Is really nice reading books from Amazon

Informative, inspirational and very well written, especially for the apprentice/beginner perfumer

I had a reservation to visit the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley, California so I decided to read one of her books on the airplane ride to San Francisco. This one was the easiest to find and it did not disappoint. If you are especially connected to your sense of smell like I am, you will love this book. And even if you have just a regular average relationship with your nose you will still love it. Lots of interesting stories about the history of scent, how specific scents are developed and how the whole perfume business has evolved. I actually met Mandy Aftel at her museum and she was so engaging that I will probably eventually inhale all of her books. And if you have the opportunity, visit the charming little museum which is housed in her Arts and Crafts cottage and staffed by her family.

I can't give it less than 3 stars because it contains a lot of useful tidbits throughout, but 80% of the book is new age nonsense worth skipping over.

Goodness, this book has great ratings! I expected more.

I found the authors writing style to have alot of rambling, she would probably be better suited writing poetry as a result.

I did not appreciate the authors reference to the human race deriving itself sense of smell based on being monkeys that developed as a result of smelling eachother rectums. I have to admit I lost interest.

I did keep reading because I do love the romanticism of the topic in general. I stopped reading after several chapters.

Normally if I enjoy a book, I devour it in a few days, this book lost my interest from the beginning.

The historical foundations draws me to find another book that will satisfy my desire to learn the origins of this topic.

The last 35-40 or so pages are visceral, raw, errotic, and unfiltered. I found it to be one of the most interesting parts of the book, if not, the most interesting part.

I wasn't expecting so much writing about mixing scents, formulas and storing oils. I did enjoy the parts when the author gave the readers a more historical background on perfume and the science of scent and perfumery, although it was limited.

nice

I read this book b/c my daughter Stefanie and I were going on a trip in California to a naturalist place and making perfume was an activity of the resort we were going to. I was getting ready for the trip, but then a mud slide took out the road to the resort and we had to cancel.

Glad I found it. Think I will make my own from my garden. I've always considered fragrance when I order my plants, especially roses.

This was one of the first books I read on the history of perfume and perfume making. I think it is an excellent blend of 'story' and fact. The art and science of perfumery is fascinating. As is the long history of fragrance in human society. I love it. Aftel captures the fact, the history, the science, and the mystery. I'd highly recommend this book to any one with an interest in this subject.

"O olfato sempre foi considerado o mais etéreo dos sentidos."

Da série, leituras que eu não imaginaria fazer, temos esse livro sobre "a história natural do perfume". A autora apresenta uma linha do tempo em que comenta o desenvolvimento dessa arte, que tinha muita relação com a Alquimia e também com os diversos cultos na Antiguidade. Não só isso, como ela indica o modo de produzir seus primeiros perfumes naturais, que li só a título de curiosidade também. Faz um bom tempinho que comecei a ler este livro, por conta da indicação de um amigo próximo. Demorei um bocado de tempo para terminar, mas terminei e é isso que importa.

Not what I expected. I wanted an actual history of perfume- how it was made, how it reflected society, how it differed in different cultures, etc. This book was a disorganized mess of random quotes about alchemy, information about perfume ingredients from a mostly botany-related perspective, and recipes for making your own natural perfumes. There were also lots of snide comments about how synthetic perfumes suck, which was insulting as well as inaccurate (for instance, the author asserted that synthetic perfumes smell the same on everybody- not true!). Glad I just checked it out of the library instead of buying it!