beauty
Category=JBCC3
Category=WJJ
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
fashion
forthcoming
fragrance
scent
style
Product details
- ISBN 9780712369312
- Publication Date: 08 Oct 2026
- Publisher: British Library Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Perfume is intoxicating: a wearable scent journey, a cultural touchpoint, a piece of art and design, and a deep expression of individuality. You can be nine or ninety, tall or small, wearing simple rosewater or a rare ambergris-infused concoction and your scent will still be your own. From its ancient, ceremonial roots to the starry allure of modern celebrity fragrances, perfume has long been associated with the almost-alchemical power to transform and bewitch. Perfumes have defined what an era’s luxury, femininity, and allure smell like, while even a lingering scent of someone’s signature perfume can be enough to send our minds reeling back through our memories. Nowadays, perfume has found an active online community of connoisseurs ready to scour the earth for niche, gate-kept and unattainable scents.
In The Philosophy of Perfume, fragrance writer and journalist, Alice du Parcq, takes us on an opulent journey through the mysterious world of perfume. The book includes chapters on perfume’s history, the figures who have acted as perfume’s great muses, the psychology of scent, the obsessive search for ever-rarer ingredients, notes on dissecting scents, the most iconic bottle designs and how to find your perfect scent.
Alice du Parcq is a multi-award-winning fragrance writer and journalist published in leading media titles, including Vogue, Glamour, Sunday Times Style and The Telegraph. She also works as a perfume presenter, public speaker and host. She has built a loyal following of 30,000 perfume lovers across Instagram and Substack, sharing fragrance knowledge and insight. Since 2021 she has run ‘Desert Island Spritz’, an Instagram Live Show discussing favourite perfumes with guest experts and celebrities.
