Essence & Alchemy: A Natural History of Perfume

For centuries people have taken instinctive pleasure in rubbing scents into their skin, using them to pray, to heal, and to make love and war. Yet in many ways perfumery, with its creative and sensual possibilities, is a lost art. In Essence and Alchemy, Mandy Aftel unearths a forgotten world of natural essences and its profound resonance with body, mind, and spirit.