We often talk about possessing a "sixth sense"--an inexplicable intuition about certain people or situations that later proves to be correct. What if new evidence showed that the sixth sense wasn't so inexplicable after all?Pheromones--a form of chemical communication--have been long known to exist in the animal kingdom, and are one of the strongest forces guiding behavior. Only recently has science discovered the importance of human pheromones, silent messengers providing unconscious clues about the people we come in contact with--from information about our heredity and temperament to our sexual availability.Now, a team of leading pheromone researchers and scientific journalists reveal the primal secrets of our "sixth sense"--how and why it evolved, its effect on our daily lives, and its possible uses in altering mood and behavior. This entertaining book will help you understand your own senses, your reactions to everyday situations, and how to harness the power of this sense to fulfill your total potential.

This is the story of a genius and a fraud. For more than half a century, Olivier Creed, heir to a French fashion empire but out to conquer an adjacent field by himself, created the most compelling and costly perfumes in the world - scents so successful - artistically and commercially - that the world's largest asset manager bought his small olfactory enterprise for nearly $1 billion in 2020. One could arguably have called him the world's most capable perfumer. Except Olivier Creed never authored the scents for which he has long received acclaim and lucre. Gabe Oppenheim reveals the heretofore untold story behind this supposed-cologne colossus of a man - and the eponymous company that became a social media sensation: That scents were authored by someone else entirely - a brilliant ghostwriter - a hidden, scholarly figure with a great passion for Proust and an unfortunate tendency to doubt the quality of his own compositions. How these two figures met and the arrangement was struck - how they circled each other warily for the next 40 years - how lies, told often enough, became truths - Gabe Oppenheim examines as he journeys into the heart of an industry mystifying and fanciful, enormous and intimate, sensuous and yet so-damn-insubstantial. It's an expedition that takes him to a Creed shop in Dubai and the castle in Normandy where the Ghost resides, having left behind a Parisian world that, in some sense, never acknowledged him. And yet, he's a legend in a certain section of the scented demimonde for a few achievements so innovative he wouldn't yield them even to a charismatic manipulator. Oppenheim explores issues of attribution and artistry, credit and craftsmanship, ingenuity and disingenuousness. "The Ghost Perfumer" is the story of a genius and a fraud. And perhaps the greatest con in the history of luxury retail.

Shiela Pickles gathers her favorite literary reflections on this timeless theme--from the childhood loves of Dickens to the tempestuous passions of Lord Byron--and includes classic amorous paintings from Renaissance and 19th-century masters. The book is scented with Penhaligon's perfume, Elizabethan Rose.

An exuberant and enlightening adventure into releasing old, obstructed energy, the creation of herbal incense is the focus of this complete compilation of energy work and healing techniques. Beginning with the preparation of herbs and essential oils, from purchasing or growing to drying and storing, each individual recipe offers step-by-step instructions for mixing, energetically charging, labeling, and using. The concoctions are supported by meditations, candle work, breath work, and creative visualization techniques to facilitate the purging of stale energy, including guided work for the release and healing of personal issues, such as financial burdens, relationship issues, and grief over departed loved ones. The practical spiritual transformation that can take place is further enhanced by effective journaling exercises for writers of all skill sets, including explicit questions posed to promote self-dialogue. Herbs, oil, chakras, and candle colors are all extensively cross-referenced.

This lively, accessible book is the first to explore Victorian literature through scent and perfume, presenting an extensive range of well-known and unfamiliar texts in intriguing and imaginative new ways that make us re-think literature's relation with the senses. Concentrating on aesthetic and decadent authors, Scents and Sensibility introduces a rich selection of poems, essays, and fiction, exploring these texts with reference to both the little-known cultural history of perfume use and the appreciation of natural fragrance in Victorian Britain. It shows how scent and perfume are used to convey not merely moods and atmospheres but the nuances of the aesthete or decadent's carefully cultivated identity, personality, or sensibility. A key theme is the emergence of the olfactif, the cultivated individual with a refined sense of smell, influentially represented by the poet and critic Algernon Charles Swinburne, who is emulated by a host of canonical and less well-known aesthetic and decadent successors such as Walter Pater, Edmund Gosse, John Addington Symonds, Lafcadio Hearn, Michael Field, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Symons, Mark André Raffalovich, Theodore Wratislaw, and A. Mary F. Robinson. This book explores how scent and perfume pervade the work of these authors in many different ways, signifying such diverse things as style, atmosphere, influence, sexuality, sensibility, spirituality, refinement, individuality, the expression of love and poetic creativity, and the aura of personality, dandyism, modernity, and memory. A coda explores the contrasting twentieth-century responses of Virginia Woolf and Compton Mackenzie to the scent of Victorian literature.

