Which one book on frags would you recommend for a person just learning frags?

[southerngardens]

I have seen a plethera of books on fragances, but I prefer to learn the basics and work my way up even in choosing the right frag book. What is the one you would recommend I start with?

[hednic]

I personally like Perfumes The A-Z Guide by Turin

[AZsmells]

Essence and Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume by Mandy Aftel

[Bigsly]

I think the frag blogs today are better than any one book by far, but "Perfumes: The Guide" is cheap and has some good info.

[30 Roses]

A blogger ("Persolaise") who also writes for Basenotes has written a basic sort of guide book called Le Snob: Perfume, which is part of the Le Snob series. It's being published this month:

Basenotes article about it:
http://www.basenotes.net/content/127...-Dariush-Alavi

On Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Snob-Perfume-L.../dp/1742704689

His blog post about it:
http://persolaise.blogspot.co.uk/p/le-snob-perfume.html


Turin & Sanchez's Perfumes: The A-Z Guide is informative and an entertaining read, even if one doesn't agree with all their opinions on the perfumes.

On Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Perfumes-The-G.../dp/0143115014

Their more recent book, The Little Book of Perfumes: The Hundred Classics, updates reviews. I have not read this one, but understand a number of perfumes formerly praised were downgraded due to reformulations.

Review of this book:
http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.com/20...rin-tania.html

On Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Pe.../dp/0670023108

[Jack Hunter]

I personally like Perfumes The A-Z Guide by Turin

+1.....

[cacio]

A big Turin Sanchez fan here too. A comprehensive, funny, and opinionated list of reviews (with whom I am in agreement most of the times). Be aware that the reviews are fore pre-2010 perfume formulations, and in 2010 there were several reformulations due to restrictions, so that not all frags are as good anymore as they appear in the book (and in fact, they have a follow-up 2011 book on the top frags, where many of them are downgraded)

Roja Dove Essence of perfumes is more general intro for beginners. It has some reviews, which are nowhere near as informative as Turin's, but it has also general chapters on the history of perfumes which are useful.

cacio

[Greek Trojan]

I personally like Perfumes The A-Z Guide by Turin

Just a warning, despite what the authors claim, their opinions on fragrances are very much biased (its clear they have a heavy preference to "classic" style scents based on memories, though they explicitly state they don't do that). I'd hate for you to discount a ton of great fragrances because of a rating (personally bn reviews are much more insightful and accurate).

[Kaern]

I personally like Perfumes The A-Z Guide by Turin

For all it's faults and inconsistencies. The chapters before the reviews are illuminating.

[dollars&scents]

Perfume: The Art and Science of Scent by Cathy Newman is a good book for beginners.

I found Perfumes - The Guide by Luca Turin & Tania Sanchez informative; however, the crassness and subjective opinions, which comprise a majority of the writing, leave much to be desired.

[calilove]

Perfumes The A-Z Guide by Turin

[Diamondflame]

I recommend ( cacio beat me to it):
The Essence of Perfume by Roja Dove.
An excellent coffee table book which gives not just the basics of note appreciation, but also traces the development of the fragrance industry and showcases quite a number of classic perfumes with some nice pictures thrown in for good measure.

It's definitely more accessible though it's not half as much fun as Turin & Sanchez's tongue-in-cheek A-Z Guide.

[iodine]

Essence and Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume by Mandy Aftel

This

+
The first chapters of Turin's The Secret of Scent, for a good overview on fragrances in general

+
Denyse Beaulieu's The Perfume Lover- very personal, but also very well informed and with a deep insight in the process of perfume making

[alfarom]

Turin/Sanchez, no doubts. Fragrances are very subjective and meant to be so.

[Ken_Russell]

Not as much a book, but far more the series of fragrance articles signed by Turin. They might seem rather elitist, nerdy, twisted humorous, exclusive etc. at first, but once one gets used to this man's style, I think there is so much in terms of sheer facts, combined with constructive criticism/constructive assessment, wit and a tremendous sens of stylishness and still not losing the focus on pretty much almost any given scent.

[pgcd]

Definitely Turin/Sanchez. I LMAO'd several times and, while I really don't agree with around 1/2 of the ratings, I believe it's incredibly informative.