Now smell this

I've been a committed fan of Luca Turin since reading Chandler Burr's book about him several years ago, quickly followed up with Turin's own 'The Secret of Scent' and then more recently both editions of 'Perfumes: The Guide' (co-written with Tania Sanchez), which is without doubt the most-used reference book on my shelves.

Turin hasn't just changed the way I smell every day - he's changed the way I think of smell and experience the olfactory world around me.* He's the reason I've switched to biodegradable cleaning products, once I read that molecules from functional scents - the perfumes created for products from washing powder to hand soap - have been detected in fish. And he's turned me into a rabid reader of all things scent related.

Which is why I was delighted by Elisa Gabbert's review of a line-up of deodorants. Here she is on 'Degree Fine Fragrance Sexy Intrigue'

I predicted this would be some kind of gesture toward amber, and it is, a fruity, nutty, vanilla-ice-cream-type scent that has celebrity fragrance written all over it. It smells like a butterscotch sundae made with soft-serve and topped with extra maraschino cherries: chemical goodness. On skin it quickly loses its charm, turning even sweeter, and with a nod toward citrus that comes off like bug spray.

All this made me wish Imperial Leather had a deodorant range (and would go back to its original packaging).

*If you're interested, I'm Guerlain all the way: Vetiver during the day in summer; Habit Rouge and Jicky during the day in winter; Shalimar for nights out; Mitsouko when I feel like changing things up. One day I'll be an old old lady and I'll wear Nahema every day.