top 10: 56 posts

I already began to crave fall, my favorite season, in August. By the time November rolled around—delivering little, if any fall, my longing for the autumnal rites became quite intense. I wanted to see the city filled with the chilly golden light, to wear my new red satin trench, to be delighted by the ochre maple leaves scattered on the wet sidewalk, to read Nabokov’s Speak, Memory in front of the fireplace (is there a better book suited for such a setting?)… If I could not have my autumn, I would have to conjure it. The list below (in no particular order) includes some of my favorite scents that usually bring on the autumnal mood. If you have any of your own favorites, please share them with me. …

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Spring made a brief visit to the East Coast of the USA before being chased out once again with heavy snows. Yet, my intense longing for the freshness and lightness that spring tends to bring has sought an outlet in scents that can usher in the spring. Below are some of my favourite fragrances—besides those mentioned in my earlier Fragrance of Spring article—that never fail to make me feel as if I am smelling the spring air. Or else, they seem to capture the duality and the vibrancy of this beautiful season. Of course, it does not mean that these are fragrances to be worn only in the spring. On the contrary, they are perfumes that can evoke the spring any time of the year. …

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2006 has been an exciting year for me, even though it was not all smooth sailing. There were weeks when I would hardly get any sleep, when things seemed to have conspired to work against me, yet there were also times filled with many fascinating discoveries. Above all, I am thankful for the excitement, support and passion for fragrance that you, my readers, have shared with me. This is truly the most special aspect of 2006 for me, and as I drink my glass of champagne on December 31st, I will toast to all of you.

In order to recap 2006, I have decided to offer a list of my most interesting discoveries. Most of the fragrances mentioned were released in 2006, but I also included a few older perfumes that I grew to admire even more this year.

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I have been wrapping up a few projects over the past few days, which turned out to be rather busy. I returned home on Sunday night to discover your great responses to Guy Robert’s list of legendary perfume classics. Now, I would have loved to know your own classical favorites. If you were to make a list of fragrances everyone must try at least once, what would it include?

Here are my own choices (in no particular order, limited to a practical number, not including anything that was discontinued or reformulated beyond recognition):

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In his book, Les Sens du Parfum, the perfumer Guy Robert lists some of the perfumers whose work he considers to be especially outstanding, alongside with some of their most notable masterpieces. Robert is the author of such fragrances as Amouage Gold, Christian Dior Dioressence, Hermès Calèche, Hermès Equipage and my own favorite Hermès Doblis. I always considered this list as including the classics one definitely must try. Unfortunately, some of them are no longer available, or not available in their original form. If you have a particular interest in seeing a review of any of them, please let me know. Cordon Vert is the only one I have not tried from this list.

François Coty — Chypre, L’Origan, L’Ambre Antique, L’Emeraude, La Cologne Cordon Vert.
Jacques Guerlain — Mitsouko, Shalimar, L’Heure Bleue. …

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