Ida Meister and Despina Veneti’s Best of 2019

For the past two days you have heard from Ermano and Michelyn. Now we turn the year in review 2019 over to our Editors and Sr. Contributors, beginning with Senior Editors Ida Meister and Despina Veneti

I’m thrilled to team up with Despinakimou! Here’s to many more! Contrary to what you might think – I didn’t get to smell everything this year; I don’t believe that anyone could. Therefore, in the interests of veracity I can only truthfully vouch for what I’ve been able to sniff. Disclaimer time: I’m going out on a limb here and naming TWO DSH Perfumes in 2019 for completely different reasons, because they are night and day to one another. I’m claiming artistry over favoritism: smell for yourself and I’m certain that you will agree. To quote Tina Turner: “What’s love got to do with it?” In this circumstance, nothing. Creatively speaking (in my best Gertrude Stein voice), a coup is a coup is a coup.

Nishane ANI (Cécile Zarokian: Oh my word. When I smelled this at Esxence 2019, I was gobsmacked: first came the histoire and desire for rapprochement between historically fraught boundaries, then the perfume itself. Is it a gourmand shaded green, adorned with hot spice and wood, zinging with the tangy tonicity of black currant? Do we need to categorize it at all? From intention and execution arose great beauty.

Papillon Perfumes Bengale Rouge (Liz Moores): a brilliant blind buy, my dears. I’ll never regret it, bathed in plentiful balms and spicy rose garnished with sultry opoponax.  It’s sexy as it can be, buxom and bursting at the seams – but it doesn’t overreach the boundaries of good taste. Your scarves, sweaters, vests will retain the ghostly vestiges for days after application – without suffocation, mind. Mmmmmmm.

Senyokô Duo des Fleurs (Euan McCall): move on over, Lakme. I want those animalic jasmines and mitti attar, choice sandalwood and boozy davana. It’s one of the more complex, seductive fragrances of 2019 – full of surprises (thank heavens!) and a welcome anointment at any time of the calendar.

Maison Mona Di Orio Alinea Collection Four Thieves (Fredrik Dalman): yes, it’s a latecomer but very worth the wait. Fredrik Dalman was inspired by the Bubonic plague (bless his heart, a man after my own) and the famous Four Thieves vinegar receipt utilized for banishing that ugly virulent miasma during the Middle Ages. It’s delightfully herbal and naturally piquant yet smells sophisticated enough for the Herbalist Naysayers. B and I are big fans. My poor sample will not last long, that’s for certain.

Perris Monte Carlo Jasmin de Pays (Maître Jean-Claude Ellena): those I encountered at Esxence 2019 were well aware of my advanced smittenness. I adore an animalic, true jasmine – and who better to evoke it than a multi-generational Grasseois who picked them at dawn with Grandmaman? If I had to choose just one jasmine, this is it.

Hiram Green Voyage 2019 (Hiram Green): I never expected to love it this much. I never expected my B to swoon, either. This floriental lovely has stunning longevity; it simply lilts upon the skin as you dream of Lake Pichola (dream on, Ida!) and the life of luxury. Luxe travel in a flacon for those who cannot – and that’s quite a number of us…

DSH Perfumes i fiore bel canto (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz): I sent for a one ml.sample when I realized that Dawn was creating a new series, the Women Artists Series. Maria Callas is the first inspiratrix, and i fiori bel canto is described as ‘beautifully singing flowers’. Intricate and brimming with damask rose, jonquil, narcissus, tuberose, stephanotis, orange blossom, two jasmines, boronia, orris concrete, cassis bud for a start. Weave in the voices of beeswax, opoponax, benzoin, castoreum, civet, ambergris, ambrette, sandalwood, labdanum, galbanum, myrrh; bedeck it with bergamot and bigarade. Perhaps now you can envision why it’s in a class entirely its own. Nothing compares; it’s intoxicating.

