Essence and Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume

I like the book, it contains a lot of information. the historical part is weaved with practical information and told in a somewhat poetic way. A lot of quoting, in my personal case, this poetic style makes it a little dense to read. I do like the book and will highly recommend it, but is not just a practical go to the point book. Which is neither good, nor bad. There are some formulas and instructions on what is important if you are just starting into the world of natural fragrances, which is my case.

Its a fascinating read. It is amazingly comprehensive and very well written. Its the best book written about natural perfume, bar none. It awakens you to ancient artform which was almost lost. Aftel did us a great service resurrecting it.

This little book is my perfume bible. I am taking Mandy Aftel’s perfume course and this is definitely one of my favorite reference books. Her information on history and love of the beautiful essences is contagious.

I thought there would be more information about actually creating fragrances - most of the book is a narrative history, which I very much enjoyed.

Some reviewers seem to have wanted a recipe book. This book is so much more. You'll get basic how to information, but more importantly you'll get context to understand why and how scents work. The result will be to enable you to make creative decisions on your own. I loved this book and I'm going to read it again, and return frequently to passages i highlighted the first time through.

A delightful read, once again! Worth taking the time to experience, not only for the reminders and revisits but for the updated section on composition filled with concepts and guidance that you can’t find elsewhere!

A great book if you want to be inspired, convinced perfumery is a worthwhile thing, or provided with a teeny bit of instruction for getting started. Not nearly enough technical info to make me feel ready to buy several hundred dollars of starter oils and begin blending. The book is disorganized with an abundance of oddly pieced together history, and fantastical creative writing. Beautiful but not very helpful for making beautiful things. I got one page of "how to get started" notes from the whole book.

Wonderful resource with some really good info. However, this should not be the only book you read if you've seriously considered creating scents for personal use or sale. Explore this fascinating world of mystery, beauty and imagination with voracious interest and near-clinical study, and you will be able to find resources that help you achieve gorgeous creations in no time!

Aftel’s book is a delight, to all who might be interested in perfumery, the mysteries of olfaction, and, particularly how psyche and aroma connect. Her book is far from a leaf through, light on substance pretty picture coffee table book. Instead, dense and engagingly written text, lightened and deepened by beautiful line drawings – which are actually so much more satisfying (for this reader) than the usual photographer and bottles of perfume artfully arranged number. There is something enormously pleasing about the original slow work involved in making, for example, botanical line drawings, woodcuts and the like, which are then here reproduced. Aftel is a fascinating writer, too. Originally a psychotherapist she brings that listening delight to teasing out the useful story of ‘the other’ the uncovering of hidden meaning, to the way she sees her present vocation – perfumer. And, her interest is in natural perfumes, rather than those of novel synthesised chemistry created in a lab. Those of us who are pulled, for many reasons, by perfume using plants, know that this is slow, reflective perfumery. At its best we are drawn into a realisation of the complexity of growing the plants, of extractions to yield their aromatics, of a weight of history behind them And Aftel brings all this along with her in her book, connecting ‘’Per fumem” to its original, sacred roots, and the making of perfume from extracting essential oils from plants to an original pairing with alchemy. Along the way as well as philosophical, psychological and historical reflections, there is much practical information for the budding kitchen perfumer, including methods, aromatic suggestions, information about what will harmoniously marry with what, and what might connect with interesting, piquant oppositions. This is a book to enjoyably read and re-read – not to mention, embark on given formulations and sail out on one’s own to assay others. The book concludes with a list of potential suppliers, though as this was originally published in 2001 I note some of the listed suppliers have long disembarked from their perfumed barges and vanished into the wild blue yonder, There is also an extensive bibliography and reference section, to take the eager reader onwards into further aromatic journeys, be these deeper into an exploration of alchemy, or neurobiology and olfaction, or, even weighty tomes exploring the history and design of perfume bottles! This is very much a deep, broad, wide read on the subject, but beckoning the lured reader on to further exploration

Elaborate alchemical and historical explanation with good advice for beginners

Je recommande ce livre aux débutants qui souhaitent se lancer dans la création de parfums faits maison (à partir d'huiles essentielles et d'absolus de plantes). L'auteur détaille bien les étapes pour se lancer, la classification des essences, etc. Simple et accessible, ce livre m'a beaucoup aidé pour créer mes premiers parfums. Je pense qu'il peut aussi intéresser les "parfumeurs confirmés" car l'auteur partage sa vision et son savoir faire, elle détaille bien chaque essence. Seul petit bémol : le livre inclue peu de recettes de parfums (ce qui est quand même bien pratique pour se lancer !) Conclusion : je recommande chaleureusement cet ouvrage.

A Mandy escreve lindamente sobre Perfumaria. O livro é inspirador, sem deixar de lado informações técnicas importantes.

Quienes venden libros no se consideran obligados a mencionar que los imprimen bajo demanda. El resultado no es un libro sino un taco de papeles con calidad de fotocopias, que están pegados a un cartón que llega deformado. No lo voy a tirar a la basura, pero este tipo de engaños no son admisibles. CALIDAD PÉSIMA.