Le Parfum et L'Amour sous la direction de Philippe Brenot - New French Book on Perfume & Love {Fragrant Reading}

French psychiatrist and anthropologist Phillipe Brenot has assembled a pannel of 10 experts to write about the role of olfaction in love. The book entitled Le Parfum et L'Amour is prefaced by perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, of Hermès. It is being published in cooperation with the Musée International de la Parfumerie de Grasse and upon their initiative for Valentine's Day 2013...

If you want to understand what attracts you to and what turns you off in a potential mate, this is probably one of the more fruitful readings you could select. 

There is also, for reference in this pre-Valentine period especially, the book by Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., Scentsational Sex: The secret to using aroma for arousal. 

Looking at the contents of the upcoming book to be launched on February 6, 2013 , you can see that the authors emcompass a very large definition of what constitutes love. A. G. Bagnères-Urbany for instance looks at the functions of scent among insects both for ruse and love purposes. P. Laudati addresses the topic of citizen love, the way one loves the scents of one's city. B. Schall goes back to some fundamentals by looking at how smells participate in our bonding with our parents.

Erotic love takes pride of place with several chapters dedicated to aspects of it and with Philippe Brenot concluding the tome by stating that in contrast to fantasmatic scents created by perfumery, the only true aphrodisiac is the smell of sex.

The latter reminds us that despite this grounding truth, it is also well-known that animalic substances in particular were thought to have natural affinities with the sexual aroma, a fact the museum in Grasse does underline in their copy. 

 "Fantasme, Romance, Attraction, Nuit d'Amour, Eternity… le nom des parfums éveille l'imaginaire des amants et accompagne leurs ébats passionnés. 

Les liens intimes qu'entretiennent le parfum et l'amour plongent leurs racines au plus profond des étreintes animales, dans la magie des phéromones et des senteurs amoureuses. 

Chez l'humain, les odeurs ont été remplacées par l'artifice chimique des parfums qui jouent un autre rôle, fantasmatique. Les effluves animales s'expriment cependant à fleur de peau et jouent encore un rôle dans l'érotisme de la relation."

Published at L'Esprit du Temps. Price: 19,95€.

Via press release