Essence and Alchemy: A Book of Perfume
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.16 (553 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0865475539 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 272 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2018-02-07 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"An overview of perfume, but somewhat unfocused" according to Raine Daye. This book was an entertaining read, but it was hardly a good historical account of perfumery. It did have a brief overview at the beginning of the book, but it quickly goes into a collection of quotes and historical quirks about perfume. I think that the "alchemy" part of the book where the author repeatedly ties perfume making to the thought processes of alchemists gets old fast. While alchemical processes did play a part in perfume's beginning the parallels she draws seem to be more of her own making.I think this book also didn't quite live up to my ex. "sensuous" according to glouise. With an increased intrest in essential oils and scents I have of late, been reading books on these subjects. I should actually say, flipping through books on the subject. Most are not very interesting and read like dry textbooks. Mandy Aftel's work is the first book that has been so inviting and full of information that I have actually read it from start to finish. Aftel pulls the reader into the sensual world of scent. Her beautifully writen treatise is a joy to read (better than many novels I have picked up lately). In her book, Mandy Aftel opens up th. "Fascinating! Delightful!" according to Harold D. Doublename. Essence & Alchemy was a really wonderful adventure in reading. From the history of perfume to the process, old and new, involved in extracting essences, to the follow-along steps to creating your own perfume, I found this book to be entertaining and informative from the first page to the last. The comparison between perfumery and alchemy was insightful. The illustrations were charming and fun. I learned a lot and was engaged the whole way through! Highly recommended to any fan of unusual nonfiction subjects.
Agent, Peter Matson. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.. From Publishers Weekly To this most extraordinary treatise on the history and making of perfume, Aftel, a writer and aroma designer, brings sheer delight in the bouquet of aromas in the natural world, as well as a "love for arcana" and an irreverent sensibility that embraces "little-acknowledged" aphrodisiacs like the smell of sweat. Smell is one of the most primal senses: even newborns orient first toward the smell of their mothers' milk. Aftel provides some sample formulas and concludes with a roundup of romantic, bathing and spiritual uses of perfumes. After this seductive introduction, she shifts into the how-to mode, discussing the actual making of a scent, a process of selecting certain "base notes," adding "heart notes" and finally the "top chords." Her emphasis is on
Perfume has helped them to pray, to heal, and to make love. An artisan perfumer reveals a lost art and its mysterious, sensual history.For centuries, people have taken what seems to be an instinctive pleasure in rubbing scents into their skin. And as long as there has been perfume, there have been perfumers, or rather the priests, shamans, and apothecaries who were their predecessors. Along the way, she imparts instruction in the art of perfume compositions, complete with recipes, guiding the reader in a process of transformation of materials that continues to follow the alchemical dictum solve et coagula (dissolve and combine) and is itself aesthetically and spiritually transforming.. Essence and Alchemy resurrects the social and metaphysical legacy that is entwined with the evolution of perfumery, from the dramas of the spice trade to the quests of the alchemists to whom today's perfumers owe a philosophical as well as a practical debt. Yet, in many ways, perfumery is a lost art, its creative and sensual possibilities eclipsed by the synthetic ingredients of which contemporary perfumes are composed, which have none of the subtlety and complexity of essences derived from natural substances, nor their lush histories. Mandy Aftel tracks scent through the boudoir and the bath and into the sanctums of worship, offering insights on the relationship of scent to sex, solitude, an