DFG 1924 Il Sentiero degli Dei (Roberto Dario): The path of the g-ds, indeed. They tread lightly upon the Earth, leaving wisps of iris, musk and feathery incense-y cedar in their collective wake. If I were to possess just one bottle of Roberto’s it would be this. The subtlety of it belies its longevity, a delightful trait for a fragrance. The sillage doesn’t assassinate, it intimates and lingers for a substantial amount of time. Such delicacy!

LUSH Sappho (Emma Dick) 2019: Perfumer Emma Dick has taken up the LUSH perfumer baton, and she’s marvelous at it. Homer referred to the poet Sappho as the Tenth Muse; if she smelt like this, she’d have my vote. Sappho is unutterably voluptuous without heft: clouds of orris, jasmine and tobacco levitate atop Madagascar vanilla, tonka and Australian sandalwood. It’s just smoky enough to pique interest and manage to feel cosseting as a duvet. I snagged myself a bottle and it’s in regular rotation these days.

DSH Perfumes Heirloom Editions #5 White Rabbits (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz) 2019: I hear the moans and groans from here. I’ve NEVER chosen two from one perfumer, ever – but White Rabbits soothes my soul like nothing else, with its carroty rootiness and such a heartbreaking rose in there. Angelica! Oakmoss and sandalwood, ambrette and vetiver flesh out this dear perfume that captures my fancy enough to crave it in every format there is. Those of us who are nourished by nature find this mirrored in White Rabbits. I never want to be without it.

Best Mainstream Perfume of 2019: Gucci Mémoire d’Une Odeur: that chamomile note supports a lovely jasmine. I hear that it can be a dealbreaker, though. Whatever went wrong with wanting to smell beautiful vs.smelling like a science experiment?

Best Natural Perfume of 2019: Providence Perfume Co. Drunk on the Moon (Charna Ethier): a honeyed, louche perfume which is indelibly come-hither-like. Oh, to bathe in it!

Honorary Mention: Jorum Studio Carduus and Nectary: because how can I choose? I’m not King Solomon. Each sings to me in a different key, modality. Two parts of the whole. Superb work.

Rising Perfumer of the Year: Euan McCall. Talk about a hard-working perfumer. Everything he appears to touch feels golden, molten nature or wildly futuristic. Euan’s a visionary, and his Jorum Studio fragrances and line for Senyokô are proof enough. I look forward to smelling what he does next.

–Ida Meister, Sr. Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor

photo by Gail

DSH Perfumes Le Jade (Dawn Spencer-Hurwitz) As a passionate lover of green scents, this humid, sparkling composition spoke directly to my heart. A rétro-nouveau fragrant jewel, Le Jade’s herbal/floral/mossy beauty is bound to delight those who adore (and miss) the glorious green chypres of the past. Being European, I hadn’t had the chance to experience Dawn Spencer-Hurwitz’s amazing creations till just a few months ago; getting familiar with them has been for me this year’s greatest olfactory revelation.

photo by Despina

État Libre d’Orange Experimentum Crucis (Quentin Bisch): Working on an evocative brief about Isaac Newton’s world-changing scientific theories, Quentin Bisch created a hugely pleasurable rose-centered composition of cosmic sillage. The radiant rose transcends the initial fruitiness (apple, lychee) becoming progressively seductive, mostly thanks to a deeply sensual honey accord that makes the flower feel almost edible. A euphoric neo-chypre that creates a veritable atmosphere around the wearer.

L’Artisan Parfumeur Bana Banana (Céline Ellena): The suave, exuberant Bana Banana was a release that did full justice to the pioneering Perfume House’s tradition of idiosyncratic scents. Not only did this fragrance manage to reconciliate me with the banana note (a former “nemesis”!), but had me marveling at Mme Ellena’s art and skill: banana and jasmine blended together seamlessly, accompanied by a nutmeg overload and a sensual base of tonka bean and vanilla. A refreshingly original, playful take on (moderately sweet) amber.

