Book description
'Why couldn't I be a perfumer's muse? I've come such a long way in the
realm of scent. In fact, I was never really meant to poke my nose into
it …'
The Perfume Lover by Denyse Beaulieu is an intimate journey into the
mystery of scent.
What if the most beautiful night in your life inspired a fragrance?
Denyse Beaulieu is a respected fragrance writer; it is her world, her
love, her life. When she was growing up, perfume was forbidden in her
house, spurring a childhood curiosity that went on to become an
intellectual and sensual passion.
It is this passion she pursued all the way to Paris, where she now
lives, and entered the secretive world of the perfume industry. But
little did she know that it would lead her to achieve a fragrance
lover's wildest dream …
When Denyse tells a famous perfumer of a sensual night spent in Seville
under an orange tree in full blossom, wrapped in the arms of a beautiful
young man, the story stirs his imagination and together they create a
scent that captures the essence of that night. This is the story of that perfume.
As the unique creative collaboration unfolds, the perfume-in-progress
conjures intimate memories, leading Beaulieu to make sense of her life
through scents. Throughout, she weaves the evocative history of
perfumery into her personal journey, in an intensely passionate voice:
the masters and the masterpieces; the myths and the myth-busting, down
to the molecular mysteries that weld our flesh to flowers…
The Perfume Lover is an unprecedented account of the creative process
that goes into composing a fragrance, and a uniquely candid insider's
view into the world and history of fragrance.
Your world will never smell the same. “Femme fatale Denyse Beaulieu
undresses the art of perfumery with a sensual, scintillating striptease.”
Laren Stover, author of THE BOMBSHELL MANUAL OF STYLE
“A uniquely personal-even intimate-story of a love affair with perfume
and with Paris. Chatty, gossipy, and charming, THE PERFUME LOVER draws
aside the veil on the secret world of scent.”
Tilar Mazzeo, author of THE WIDOW CLICQUOT AND THE SECRET OF CHANEL NO. 5
“A gorgeous romp through the history of perfume and a personal
exploration of its role in Beaulieu's life as a woman and world class
sensualist … A thoroughly delectable and passionately intelligent read.”
Debra Ollivier, author of the bestseller WHAT FRENCH WOMEN KNOW
“Written with wit and passion, insight and elegance. I read if first
with interest and then again, for pleasure.”
Fragrances of the World Denyse Beaulieu is a Paris-based fragrance
writer and industry consultant who established herself as one of the
foremost bloggers in the field with Grain de Musc. She has learned the
principles of perfume composition with the help of some of the
profession's most prestigious noses.
Her expertise has been acknowledged by at the London College of Fashion
where she teaches an intensive “Understanding Fragrance” course and the
Société Française des Parfumeurs where she is lecturer. She was born in
Canada, where she first started as a writer by covering the punk rock
scene for local magazines, and moved to Paris 25 years ago to do her Ph.
D. at the Université Paris VII on the Marquis de Sade.
