Perfumes Luca Turin Loved. 2020 Edit theme

You can order all perfumes featured in this theme as a pack of samples.

In this theme

The perfumes featured below have been mentioned by Luca Turin in the several editions of his Perfumes: the Guide and his blog. These perfumes are varied and are worth trying for being unusual and groundbreaking, or featuring some exceptional materials or just for being examples of old-school craft.

vi-et-armis-image
Vi et Armis Beaufort Vi et Armis (Latin): by force and arms

"Vi Et Armis smells like an alchemist’s Christmas party: a dark, rich, swirling combination of peat fire and flambé spice pudding, with some cough syrup and fence paint thrown in for hygiene. I have long wished for a fragrance like this one, and am impressed that such a sweet spot could be found in what is otherwise forbiddingly medicinal territory. Vi Et Armis arises from a combination of single-minded art direction and great technical skill."

iris-cendre-image
Iris Cendré Naomi Goodsir A noteworthy orris leather perfume

le-mat-image
Le Mat Mendittorosa 5 Stars!

jasmin-et-cigarette-image
Jasmin et Cigarette Etat Libre d'Orange They don't make perfumes like that anymore

t-rex-image
T-Rex Zoologist 'Empyreumatic niche' according to Mr Turin

"[perfumer] wanted to use a lot of patchouli without anyone noticing, so he added equal amounts of other materials, among which cade wood and a lustrous, metallic rose material until —to my mind— he achieved a sort of anthracite, i.e. what happens to vegetal matter when subjected to enormous pressures and temperatures."

tobacco-tuberose-image
Tobacco Tuberose Anna Zworykina Tuberose and lavender

"As in the brilliant Twilly d’Hermès, tuberose here subs in for the lavender in a traditionally masculine coumarin context, to excellent effect. Though Zworykina’s stated guiding principle is a perfumery of entirely natural materials, it somehow smells pleasurably of photocopier machines. ts"

ormonde-woman-image
Ormonde Woman Ormonde Jayne 5 stars for magic forest illusion

habanita-image
Habanita Molinard Vetiver vanilla romance