Editor Ermano Picco and I began with an overview of the best perfumes as well as the top trends of 2020. Ermano lives in Milan, Italy and I live in New York City. Often I am asked is there a difference between how people from different countries judge perfumes? In compiling our top ten favorite perfumes of 2020, it’s apparent that a good fragrance is universal. In no particular order our top ten favorite perfumes of 2020.
Ermano’s Top Ten Favorite Perfumes of 2020 (with Michelyn when we overlap).
DIS-CONNECT 2 Concrete (Omer Ipekci): Concrete is a set on a bubbling baking soda pillar of high-octanes violets, a cross between garage and kitchen, redolent of the peculiar smell of methyl octine carbonate, a molecule fans of vintage Christian Dior Fahrenheit remember well. Here it is emphasized by a sous-bois layer of mossy woods, moist bark scattered on little fluorescent mushrooms. An addictive disconnection taking you to a fantastic leathery chypre’s terroir. –Ermano
Serge Lutens Fils de Joie (Christopher Sheldrake): If you want to get attention from a jasmine addict like me, you just have to say Lutens and jasmine in the same sentence. And definitely Fils de Joie is an attention grabber and probably the best Serge Lutens in years. The waxy, intoxicating jasmine transports you to Moroccan nights in a villa surrounded by a lush garden. Spices and rose water from the dinner you’re having brings joy and excitement, along with the carnal whiffs where beautiful blossoms and wild animals hide. Night hunters won’t be disappointed. –Ermano
Cartier La Panthère Parfum (Mathilde Laurent): A re-invention of the classic eau de parfum from 2014, La Panthère to the line between sensual and sweet; feral and floral. This striking balance is exhibited by its unique line-up of ingredients. That is, mesmerizing gardenia accompanied by sensual notes of musk, all of which is amplified more and more in the Parfum by the apricot-tinged osmanthus and its haute-couture suede evening-cape. A flanker in my top ten? Bien sur.-Ermano
CHANEL Le Lion (Olivier Polge – Christopher Sheldrake): In such a troubled year, the major brands stayed in their comfort zones for the most part. Yet after years of trendy scents, CHANEL went back to its legacy of classical perfumery. Last year it was Coromandel Parfum, and this year it’s the uber-chic Le Lion. The same treatment patchouli gets in the first, labdanum gets in the latter, giving way to a graceful amber, no crazy crowd-pleasing winks but a beautiful oriental with a big liquor-like labdanum gilded in sandalwood, a tiny bit of incense and beautiful roasted (and roaring) bourbon vanilla. Understatedly glorious. –Ermano and Michelyn
April Aromatics Lotus Rising (Tanja Bochnig): Lotus Rising is a special gift that brightens my spirit, as award winning natural perfumer Tanja Bochnig unlocked her vintage Pink Lotus and vintage Blue Lotus absolutes she found in India to release a refined, mellow and textured floral bouquet. I cannot remember these rare and tough to work with materials composed in such uplifting and unique way, unfolding the blossoms full delicacy and the dewy crispness of rosy petals at dawn, exuding their honeyed, fruity pollen as the sun warms them up. You feel like a hungry bee. –Ermano
credit: Roberto Greco
Roberto Greco Porter sa peau (Rodrigo Flores-Roux): conveys by its very name the deep, intimate aesthetics of this project; and translating into fragrance the stunning visual research Roberto Greco pursued over the past three years- about skin and its interplay with light. As traces of classics from Antonio Canova to Sarah Moon lie underneath the overexposed, misty photography series, the same you can sense the diaphanous erotic tension of aldehydic glories from Worth Je Reviens to Dior Dune inhaling Porter Sa Peau. The creative collaboration between Mr. Greco and Rodrigo Flores-Roux is seamless and one of effortless sensuality. –Ermano and Michelyn
Masque Milano Ray-flection (Alex Lee): Close your eyes, feel the warmth of pure sunlight on your face and inhale; this is what perfumer Alex Lee accomplishes with Ray-Flection. Mimosa is the centrepiece here but it’s far from being a plain soliflore, it’s a whole feel-good experience to me, where the golden flower dots fits in just perfectly filling the air with their radiant powdery, honeyed magic when you least expect it, right in the coldest days of winter. – Ermano
Hiram Green Vivacious (Hiram Green): When we first smelt Vivacious, it immediately brought us back to the glory years of perfumery during the 1950s, an era of every day glamour. For Ermano, the benzoin laden violet work of genius by natural perfumer Hiram Green precisely conjures the ghost of Nina Ricci Coeur Joie by Germaine Cellier, resulting in a classic, yet fresh take on violet, which is often thought of as “dated”. Not here, where it’s voluptuous, fresh, and just a little naughty. Another masterwork by the award-winning natural perfumer. – Ermano and Michelyn
10th Anniversary Bonus: Antonio Alessandria Parfums Rusty Vibes for CaFleureBon (Antonio Alessandria) I spent the whole summer enjoying this beauty inspired by a photo inspired from Alex Musgrave. The balance between creamy florals ruled by ylang-ylang, pulpy, crisp exotic fruits, passion fruit, coconut and banana reminding me of happy days in Brazil and the contrasting metallic incense backbone indeed suggest light and gloom, life and decay are just a cycle and we are part of a whole. This is a precious lesson I cherished from this year and Rusty Vibes definitely exudes this preciousness. – Ermano Picco, Editor
Laboratorio Olfattivo Mandarino (Jean-Claude Ellena) If optimism had a scent it would smell like Laboratorio Olfattivo Mandarino. Mandarin with its tangy, pulpy brightness is definitely one of the happiest colours in the perfumer’s palette. M. Ellena pays a tribute to Italy, unfolding a 3D hyper-realistic, juicy fragrance textured in blackcurrant accents and intriguing anisic hints to also render the light-heartedness, the sunshine within Italians … and Americans. This has been meaningful for us to hang on to during the past year. We cannot ever let it dim. –Ermano and Michelyn
Michelyn’s Top Ten Favorite Perfumes of 2020
2020 was also a year of travel themed perfumes and none was more suggestive than Atelier des Ors Rouge Saray (Marie Salamagne). Evoking the deserts of the Middle East, caravans laden with delectable dates, sensual spices and fresh plums of Petra carry precious aromatics. I was transported to another time, at a time when I needed to be anywhere but in lock down. One of the best gourmands I have experienced and decidedly different than anything else I smelled this year. –Michelyn
Gallivant Bukhara (Ralf Schwieger): Restrictions on traveling this year have affected us, so visiting other countries, even nearby cities was out of the question. We were excited when Gallivant Creative Director Nick Steward released his homage to Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Master perfumer Ralf Schwieger displays his extraordinary skill manipulating iris as Bukhara unfolds like a hand sown tapestry threaded with the earthiness of orris root rather than any powdery floralcy. Vegetal and almost pulpy with carrot and pear nuances at the opening, the composition is woven with threads of dusky saffron, a hint of jasmine, musk and a host of spices that recalls Bukhara when it was as a city along the fabled Spice Route. But this is an orris perfume to its core. There is a bleached brightness that is as dazzling as the sun dancing on the city’s famous architecture reflecting the warmth of the people who live there now. – Michelyn and Ermano
Puredistance Rubikona (Cécile Zarokian): Can an interpretation of rubies be composed with patchouli as the centerpiece? Mme Zarokian’s stunning Rubikona for Puredisance exudes radiant luxury and opulence. Rubikona is an example why we should trust our noses, not notes. This parfum extrait smells red, rich and warm, slightly carnal with creamy, lush florals and effortless chic. –Michelyn
Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery Luminous Lemurs (Laurie Stern): I can’t praise Laurie Stern enough for composing a pure all-natural fruity floral of this caliber. Laurie wanted to capture the lemurs habitat on the magical island of Madagascar using as many raw materials that are indigenous to Madagascar as she could find, including a twenty-year-old sandalwood and a twenty-year-old vanilla. The focal point is the creamy, rich ylang ylang, which complements and offsets the juicy blood orange. Lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove (also from Madagascar), Laurie who has studied lemurs (who have scent glands in their wrists) creates a fruity floral fragrance that any proper lemur (and human) would want to exude to attract a mate. –Michelyn
4160Tuesdays The Darkest Bloom (Sarah McCartney in collaboration with author P.M. Freestone): Sarah knows dark, after all she worked with me on Dark Queen for our tenth anniversary; a musky animalic based on a fantasy book by of the same name. The Darkest Bloom was also inspired by a fantasy book by author P.M. Freestone set in the Middle Ages. The Darkest Bloom depicts a rare flower with powerful healing properties. Mandora and bergamot essential oils are blended with black currant-like buchu and apricot in the opening. Magnolia, Osmanthus and narcissus follow along with cedarwood. The labdanaum and styrax are nods to the Middle Ages. Don’t we all need a magical perfume with healing power… just about now? I know I do –Michelyn
DSH Perfumes Heirloom Elixir #12 Giardini Segreti (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz): With 32 perfumes composed during 2020, choosing just one from Dawn Spencer Hurwitz was a challenge. I chose that once again was a scent of place… very intimate to Dawn; her trip to Venice 16 years ago and a fragrance she released with minor tweaks: Giardini Segreti. I owned this before it was reformulated, and I love this version even more. A throaty floral aria, the 2020 version is again unabashedly floral, with the divas tuberose, jasmine and gardenia singing in harmony amidst mimosa and moss. I normally cannot wear a BIG floral, but this works so well that it made my top ten, more for it being a personal favorite, then having the impossible task of judging which of Dawn’s perfumes this year was the best. –Michelyn
photo and digital effects Despina Veneti
Parfums Dusita Moonlight in Chiangmai (Pissara Umavijani): As a long-time fan of Pissara Umavijani’s work, Moonlight in Chiangmai, her tenth perfume, is, in my opinion her opus. Composed during the pandemic. Pissara’s creativity was unleashed as she recreated a scent memory of happier days from her past. Moonlight in Chiangmai is Mme Umavijani olfactive recollection of a starlit night on a mountain top when the gauzy light of the moon turned everyone and everything around her golden. The complex teakwood accord she composed using 22 ingredients is, in and of itself magical. Sensual with the headiness of night blooming jasmine, wet and green with aromas of tropical forests resinous, I feel as if I am in a dream, as curls of incense weave in and out of the perfume.-Michelyn
Masque Milano’s Madeleine (Fanny Bal): Proust, madeleine and memory converge in Masque Milano Madeleine. The fragrance was inspired by a memory of Creative Director Alessandro Brun in Paris at the famed Café Angelina. Bittersweet cocoa, Chantilly crème, chestnuts and espresso are offset by tuberose, milky white florals and musk. I don’t have a middle name, but today it is Gourmand; Madeleine is the finest I have smelt in years… maybe ever.
Now that’s a wrap for Ermano and me. We hope you enjoyed our top ten favorite perfumes of 2020 and Best Fragrances of 2020. And for the reader who asked in a comment why is this so long? Because 2020 was a very good year for perfumes, in spite of everything. Tomorrow Ida and Despina will step in with their respective top ten favorite perfumes of 2020.-Ermano Picco and Michelyn Camen.
Thanks to the generosity of Masque Milano, we have a 30 ml bottle of Masque Milano Madeleine for a registered readers in the USA, UK and EU.
Merci to Atelier des Ors for 100 ml of Rouge Saray for a registered readers in the USA, UK and EU.
To be eligible, please leave a quality comment (a lot of work goes into these end of year posts) and let us know which of our top ten favorite perfumes you have tried or own, which you would like to win and why as well as where you live. Draw closes December 30, 2020. What did you think of Ermano’s and Michelyn’s Ten Favorite Perfumes of 2020?
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