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kez91's review against another edition
4.0
I am someone who does experience annoying symptoms when someone sits next to me wearing perfume or when I'm stuck on a train full of heavily cologne-d men, so I was really interested in reading this book to learn a bit more about fragrance and it's impacts. I found Grenville's discussion of regulations and chemical testing informative and relevant, and the information about possible correlations and side effects pretty scary! I already avoid a lot of frangranced products because I do suffer from excema, but I don't generally check the labels as thoroughly as I could, and didn't even think about checking some products mentioned. As this is a non-fiction book with a fair amount of scientific discussion, the writing is not as enjoyable as in Grenville's novels (as I expected), but she's straight to the point, and relates her own experiences and opinions to her findings, which keeps it interesting, and the short length means she doesn't ramble or repeat herself needlessly which I appreciate. Overall an interesting read.
tintededges's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 - check out my full review at https://tintededges.wordpress.com/2017/02/28/the-case-against-fragrance/
marzinka's review against another edition
3.0
Bad name for a good book. This book is actually about prevalent allergens in our environments that have been introduced via scents added to everything from toilet paper to plug in air freshener, deodorant, shampoo, and house cleaners. Perfume is the least of our problems. While it’s from the point of an Australian writer she gets a good balance of laws from US and international market. A must read if you do not live a fragrance free life style. (Unscented vs fragrance free are two different things! If you don’t know the difference, read this book!)
nuriti's review against another edition
1.0
As someone with an academic background in olfactive chemistry, it shocked me that something like this got published. Doesn't pop science at least fact check? You want to make a case against fragrance that's fine, but you really need a science-literate editor or co-author otherwise you just look stupid. This book has a profound lack of understanding of the basics of organic chemistry let alone human olfaction and the complexities of reaction and sensitisation. There are incredibly liberal interpretations of study results as well as straight-up junk science. Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal. There are inferences here that are beyond logical leaps into obfuscation. There is also no accounting for dosage and application. Ya, if you inhale an 80% solution of 1-4-dioxane for an hour it will cause liver failure, but it's not bioaccumulating and you don't absorb enough through skin contact to be harmful. The .0001% solution in a fragrance that is airborne for 10 seconds in a sprits isn't going to hurt you. You are at far greater risk driving your car on the interstate with the windows down for an hour breathing in the exhaust fumes or going to a salon to get a keratin treatment or acrylic nails put on.
anneweaver9's review against another edition
5.0
Great information, even though writing a bit loose in places.
ashleyle's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so eye-opening to me!
It’s probably not something you think of in your day to day life, but it can have so many consequences. Definitely going to recommend this to all my friends&family!
It’s probably not something you think of in your day to day life, but it can have so many consequences. Definitely going to recommend this to all my friends&family!
wtb_michael's review against another edition
3.0
A clear and interesting summary of the evidence that fragrance (in cleaning products, perfumes etc) can have negative health impacts on people. Grenville over-eggs the epidemiological pudding a bit sometimes, and the book clearly has a strong agenda, but it raises some important concerns and questions on a topic I'd never really thought about.
archytas's review
3.0
The most powerful parts of this book are when Grenville lets the reader inside her own experience: detailing that insane battle anyone who has a disability or a sensitivity feels around not wanting to be "that person", while increasingly struggle to function capably. The book's most memorable image is of Grenville duct taping the door to her hotel room, in an attempt to keep the air breathable for her, knowing she isn't even going to tell her agent about this, because it is the kind thing a crazy person does, while simultaneously planning to just surruptiously pack tape from now on. It perfectly captures the way that this kind of sensitivity can be completely isolating, not only physically, but socially as well.
And it is that isolation which fuels the rage of the science in the book, as Grenville works out that she is not, in fact, crazy, and worse, she is not alone. Her doctors, the research community and even perfume journalists all understand well that some people react to distilled fragrance the way she does. It isn't that people don't have these experiences, it is just that they aren't considered significant enough to make a real difference. The gorgeous fantasy of the perfect scent - and the multibillion dollar industries based on it - trumps the real experience of dysfunction every time.
