Elevated Classics

The artists behind Chanel No. 5, Shalimar, Miss Dior, Diorissimo, Aromatics Elixir and other fragrances that shaped modern perfumery Perfume history tends to remember the house. We say Chanel created No. 5. Guerlain created Shalimar. Dior created Miss Dior. Caron created Tabac Blond. The language is convenient, but incomplete. A…

After iris, violet and tuberose, jasmine is probably my favorite flower in perfumery. It is also one of the least predictable. Jasmine can smell green and airy, creamy and voluptuous, honeyed, fruity or almost animalic. It can be polished, but it is never entirely well-behaved. Even at its most elegant,…

I first came across Astrophil & Stella at the Whiff Shop in Easton. I bought Shanghai 1930 and immediately became curious about the rest of the collection. The house works with major perfumers, including Nathalie Feisthauer, Bertrand Duchaufour, Luca Maffei and Chris Maurice, yet the company itself remains strangely difficult…

Earlier this year, while I was in New York doing one of my perfume crawls, I walked into the Granado store in Soho and immediately felt the need to take out my camera. The store has that effect. It is almost too charming to resist, like a Disney gift shop…