43 thoughts on ““Perfume Is Such An Irrelevant Thing” – An Audience With Luca Turin At The Perfume Society [part 1]

    1. What did Holmes once say to Watson when the latter accused him of not showing much sympathy for a client's plight? "He doesn't come to me for sympathy," or something along those lines.

      We don't come to you for diplomacy, Dr T. We come to you for what you consistently offer: a concrete opinion, expressed with conviction.

  1. absolutely brilliant ! Thanks Persolaise. I had a damned good chuckle re Guerlain ! Still love my Guerlain though.
    Oh Mr Turin ..first class honesty and v appreciated.
    Anyway I am v happy to hear that I can believe the hype re. Chanel. I intend on trying Misia again .The first time I tried it ..it was v green on me and not that powdery violet everyone was talking about.

    1. Ah, that's a wonderful one. I think the last vulgar fragrance I loved was Kurkdjian's Absolue Pour Le Soir. Mind you, is it vulgar or dirty? Are they one and the same thing? Discuss…

    2. Persolaise … Cuir Beluga … my fave of the moment. 3 unsolicited compliments in 3 weeks and I am on bottle no 2 !

    3. Persolaise ..not at all. I love Guerlain!! CB is v quiet I agree …. I have Amarige ..it is radioactive stuff ( love it though ) ..bought it when I was jet lagged in Singapore ;D

  2. So interesting! I was gulping this interview down like a piece of cake. I like his stories very much and I'm looking forward to the second part. Thank you very much.

  3. I love this man – political correctness be damned! If I'm smelling vulgar or dirty when I wear any of my Guerlains then more power to me! Thanks for this great post and I look forward to the next installment!

  4. that was such a fun read.i wish his book lived in real book land..i like to hold things : )can't wait for part 2..thanking you kindly.

    1. that is great news : ) i think i will try to get my local library to buy it..i have been slowly getting them to build up there perfume section.

    1. And my beloved S-ex for S-Perfumes! (Two five-stars fragrances, according to Mr. Turin, so I'm sure LT was either being flippant, or perhaps, referring to Laudamiel during his early period.)

  5. Just checked on the databases and it turns out he has done a mere 57, so my apologies. Speak in haste, repent at leisure. I must add that some of the frags, or more exactly fragrance sketches, included in the "Perfume" movie box illustrate his genius beautifully. The accord of Salon Rouge is the only fragrance I have ever smelled that actually scared me.

    1. Let's not forget his work for Humiecki and Graef too. Skarb and Multiple rouge in particular are something to behold.

  6. Ah, you answered, Dr. Turin… and it is you. It will teach me to not scan responses hastily, as I misread and thought your initial comment was from (frangrance blogger) Lucas. Thanks for your clarification. The interview was wonderful and I'm really looking forward to Part 2.

  7. I can't agree more with Mr. Turin about Christophe Laudamiel. I've tried most of his work for Humiecki&Graef and this is really amazing perfumery, totally modern accords, completely new aromas, fascinating, astonishing and at the same time so wearable! I wish F.Malle gave him a job for his line. 🙂

  8. Ha, I love this interview! But I have a question! What is it about Guerlain frags that are considered "vulgar" ? And why would Caron be for the wife, and not the mistress? I have some Narcisse Noir that makes me just as happy as L'H B, and it smells so much sexier to me, and a bit dirty.

    1. Larkin, thanks for your comment. I'm sure there are plenty of mistress-worthy Carons out there. Don't forget, this was just the view of one landlady 🙂

      Personally, I've always liked the idea of a wife who smells like a mistress…

  9. I really mean my question though! I know that it was a cultural idiom that Guerlain was for the mistress, Caron for the wife… indicating that Caron is more… proper? staid? boring? classy? I don't understand this idea's Why, and would love some opinion and elaboration on it! 🙂

    (love your blog!)

    1. Larkin, first of all, thanks very much indeed for your kind words about my blog.

      If Luca is still reading these comments, he might want to elaborate on his landlady's assertions. But my view is that this may be a case of a transitory opinion somehow becoming preserved in aspic.

      If you go through Caron's back catalogue, you'll find a few scandalous and near-scandalous creations. If you have a peek at Guerlain's, you'll come across a significant number of dainty wallflowers. But maybe, at a time when the opinion-formers were doing their thing, Caron was seen as the classier of the two outfits… and the tag stuck.

      Soon after Guerlain released Shalimar (which really did ruffle a few well-groomed feathers) Caron gave us Bellodgia. Was that seen as a classy composition, especially in relation to the Guerlain? I don't know.

      Mind you, the whole classy/slutty debate is a sinkhole of subjectivity. For instance, where do you stand on Joan Collins, circa Dynasty? She was seen as the epitome of class by some people 🙂

I love hearing from my readers, so please feel free to write a comment or ask a question.