Lost History of Perfume: Scent, Power, and Empire

“With a perfumer’s art, Ola Salem gives us a heady concoction of travelogue, history, and culture.” —Tilar Mazzeo, New York Times bestselling author

A cultural journey through the world of fragrance, weaving together ancient tradition and modern artistry to tell the untold history of our favorite perfume trends of today

Scent’s grip on how we feel and what we remember is distinct from our other senses. Unlike sight, sound, taste, or touch, smell bypasses the brain’s central relay, going straight to the limbic system where we process emotions and store memories. This means that a single whiff of perfume can instantly evoke nostalgia, moving us in ways we cannot always explain.

Perfume has fascinated every civilization for millennia, evolving from a tool for ancient rituals to a $50 billion global industry. But long before France bottled its fame, Arabia perfected the art of scent—not just as a measure of beauty and attraction but also as a display of power. Yes, Chanel revolutionized fragrance with No. 5, Guerlain’s Shalimar reshaped how the East was imagined, and Tom Ford’s Oud Wood brought the scented wood to the streets of London, Paris, and New York. But places like the Arab gulf, North Africa, East Asia, which gave the world much of these ingredients and techniques, have been written out of their own history.

“Intimate, funny, and deeply research” (Clarissa Ward, author of On All Fronts) and based on months of on-the-ground reporting across four continents, Egyptian American journalist Ola Salem provides a first-hand account of the perfume monopoly, interrogating the “fraghead” revolution, debunking industry stereotypes, and examining what the future of fragrance will look like. From Cleopatra’s perfume factories to the modern-day Sephora counter, from the jasmine fields of Egypt to the frankincense trees in Oman, Salem takes readers on an immersive cultural journey to shine a light on the oft-overlooked corners, cultivators, and creators of the fragrance world.