'An authoritative guide from two experts who really know their way around scent' – FUNMI FETTO The Perfume Companion is a beautifully illustrated compendium of almost 500 recommended scents, designed to help you pick out your next favourite fragrance. Perfumes have the power to evoke treasured memories, make us feel fabulous and help us express our best self. But with so many out there, how do you choose something new? When the scents in the perfume shop are merging into one aromatic haze, how do you remain focused? And if your favourite scent goes out of stock, how do you replace it? The Perfume Companion is here to help. Sarah McCartney and Samantha Scriven deliver a host of scents for you to try – including bargain finds and luxury treasures, iconic stalwarts and indie newcomers, the lightest florals and the deepest leathers. With insider information about how perfumes are really made, discover hundreds of new fragrances and find the scents to share your own memories with. This is the perfect companion for your scented adventures.

The Perfume Lover is a candid personal account of the process of composing a fragrance, filled with sensual scent descriptions, sexy tidbits, and historical vignettes. What if the most beautiful night in your life inspired a perfume? When Denyse Beaulieu was growing up near Montreal, perfume was forbidden in her house, spurring a childhood curiosity that became an intellectual and sensual passion. It is this passion she pursued all the way to Paris, where she now lives, and which led her to become a respected fragrance writer. But little did she know that it would also lead her to achieve a perfume lover's wildest dream: When Denyse tells famous perfumer Betrand Duchaufour at L'Artisan Parfumeur of a sensual night spent in Seville under a blossoming orange tree, wrapped in the arms of a beautiful man, the story stirs his imagination and together they create a scent that captures the essence of that night. As their unique creative collaboration unfolds, the perfume-in-progress conjures intimate memories, leading Beaulieu to make sense of her life through scents. Throughout the book, she weaves the evocative history of perfumery into her personal journey, in an intensely passionate voice: the masters and the masterpieces, the myths and the myth-busting, down to the molecular mysteries that weld our flesh to flowers. Now, just to set your nostrils aquiver: Séville à l'aube is an orange blossom oriental with zesty, green and balsamic effects, with notes of petitgrain, petitgrain citronnier, orange blossom, beeswax, incense, and lavender, and is now available at fragrance outlets in the U.S.

Bestselling brand P.F. Candle Co. offers a modern, “so-easy-you-will-be-tempted-to-try-it” introduction to enhancing your home with fragrance and making your own custom scents and candles Candles have evolved in both function and style over the years. Gone are the days of overpowering, artificial scents: The focus on subtle, complementary fragrances is here to stay. P.F. Candle Co. has been leading this charge for more than a decade, amassing a huge following, and now they want to share all that they’ve learned in their first book. Equal parts design and DIY, At Home with Fragrance will teach you which fragrances work best for each room, how to interpret your distinct design style into fragrance, and (the best part!) how to make candles, room sprays, and incense with your own custom scents. The design and fragrances featured in this book are inspired by the authors’ home state of California: organic and relaxed elements, as well as scents drawn from nature, are the hallmarks of P.F.’s design ethos. Scent is the perfect way to express your unique design sense—and the art of making your own fragrances and candles offers an affordable DIY approach. Filled with tips and recipes for room sprays, incense, candles, and more, the book unlocks the secrets of P.F.’s hallmark style—creating atmosphere with candles and scent—and helps readers make it their own.

