Coco Chanel once said that it was the height of arrogance for a woman to think that she smelled good enough to go out without perfume - so if you want to make the right choice, what's a girl to do?

A new book will help. Not published in the UK until September, it's already being praised by beauty insiders from Tokyo to London.

Perfumes: The Guide, written by expert "noses" Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, is making big waves in the world of scent.

A professional biophysicist and perfume critic, respectively, the two are brutally frank.

They review and rate more than 1,200 perfumes, offering expert advice.

Some get good marks, such as Shalimar, Joy and Jo Malone's Lime Basil and Mandarin, while others get rather damning criticism. 212, from Carolina Herrera, for example, is "like getting lemon juice in a paper cut".

Amarige, from Givenchy: "If you are reading this because it is your darling fragrance, please wear it at home exclusively, and tape the windows shut."

Paris Hilton's Heiress is "a hilariously vile 50/50 mix of cheap shampoo and canned peaches". Yes, brutally frank.