Book Information
Japanese title (English gloss): An Illustrated Guide to Fragrant Plants, as Told by Perfumers
(Original title: L’Herbier parfumé)
Authors: Freddy Ghozland, Xavier Fernandez, Bernard Garotin
Publication year: 2010 (Japanese translation: 2013)
Publisher: Hara Shobo
Book Review
No synthetic fragrance material is yet known that can convincingly imitate the scent of iris (in Japanese). Even with free access to materials and a formula that suggests something of its olfactory effect, a component capable of reproducing the true scent of natural iris remains unknown.
Amandine Clerc-Marie
In this book, 38 perfumers, each an expert on particular fragrance materials, discuss plants used as natural perfumery ingredients. It is not simply an illustrated botanical guide: it also explains why and how the materials are used in perfume. That makes it an essential book, in my view, for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of scent.
With color photographs throughout, it also includes dishes made using these fragrant ingredients, famous perfumes, and little anecdotes about perfumers. I recommend it to a wide range of readers, from beginners to advanced enthusiasts. The detail is so extensive, though, that if you are starting as a beginner, you might need to read it 50 times or more before you can explain it to someone else… perhaps.
The perfumers discussing the materials include leading names such as Michel Almairac (in Japanese), Maurice Roucel, Olivier Polge, Jean Guichard, and Mathilde Laurent.
I am sometimes asked which materials I like. Such a question is rather like asking a painter which colors they intend to use. What matters is not what you choose, but how you use it. As with abstract art, we should accept a perfume as a whole rather than try to judge it by the materials it contains.
Olivier Polge
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