The Story of Scent

A sensorial journey through the strange history and hidden science of scent, featuring various fragrance families, practical guidance for finding your signature perfume, and aromatic projects for the home and body. A waft of cedar shavings can transport you to a grade-school classroom, while a powdery floral note might evoke the perfume of someone you love. Scent can summon memories, shape moods, signal attraction or aversion, and reveal surprising stories about the ways people have used and understood aroma across cultures and centuries. Filled with striking visuals and evocative facts, this gorgeous little volume explores humanity’s enduring relationship with the extraordinary range of scents around us—and shows you how to understand, select, and experiment with fragrance:Explore perfume fundamentals, from top, heart, and base notes to the dry-down that reveals how a fragrance ultimately wears on the skin. Discover how aroma can influence mood, why fresh rain on dry earth smells so irresistible, and what makes the scent of sunscreen and tennis balls oddly compelling. Consult a glossary of terms to demystify fragrance jargon, from “enfleurage” to “sillage.”Learn the story behind Cleopatra’s famed perfume—and how to re-create it yourself. With profiles of wide-ranging scent families—from Citrus and Musk to Gourmand—plus recipes for potpourri, body soap, essential-oil blends, and more, The Story of Scent is an engaging and practical guide for fragrance lovers, fans of strange history, and anyone who has ever lingered happily at a perfume counter.