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The Little Book of Perfumes: The Hundred Classics
The quintessential guide to the one hundred most glorious perfumes in the world. When Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez published The Guide in 2008, it was hailed as "ravishingly entertaining" by John Lanchester in The New Yorker, "witty and knowledgeable" on Style.com, and "provocative and hugely entertaining" by the Times Literary Supplement . The Little Book of Perfumes focuses on just one hundred masterpieces of ninety-six five-star perfumes from the original book, as well as four "museum" perfumes-legendary scents that are preserved in the Versailles Osmothèque. This stunningly produced petite volume offers lovers of perfume the best of the best-a perfect gift book for anyone looking either for a brilliant fragrance or an intelligent, witty read.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published October 27, 2011
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About the author
Luca Turin
15 books61 followersLuca Turin is a biophysicist with a long-standing interest in the sense of smell, the art of perfume, and the fragrance industry.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 29, 2017
Every buff has a list: the hundred films you must see before dying, the top three cheeseburgers in the northern hemisphere, the ten most overrated paintings, the twenty most idiotic reviews in Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, etc. What pleasurable conniptions attend the discovery that someone has ranked Hellboy II above Casablanca or thinks Let It Be trumps Revolver! In fact, probably the best reason to make such a list is the easy satisfaction it provided of infuriating so many with so little effort.
*cut to me guffawing*
It's true though. I mean, why else make a best-of list if not to piss people off? Seems like a petty hill to die on, but I've seen pettier.
If you're new to the world of perfumes, read this book after Perfumes: The Guide by the same authors. I did it backwards, so that kind of spoiled The Guide for me. But if you don't mind spoilers, read them however you like.
This book is a "short" list of all the perfumes that received 4 or 5 stars in The Guide, with added updates and commentary of new formulas and compositions.
I don't agree with Turin's or Sanchez's ratings or reviews most of the time because our individual tastes don't overlap--they think musk and spice are sexy and seductive, I think they're overrated and suffocating--but their writing is always fun to read.
January 9, 2013
Perfumery is the least-appreciated form of art, and bewilderingly so, since smell shortcuts all logic centers on its way to emotive response. These authors, Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, are the only consistent, or at least consistently intelligent, perfume critics. This book contains descriptions of their 100 favorite perfumes and is written in their typical smart, humorous style. For example, here's the opening line of their review of Vanilia by L'Artisan Parfumeur:
"There's Bad Vulgar (Louis Vuitton handbags, wood veneer in a brand-new car), there's Good Vulgar (flames painted on aircraft engine cowls, John Barry's James Bond theme), and then there's Great Vulgar: Vanilia."
This isn't a stuffy, highbrow examination of the evolution of the great perfume houses; one of the book's more interesting points is that it includes old, new, cheap, expensive, mainstream, and niche fragrances.
On a personal note, I'm pleased (and, I admit, somewhat vindicated in my scent obsession) to see that my own favorite fragrance (Ormonde Woman by Ormonde Jayne) and a fragrance I picked for Scott (Breath of God by Lush) are both included in their 100 favorites.
"There's Bad Vulgar (Louis Vuitton handbags, wood veneer in a brand-new car), there's Good Vulgar (flames painted on aircraft engine cowls, John Barry's James Bond theme), and then there's Great Vulgar: Vanilia."
This isn't a stuffy, highbrow examination of the evolution of the great perfume houses; one of the book's more interesting points is that it includes old, new, cheap, expensive, mainstream, and niche fragrances.
On a personal note, I'm pleased (and, I admit, somewhat vindicated in my scent obsession) to see that my own favorite fragrance (Ormonde Woman by Ormonde Jayne) and a fragrance I picked for Scott (Breath of God by Lush) are both included in their 100 favorites.
November 6, 2011
Most of it duplicates what's in the much more extensive The Guide, but there are a few re-takes on old entries (like TS's dissenting opinion on Sécrétions Magnifiques, which made me laugh) and updates on old favorites now reformulated (with plenty of comments on IFRA's role in those reformulations -- some for the better, most not).
I think this would be a nice gift for budding perfumistas and I'm glad I read it, but since I already have The Guide... I'm not sure I would purchase this one again, if I had to do it over again.
I think this would be a nice gift for budding perfumistas and I'm glad I read it, but since I already have The Guide... I'm not sure I would purchase this one again, if I had to do it over again.
July 15, 2015
An excellent read and guide for those interested in the perfume and fragrance knowledge.
