I think that I might be the last of the bloggers to come to some consensus of my bests for the year 2010. It was a whirlwind of amazing projects and new adventures for me (the beginning of this blog included!), so much so that it’s been difficult to quiet my mind and focus enough to put something into words. Before I begin my own quirky little list I’d like to thank so many who have made a huge impression on me this year; who have supported my work and others who are producing wonderful works of art and love. I am eternally grateful for the opportunities that have come my way and to have be able to share them. So, here goes:
*best perfume experience of the year: lots of enthusiastic children coming to the studio to explore their sense of smell! Having the ESSENSE STUDIO open for two years now has led to lots of folks bringing their children in to “smell smells” with me. I love to watch them love and hate each aroma with perfect honesty and full on emotional impact. I can immediately tell that they are being brought in touch with sheer joy at their humanity as they revel in the experience of their fifth sense. It brings me pleasure without end to see their faces even when their tongues are *hanging out in disgust. (*moss and civet do this pretty often).
*the most fun I had this year with fragrance: Sniffapolooza! There is no other event that brings me in contact with dear friends, amazing clients that I would most likely never get to meet, perfumistas from all over, and some of the most creative and down right fabulous people you will ever meet… all this wrapped in a frenzy of perfume sniffing, perfume speaking and perfume thinking. I love it. (* Highlight of Spring Fling: Mark Behnke’s piggy back ride. * Highlight of Fall Ball: (there’s three): Meeting Monica Miller, Ida’s lipstick-napkin-art and the gasp of delight when I announced Cuir et Champignon at the Sunday luncheon.
*most fascinating accord of the year: Galbanum & Bitter Almond while researching ancient Egyptian perfume formulae. We all (Mary, Amber and I) thought this combination could be a train wreck but boy were we wrong. It seemed like it might be a heavyweight fist fight for who would dominate but it is a wonderfully unusual dynamic that works beautifully in the most surprising way. The galbanum brings out a green almost wheat-like nuance from the almond and the spike of the almond mirrors the sharp bite of galbanum but it’s undertone sweetens in just the right way. All I can say is, who knew? It was love at first sniff.
*best department store perfume I smelled this year: Kalimantin by Chantecaille. (I hope I am spelling that correctly). Kalimantin is to me like being in a cozy cashmere sweater eating softly spiced rice pudding. Could there be a more elegantly comfort-filled experience? This true comfort perfume is lovely and beautifully balanced; nothing is out-of-place or jagged and with just the right amount of sweetness. It’s really well done.
*best natural perfume I smelled this year: Cannabis by dupetit. Although Cannabis has been around for quite a while, this Autumn’s Outlaw Perfume project brought a sample my way. Each of us at the Studio loved this wildly unrepentant ‘pot’ perfume that is superbly balanced in lively citrus and evergreen freshness that made it a terrific scent to splash around in.
*perfume I wish I’d had the chance to sniff but didn’t in 2010: Un Carillon Pour Un Ange by Tauer. I did have the good fortune to test Andy’s lily perfume when it was still known under it’s working title “Gabriel” but I haven’t gotten to the finished product. Of course, I have heard wonderful things and suspect that the addition of the leather and more ambergris has changed it greatly. I know many who have swooned over it and I, too, would like to fly on the wings of angels.
*best raw material discovery of the year: Spanish Lavender Absolute. Sweet, chewy and deliciously earthy and rich. Fruity nuances, too. I can’t wait to get you alone, my pretty. I think we will make beautiful music together… (Who knew that lavender could be luscious?)
*vintage perfume discovery of the year: La Jacée c.1925 from Francois Coty. I am fortunate enough to have smelled many BEAUTIFUL masterpieces of perfumery since historical perfume is a HUGE fascination for me (to the point that I am in the process of creating a small perfume museum of my own) but this gem is virtually unknown and truly unlike any other perfume I have tried. La Jacée is a light, almost ‘eau de cologne’ style perfume based on heliotrope and jasmine with lilac, lily, an iris/ violet complex and benzoin. It is as modern as a Brancusi sculpture and shiny like a new art deco automobile.
*best fragrant flash-back moment: Bitter Orange bath bar by Agraria. The spicy-bitter orange-moss scent was a revelation and as close to the scent of a long-lost (and loved) calvin klein potpourri from the ‘80’s that I have ever come. It has just the right balance of green, herbaceous, mossy, earthy, woody, smoky, spicy and orange. It is a smell that I cherish and am thrilled to have found again in a wonderful everyday item like a soap.
*best new line of perfumes I found in 2010: (my pick and everyone else’s it seems): Atelier. In particular, the Trefle Pur is outstanding and my go to scent when I need an antidote to the inevitable fragrance overload at Sniffapalooza. I make a beeline to it each and every time I am at Bergdorfs and I find it soothing and refreshing without fail. It is fabulous!
