Scent Collector

Scents have many secrets. To discover them is to embark on a journey around the world.

The head, the heart, the foundation. These are the three key components of a perfume, which unfold at different times. Each of these ingredients can consist of several fragrances and the whole perfume can contain dozens of essences. Successful, alluring and aphrodisiac combinations are therefore a well-kept secret of the big luxury brands and the global perfume business. But where do the scents themselves come from?

For over thirty years, Dominique Roques has been supplying perfumers around the world with fragrance essences from over one hundred and fifty raw materials and fifty countries. And now he wants to share the story of the scents, places and people, who are behind the successful perfumes, whether they're orchardists, pickers, growers, lumberjacks, businessmen, or even the Mafia. Roques shows the complex and fragile system the perfume industry is built on, how much work and effort goes behind each essence and how to do everything sustainably and responsibly. And in the course of his narrative, he takes the reader on an adventurous journey from Andalusia to Laos, from Venezuela to Somalia, from ancient methods to cutting-edge technology.

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From the tears of Christ in Andalusia or vetiver in Haiti to Calabrian bergamot, Bulgarian rose to cinnamon from Sri Lanka or sandalwood from India and Australia - Dominique Roques takes us on a journey full of scents, but where the other senses are not left behind... As we turn the pages, new emotions are born with each new scent.
— Babel