Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent

So far, I like this. Nice little history. Good perspective by the author.

This book is pure elegance — much like Jean-Claude Ellena’s fragrances. Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent feels less like a technical manual and more like a poetic conversation with someone who truly understands the art of scent. Ellena writes with precision, restraint, and grace, revealing how emotion, memory, and minimalism shape the perfumes he creates. Even if you’re not a perfumer, his insights into creativity and sensory awareness are fascinating. A must-read for anyone who loves fragrance, artistry, or the quiet genius of turning air into emotion.

It's a strange kind of subject. In fact, it would never occur to me that there's enough of a history of perfume to make a book, but I was quite wrong. There's a lot of back story and Ellena give it all in his book. Since fragrance is his business, Ellena also gives you a sense of how the perfume industry works. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in business, because Ellena's discussion on the creative process gives a sense of how products are created. The weakness is in the writing. Ellena is not a skilled writer, and it shows. Yet he did keep and hold my interest. However, a bit more skill at laying out the story would turned this into a great book. Still, it was worth reading and I would reccomend it.

I am not the best reader but this book truly got my attention, the way it is written, it’s easy to ready - it is light and educative, I personally enjoyed everything including the perfumer of course and his perspective, it inspired me a lot and I would read it again. I like that the book was not too long and he didn’t try to drag information like many writers do to sell big book.

I believe many of the negative reviews for this book are due to a misunderstanding of its purpose. Jean-Claude Ellena is sharing his vision with us. He is letting us into his creative process, so that we might see what being a perfumer means to him. It is like Monet sharing his methods and the thinking processes he uses with us. any artist knows that true art is more than technique.. Understanding that perfumery is not merely technical, but art...art with the intangible, is what is being premised. There is much to learn here. I also believe that this was written in a humble manner. No where did I see arrogance of a preference for all things French. Many of the classic perfumes he mentions here are French...try to name some early classic perfumes that are not. It is a lovely, lyrical book. Other than the charts not showing properly on the Kindle version I bought, it is well translated and I didn't really notice any editing problems. If you are looking for dirt and gossip about the world of perfume, this is not a book for you. If you want to see into the mind of one of the world's greatest perfumers, buy it. You won't be disappointed!

This book is a must have for anyone working with scents. It explains how to create, not what to create. In other words, there are no ready made formulations. The insights will help you understand how to create a signature scent. I had several "a ha" moments. Well get the book, you'll see. Oh one more thing, the book explains how to get to know your inventory.

Good book about perfume's world. I only give three stars because my book arrived damaged (back cover), and the replacement also arrived damaged (front and back cover). Keep it in mind if you are a collector or you expect that your new book arrives in pristine condition, this is not the case. I will keep the less damaged one ;/

A great book on how the author got his start in perfumery and a good breakdown on how he came up with the ideas of some of his most popular fragrances. I've read some of the other reviews that I guess expected a book on how to start making perfume but that's not possible in a relatively short book especially when you are looking into using synthetics along with naturally derived ingredients. It's not a science book it's an artist explaining his own process. Near the end of the book he devotes a few chapters explaining how a finished product makes it to your local department store shelf which is also pretty fascinating. If you are looking for a "How to make perfume" book this isn't it but its an amazing book regardless.

Eminently readable, informative and very interesting. Every thing you want to know about the art of creating the most elusive of our senses .... divine perfume.

Excelente libro, se nota que lo hizo un perfumista consolidado y con experiencia. Aporta buenos datos, al contar su experiencia lo hace de la mejor manera, hasta te lo imaginas. Gran libro para quienes están empezando en la perfumería y buscan saber el mundo que lo envuelve. No es muy práctico pero aún así, vale mucho la pena.

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Great book.

Smells lovely