Friday 6 July 2012

Friday reading

I'm a tad perfume obsessed, but even my mind is thrown into a whirl by this dizzying Slate piece by Patrick House on Chanel No. 5, cat pee, brain parasites and Egyptian gods.

House also links to this classic 2007 piece by Chandler Burr, describing some beautiful interactions between a Givaudan perfumer and a team of executives

The large plasma screen behind him showed us a picture of civets. They look like house cats who’ve been painted to look like zebras. He explained that the perfume material from the anal gland is found in both males and females. And it smells — quite simply — like anus.
“This is in perfume?” asked the marketer doubtfully.
“Absolutely,” said Guichard. “My father was testing it. They were using small blotters, and they were scooping out the cream —”
“It’s a cream?”
“Yes, and my father was tasting it. Rolled the cream around in his mouth.”
Dead silence. People stared at their blotters, which were emitting the strong, persistent smell of dirty underwear.
“And then he was going home and kees my mother,” Guichard added, grinning. He made a kissing motion.
“Well!” said the marketer brightly. “Perfume made of butt cream!”

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