It's that time of year again...and once again, I am unable to wrap my brain around a simple list of great finds. I'm sticking with last year's format, highlighting the good and the bad, the fragrant and the not so fragrant.
Best perfume news of the year: New niche lines are sprouting like mushrooms these days. Le Labo & LesNEZ are two standouts in this crowded field, and both have been added to my "I want to try whatever they do next" list. Honorable mention in the good-news-but-delayed-gratification category goes to the upcoming perfume book from Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez.
Worst perfume news of the year: Serious perfume fans lamented the disappearance of Olivia Giacobetti's IUNX line. I didn't adore all of the fragrances, but they were interesting, and I was just falling in love with L'Ether when they closed up shop for good.
Best celebrity scent: I tried to keep up with the celebrity releases this year, but hey, there are only so many hours in a day. I couldn't smell them all. I missed Phat Farm Atman and Kylie Minogue Darling, and I'm sure there are numerous others. Of what I did manage to try, With Love Hilary Duff stands out as the best, but it can't beat 2005's Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker.
Fragrances that lived up to the hype: Terre d'Hermes and Tom Ford Black Orchid. I adore Terre d'Hermes and don't adore Black Orchid, but they both basically delivered what they promised, and that is rare enough these days. If I was on the panel voting for the 2006 Fifi Awards (and as you no doubt guessed, I'm not), these two would get my votes. Honorable mention goes to Prada Man and Guerlain Insolence.
Fragrances that didn't: Most of them, I suppose, but my biggest disappointments were Hermès Paprika Brasil and the Comme des Garçons Guerilla Series.
Perfumer of the Year: Bertrand Duchaufour, who made three of my favorite finds of the year — L'Artisan Dzongkha, L'Artisan Aedes de Venustas, and Eau d'Italie Paestum Rose.
Best concept and packaging: No contest, the Le Parfum Coffret by Thierry Mugler.
Prettiest perfume bottle: If there was a standout this year on the order of last year's Chinatown, I can't think of what it was, but I liked the bottles for Donna Karan Gold, Black Orchid and Kenzo Amour.
Fickle, fickle, fickle: My about-face for 2006 was Hermès Eau de Merveilles. I have no idea how I missed how lovely this was the first time around.
These are a few of my favorite things: An entirely random and almost certainly incomplete list of new-found loves from the past year, though not all are 2006 releases ~ Donna Karan Gold, Christian Dior Jules and Dior Dior, CB I Hate Perfume Memory of Kindness, Knize Ten, Le Labo Rose 31, LesNEZ The Unicorn Spell, Czech & Speake Dark Rose, Annick Goutal Songes, Crazylibellule & The Poppies Encens Mystic.
Was it a better year for perfume than 2005? Would love to hear your votes, do comment.
And be sure to check out these blogs for more 2006 Favorite Things:
Afrobella :: All About The Pretty :: Aromascope :: Beauty Addict :: Beauty Blogging Junkie :: Beauty by Nadine :: Beautiful Makeup Search & Beauty Blog :: Beauty Hatchery :: Beauty Jones :: Blogdorf Goodman :: Bois de Jasmin :: BonBons in the Bath :: Brain Trapped in Girl's Body :: Capital Hill Barbie :: C'est Chic :: Coquette :: Crazy Jay Blue :: eBeautyDaily :: Girl's Handbook :: Hautemommastuff :: Koneko's *Mostly* Beauty Diary! :: Legerdenez :: Makeup Bag :: Monkeyposh :: My Muse :: No one knows why the wolf laughs :: Perfume Smellin' Things :: Peppermint Patty's Perfume Posse :: Platinum Blonde Life :: Product Girl :: Scentzilla! :: She'll Be Feverish After So Much Thinking :: Slap of the Day :: The Customer Is Always Right :: The Daily Obsession :: The Great She Elephant :: The Life Of A Ladybug :: The Non-Blonde :: Urbane Girl :: Victoria's Own
Special thanks to Annie of Blogdorf Goodman for organizing this year's "Best Of" event!
Well, I don't know, I don't know…your list is not that EFT-ish at all. I counted 5 (five) of the same things we liked. Plus some that I forgot to include in my list, like Terre d'Hermes and Duchaufour's name…not to mention the eagerly awaited Turin-Sanchez book.
