Aught Not, or, Out with the Auld, or, what I Ought to Know about the Aughts

The Introduction


It was mid-December, and a friend mused that the decade was coming to a close, and we (collectively, globally) had never firmly decided upon a name for it.

The Zeroes? Zeds? Aughts? C-21?

If you have been reading me for a while, you ought to stop right here.
You aught to.
'Cause here's where I'm going...

I propose we let bygones be bygones.  And forever refer retrospectively to the decade as the Aught Nots.

Apt, no?

****
The Set Up


There's no way I'll make it through a decade.  Besides, I only passed through the perfume door in...2007?  fell down the rabbit hole in 2008?...so I can't comment on the whole decade through that prism.  And since passing the world through the prism of perfume was one of the shaping forces when I started this blog, I'll not even use a magic machine or Tardis or rosecoloredbeergoggles.  I'll just stick with 2010, thank you very much.

(What's that I hear?  "No, thank YOU"?)

***
The Ought Not Part
aka, Irksome

In 2010, I watched a host of bloggers complain of a variety of maladies: malaise, overload, lack of inspiration, too many releases, not enough inspiration.

At first I was sympathetic, because I understood how that happens.  Then I was a little ticked, because I understood that that happens.  Then I laid low, because stuff happens.

Suffice to say that in the end, I find the complaint about too many blogging voices to be a host of rubbish.  For heaven's sake, first in doesn't mean best in--and complaining from a first-in's advantage (for whatever worth such an "advantage" has to you) is a bit of poor sportsmanship.  Second, there are ALWAYS a lot of voices out there.  That's why there are critics and academics and teachers and bulldog reporters who spend time gathering and sifting to come up with observations and through lines and maps to guide newcomers through the landscape.  The beauty of being on your own is that you can decide who/what you will/will not pay attention to.  THAT is why you do not earn the big dollars writing your blog.  Which would be my third peeve.  Really?  Having a hum of regular traffic of people stopping by to register they've paid attention to what your saying and engage you in a little dialogue is no longer satisfying?  I get that.  You are entitled to your feelings; they are even rational and understandable.  But why in the world complain to those very people?  Oy to the caramba.

Granted, I'm not a public complainer.  Except for the occasional decade wrap-up, I suppose.  But sheesh; take issue with facts, or ideas presented.  Do not jump onto the superhighway and then complain about the volume of traffic, or the fact that some of the cars are in better shape than others.  Just decide if you are going to try to be a traffic reporter, or traffic aware, or focused on getting to your destination.

**
The Ought To Part
aka, Winsome

As a traveller who tried to play in traffic, I found a lot of rewards for my efforts.  Sure, there were voices I had to say goodbye to; heck, I said "good-bye" to Ina at Aromascope the day I started playing.  The Left Coast Nose I didn't discover until she said goodbye, even though she had been somewhere in traffic the whole time.  Some came in guns blazing and dropped out of sight (Hortus Conclusus), but I'm happy they were here; meanwhile, quiet and steady and always a pleasure to drop in on were the Muse in Wooden Shoes and All I am A Redhead and Olfactarama. Then, there was one of my happiest of discoveries, who I happened upon in progress but watched as they steadily increased voice and presence until they were present on more than one front (Bonkers About Perfume, now also writing as Vanessa for Cafleurebon).  Why soft spots for all of these?  Because all (except for Ina, who had already left the building) did a fantastic job of keeping the conversation going in the comments, which is often where the best revelations occurred.

Which is why I Smell Therefore I Am goes here, because they're a double-barreled force of honest thought and response, and--as is my wont--are both within and without perfume.  I am fascinated by perfume, you may have noticed, but it does not consume me.  I feed at least as much off of context as I do by specifics.

On the other hand, some blogs are so good at specifics, you enjoy reading and learning.  Elena at Perfume Shrine, Denyse at Grain de Musc, Octavian at 1000 Fragrances--I have learned much about perfume and the industry by reading them.