Thank you Trish at Scent Hive for organizing this blog event and inviting me to take part. I am glad to be welcomed into the community of perfume bloggers such as my compatriots in this (my first) joint blogging adventure:
The Non-Blonde
Smelly Blog
Roxana Illuminated Perfume
I Smell Therefore I Am
EauMG
A Rose Beyond the Thames
All I Am a Redhead
Schreibman’s Live
Portland Examiner
CaFleureBon
Persolaise
Sorcery of Scent
Scent Hive
I hope that 2011 will be an exciting, creative, prosperous and health-filled year for everyone! I am looking forward! oxoxo
Image courtesy of Roxana Villa
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I loved reading your Best perfume experience. Children are so much fun to watch. Pure Joy
🙂 Thanks Taffy! I REALLY love to experience the scents with kids… they are the BEST to watch. I’m glad you love it, too!
Glorious list Dawn! What a treat to read. Now you have me immensely curious about that new Chantecaille fragrance 😉
Lots of love to you in this new year,
Trish
Thank you, Trish! I was a little nervous that I woudln’t have anything to talk about but it was super fun… Thanks so much for inviting me to be a part of the event. Tons of love and blessings to you as well in the new year and always~ Dawn
ps: I think that you will love the Kalimantin- so soft and pretty… and not too sweet.
Dawn, what a luscious list!
I would just die for that La Jacee, I never even heard of it before. I am still waiting to try La Rose Jacqueminot, which I will probably never do either, but I love hearing about all these lovely old classics.
I am glad that you put that galbanum and bitter almond accord on your list – that stuff was so amazing in your Egyptian perfume, I am still just astonished at how well that worked.
You showed up on my list too….. 🙂
🙂 DONNA! Thank you so much for mentioning Susinon on your list of Best of 2010! I know you get to try out TONS of great perfumes so it means a lot. I’m glad you liked my list, too… you will HAVE to make a trip to Boulder some time soon to smell La Rose Jacqueminot and La Jacée. That’s all there is to it! I’m hoping to have the museum open by the late Spring so I will be sure to let you know when we ‘launch’. who knows…right? (I’ll keep a very happy thought about it!)
Lots of love and many fragrant adventures for you in 2011!! Big hugs, Dawn
um..so you got a piggy back ride on Mark Behnke? How did I miss that?!! Meeting Miss Dawn big highlight for me too.
🙂 Yep..I had a bum ankle and he said he’d carry me if I needed. It was more like a shoulder ride that didn’t really go anywhere as we couldn’t stop laughing… I think that there might be a picture on basenotes. (It was Spring Fling). It’s something like “now this is really wearing a perfumer”. such fun. I can’t wait to get to hang with you again. BIG hugs and LOVE~ oxoxo, Dawn
ps: Thank you for the pick of Cuir et Champignon on your best of 2010 list! I am blessed by you.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your list. How many new and interesting things there are still to discover for me! I am glad I discovered your Mata Hari this year, it is truly wonderful!
Thank you, Dawn!
Thank you Olfactoria! I was so very pleased to have made it onto your list of highlights for 2010! It is a great honor. 🙂 I’m glad you liked my list, too. I was very relieved that I didn’t have to do any naming of perfume of the year, etc, since I try and do my “homework” in therms of knowing what’s out there but I couldn’t possibly smell everything like so many bloggers do. This seemed just right and really fun. Happy New Year! oxo
Such an interesting list!
I’m so glad you described how children come to your studio, I completely got the feeling of the noise and cheer they must produce smelling different things. 🙂
Thank you, Ines! I loved reading your list as well! 🙂 Yes, kids get very giddy in the studio…the aromas really stimulate them in fascinating ways. I love it.
Happy, Happy New Year to you!!
Wonderful list. Am I living under a rock? Don’t answer that. It’s just that I’ve been able to try so few of these! Off to track them all down. I did try Carillon, and it’s heaven.
Hi, Brian! 🙂 You made me chuckle this morning: THANK YOU for that! I’m glad you liked my list and that I’ve inspired you to a perfume quest. I think you will find new loves and that perhaps your journey will bring you and Abby on a trip to visit me to sniff La Jacée at my little museum when it opens. (hee hee). Can’t wait to try Carillon (and to compare with ‘Gabriel’). Happy New Year to you! oxo
I hope you know our strolling and sniffing at both Spring Fling and Fall Ball was one of my highlights of 2010. To share the time with someone as passionate and knowledgeable about fragrance truly made that time we spent together magical.
I wish you a very heartfelt Happy New Year.
Mark
🙂 Dear Mark!! Thank you for commenting at my little blog…it really was a blast! I (already) can’t wait for Sniffa this Spring to hang with you and all our peeps. Sharing fragrance plus analyzing and contemplating the designs with you is one of my favorite things. Pure pleasure.
Thank you for your wonderful New Year wishes; I wish incredible new things for you as well~~~ BIG HUGS, Dawn
[…] to the fact that many people have commented on and were attracted to one particular notation on my “Best of 2010″ list, which was my ‘best fragrant experience of 2010: children coming to smell smells at the […]