Essence and Alchemy - a Natural History of Perfume

Mandy Aftel

Gibbs Smith Publishers

2004

256 páginas

8h 32m

ISBN-13: 9781586857028

To this most extraordinary treatise on the history and making of perfume, Aftel, a writer and aroma designer, brings sheer delight in the bouquet of aromas in the natural world, as well as a "love for arcana" and an irreverent sensibility that embraces "little-acknowledged" aphrodisiacs like the smell of sweat. Smell is one of the most primal senses: even newborns orient first toward the smell of their mothers' milk. And world history is full of the manipulation of smell, she reveals, starting with the palace perfumers of ancient Egypt; the Israelite women who concocted essences for temple sacrifices; the Romans, who anointed nearly everything; the alchemists, who searched for the Divine Essence; all the way up to modern pheromone researchers who hope, finally, "to snare the sex drive." Aftel traces this history with witty anecdotes (Ben Franklin's plea for a drug to make sweet-smelling farts, Petrus Castellus's advice to rub civet directly on the penis) and well-chosen alchemical and botanical illustrations. After this seductive introduction, she shifts into the how-to mode, discussing the actual making of a scent, a process of selecting certain "base notes," adding "heart notes" and finally the "top chords." Her emphasis is on experimenting, and developing an "olfactory consciousness." Since organically based perfumes interact with the wearer, they must be designed for a particular user, not vice versa, as with commercial, synthetically based products. Aftel provides some sample formulas and concludes with a roundup of romantic, bathing and spiritual uses of perfumes. Agent, Peter Matson.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Resenhas (1)

4 (Muito bom)

O olfato sempre foi considerado o mais etéreo dos sentidos.

Da série, leituras que eu não imaginaria fazer, temos esse livro sobre "a história natural do perfume". A autora apresenta uma linha do tempo em que comenta o desenvolvimento dessa arte, que tinha muita relação com a Alquimia e também com os diversos cultos na Antiguidade. Não só isso, como ela indica o modo de produzir seus primeiros perfumes naturais, que li só a título de curiosidade também. Faz um bom tempinho que comecei a ler este livro, por conta da indicação de um amigo próximo. Demorei um bocado de tempo para terminar, mas terminei e é isso que importa.