Brin de Réglisse is the seventh fragrance to join the Hermessence collection from perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena at Hermès. As I reported last month, Ellena hoped to “create an intense, dry lavender, like you would smell in the south of France in June or July” (other notes include licorice, orange blossom and hay); to accomplish that, he…
…turned to his colleagues at an independent perfume lab in Grasse. He asked them to slice natural lavender into 50 distinct groups of molecules, sniffed them all, discarded five and reassembled it. “My lavender had a much purer, cleaner smell,” he says, comparing it with the natural scent. “Then I had to find something to dress it up that would be a little unusual. I chose a touch of licorice.” (via Los Angeles Times, 10/28/2007)…
Now at 
I've been looking forward to Rachel Herz' book for a long time. I found out about her work on the psychology of smell several years ago, and although I never got around to reading her academic work (published in reputable journals like the American Journal of Psychology and Chemical Senses), I did keep track of her frequent interviews in the popular media. The Scent of Desire is her first book, and tackles a wide range of questions on the relation between emotion and olfaction. From odor-emotional conditioning and olfactive memory to cultural differences in odor familiarity, Herz explains how odors influence our social relationships and mental health.