T.S. Eliot might have written that “April is the cruelest month“, but if he'd lived where I do he'd have sacrificed the artful rhythm of his line to write “February” instead. By now, I've had my fill of cold, rainy days. Mean old February seems cannily aware of how I feel and lures me into a false hope of spring by easing a few daphne buds into bloom and the odd robin and scrub jay into the yard. Still, the lilacs are weeks from blooming. It isn't really winter any more, but it certainly isn't spring. What kind of perfume suits the “in between” season?

For me, the in between season is a great opportunity to try something new or to revisit scents I haven't worn for a long time. I'm ready to put away Caron Tabac Blond and Guerlain Mitsouko for a day or two…

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A lot has been made lately about how perfume sales have slowed despite the record number of new perfume releases and the millions of dollars spent marketing them. What has gone wrong? I have a few ideas about the reasons for lagging perfume sales and how to boost them. Perfume lovers, I welcome your input. Perfume flacks, pay attention.

First, let's go to the root of the problem. Good perfume, like good wine, isn't easy to love. To appreciate scent a person needs to spend time — sometimes years — smelling different scents and learning to appreciate them. Remember the first time you tried an olive or Taleggio cheese or champagne? You probably didn't like it…

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