Lyttelton?s passion for fragrance inspired her to have a signature perfume created just for her?and then to embark on the ultimate olfactory odyssey. Armed with a list of ingredients, she tracked down each component of her scent, tracing its origins, history, and culture.
From the iris fields of Tuscany to the vetivert distilleries of India, from the nutmeg plantations of Sri Lanka to the shores of the Arabian Sea, Celia gives readers a glimpse into the world of scent that few people have ever experienced, providing delicious details on its place in history?for example, how Casanova added small amounts of ambergris to chocolate mousses to aid his amorous adventures, and how Charles Dickens carried a monogrammed pocket nutmeg grater in his waist coat at a time when nutmeg was used to ward off evil and to spice rum.
About The Scent Trail
A unique travel memoir, The Scent Trail charts a woman’s journey as she explores the magic and history behind the ingredients of her own bespoke perfume.
When Celia Lyttelton visits a bespoke perfumer in London, she enters the heady and exotic world of scent. On a London backstreet she is transported to a world made up of thousands of oils, unguents and balms — all hidden away in an old Chinese medicine chest.
And so begins Celia’s remarkable quest to discover the origin, history and culture of the many ingredients that make up her unique custom-made perfume. It is a quest that will take her from Tuscany to Morocco, from Sri Lanka to Tibet, from the peasants and farmers growing their own crops and the traders who sell to the perfume houses, to the “noses” who create the scents and the marketing kings involved in this billion dollar industry.
As Celia explores the mythology, history and culture behind ingredients such as jasmine, nutmeg, musk and ambergris, she paints a vivid portrait of this mysterious, sensual world, conjuring up the people she has met and the places she has visited on her scent trail.
About Celia Lyttelton
Celia Lyttelton is an artist and a journalist. She has written for Vogue, Tatler, Vanity Fair, World of Interiors, the Sunday Times and Harpers & Queen.
About Celia Lyttelton
Celia Lyttelton is an artist and a journalist. She has written for Vogue, Tatler, Vanity Fair, World of Interiors, the Sunday Times and Harpers & Queen.
