In Search of Perfumes is a fragrant journey across the world, revealing the beauty and mysteries of the perfume trade. Fruits, flowers, spices, bark, leaves and branches are just some of the natural ingredients from the plant world that are used in the creation of perfume. Dominique Roques, travelling from Andalusia to Somaliland by way of Bulgaria, Laos, El Salvador, Indonesia and Egypt, describes his search to find the best natural ingredients, precious to perfumers everywhere.
The book also tackles the earth’s changing climate conditions, with its impact on the sources of the world’s scents. It demonstrates how the prestigious multi-million-pound perfume industry may begin its life as a single plant harvested by producers surviving on ancestral traditions and techniques and often risking their lives in the process as they combat the rising threat of climate change. Roques reveals the beauty and mysteries of a familiar trade; a return to the source of the world’s scents.
Dominique Roques is the head of sourcing at Firmenich, a Swiss company which provides the world’s leading perfume brands with natural fragrances, essences and extracts. Over the last thirty years he has worked with companies such as Bulgari, Thierry Mugler, Guerlain and Yves Saint Laurent. In Search of Perfumes is the story of his life, his work, his travels and the scents, fragrances and essences he sources. “Perfumes are at once familiar to us, yet mysterious. They summon up fragments from the recesses of our olfactory memory, snatches of childhood recollections, as vivid as they are distant.” From these opening lines, I was transfixed.
Part memoir, part travel narrative, mixed with history, science and world events, In Search of Perfumes is an exquisite concoction, as lovely as the fragrances Roques travels the world searching for. Roques takes us to Bulgaria for its rose, Egypt for jasmine, frankincense in Somaliland and to Madagascar for vanilla. He leads a life filled with adventure and interesting people, sharing those stories through the written word. He has rare insight into the impact the industry has on the environments he spends time in and the people he deals with. I’ll never dab a scent or spray a perfume again without thinking of this book.
In Search of Perfumes is a feast for the senses, beautifully written by Roques and translated by Sydney based Stephanie Smee. This would make the perfect gift for a friend, or even just the perfect read for anyone needing a salve for the soul. Treat yourself – this is a delight.
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