HIGHLY SECRETIVE and surprisingly scientific, the perfume industry remained behind locked doors until Chandler Burr, perfume critic for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, stuck his extremely sensitive nose into it. In "The Perfect Scent" ($25, Henry Holt), he chronicled the creation of two fragrances, Hermes' Un Jardin sur le Nil and Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely for Coty — the latter notable for the star's intense involvement with her creation. We spoke with Burr about why perfume matters and what to expect for spring and summer.

» EXPRESS: Why do celebs want fragrances?
» BURR: The commercial appeal is that perfume is probably the most effective way to monetize celebrity ever invented. The more high-minded reason is that some celebrities actually are deeply, personally interested in scent. I never would have been invited into the creation of a Paris Hilton perfume. She has nothing to do with her perfumes other than cashing the check.

» EXPRESS: Do you think the perfume world will ever become less secretive?
» BURR: The industry in the U.S. shrank by 1 percent between 2006 and 2007. The only way to increase sales is to present perfume as it actually is made, from the raw materials to the perfumers to the construction of the juices. We have got to open up this world.

» EXPRESS: Will we get to a place where we don't need any more perfume?
» BURR: extraordinary art forms. Take painting, for example. There are no new colors, but there are painters reinventing the visual image. Scent is extraordinary in that it's the only art form where they're actually inventing, in effect, new colors. We are creating every year new molecules that literally never have been smelled before.

» EXPRESS: Have any recently released fragrances surprised you?
» BURR: I think that the Juicy Couture masculine Dirty English is nice. Virtually all masculines are garbage. Ninety percent of perfumes marketed to men are completely cynical creations with absolutely no legitimacy. Another I never would have expected is Allure Homme Edition Blanche from Chanel.

» EXPRESS: Are there any perfumes debuting soon you're looking forward to?
» BURR: Estee Lauder is coming out with a new perfume called Sensuous. I'm not a fan of the name, but the perfume itself is truly interesting. It's a wood scent, but a very modernistic wood. Armani has a new Vetiver that is gorgeous, Vetiver Babylon. And there's a tiny little niche house called Eau d'Italie, and they have four perfumes, three of which are excellent, brilliant, wonderful. They're just launching the fourth, and I have very, very high hopes.

» EXPRESS: Do you think other celebs will follow Parker's example?
» BURR: I really don't know. Gwen Stefani just came out with a scent, and I was told she was involved. But there is absolutely no way of verifying that; the amount of sheer, absolutely managed marketing and PR bull[expletive] in the perfume industry is truly staggering. I believe absolutely nothing unless I am quite literally in the room watching the thing happen.

Written by Express contributor Beth Luberecki
Photos courtesy Getty Images; Henry Holt

Posted by Express at 12:01 AM on April 18, 2008
Tagged in Fashion & Design , Lifestyles , People , Top Stories