As a kid, my mother's daily application of perfume represented to me her transformation into a public person more than anything else. I can still smell the wafting scent as she kissed us goodbye. I assumed then, that I would also have a signature scent, but turns out I was far too disorganised and disconnected for any regular beauty routine. Nevertheless, as an adult, when I started dating someone with a severe reaction to scent, I initially was dismissive, assuming an oversensitive approach from a man unused to beauty regimes. It didn't take long, however, to realise the strength of his reaction: anything from 5-minute sneezing binges, to eyes too full of tears to see, to welts on the skin. I learned about how to skirt heavily fragranced environments, check the backs of things to make sure they really were "for sensitive". Sure sometimes, I'm sure it would have been fine. But when the consequences are pain for someone you love, you get cautious. And most of all, I learned about the kinds of ways this sensitivity can limit your life, places you won't go, things you won't do. Many of us think of the most vocal of those with sensitivities, but there is an army of people who don't want to cause a fuss, and simply reduce their external life to avoid it.
Perfume is hardly alone in this - people with mobility problems, pain issues etc all find the modern world a difficult environment in a way that would be easy to fix. But it is a good example of how we demonise those who ask for a healthier space, without much understanding of the science of why they might be right.
Lest anyone think this book (as opposed to this review!) is a polemic, it is not. It is part personal experience, and part formidable research (make no mistake, Grenville's research is the foundation stone of her fiction and she is no less tenacious, incisive and thorough here). At times, the evidence felt like it weighed the book down for me - a rare thing given my propensity for dense non-fiction - as it had a tone of Grenville deeply needing her audience to believe her. In the end, perhaps I wanted more polemic, more sense of how we ended up here, more of a sense of a way forward.
Those who suffer from perfume will find much to empathise about here. But it is those of us who swan through oblivious who probably most need to read it.
And it is that isolation which fuels the rage of the science in the book, as Grenville works out that she is not, in fact, crazy, and worse, she is not alone. Her doctors, the research community and even perfume journalists all understand well that some people react to distilled fragrance the way she does. It isn't that people don't have these experiences, it is just that they aren't considered significant enough to make a real difference. The gorgeous fantasy of the perfect scent - and the multibillion dollar industries based on it - trumps the real experience of dysfunction every time.
As a kid, my mother's daily application of perfume represented to me her transformation into a public person more than anything else. I can still smell the wafting scent as she kissed us goodbye. I assumed then, that I would also have a signature scent, but turns out I was far too disorganised and disconnected for any regular beauty routine. Nevertheless, as an adult, when I started dating someone with a severe reaction to scent, I initially was dismissive, assuming an oversensitive approach from a man unused to beauty regimes. It didn't take long, however, to realise the strength of his reaction: anything from 5-minute sneezing binges, to eyes too full of tears to see, to welts on the skin. I learned about how to skirt heavily fragranced environments, check the backs of things to make sure they really were "for sensitive". Sure sometimes, I'm sure it would have been fine. But when the consequences are pain for someone you love, you get cautious. And most of all, I learned about the kinds of ways this sensitivity can limit your life, places you won't go, things you won't do. Many of us think of the most vocal of those with sensitivities, but there is an army of people who don't want to cause a fuss, and simply reduce their external life to avoid it.
Perfume is hardly alone in this - people with mobility problems, pain issues etc all find the modern world a difficult environment in a way that would be easy to fix. But it is a good example of how we demonise those who ask for a healthier space, without much understanding of the science of why they might be right.
Lest anyone think this book (as opposed to this review!) is a polemic, it is not. It is part personal experience, and part formidable research (make no mistake, Grenville's research is the foundation stone of her fiction and she is no less tenacious, incisive and thorough here). At times, the evidence felt like it weighed the book down for me - a rare thing given my propensity for dense non-fiction - as it had a tone of Grenville deeply needing her audience to believe her. In the end, perhaps I wanted more polemic, more sense of how we ended up here, more of a sense of a way forward.
Those who suffer from perfume will find much to empathise about here. But it is those of us who swan through oblivious who probably most need to read it.