But here's the thing...I read a LOT of blogs.  I am a reader; as a kid, I read the back of the shampoo bottle and the cereal box as well as the entire stack of books the librarian reluctantly let me take home ("remember to bring them back in three weeks," she'd say, and raise an eyebrow when I had them back the following weekend)--I read a lot in general.  Thing is, after two years of doing so, I hit overload this fall, and I pulled back.  At first I simply didn't try to comment wherever I landed (bloggers do like to know they're not the only tree in the forest), and then I realized I was craving the break.  So I took a break.

Life is like that.  It goes in cycles.  I believe that, in the end, people get that, right?  And you are either committed to working through it, to plugging away at what you do until the Muse dances upon your keyboard again, or you take a break and go feed yourself otherwise, and (maybe) come back.

Speaking of which, look who's back:  Victoria (Bois de Jasmin) and Marina (Perfume Smelling Things). As with all good things, I'll take them for as long as they are offered.

BTW, in a year where some of the best statements came from the least mentioned blogs--I recall a very funny "wtf?" kind of column from Bloody Frida, who then announced she was hightailing it out of Dodge until things settled down in the sandbox, which she did, straight up...then came back--in a year of quiet gems, I have to point out the one that knocked my socks off.  The other thousand, One Thousand Scents, who has been writing since 2006 (take THAT, "oh, woe, these 'new' voices" folk), led a personal retrospective through 1980's fragrances that concluded with one of the most powerful pieces I've read in bloggery this year, period.

And now I feel terrible, because I've called people out, and only mentioned a third of my personal blogroll, and not mentioned all who I've visited regularly for a while now, like A Rose Beyond the Thames, Glass Petal Smoke, First Nerve, and Perfume Posse.  They mean such different things to me; a happy ongoing visitation, an guided immersion into the senses, a skeptical scientific look at the senses, and the blog that first invited me in to perfumedom.  So maybe I'll finally create that annotated blogroll in 2011.

Write me a comment.  Bug me to do it.

*
So?....
aka If You Are Still Reading, Once More into the Breach

I never pretended to try everything, perfume-wise.  Not even when there weren't too many launches in the year to do so...which, btw, has been the cry since I fell down the rabbit hole in 2007.  As far as I am concerned, why would you want to?  It's not my business; I don't get paid to be aware of the full range of the scent market.  I would much rather revel in a beautiful or difficult scent for a while, learn how it plays with me on different days and in different weather, and honestly, just enjoy it yet again once I have found it brings me pleasure.

You'll have noticed, if you've been here for more or less the duration, that certain perfumes get repeated mention.  Because they weave in and out of my life, and with the occasional exception (what the heck WAS that that Papyrus de Ciane did???), I know better than to talk about my first rounds with something. Because subsequent rounds often change.  On the other hand, maybe paying more attention to how things first enter my conscious is worth doing, so I can follow the trail.  I've thought that before.  BUT...my main point is that I am sorry if I have disappointed because I don't discuss new launches much.  I am also sorry that those who have initially presented themselves as presenters of the latest are starting to feel penned in by that self-description.  A little bit sorry.  But not much.  Because you can either shift gears, or not.  Life offers these options.  It's good that way.

I may try to sort this one more time.  Maybe even here.  But for now, know that I enjoyed my time with a ridiculously large amount of the blogs I explored, that I found reward and happiness in both depth and in banter, and that I just may figure out how to make this thing work as I enter the fourth calendar year of Notes From the Ledge.

Still here?  A big smile and a thanks for riding along from me.  I'll shake your hand and send you off for now with the other great thing that was said about this transition from one year to next, by another friend:

"This year goes to '11.'"

image the first publicity for the Greenaway film A Zed and Two Noughts, which in addition to having words in the title which play nicely with my aughts (and a zed for my naught), has a delightfully convoluted plot which those who have made it through my longer postings might appreciate


image the second, a graphic representation of the aughts by The Reformed Broker


image the third, the Shepherd Fairy rip-off, erm, homage style poster of Nigel Tufnel, ripped off, erm, gratefully lifted from The Dummocrats

2009: The Year that Has Been

English is a funny language, even for native speakers.  All those fabulous words to choose from, forming a rich and nuanced pool of options for expression.  All that streamlining and collapsing and utter elimination of verb conjugations, with various forms understood by one written expression.  The kind of stuff native English speakers curse when they find in other languages:  “Plus perfect? What the heck is perfect?” and “Third person singular neuter?  Why the heck are you distinguishing between gender, let alone distinguishing and then throwing it out the window for Door #3?”