Thank you so much for your wonderful blog, Robin. It was my first …*wipes a tear* …the first blog I ever read and loved. Happy New Year!
oh you dear, brave woman. with your category of “best celebrity scent” … you try them so we don't have to! Thanks for being the beacon of best smells and the voice of reason, R. Happy New Year! xoxo
Yes, agree with Marina, one never forgets one's firsts (grabs a tissue). I love this blog, R, thanks for doing a great job 🙂
Ecstatic to see Douchafour and Aedes Room Spray on the list, it's brilliant! I've got it on right now, layered with La Chasse, which I adore! (how crazy is that? :-))
Ta for everything, dear Robin and the rest of the NST crew – Angela, Kevin, Jessica, Anjali, Marlen – it's been a joy reading your lovely articles and sharing with you the love of perfume! Happy New Year, guys!
Hugs
I was also surprised by Hilary Duffs fragrance. It was well done.
I loved the Kenzo bottles and the juice inside. I know that it had mixed reviews on MUA but it reminded me of my beloved Barbara Bui so I was hooked.
I have not been seeking out fragrance samples like I used to but I am very interested in trying that unicorn spell and the CB's.
This was a great list as always R.
I want to thank you again for this amazing blog. It is such an incredible resource for the fragrance junkie.
Have a lovely New Year!!!
Wonderful list! And we agree on many things, including Le Labo and LesNez, IUNX (esp. L'ether), the eagerly awaited Tania-Luca book, and the disappointments! I guess I really DO have to try the Hilary Duff! Happy New Year–and thanks for your wonderful blog!
Aw, thanks M! Glad I introduced you to blogs, anyway, and now here you are with your own Golden Colombinas, LOL…a huge happy New Year to you too!
LOL…happy to save you the agony, M! Have an easy move and a wonderful 2007 🙂
Layered with La Chasse, really??? That sounds absolutely bizarre, so I'll have to try it!
And many thanks for all the nice words! Hope your 2007 is perfect in every way, and looking forward to more of your perfume reviews 🙂
Annie, and yours now saves me the trouble of running to the MAC counter on a regular basis, so I thank YOU…nobody else dissects color collections like you do at Blogdorf Goodman.
Wishing you all the best in 2007!
J, I don't know that you *have* to try the HD. It is the best of the celebrity scents, IMHO, but that isn't saying that it is something I actually want to wear, and have the sneaking suspicion that you won't be buying a bottle either 🙂
Hoping for both of us that L'Ether re-appears under some other guise? Maybe OG will start another line?
And a very happy New Year to you as well!
Layered as in Aedes behind the ears with La Chasse on the neck. Does sound bizarre, but for me it's perfect!
And thank YOU for your kind words and wishes! 😉
mwua
Hmmm…I mostly wear fragrance on my arms…maybe I'll put one on each arm and then wave them around, LOL…
Terrific list, Robin, and thanks for the shout out on the book. I can't believe some of the things I left off my list when I was pounding out my blog post at midnight. Terre d'Hermès — I went from being bored to liking it to being annoyed to loving it. I need a FB, pronto. Dzongkha: I loved it, but without a full bottle and the sample all gone, it was out of nose out of mind, to my embarrassment.
I think this was, on balance, a fantastic year for perfume, despite all the griping we all do about the sheer quantity of garbage that turns up. There were many solidly good fragrances and a handful of great ones. I was surprised, on reflection, at what a showing 2006 made.
And thank you for keeping up such a terrific blog day in and day out, which has been getting better and better. It's a dependable read with my morning cuppa from Monday through Saturday. Carry on!
Superb idea, LOL!
T, I feel like I've forgotten things too…ought to keep a running list throughout the year to keep my brain from exploding when it is time to do this post.
It seems like it *was* a better year than 2005, but that there aren't so many wonderful things as there ought to be given how many new releases there were. So I'll go on griping, LOL…
And hope you have a great 2007 & that the writing goes smoothly!
A great list, R! I am right behind you with praises for Bertrand Duchaufour. 🙂
I so agree w/ you about CB's Memory of Kindness and Unicorn Spell (despite the Little Kiddle doll name). And I can't wait for the book from Tania and Luca!! W/out doubt will be my “must read” of the year.
I think my disappointments w/ some of my most anticipated releases (Paprika Brasil, L'Artisans Narcisse, Chypre Rouge, the CdG Guerillas) made me feel that 2006 was not so wonderful until I started looking back and realized I've fallen madly in love w/ MH's Rose en Noir and L'Air de Rien, OJ's Orris Noir, Guerlain's Bois d'Armenie, all sorts of new scents from CB (Violet Empire and his Musk are new HGs) and many from new or smaller lines like Les Nez, PG, Mona di Orio, Andy, Parfums d'Empire, MDCI, etc. this year. Overall then, it's been an excellent year. Well, tragic for my budget, as always, but excellent for my nose.
