Guides

  • The olfactory rules of long-haul flights

    I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of guides on how to survive long flights. Here’s my olfactory guide.

  • Scents that don’t attract

    Not all fashion is designed to attract. Maybe you’re making a statement, trying to blend in, or simply maximising comfort. The difference in style between Billie Holiday and Billie Eilish, Jane Fonda and Jane Goodall, John Wayne and John Boyega, Jamie Oliver and Jamie Lee Curtis, make it clear that the reasons we have for…

  • Forcing memories

    Intentionally or accidentally, do you wear a particular fragrance for a specific place or person? I like to stick to one perfume when on a holiday so when I pick it up in the months and years afterwards it brings back memories in a strangely automatic way. But nothing is the same as the unknown…

  • Boring cuisine

    Your senses of taste and smell are so intricately tied together that a scent can make you salivate, while your favourite dish can taste bland with a blocked nose. If you’ve been to my home, you’d know I love to add ingredients not just for your tongue but for your nose. An extra dash of…

  • Picasso’s matchstick

    Are an artist’s materials more important than the hand guiding the brush? In perfumery, much has been said over the decades about quality (and expense) of raw materials – tuberose, orris, oud, and the like – but the artists behind these creations still don’t receive half the recognition of their fine art equivalents. Imagine a…

  • The mile-high perfume club

    Should you wear perfume on a plane? Just because you bought something at duty free doesn’t mean you should reek of it when you step onto the aircraft. Be considerate of those around you and only apply the fragrance if it’s subtle and no one is likely to be inconvenienced by it.