Yeah, it’s quirky.

But English lets me express a theme that helped define my year in a seemingly bland and potentially awkward title like “2009: The Year that Has Been.” 

The choice would seem to be “2009: The Year that Was,” or, to bring it closer to my subject, “2009:  The Year in Perfume.”  The Year that Was, inviting a list of fill in the blank declarations of static fact.

Fact is, this has been a year of many states, morphing, and much learning, on going.  This was, is, and always will be, The Year That Has Been.  Including with perfume.

In 2009, I have been covetous, dismissive, obsessive, apathetic, passionate, and distanced.   With perfume.  Okay, in my life overall, too, but particularly with perfume.

I have expanded my collection to a size that causes me some discomfort when asked to show it to non-perfume mortals.  Yet I still have moments when I find myself jealous of someone else’s stash of, say, vintage Jolie Madame, or another person’s array of Serge Lutens bell jars.  My personal code of conduct has evolved to the point where I will allow myself a moment of jealousy IF IT IS A PERFUME I AM FAMILIAR WITH AND LOVE AND WOULD WEAR ON A REGULAR BASIS.  Otherwise, I have to proceed directly to step two, which is nod to the wealth which is perfume in the world, be happy for that person, and move on.  If I’m having trouble with that last step, I make myself go look at all the samples and decants I have that await final decisions or disbursement, and tell myself to get over it already.

Mind you, the room I go to do this is a room we grandly call The Library.  Which I have always wanted to have in a house.  Which has now been created out of what was intended to be a small bedroom.   Which allows me to put [almost] all of my books up on shelves, visible, touchable, smellable...a sensual map of stories and ideas that have already passed through my brain and others that await exploration.

Which, come to think of it, is an apt descriptor of why I love having a perfume “library.”  It appears covetous and obsessive.  To be totally honest, in some ways, it is.  But it is also passionate.  

But wait, you say, you have also been...apathetic?  Distanced?  Yes, in 2009, I have found myself hitting a wall.  In perfume, and in other endeavors.  If I were smart enough, I’d recognize this state; it has reared up in the past when going down a path that is difficult, whether the challenge is creative (and invited) or interpersonal (invited or unexpected).  What feels like a shut down, a lack of caring, is really me going inward.  Taking a break, if you will, so that I can process in a different way.  What generally happens is that I end up coming out on the other side, feeling at peace, having a renewed curiosity and energy, and proceeding with a greater sense of comfort with the challenge.

What has been interesting about 2009 is that I have been presented with a new face on what should been a known demon.  I thought I totally lost interest in perfume.  But really, I had to stop the external input for a while, and let stuff rumble around in nooks and crannies that I understand are there but I can’t see.  I have had to, in perfume and in life, relearn the lessons of application and processing, of influencing and waiting, of understanding and reunderstanding.  Big shifts that cannot have every visible moment defined or controlled.

In 2009, I have been in control, and totally out of control.  

The Best of the Best of 2009 has been embracing both.

✎

There have been perfume revelations in 2009, which shall affect my perfumed future.  Here are some I’ll be exploring in my Transition to 2010:

“I Tried It, I Finally Get It, I Still Don’t Like It:  So ‘Souko Me”

“The Waves:  Dedication, Exploration, Puttering, Rest”

“That’s Right, I’m Purging:  Your Name Below if you’re interested in inheriting this bottle”

“Aw, I *Like* Havana Vanille”

✎

Other bests of 2009:

☄Adding new favorite blogs to my stable, like I Smell Therefore I Am and Olfactorama.

☄Adding some full bottles to my collection, and playing like a big girl.  I now have En Passant and L’Eau d’Hiver, both of which some would challenge as “real” perfumes.  Ask me if I care.  I love them, and would feel as sad about never ending up with them as I would if I never am able to land a vintage chypre.

☄Scoring a couple of old formula Silences at a profoundly reasonable price.

☄Wearing Madame Rochas and having my spouse note the “nice smelling perfume” that “is interesting, did it change?” during a nuzzle.  Score one for old fashioned perfume!  Score again for reasonable price!!  Score thrice for having spouse recognize and appreciate one’s own quirky interests!!!

☄Meeting in person a someone who had been an acquaintance in perfume, segued into a fun and interesting correspondent, and who now is truly a friend.  Very cool.  Very much one of life’s blessings.

☄You.  You came to read this.  How cool is that?

Enjoy the remainder of 2009, whatever it has been and shall be determined to have been.  ☺

Speaking of enjoying the waning hours of 2009, don't forget to visit other bloggers in this project:

1000 Fragrances •• All I am - a Redhead •• Bittergrace Notes •• Eiderdown Press Journal •• I Smell Therefore I am •• Mossy Loomings •• Olfactarama •• The Non Blonde •• Notes from the Ledge ("you are here") •• Perfume in Progress •• Perfume Shrine •• A Rose Beyond the Thames •• Roxana’s Illuminated Journal •• Savvy Thinker ••  Scent Hive •• Shoes-Cake-Perfume ••  Smelly Blog •• Under the Cupola 

Scents that were beautiful in 2008

Here is something I recognize:  what smells good to my sniffer is subject to change.  There is recurring change, such as weather, season, time of day, mood, headache factor.  And there is evolutionary change, as in I liked the smell of bubble gum and Jolly Ranchers when I was young, but not any more.  Or, as in, that Amarige that smelled SO good right after I started this journey?  Not so much.

Since I think it might be valuable to track my evolutionary change, I'm going to add today's angle of reflection on this past year:  Things that smelled good in 2008.  I thought it might be interesting to look back, not just right now, but on this record in the future, and see how the current crop fares with my future nose.

After all...despite my general distaste, I had one good dance with Kingdom...and there was at least one skank that hit a GOOD nerve, albeit very late in the year (Theo Fenell).  Here goes...

1st trimester--remember, I am being honest, which means I am not editing for cool factor:

WORKED:  Magie Noir.  Frank Los Angeles (#1).  Bois Blond.  Amarige.  Fleur de Narcisse.  Poeme.  Shalimar.  Hermes Hiris.  Poeme.  SIP Black Rosette.*  Bois des Isles.  Bulgari Au The Vert.  Songes.  Lolita Lempicka.  L'eau d'Issey.  BBW Sandalwood Rose.

DIDN'T WORK, BUT TRIED:  Arpege.  Fracas.  Diorissimo.  Rose Poivree.  Soir de Lune. SIP Black Rosette.*  

*How, you ask, does Black Rosette get both?  Because I thought I was smelling something toxic when it opened.  Because I thought for sure I was about to have my first scrubber, but I couldn't help continuing to sniff.  Because I kept on checking, and then OH, MY it started to morph, and I went for a ride.  Because it ended up as something I'd call beautiful.  Because I had no idea what to do with it--wear it, throw it away, hide it.  Because I tried it again the next day to see what would happen.  Because I wanted it, and had a minor coronary when I got my first gander at real perfume prices.  Because it was amazing.  Because of Black Rosette, and went back and ordered three sample sets of various types.  

2nd trimester-- Nearly all of the above happy scents continued to be happy, and I added in: Jose Eisenberg Jose.  Manuel Canovas Ballade Verte.  En Passant.  28 La Pausa.  Yves Rocher Voile de Amber.  Poivre Piquant.  Cuir Mauresque.  Organza Indecence.  Gucci by Gucci.  Jean Paul Gaultier Fragile.  Nemat Narcissus.  Cinema.  Bandit.  Madame Rochas.  24 Fauborg.  Cashmere Mist.  Reverie au Jardin.  Bel Respiro.  Diorissimo.  Vent Vert.  Niki de St. Phalle.  Van Cleef & Arpels First.  TDC Bois d'Iris.

Not:  Rose Ikebana (I smelled...nothing).  Fracas.  Mandragore.  Lolita Lempicka.  Parfum Sacre.  Soir de Lune.  L'Eau de Issey.

