The first time I visited James Heeley’s shop in Paris, I went for Esprit de Tigre but left with Cardinal. It’s not the first time this has happened. I find church scents hard to resist, and it seems I’m not alone.

The first time I tried absinthe was in Antibes in southern France. Wandering around a market, we came upon an absinthe den. The owner, a genial young man, told us all about absinthe. He said that absinthe is made by redistilling, alcohol with the leaves and flowers of Artemisia absinthium, also known as wormwood, along with anise and fennel.

Over the past few years Agarwood, or oud has become a real player in the niche world of scent and why not? It’s been used for centuries in the east and middle east as temple oil and in incense so it has an air of exotic romance about it. Still, I’d never really smelled it full-on, so in the name of research, I visited an oud shop on the Champs Elysée when I was last in Paris.

When perfumeniche was launched my first blog was about Passage d’Enfer from L’Artisan Parfumeur because it was the fragrance that brought perfume back into my life. In my previous life, I collected fragrances. While friends were discovering their ‘signature’ scent (usually a fragrance their mother wore), I had a different relationship with perfume. I loved the classics of the day, fragrances like Rive Gauche, Joy, Shalimar – you get the idea.