Nez #19: Good & Bad

Published twice a year, Nez explores the world around us via our sense of smell. It provides an insight into the vital role that olfactory sensations play in our lives. This novel approach encompasses art, literature, science, history, food, and perfume. While a large proportion of each issue is obviously given over to fragrance and perfumery, the relationship between scent and taste is inescapably part of the magazine as well.

This issue, Good & Bad, explores how smells are beyond a binary of good and bad, and in fact, tend to be most interesting when they make us question where on the spectrum they land.

One of the longer stories centers on references to scents and perfumes in the writing of Gabriel García Márquez, another standout article discusses the nature vs. nurture question when it comes to how we evaluate scent and the work of researchers to answer these questions. 

The Odorama section is devoted to trigeminal molecules, or those that we experience physically such as the cooling of menthol or the mild warming of a vanillin, the cultural impact of mock orange, and advances in biotech for perfumery. 

As always, there are many reviews of recently released (or re-released) perfumes and all things scented. This issue also features a brief roundup of scented shampoos and conditioners. 

Paperback. Handsomely designed with full color throughout.  In English, though some sample interior images are in French.