3rd trimester-- Writing Lyrical Poetry.  Bond No. 9 Little Italy.  Bulgari Black.  Ormonde Jayne Woman.  Parfum de Therese, Une Rose.  Angelique Noir.  Jean Paul Gaultier Classique.  Jolie Madame.  Mandragore.  L'Ombre Fauve.  Chergui.  Aqua di Parma Iris Nobile (edt and edp).  Prada Iris.  Parfum Sacre.  Narcisse Noir.  TDC des Sens et Bois, Osmanthus.  Black Cashmere.  L'eau de Issey.  Odalisque.  L'Heure Bleu.

Not: Fracas.  Cashmere Mist.  La Chasse Aux Papillons.  Soir de Lune.  

Coming out/recent-- Theo Fennell.  Amouage Jubilation 25, Lyric Woman.  Carons for men (3rd Man, Pour Homme, L'Anarchiste.)  Diorella.  Gucci Envy.  Arpege.  Feminite du Bois.  Rose Ikebana.  Soir de Lune.  Nu.  Coty Chypre.  JLS #2 (Chypre).  CB Cradle of Light.  Liz Zorn Journeyman.

Not: Fracas.**  L'Eau de Issey.

**I think I need to try it again...in the beginning, I spritzed, but in subsequent trimesters, I've been relying on a solid version...but still...as much as I might like a good big white floral, this is just...not.quite.right.  All in all, I think I'd still rather wear Amarige, if I were to go in this direction.  Unless Cradle of Light showed up on my doorstep.  Or Drama Nuui.  But still, those have green, and we're talking tuberose slam-down here.  Any hoo how...

I'm forgetting something, I know; perhaps many things.  While I do keep a spreadsheet, it is incomplete right now (of course), and I'd rather finish writing than rifle through all my samples/decants.  This list is not exhaustive, and does not limit itself to transportive scents.  I did really enjoy all the ones up there, at least during the period mentioned as such.  I have no idea what to do with that Issey Miyake bumping around...especially since ultimately I could live without it.  But it certainly demonstrates the point about a changing sniffer.  

And I still like that Sandalwood Rose.  

The Year in Review : Retrospective

Today's post is one of a collection over a theme proposed by Helg at Perfume Shrine...use the links at the end of this article to see other visions of this year from the collective.

It will have to begin, and possibly end, with Norrell.

After all, it was finding a bottle of Norrell on the shelves at Loehmann's while shopping last winter that sent me into a research frenzy, trying to find out what I could about it, starting with a NYT article I was sure I had read a few years previous, about how the once lofty designer scent was then only available at...K-Mart.  And it has been due to my explorations this year that I probably appreciate Norrell and its ilk, even if I still don't choose to wear every vintage whammer I discover.

But let's travel through the fragrances of 2008, as seen through my lens:  Perfumes which have helped define this first year of my olfactory journey.  These are the Top 10 Landmarks in my perfume year, not because I love them (though some I do), or because they are important in 2008.  They are here because they somehow represent milestones in my learning & development.

1. Norrell

A no holds barred scent that started out as a pure visual:  Seeing that typeface on the box on the store shelf brought back my grandmother's bathroom, her perfume bottle sometimes left out on the sink, her hair when it was "done"...I wanted to smell it, and see if I would recognize it.  I bought it.  And thus the floodgates (and nose hairs) were opened.  Little did I know I was starting with big guns, something beyond "beginner."  But don't get any big ideas about my little sniffer.  My second bottle in this year's journey, which seemed to smell nice but in a different way, was Issey Miyake.  (Different?  No kidding.)  So there.  Such vagaries, I would come to learn, would punctuate my journey.

2. Decants

The best decision I made was made early in my journey, after I invested in the full bottle of Issey.  I took a flyer on The Perfumed Court, having discovered their website during my research on "vintage perfumes."  Went ahead and invested in a few sample packs, to introduce myself to fragrance families etcetera.  Then I was introduced to Fishbone (long live Fishbone!), and amassed quite the mini-bar of fragrances.  Much more learning done on many fewer dollars.

3. Magie Noir

An example of eBay working.  I purchased a used bottle as part of my "research," spouse really, really, REALLY liked it.  In fact, he left THAT DAY to go out and purchase a full bottle, and presented it to me that evening, therefore earning Magie Noir a spot in the First Year Hall of Fame as "first full bottle purchase, completely intentional and fully satisfactory."

4. Fleur de Narcisse

     Bois Blond

     Reverie au Jardin

Oh, my, but what a rapid fall, what a tangled web.  Thanks to my samples, I thought I'd like Fleur de Narcisse.  I bought a decant, and loved it even more when I sprayed it.  I discovered it was a limited edition, panicked, and asked for a bottle for my anniversary.  Lo and behold, it was given to me!  Ah, joy and beauty in things narcissus & hay...to this day, this scent remains in Extremely High Esteem.

Two full bottles, success in selecting scent, and I was in trouble.  I followed up another sample happiness with a full bottle purchase, and again, discovered I was oh so happy with the result.  On its heels I purchased a partial bottle of Reverie au Jardin, and ended up with what remains my grown in the earth hat trick, my trio of interest and ease, and probably my best purchases to date.  (With the exception of #x.)  Because I love them.  Because I feel they express me, at least a good part of me, really well, and I don't feel the context in which I can wear any one is particularly limited.  Because they make me so happy, I just can't feel purchase guilt.

These three became intwined as a triad long ago, and as such, are entered as one.  All purchases fully intentional, and completely satisfactory--to me, at least.  ;)

5. Coco

I was so curious...the bottle was beautiful...it was Chanel...the price was too good to be true.  Truly, too good to be true; even I could tell, when I opened my package, that the juice was, well, not right.  It should have been stronger in smell, darker in color.  It smelled good, mind you...just not...right.  I examined the crimp, and it looked messed with.  I considered my $20-some investment worthy as both a gambling enterprise, and a lesson learned...though I really don't like gambling, so I'm not likely to take that path often.

6.  Kingdom

I have rattled this cage, and I'm going to rattle it again.  This stuff stinks.  Like panties.  Not cumin.  Panties.  Out of the eight times I've tried it, 1 1/2 wearings have yielded a really attractive rose scent.  Inside, alongside, alternating with...skank.  I can't do it.  I really can't.  I liked Bandit out of the box, enjoyed dancing with Norell, and think Black Cashmere is a comfort scent.  But down the outright skank path is a place I just don't think I will go.  My recent infatuation with Theo Fennell nothwithstanding.  And Magie Noir regardless.  (See what I mean about vagaries?)

7. L'Ombre Fauve

The girl likes leather.  Who knew?  I found myself driving down the road with my nose up against the wheel, because I was afraid if I took my hands off the wheel and brought them to my nose, the magic spell would be revealed and some sort of rotten trick of olfactory context would be revealed.  I ended up wearing leather to a wedding, fragrance-wise.  I wore this when the gloves came on this fall, because I loved taking them off and finding L'Ombre Fauve underneath.  Between this and Bandit, I decided I'd better explore this leather thing, and have found that I find Chanel Cuir de Russie beautiful, but too sharp for me; Cuir de Lancome a rather smooth leather suitable for everyday use; Knize Ten a fun dabble in straight up leather; Bulgari Black a vanilla heavy happy fest; Jolie Madame a light leather with violet.  I should note that Helg puts Fleur de Narcisse in there with the modern leathers...what can I say?

8. Bois des Isles

Truth be told, this is another fragrance I loved early on, but I couldn't begin to describe why in Spring of '08, when I first put nose to arm.  It was different from my hat trick style fragrance; clearly, human hand was evident in its composition.  It didn't bubble up like No.5, but it made the hat trick seem nearly syrupy.  It was old, it was not old; one of the few vintage fragrances that to me were truly timeless, and not simply classic.  I had to revisit it at least once a month until sometime mid-summer, when I set my sights on a larger amount.  The question was, decant, or full bottle?  Procrastination paid off, as the equation per ml on the full bottle, laid over an opportunity to purchase at the Chicocoa Scentsation, meant that one of those lovely hefty bottles with the ever-satisfying cap that "thwunks" into place ended up in a bag in my hand.  Call it planned impulse buying.  And, like the scents in my hat trick, I don't regret it for a minute.

