It’s hard to believe that eleven years have passed since a perfume book was published that revolutionised the fragrance industry. Up until that point there had been magazine articles, reviews, and the world of blogger criticism was exploding, but there had never been a book that truly critiqued scent. This is where Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez came in with Perfumes: The A-Z Guide. Now in its umpteenth edition in the UK, and finally rereleased in America, it's time to revisit this legendary publication to see whether it can still claim to be, in the words of David Sexton, “nothing less than an essential possession.”
One half of the formidable duo behind Perfumes: The Guide 2018, Tania Sanchez is a writer and editor now based in Greece. After growing up in California East Bay, Tania moved to London to co-author the first perfume book, Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, with Luca Turin. Now married to the “Emperor of Scent”, and with a style that is arrow-head sharp, I wondered what we would find out about Tania’s own perfume memories during “Stephan’s Six?”
A critic, a reviewer, or an expert of any kind is never going to be able to please everybody. What one person sees as art another will see as wallpaper, what one person hears as music another will hear as white noise, and what one person smells as perfume another will smell as "pine-fresh lavatory cleaner". Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez have released their long awaited Perfumes: The Guide 2018, the follow-up to their 2008 industry-changing Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, and in the first two weeks of its release the internet has been flooded with smiles, laughter, tears and tantrums. So, what is it all about?
