The Museum of Scent

"Opening up this book is like opening up a whole new room in your imagination you didn't quite realize existed--even if you never thought you were interested in perfume. It's gorgeous to look at and gorgeous to read, bristling with details and wild histories. It's a book to pick up again and again--whether you land on a page about onycha shells, shiso, or honeysuckle, you're swept into a dreamy world--a cabinet of curiosities for the senses that's both exquisite and endlessly surprising.--Jean Godfrey-June, Executive Beauty Editor GOOP From the queen of artisan perfumers, a delightful introduction to the universe of scent and scented materials. Aromatics leap off the page in all their singularity, accompanied by astounding images and fascinating context. In book form as much as in real life, Aftel's carefully curated collection presents a whole that is revelatory in every one of its component parts.--Saskia Wilson-Brown, director & founder, The Institute for Art and Olfaction In The Museum of Scent, author Mandy Aftel writes, ""You just don't smell an aroma, you fall into it."" The same is true of this magnificent book: It is so rich in story, information, and images, you don't just read it, you fall into it and don't want it to end!--Ivy Ross, co-author of New York Times bestseller "" Your Brain on Art "" and VP of Hardware Design at Google The Museum of Scent is a beautiful catalogue of Mandy's olfactory expertise and artistry. This book is a wonderful guide through the rich and fascinating world of perfumery, and a joyful invitation to sniff your way through life!--Alice Waters, chef and owner of Chez Panisse Praise for Mandy Aftel and The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents: ""Mandy Aftel is one of the fragrance industry's most creative thinkers, not to mention one of its most prolific talents."" --Vogue ""The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, ...home of the perfumer Mandy Aftel, is not just the first museum in the U.S. dedicated to perfume, but more beguilingly, the first one dedicated to the experience of fragrance. This tiny museum manages to contain the olfactory history of the world: hundreds of natural essences, raw ingredients and antique tinctures gathered from every corner of the globe, and all available for visitors to smell."" --T, the New York Times Style magazine ""Mandy Aftel has spearheaded the artisanal natural perfumery movement in the United States."" --Now Smell This ""Aftelier Perfumes' Mandy Aftel has built a life and a business around her undying belief in the transformative power of scent. She's created custom fragrances for her legion of celebrity fans (including Kate Hudson, Liv Tyler, Leonard Cohen, and Madonna), and worked on enigmatic projects such as recreating the burial fragrance for a 2,000-year-old child mummy in collaboration with the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. Whatever her project du jour, one thing is clear: Aftel literally lives and breathes perfume."" --ELLE ""Rows of old glass vials line the walls of the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, the light-filled Berkley storehouse of pleasingly smelly things created by perfumer Mandy Aftel. You can treat your nose to florals, spices, roots, and resins, like oud (a warm, sweet, balsamic-like sap of the tropical agarwood tree) and 100-year-old ambergris (a secretion of sperm whales, it has a 'shimmery amber aroma'...says Aftel)."" --Oprahmagazine ""Aftel's artisanal fragrances have earned industry honors and a dedicated global following. She trains aspiring perfumers and... opened a museum in Berkeley devoted to fragrance. But Aftel measures her success in more modest, less tangible terms. 'When someone reaches out to let me know that one of my scents has affected them, that's the biggest thrill of all.'"" --Allure.com --Learn more on Aftelier.com"