Question Time with The Smelly Vagabond

source: keepcalmandposters.com

I’ve been sorely lacking in inspiration to write in the past few months, which I suppose comes along with having to write an economics dissertation and a sociology essay about the art critic, the latter of which I’m trying to bring in something perfume-related: What is the role of the critic in the production of art? How did the critic come about in the first place? What is the interaction between the critic and the artist? How have technological advances changed the nature and content of criticism? The essay is coming along fairly nicely, albeit nowhere near complete, but when I do finish it I’ll probably rewrite it for a perfume audience (at the moment, it’s just about art critics in general), and maybe even get it published somewhere 😉

I’ve just returned to New Haven from a weekend trip to New York, where I got to meet perfumer Hiram Green at Twisted Lily as well as attend a macaroni and cheese takedown competition! More on them at a later time…

In the meantime, though, how about some Q&A? Since I’m lacking in inspiration, why not you help me out by asking me some questions, and I’ll answer them as best as I can? It doesn’t necessarily have to be perfume-related. I’m hoping it will be fun, and I’ll update this post as we go along so that the questions get featured in the post. Time to get creative with the questions!

You can post your questions in the comments of this post, on Twitter, or on Facebook. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Luca Turin’s Message in a Bottle Column

I have been following Luca Turin’s perfume review columns in Style Arabia with much interest. You can find them here:

Column I

Column II

Column III

Personally, I find Turin’s style of writing very refreshing. Where we bloggers sometimes spiral into descriptions reminiscent of a list of Fragrantica notes, e.g. “The perfume opens with refreshing notes of bergamot, followed by heart notes of rose and jasmine, and finally dries down to vanilla” (I’m guilty of that sometimes!), Turin’s reviews tend to be punchy and to the point, remaining utterly entertaining throughout. He’s got quirky tastes, that’s for sure, having given the infamous Sécrétions Magnifique 5 stars out of 5, but at least I know that the perfumes he recommends would usually be interesting, even if I disagree wholly with his assessment. For example, his review of Giorgio Armani’s Sì makes me want to give it a sniff, although based on the notes I would have given it a miss. Have fun reading!

~ The Smelly Vagabond

News: Luca Turin returning to writing perfume reviews!

source: twitter

Luca Turin recently tweeted that he would be writing reviews again! While that may be exciting news for some, others have commented that his reviews create “snobbery” and “stop you making your own opinions on the scent” [refer to this Basenotes thread: http://www.basenotes.net/t/372936/luca-turin-returning-to-reviews]. Personally, I find his reviews pithy, hilarious and most helpful to me because my tastes tend to be somewhat similar to Mr Turin’s. While I may not agree completely with every review (that would make me a robot, not a human), I appreciate the humour that goes into his writing.

What are your thoughts on the matter?