May 13, 2021
Actual rating 3.5 stars
I have really mixed feelings about this little book. Getting into it as a total perfume novice, I really loved the author’s passion and feel like I learned a thing or two about the topic. Having never thought much about the smells wafting over from the perfume sections of the world, the level of detail and artistry definitely surprised me. But I can’t deny the fact that the language used is not always beginner-friendly or even accessible in general, and some of the descriptions were uncomfortably old-school or even outdated. On content this was 4 stars, but execution dragged it down.
I have really mixed feelings about this little book. Getting into it as a total perfume novice, I really loved the author’s passion and feel like I learned a thing or two about the topic. Having never thought much about the smells wafting over from the perfume sections of the world, the level of detail and artistry definitely surprised me. But I can’t deny the fact that the language used is not always beginner-friendly or even accessible in general, and some of the descriptions were uncomfortably old-school or even outdated. On content this was 4 stars, but execution dragged it down.
July 8, 2025
I am perfume mad and on a literary note I worship at the altar of Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez (who got married after writing a book about perfume together! Goals!) I really can’t imagine how hard it is to render smells so viscerally on the page. My desert island bedtime reading is this book/ perfumes a-z/ any of the lt/ts books that are just endless reviews of perfumes, I really eat this shit up. Perhaps the work I’m actually spending the most time reading is Turin perfume reviews
February 5, 2026
Somewhat redundant to Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, but it's handy to have the best of the best easy to look up in this slim volume. Do I want to try every single fragrance in here? Yes, yes, unfortunately, yes.
December 12, 2021
also a lot of fun! this is a revision of turin and sanchez's a-z guide with only the best perfumes listed -- a little quicker, and lovely in the way that all writing is when it's about something its author truly loves and deeply understands.
March 12, 2012
I am a confessed perfume junkie, so as soon as I saw this book advertised I snapped it up. The beauty of reading these reviews of the 100 classic perfumes is in the authors' ability to paint word-pictures of scents. The alchemy of perfume-making is something most of us will never grasp, but the descriptions in this book bring the reader as close as possible to an understanding of the experience a perfumer has with the great scents. As someone who owns far too many perfumes but has only a beginner's knowledge of the history of perfumes, I found this little volume to be a great resource. One of my favorite aspects of the book is that the authors don't only focus on the name-drop scents like Chanel No. 5 but also bring more obscure masterpieces to the reader's attention. The description of the perfume Le Temps d'une Fete by Parfums de Nicolai was so vivid and so beautiful that I immediately ordered it online - and when I sniffed it the first time, I actually exclaimed out loud because it was so stunning. If you have a love for perfume, this is a wonderful little book to add to your collection (but be aware that it's going to inspire you to go on a shopping spree!).
July 24, 2022
As always, Turin and Sanchez's reviews are as interesting as the perfumes themselves, like poems or paragraphs lifted from the best kinds of personal essays or sometimes like incredibly interesting snippets from chemistry papers. I enjoyed seeing their top 96 perfumes (the last four are "museum" perfumes that are not available for general consumption), and I really enjoyed seeing how many of them I had smelled. The answer: lots! Of course, tons of their favorites are Guerlain, so a lot of the time I was not on board. But my all time favorite, Chanel Sycomore, made the cut, so all is forgiven.
February 2, 2021
Было интересно ступить на незнакомую территорию. С духами я на Вы, поэтому для меня было важно начать с классики. Большой плюс - систематизация! Все структурировано, разделено на основную базу аромата и бонусом даже значки стоимости, чтобы хотя бы примерно понимать порядок цен. Обо всех по чуть-чуть , но я это и искала.
Выписала для себя пару ароматов, буду искать
Выписала для себя пару ароматов, буду искать
March 10, 2020
Informative and funny
Very pleasant to read, it makes you laugh while describing the variegated world of perfumery. I was able to write down many names of fragrances i definitely want to try.
Very pleasant to read, it makes you laugh while describing the variegated world of perfumery. I was able to write down many names of fragrances i definitely want to try.
June 8, 2023
Vogue-ish language, mixed with a dose of pretentiousness, arrogance and cliches. How many times can one use "morning after feeling", "unmade bed" and "unwashed body" in the same sentence in a little book of 80 pages?
January 9, 2022
These vignettes read like Stefon recommendations from SNL. « This book is riveting, shamelessly name dropping, and has everything for anyone who needs to catch up on a decade’s worth of 5th Avenue’s best advertising pitches. You can put it down whenever you like, but you’ll never pick up on it. »
April 13, 2021
If you loved Sanchez and Turin's first (and best) Perfumes book, this is a handy distillation of its Greatest Hits and a great gift. (Easy to carry for fragrance hunting excursions, too.)