Read The Case Against Fragrance and you will never think about fragrance in the same way again. If you have been suffering fragrance in silence, you will know you are not alone.’ Conversation Kate Grenville had always associated perfume with elegance and beauty. Then the headaches started. Like perhaps a quarter of the population, Grenville reacts badly to the artificial fragrances around us: other people’s perfumes, and all those scented cosmetics, cleaning products and air fresheners. On a book tour in 2015, dogged by ill health, she started wondering: what’s in fragrance? Who tests it for safety? What does it do to people? The more Grenville investigated, the more she felt this was a story that should be told. The chemicals in fragrance can be linked not only to short-term problems like headaches and asthma, but to long-term ones like hormone disruption and cancer. Yet products can be released onto the market without testing. They’re regulated only by the same people who make and sell them. And the ingredients don’t even have to be named on the label. This book is based on careful research into the science of scent and the power of the fragrance industry. But, as you’d expect from an acclaimed novelist, it’s also accessible and personal. The Case Against Fragrance will make you see—and smell—the world differently. When I was little, my mother had a tiny, precious bottle of perfume on her dressing-table and on special occasions she’d put a dab behind her ears. The smell of Arpege was always linked in my mind with excitement and pleasure–Mum with her hair done, wearing her best dress and her pearls, off for a night out with Dad. When I got old enough to have my own special occasions I also had my favourite perfume. I loved the bottles: those sensuous shapes. I loved the names and the labels, so evocative of all things glamorous. Kate Grenville is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers. Her bestselling novel The Secret River received the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award. The Idea of Perfection won the Orange Prize. Grenville’s other novels include Sarah Thornhill, The Lieutenant, Lilian’s Story, Dark Places and Joan Makes History. Kate lives in Sydney and her most recent works are the non-fiction books One Life: My Mother’s Story and The Case Against Fragrance. ‘One spritz of aftershave or perfume can leave other people retching and clutching their heads—you never see that in the ads.’ Kaz Cooke ‘Beginning with her own physical reaction to fragrance that begins with a headache a lot of us know ourselves, she investigates the fragrance industry and its side-effects and interweaves these facts with the personal to create an accessible work of non-fiction.’ ArtsHub ‘Fact-dense and extensively referenced, the book is a delight to read and never gets bogged down...While some of the science has been simplified, the book generally conveys the sense of it correctly...Well developed and thoughtful. Read The Case Against Fragrance and you will never think about fragrance in the same way again. If you have been suffering fragrance in silence, you will know you are not alone.’ Conversation ‘Grenville sets out to unlock the dark science—the volatile compounds, conspiracies and carcinogens—hiding in perfume, the ingredients of which are regularly listed as alcohol, water and the mysterious catch-all “fragrance”.’ New Statesman ‘In this appealingly written exploration, Kate uncovers the dark side of the fragrance industry, from the carcinogens in after-shave to the hormone disruptors in perfume that mimic oestrogen.’ Child ‘An insightful and frightening book.’ Readings ‘Readable, interesting and informative.’ Big Book Club ‘Grenville expresses hope though that our society will find solutions to the fragrant violation of personal space based on courtesy and civility rather than on regulation and policy.’ Australian Book Review ‘You may be familiar with Australian novelist Kate Grenville’s work but she enters new territory here. After exposure to perfumes and scents delivered ill-health her way, Grenville got curious as to why...The result is a fascinating (and worrying) exposé of the potentially damaging health effects of fragrances and the laxity of their regulation. Grenville digs into the science of scent as well as the intrigue of a multi-billion-dollar industry and makes it beautifully accessible in the process.’ WellBeing ‘The Orange Prize-winning novelist’s discovery that she reacts badly to the artificial fragrances all around us led her to investigate what is in fragrances, what it does to people and whether it is properly tested for safety...The result is this accessible and personal book on the science of fragrance’ Bookseller ‘[Grenville] raises valuable questions about the potentially harmful chemicals surrounding us every day and why we so unabashedly live in ignorance of them.’ Reader’s Digest UK, Best New Books to Read This Summer ‘In some places, though, the danger [of fragrance] is beginning to be taken as seriously as passive smoking 30 years ago...it sounds silly, until you read Kate Grenville’s explosive exposé and wonder why no one ever told you this stuff before.’ Mail on Sunday ‘An accessible, intelligent, seriously researched—and terrifying—book’ Daily Mail UK