Was recently happy to learn that Luca Turin is blogging again. For those unfamiliar, Turin is a fragrance critic and biophysicist. His book Perfumes is widely cited as an authority on fragrance blogs and boards, and with its 1,500 reviews, it’s perhaps the best contemporary reference guide. If you’ve ever wanted to get into the world of fragrances, just pick up a copy and buy some samples at The Perfumed Court or Surrender to Chance.
Turin’s new blog is about niche houses, which is a term for the kind of small perfumery companies you won’t find at your local mall. Niche houses are sometimes exciting because they’re a little more experimental. However, with the high price of bottles and little online information, it’s often hard to go in on blind buy. Turin’s new blog will essentially be about niche fragrances he loves – written at his own pace, but with the kind of well-informed opinion and good sense of taste he’s known for.
If you’re interested in fragrances, and just starting out, you may also want to check out the two guides Claire Vukcevic recently wrote for Basenotes. She has one on the top ten designer and niche fragrances every beginner should try (again, you can get samples online – just opt for the atomizers, as they’re a lot more useful than vials). I also wrote a barebones guide to basic terms such as topnotes and basenotes a couple of years ago, which you can check out here.