Read
December 30, 2017It's a different kind of book from what I usually read, so I'm not rating it yet. Ironically enough, it's taken from a large book that had 1 to 5 star ratings for perfumes. This smaller book has the 5-star reviews. I don't know much about perfumes, but one of my hobbies is growing fragrant plants, those that are hardy enough and arguably manageable enough for a yard in southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S.A. One is 'Kazanlik,' the damask rose used to make attar of roses. I prefer the scents of other damask roses, and of several Centifolia and alba roses, not to mention some fragrant more modern roses. But I like beauty products that have relatively realistic, pleasant rose fragrances. I like some other floral scents, and some spicy scents. So I'm investigating to see what perfumes I might like.
The authors complain about many ingredients being banned or restricted by European Union laws. I can see why "nitro musks" that can cause photosensitivity and are neurotoxins were banned. And I can understand why other chemicals that can be harmful to the health were banned. I can see protecting an endangered species like musk deer. But I join the people who are skeptical about restrictions on the use of natural citrus scents and jasmine, for instance. (Admittedly, a little sambac jasmine goes a long way.)
This book was informative, and I figured out what the terms specific to the trade meant, for the most part. I discovered that there was a glossary in back when I got to the end of the book. But I understood what "indolic" meant when it was referred to in the context of certain flowers and other natural scents.
I don't think it's fair for me to judge the book on certain aspects, since I'm coming to the subject as a neophyte. But from the perspective of being familiar with floral and some spice scents, I enjoyed the descriptions. I'm reading a version of the larger book now, and finding some of the authors' descriptions of lower-starred perfumes hilarious. There are some zingers in those summaries of 1-star perfumes. The little book is more recent than the larger Perfume Guide, so the authors of this one mention reformulations more times.
Sometimes all positive is good, but I find it interesting to see what perfumes work and which ones didn't in the authors' informed opinions in the Perfume Guide. I'm not an expert, but I know I wouldn't be a fan of a "big tuberose" scent like Mr. Turin is. There are things that I can appreciate as being done well for what they are, but not for me. I liked reading the authors' expert analyses of how creations that are a blend of art and science can be wonderful.
The authors complain about many ingredients being banned or restricted by European Union laws. I can see why "nitro musks" that can cause photosensitivity and are neurotoxins were banned. And I can understand why other chemicals that can be harmful to the health were banned. I can see protecting an endangered species like musk deer. But I join the people who are skeptical about restrictions on the use of natural citrus scents and jasmine, for instance. (Admittedly, a little sambac jasmine goes a long way.)
This book was informative, and I figured out what the terms specific to the trade meant, for the most part. I discovered that there was a glossary in back when I got to the end of the book. But I understood what "indolic" meant when it was referred to in the context of certain flowers and other natural scents.
I don't think it's fair for me to judge the book on certain aspects, since I'm coming to the subject as a neophyte. But from the perspective of being familiar with floral and some spice scents, I enjoyed the descriptions. I'm reading a version of the larger book now, and finding some of the authors' descriptions of lower-starred perfumes hilarious. There are some zingers in those summaries of 1-star perfumes. The little book is more recent than the larger Perfume Guide, so the authors of this one mention reformulations more times.
Sometimes all positive is good, but I find it interesting to see what perfumes work and which ones didn't in the authors' informed opinions in the Perfume Guide. I'm not an expert, but I know I wouldn't be a fan of a "big tuberose" scent like Mr. Turin is. There are things that I can appreciate as being done well for what they are, but not for me. I liked reading the authors' expert analyses of how creations that are a blend of art and science can be wonderful.
May 23, 2012
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars
Nice compact book filled with lots of info about classic perfumes and many of which I havent heard of, which is somewhat nice. Pretty sophisticated perfume talk and language in here, but an interesting read for sure for any perfume junkie like me!
Nice compact book filled with lots of info about classic perfumes and many of which I havent heard of, which is somewhat nice. Pretty sophisticated perfume talk and language in here, but an interesting read for sure for any perfume junkie like me!
October 1, 2012
loved, very informative
January 1, 2014
I keep a copy of this on my Kindle, just in case I need to look a scent up. Haven't done that yet, but that's the idea.
August 27, 2014
A wonderful collection of perfumes within a time period. Ratings are available in excel minus the descriptions. Agreed with some ratings/assessments and ignored ones I didn't agree with.
September 7, 2015
I re-read this every few years as I acquire perfumes or smell re formulations or originals mentioned in the book. I wish all perfume writing was like this, it's so joyful and weirdly relaxing.
March 28, 2014
I have to say that this is by far MY. BEST. BOOK. BARGAIN. Eeeep I loved it!!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews