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You know how there are some books that you pick up and re-read each year? If you love to read and write, if you appreciate great language, or if you would like to learn something new about how to be a better writer, then please go and find The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, a small book about the construction and the beauty of simple and clear writing. It is a book I return to over and over. I have a few copies that are dog-eared and worn with use because I can always learn how to improve my writing. The edition mentioned above is extra-special as it is illustrated by artist Maira Kalman, whose drawings are elegant and full of humor- the images are well-suited to Strunk and White's text.
I was thinking about Strunk and White's book in relation to the nonsensical language used in perfume ads. Just read a few perfume ads and after a while, the descriptions all sound the same, vague and ephemeral. Take Lancome's La Vie est Belle: "La vie est belle or life is beautiful—the expression of a new era." Or Prada's Candy: "...instantly seductive—pure pleasure wrapped in impulsive charm." Are certain flowers representative of a new era and others are charming? The problem with talking about perfume is too often the language of rich, flowery prose is used to describe scents rather than using plain English. Overly elaborate, gussied-up language will sell hundreds of thousands of bottles of perfume. I want the advertisers to tell me what the perfume smells like, and not who I will be when wearing the perfume- I can do that myself, thank you very much. We consumers are smarter than this. We understand that advertisers will sell us stories- we like them, they are fantasies. But we scent-wearers need a Strunk and White for talking about perfume.
Describing perfume accurately is something different altogether. Perfumers need useful adjectives to describe scents. Perfumer Mandy Aftel of Aftelier Perfumes created the Natural Perfume Wheel in order to clarify how we talk about perfume. The chart lists most essential oils and the groupings or "scent families" into which the oils fall. The palette is one of the tools I use daily when perfuming. Each oil is described using a general category and then a more specific adjective. For example, Sandalwood falls under the "Woody/Sweet" category, while Bois de Rose, while it is in the same "Woody" category, is labeled "Floral." I do not know if one day perfume houses and advertisers will suddenly start using plainer language to talk about perfume, but this chart is a useful and thoughtful guide. I think of the Aftelier palette as something writers Strunk and White would appreciate for its simplicity and clarity.
I think Strunk,White, and Aftel would all appreciate Elvis Costello, someone who always chooses his words with care.
Music: "Lipstick Vogue," by Elvis Costello and the Atttractions. A peerless performance from 1978. Sharp, short, direct, and perfectly concise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dip-FtbsD8E
What do you think of Turin and Sanchez's take on writing about perfume? Turin seems to focus a bit too much on the chemistry/chemicals, but their reviews are clearly and concisely written.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark! I am a huge fan of Sanchez and Turin's writing. I think both are doing a marvelous job of demystifying the perfume industry and using real language to talk about scent, which is so refreshing. I also believe that their work has helped make perfume more approachable for consumers. There's a punk spirit that I very much admire. Have you seen Turin's TED talk about scent molecules? It is excellent. Thanks for the comment!
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