Maison Violet Nuée Bleue (Nathalie Lorson): In her fifth creation for the reborn Maison Violet, Nathalie Lorson signed an exemplary retro-modern, iris-centered scent that reflects transition in every way: balancing itself between eau fraîche and eau de parfum, Nuée Bleue feels like the deceptively gentle, yet electrically charged, rush of air just before a storm: a wind announcing change. Orange blossom, carnation, benzoin, woods and musks are all there to enhance the iris’s crepuscular, deeply sentimental appeal, in a modern composition of neoclassical beauty.

Photo by Despina

Marc-Antoine Barrois Ganymede (Quentin Bisch): Mandarin, spices, osmanthus, suede leather and woods interact with the mineral, salty nuances of the immortelle, creating a spectacularly diffusive olfactory tribute to both the ancient Greek myth of Ganymede, as well as the eponymous moon of Jupiter. A fragrant hymn to luminous, fluid masculinity, Ganymede reconciled conceptualization with pure aesthetic pleasure, while cementing the fact that it’s been another year of top form for Quentin Bisch.

Masque Milano Kintsugi (Vanina Muracciole): Named after the Japanese technique of restoring broken objects, Kintsugi proposed an utterly intriguing way to “mend” the suffering (due to IFRA’s escalating restrictions on oakmoss) chypre genre. Vanina Muracciole used refined patchouli and salty amber as a base, with leathery and green touches from raspberry and violet leaf. Lush magnolia accompanies the sumptuous rose de mai, along with a startling savory undercurrent. Both abstract and clear, Kintsugi is one of the most singular roses I’ve experienced lately.

Nishane ANI (Cécile Zarokian): The beautiful message behind this fragrance – one of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and universal healing – deserved no less than Cécile Zarokian’s soulful, inspired take on (the ever-comforting) vanilla. The latter shines gloriously in this oriental composition of supreme creativity, enveloped by bright citruses, tonifying ginger, intense blackcurrant, energizing cardamom and creamy woods. The vital, complex, ever-shifting character of Ani echoes History itself.

photo by Despina

Parfums Dusita Le Pavillon D’Or (Pissara Umavijani): Had I not limited myself to only one fragrance from each brand, Splendiris would have also been here. It was for its sheer originality that Le Pavillon D’Or scored the extra point over its fragrant “sibling”: flirting with abstraction, while retaining the (unmistakable) Dusita D.N.A., the fragrance flows as smoothly as a peaceful stream from a green, herbaceous opening, to a delectable floriental heart and woody base. Arrestingly beautiful and tenderly reflective, it’s yet another testament to Pissara Umavijani’s unique olfactory signature.

Senyokô Duo Des Fleurs (Euan McCall) The newly founded Senyokô has been one of the year’s most exciting discoveries, delighting me with its supreme quality and coherent aesthetic choices. Duo Des Fleurs proves that there is always room for genuine creativity, even when dealing with a combination as “old as time”: rose and jasmine. The two flowers, surrounded by exceptional ingredients like davana, datura, Mysore sandalwood and an earthy mitti attar accord, transform into an intoxicating, almost narcotic potion of lyrical dimensions.

Shalini Paradis Provence (Maurice Roucel) In his fourth creation for the brand, Monsieur Roucel took us for a soul-cleansing fragrant voyage to the South of France, translating into scent the personal experiences/memories of his creative director, Shalini Kumar. Cool lavender and spicy thyme (with just a touch of delicate florals) star in a noble composition of therapeutic energy and luminous purity.

– Despina Veneti, Senior Editor

Thanks to Nishane we have a worldwide draw of 50 ml bottle of Nishane ANI we have a second 50 ml for a registered CafleureBon reader worldwide (if you are not sure if you are registered click here (you must register on our site or your entry will be invalid).

And thank you to Shalini are offering a travel spray ($125 USD) of Paradis Provence for a registered reader worldwide.  

To be eligible, what did you think of Ida’s and Despina’s Best fragrances of 2019. Have you tried any? Do you have favorites? Please include where you live and which of the two here you might want to win.

Also be sure to check Part 1 Best and Worst of 2019 by Ermano and Michelyn here  and Part 2 Best Fragrances of 2019 by Ermano and Michelyn here.

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