You are a darling, Dusan! Happy New Year to you, too!
More fragrances that I'll have to try. I liked this year's offerings- Serge Lutens, Bond no. 9 and L'Artisan have all done well, in my opinion. And, I loved Black Orchid.
The bottle I thought was the purtiest was Armani Code's. I rarely set many of my bottles out on the dresser from fear of ruining them in the sunlight, but I had to have this one out.
I'm so glad you circled back around to Eau de Merveilles, and well enough that it even made your end of the year list! I think maybe it's one that has to grow on a person? My sister had the same thing – she thought little of it, and then magically one day she sniffed it on me and demanded to know what I was wearing that day.
I didn't know you'd tried C&S' Dark Rose!!! How cool! I look forward to your review of it eventually. It's kind of a sleeper scent, isn't it? It's not particularly famous, but once sniffed it's a must-have for any collection.
Aw, thank you Angelita! 😀
mwua
Let me just summarize the products which are frequently listed in that 50+ blog site listing (yes I went through almost all of them!) 😀
Parfums Generale, Bond no. 9 West Side, Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, Armani Code Women, Hillary Duff perfume (and a Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist reference here and there)
Wow, you deserve an award if you looked at almost all of them, LOL…that is a lot of beauty info!
I would have included Carnal Flower, but had it on last year's list so that seemed like cheating. West Side certainly did appear on a number of lists — it just didn't impress me quite so much, although it is a nice scent.
Oh, I did forget that bottle, and who knows how many others. But last year's Chinatown still beats it, I think?
And loving my bottle of EdM. It is actually one of the few things I wear out these days (I am mostly a closet perfumista, LOL)…
Glad to see another Black Orchid fan! I don't love it, but I do think it is very well done, and for the most part it got trashed at MakeupAlley.
Would have added the Narcisse & SL CR to my list of disappointments, but didn't have as high hopes for them as I did for the CdGs & the Paprika. That is the second mention of L'Air de Rien today, so really must test it soon.
Tragic for the budget goes without saying 😉
Hope he'll have some interesting scents in '07!
I don't try everything that comes out so there are lots of scents on your list that I don't know. As usual, you make me want to test almost all of them, although I know we have quite different tastes. I just love reading what you write. 🙂
Happy New Year, R!
Hmm, another turn-around on the EdMerveilles. Have you tried the Parfum? It really is just spectacular and one of a few parfums that are worth getting at any cost, but you can actually pick up for less than $60 for a quarter ounce.
Robin, I always read you every single day, you just have all the news, and it is much appreciated! 🙂
Happy New Year!
s'prazdnikom to your smelly self! Wishing you a fabulous fragrant 2007.
And about the Atman? One of the nastiest bits of so called perfumery I have ever encountered on a test strip. You are missing nothing
Hello dear R!
Lovely list as always! So many I do not know, which means 2007 is going to start off wonderfully for new discoveries! 😉
For me, I didn't get to try as many fragrances as in 2005, but I think that 2006 had some really wonderful items, and Bond No. 9 West Side and Kenzo Amour are both new favorites!
Huge hug dear R, and Happy New Year!
Robin — great list! I had so much fun reading your blog this year. Saluting you on your Merveilles turnaround, since I did the same thing. I think I'm probably going to wind up with bottles of Insolence and Hilary Duff too… happy 2007.
Sadly, I did not love the Parfum. Too dark for me! And didn't love the Elixir either. I'm sticking with the regular 🙂
And I read PP every day too, of course! Happy 2007 to you.
Thanks J! You have a new Bell Jar, so you don't need to smell anything else for a while — enjoy your Tubereuse Criminelle! And you know I love Slap of the Day too 🙂
Oh really, nasty?? Good to know, I can cross it off my list.
And a very happy New Year to you!
A very happy New Year to you M, and hope 2007 is perfect! Your list wasn't up yesterday morning but off to look for it soon…
Happy 2007 to you, M! We'll both smell marvelous apparently 🙂
I must purchase DK Gold EDP, I went through my sample decant and loved every moment of it. Great List, Happy New Year! – Victoria
It is a really pretty scent, and the bottle is perfect.
Happy New Year to you!
I love how you had your list set up, I was a wuss and just named 6 products. 🙂 Happy New Year!
Hey, I'm the wuss — I can't narrow down to even 10 products, much less 6!
Stars for Rose 31 and The Unicorn Spell! Happy New Year, Cheers
Glad to see another fan of my favorites 🙂
And Happy 2007 to you!