9. Eau Imperiale

Actually belongs earlier in the sequence, time wise.  But I put it here, not because it was a successful online discounter full bottle purchase (though it was), or because I find it eminently wearable (I do), but because here's one where the story myth translated into truth for me.  Do any reading up on Guerlain Imperiale, and you'll find that it was purportedly offered as a migraine cure.  I am a migraineur.  Before this year, I was pretty secure in my knowledge that perfume was, as a rule, to be avoided, because it was so potentially a headache trigger.  But I, like any susceptible victim, was willing to take a chance on the story, and purchased some without smelling.  The bottle remains in the downstairs bath, with the medicines and the essential oils, a happy mist of relief.  And of good smelling.

Honorable mention then should go to 4711, which of course you wonderful bloggers kept talking about, and serves much the same way.  Shame on you to Chanel, whose Exclusif Cologne is wonderful, but so close to Eau Imperiale that even I, who justified a different 200ml of Exclusif scent, and who is willing to buy scent as remedy, can't justify purchasing that one.

Which shows another way Eau Imperiale offered lessons in perfume:  Not everything is worth buying, even if it is "nice," or "good," or "Chanel."  I'll probably move earth in order to ensure a lifetime of access to Bois des Isles, but I won't even turn my head for the Eau de Cologne.  (Okay, I'd spritz some from a tester display.  But it's hard to justify, even as a gift from a comfortable wallet, when the same dollar investment could get you quality AND perfume strength.)

By the way, a serious shout out to the house of Guerlain here, since I'm approaching the end of my milestone list, and realize that not one Guerlain perfume has been mentioned.  Please see back posts to get a sense of my respect for Mitsouko, even if I do not yet love it; the trippy time travel Jicky evoked; the alpha wave flat line of happiness/nostalgia/sniffing pleasure when I smell L'Heure Bleu.  I think Guerlain and I have not yet entered our prime.

ACK! I've run out of room...there are so many classics I've learned to love...the joy of the swap...the fraternity of fragrance...what one perfume should I mention to wrap up this year's journey in Top Ten style?  Jean Nate, EveryWoman for the American gal?  Amouage, where beauty and quality draw me in despite the sky high price?  CB IHP, whose Cradle of Light led one observer to comment on my, um,  "When Harry Met Sally" moment with a perfume?

10.  Habanita

It's not precious, it's not profound, and it's heavy on powder.  I do enjoy the tobacco in it, as I do in many perfumes.  But it's not the smell of Habanita that puts it on my list...it's the experience.  The first time I tested this was in the midst of a summertime sniffing bacchanal.  As I recall, I actually had Habanita behind one knee, as part of a six scent test drive.  Six, you ask?  Sure: two wrists, two elbow folds, two knees; one scent each.  There I was, up early, taking notes on the top notes, running through a round of WiiFit and yoga, getting a whiff of Habanita while twisting my torso and hanging upside down--yup, this was the life of an emerging perfume nut.  So, #10 goes to Habanita, which for me is the scent that defines descent--not just of nose to knee, but of self down three rings of the perfume rabbit hole in one swell droop.  Er...fell swoop.

So, what have I learned in 2008?

That I'm not likely to find a single Holy Grail of scent, but I will find more than one home run.  That I'd probably better not heavily invest in one particular scent, because my preferences have already gone through a couple of iterations.  That I love hay, grass, leather, tobacco, the occasional white flower, most ambers, and the occasional oriental, and that vetiver can be my friend.

That for all my skepticism about online "communities," I've met a friendly, supportive, sharing, and good-humored bunch of people through this perfume exploration, and I am grateful to all--whether I know them as flesh-and-blood, or they remain virtual.

That not only may your mileage vary, but the very fuel that runs you might be very different when it comes to how perfumes wear and what you prefer.  Just as it is a good idea to benchmark your thoughts against film reviewers opinions when deciding if you're going to like a particular unseen film, one would be wise to get to know any blogger or reviewer's tendencies before making a call.  And to explore beyond your tendencies when you are inclined--you may find the fence has moved.

That this has been a fun ride, and I'm going to keep this set of wheels.  We'll see how I trick it out in 2009....

Please be sure to visit the other bloggers participating in the Retrospective:

1000 Fragrances

Ars Aromatica

A Rose Beyond the Thames

Bittergrace Notes

Grain de Musc

I Smell therefore I Am

Legerdenez

Olfactarama

Perfume Shrine

Savvy Thinker

The Non Blonde

Tuilleries