in perfumery: from chemistry to sourcing ingredients, to market research, marketing, PR, bottle design, the whole business side of it.
The good
And THAT’S why I would love to give that book to every budding perfume TikToker and Instagrammer or YouTuber. What we, as the customer, usually see is not the work of the artisans and craftspeople. We see a product that has been passed through marketing, consumer research and PR, and it’s nearly impossible to do what Chandler Burr has done and show how a perfume is created from start (the brief) to finish, when the marketeers stock the plexiglass displays and the journalists flying to an exotic location for the release.
You will never get a better crash course on how the thing that you bought and spray every morning is actually made. This isn’t leisurely reading material: for me, it takes some effort to actually understand the chemistry and business bits. It has a huge payoff, though, and that’s the glance behind a curtain of a multi-billion-dollar industry that the industry itself jealously guards.
The bad
This is a book that hasn’t aged particularly well, and that’s the outdated views of the author that manifest themselves as an unfortunate underlying racism and fatphobia. (Women, to be pretty, have to be thin, and he has that weird obsession with orientalism that many fragrance people used to have.)
It also thinks that it’s a regency novel by Georgette Heyer (the OG) by the superfluous use of French phrases sprinkled heavy-handed over nearly every page. Non, mon chère.
2003 vs. the 2020s
Then it is seriously outdated to when it comes to the landscape of influencers, niche and mass market perfumery. The fragrance market has changed A LOT in the last 15 years. I can give you one example: the yearly most-sold list (I picked the Women’s list for the US). Burr cites the one from 2003:
- Estée Lauder, Beautiful
- Clinique, Happy (Estée Lauder)
- Estée Lauder, Pleasures
- L’Oréal, Ralph Lauren Romance
- Estée Lauder, Donna Karan Cashmere Mist
- Chanel No. 5
- L’Oréal, Lancôme Trésor
- Estée Lauder, Beyond Paradise
- Coty, Jennifer Lopez Glow
- Chanel Chance
I was able to find one from 2021.
- Chanel Chance Eau Tendre
- Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
- L’Oréal, Lancôme La Vie Est Belle
- PUIG, Carolina Herrera Good Girl
- LVMH, Dior J’Adore
- L’Oréal, Viktor & Rolf Flower Bomb
- P&G, Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue
- Chanel No. 5
- LVMH, Marc Jacobs Perfect
- Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540
You’ll see how much changed: in 2003 the old-school big players (Lauder, L’Oréal and Chanel) dominated the scene. 2021 is STILL dominated by global corporations: Chanel and L’Oreal are doing fine, but Estée Lauder should seriously question themselves. Also, see the incredibly trajectory of a ‘niche’ perfume that took over the world: Baccarat Rouge. Incredible. Also, you see how long it takes until a perfume really ‘takes off’: none of the perfumes on the list were released that year. You could even call them ‘classics’, no matter which list.
The ugly
Let me quote Burr:
The creative input of designers and celebrities and pro athletes putting out scents has always been more a matter of a good story whipped up for the gullible public. (…) As a general rule, I suspect the claim that (fill in a famous name) was ‘deeply involved’ is bullshit.
When I was much younger, I worked at Estée Lauder for a bit, and one person I was working with told me one day that they were at Coty at the same time when Lovely was made. According to them the story is indeed ‘bullshit’ and SJP wasn’t really that involved. And if you count, you’ll only see her at three meetings at Coty in the book, and at a one-on-one with Burr. Ellena’s part in the story is usually longer, more interesting and revealing, because, as a perfumer, he actually has more info on how a perfume is made. SJP has the title of ‘creative director’ and we usually see her sniffing samples, approving names and deciding on packaging – and not making her dream perfume.
So, can we conclude that – none of the story in the book is true?!?! You decide.
Price & Availability
Chandler Burr, The Perfect Scent, Picador 2008, 336p. (Amazon, 13,72€)
Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods or money for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.
