Ex Scribblis

Ex Scribblis

Home
Notes
Archive
About

Look Into The Light - perfume review - Frederic Malle Contre-Jour (Annick Menardo; 2026)

READ THE LATEST
The Scent Of Togetherness - Perfumes For Fictional Couples - Valentine's Day 2026
The original version of this article was first published on Persolaise.com in February 2013.
 • Dariush Alavi
Whose Eye Is It Anyway? - Madonna For Dolce & Gabbana The One
It goes against my better judgement to write this post, let alone publish it.
 • Dariush Alavi
Tom Ford Soleil Neige, Nez 1+1 Ansongo, BDK Vanille Caviar and other perfume reviews
Brazil, Senegal and the finest discos around the world: all in a day's travelling for this intrepid perfume critic.
 • Dariush Alavi
Bound By Grief - Iran, Being There (Hal Ashby; 1979) and Hamnet (Chloe Zhao; 2025)
I realise the questions are well-meaning, but that doesn’t make them any easier to answer.
 • Dariush Alavi
Finding Her Way To The Water - perfume review - Chanel Gabrielle L'Eau (Olivier Polge; 2024)
I confess I keep forgetting about the existence of Gabrielle. In my mind, the last high-profile, mainstream, feminine release from Chanel was Coco…
 • Dariush Alavi
Authors, Architects And Vegetarian Nuns - The Best Films Of 2025
The start of a new year wouldn’t be complete without some thoughts on my favourite cinematic outings of the previous twelve months, so here we go: a…
 • Dariush Alavi
Battle-ready Optimism - The Top 10 Best Perfumes Of 2025
It’s often people in the most dire situations, with few opportunities to enjoy the finer things in life, who insist that those with the ability to keep…
 • Dariush Alavi
Treasure The Light - Christmas Wishes 2025
Festivals of light — no matter what they may be called — are needed more than ever at the moment.
 • Dariush Alavi
Prepare To Be Dazzled - Serge Lutens Royaume Des Lumieres perfume review (Christopher Sheldrake; 2015, 2020 and 2025)
Reviews of Cracheuses De Flammes, Tarab, Sidi Bel-Abbes, Zurafa and Bois Roi D'Agalloche
 • Dariush Alavi
Ex Scribblis
Ex Scribblis
Dariush Alavi's Substack - Thoughts on films, books, writing, the things that keep me awake in the middle of the night... and, of course, the other subject about which I've been blogging for years (as Persolaise): perfume and the world of scent.
Recommendations
View all 10
Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak
Range Widely
Range Widely
David Epstein
Luca Turin on perfume etc.
Luca Turin on perfume etc.
Luca Turin 🇮🇹🇪🇺
Bois de Jasmin Circle
Bois de Jasmin Circle
Victoria Belim
In the Writing Burrow
In the Writing Burrow
Margaret Atwood
Links
Persolaise
My award-winning perfume journalism website
DariushAlavi.com
My personal blog
Persolaise YouTube Channel
My Instagram

Ex Scribblis

AboutArchiveRecommendationsSitemap
© 2026 Dariush Alavi · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture