It was the late Estée Lauder who, in the midst of rough economic times, said: “When things are bad, if a woman has a little perfume and a new lipstick, she feels like a queen.” And it was by knowing a thing or two about how women felt that Estée Lauder became very rich. Grim though things are, it's encouraging to know that somewhere is buzzing and, you've guessed it, it's the perfume counters that are reporting booming business. At Harvey Nichols they tell me that sales - and remember we're talking fine fragrances here - are up some 40 per cent on the same period last year.

— Columnist Lucia van der Post writes about niche perfumes in Could perfume be the recession antidote? at the UK Times Online.