The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York [Paperback]

From theNew York Timesperfume critic, a stylish, fascinating, unprecedented insider's view ofthe global perfume industry, told through two creators working on two very different scents.

No journalist has ever been allowed into the ultrasecretive, highly pressured process of originating a perfume. But Chandler Burr, theNew York Timesperfume critic, spent a year behind the scenes observing the creation of two major fragrances. Now, writing with wit and elegance, he juxtaposes the stories of the perfumes -- one created by a Frenchman in Paris for an exclusive luxury-goods house, the other made in New York by actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Coty, Inc., a giant international corporation.

We follow Coty's mating of star power to the marketing of perfume, watchingSex and the City's Parker heading a hugely expensive campaign to launch a scent into the overcrowded celebrity market. Will she match the success of Jennifer Lopez? Does she have the international fan base to drive worldwide sales?

In Paris at the elegant Herm?s, we see Jean Claude Ellena, his company's new head perfumer, given a challenge: he must create a scent to resuscitate Herm?s's perfume business and challengele monstreof the industry, bestselling Chanel No. 5. Will his pilgrimage to a garden on the Nile supply the inspiration he needs?

The Perfect Scentis the story of two daring creators, two very different scents, and a billion-dollar industry that runs on the invisible magic of perfume.

Filled with fascinating revelations about an industry built on illusions . . . entices you to marvel all the more at the power of fragrance. The Dallas Morning News

The Perfect Scenthas drama, unforgettable characters, history, and location. Los Angeles Times

An inside, Hollywoodesque account. The New York Times Book Review

Burr winds his way deep into the secretive, dark, high-stakes lÓ+