Blog
Perfume

Top picks from the Perfume shop


Claire Catterall, co-curator of Perfume

22 Aug 2017

From the smell of new trainers to the ingredients needed to create your own fragrance. Perfume co-curator Claire Catterall selects her favourite items from our Perfume exhibition shop. 

Perfumes

Sneakerhead by Killian Wells for Xyrena
Literally, the smell that hits you when you first open a box of new sneakers – kind of plasticy and a bit glue-ey, but also rather beautiful. Wearing it somehow makes you feel ‘brand-new’. I love the way that the smell of contemporary life is replacing the smell of the natural world. Delve into the world of Killian Wells with the film below.

Meet the perfumers: Killian Wells

Rain Cloud by Lyn Harris for Perfumer H
A beautiful floral, perfect for a wet and humid British summer. It’s become my new obsession.

The Decay of an Angel by Timothy Han
The latest perfume from the hugely talented young British perfumer Timothy Han, named after the Yukio Mishima novel.  A burnt floral fragrance with the subtle headiness of flowers on the wane. A great follow on from his perfumes On The Road (named after Jack Kerouac) and She Came to Stay (named after Simone de Beauvoir). It’s an incredibly decadent perfume - I’m saving this for winter.

Books

Perfume Legends by Michael Edwards
One of the great perfume books, by one of the greatest writers on Perfume. Now out of print – so grab it at our shop while you can.

The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr
I think it was this book that made me fully appreciate how fascinating perfume and the perfume industry is. I love the very candid no-nonsense approach.
 
Perfume: A Century of Scents by Lizzie Ostrom
An incredibly well-researched but thoroughly entertaining journey through some of the best known perfumes of the 20th and 21st century. Lizzie tells the stories of each perfume in a way that brings each alive. 

Perfume: A Century of Scents - Lizzie Ostrum
Perfume: A Century of Scents - Lizzie Ostrum
Perfume Legends: French Feminine Fragrances by Michael Edwards
Perfume Legends: French Feminine Fragrances by Michael Edwards

Other things

Perfume Ingredient Set by Experimental Perfume Club
A set containing 15 of the most commonly used perfumery ingredients, together with a few tools of the trade. A wonderful introduction to the mysteries of making perfumes, and the joy of discovering how to combine and balance each different ingredient to create very different accords.
 
Scented postcards
Scented postcards of each perfume in the exhibition - with beautiful graphics by design agency Julia. Each postcard lists the main accords from each perfume. They’re so accurate, and such a visceral souvenir of the exhibition. Perhaps we’ll start a trend where you can send postcards that smell of the places you’ve been on holiday.

Perfume Scented Postcard Set
Perfume Scented Postcard Set
Perfume Scented Postcard Set
Perfume Scented Postcard Set