2013 In Perfume: The Husband's Edition

I called upon the Husband to do his part in summarizing and analyzing 2013 in perfume (my top picks and other highlights are here). His part of our perfume collection is growing steadily, proving that he's more than just additional skin space for my perfume testing. Here are his thoughts about the State o'Perfumeland and the fragrances that made his year:

I finally discovered vintage perfumes. Gaia has been collecting them for a while but I used to sniff and say "Smells like vintage..". Getting introduced to a few classics and smelling the difference between vintage and new Eau Sauvage changed my mind. Vintage Patou Pour Homme sealed the deal.

Favorite new acquisitions (not necessarily new releases):

• Amouage Interlude Man: My power scent.
• Slumberhouse: the most innovative line (although sometimes only borderline wearable in public). I loved Jeke, Norne and Ore.
• Anat Fritz Tzora became my comfort scent this year. Mediterranean herbs and warm wind to calm and soothe. 
• Liz Zorn's Carpathian Oud is as close as they come to a bespoke scent for me.

I ventured a bit into the floral realm and survived. Still can't do rose and lily but I loved both Cuir Gardenia (Aftelier) and Violet Fumee (Mona di Orio).

Is it just me or did half of the new launches this year were oud scents? When we visited Paris 2 years ago, one of the large department stores had a special display of about 15 oud fragrances available. Now it seems like Tom Ford, Kilian and MFK have 15 Oud fragrances each. OK, we got it, Oud is Great, In Oud We Trust, but can we please, please, please move on?

I'm not sure what to think of the Roja Dove line. There is no argument that the scents are wonderful but the ultra high prices make it out of reach for most. Diaghilev is a masterpiece but at $1,000 per bottle? Who is the target audience?

Which brings to mind the general trend of escalating perfume prices. While some brands do offer smaller sizes and reasonable prices (Etat Libre d'Orange is a great example that you can do innovation, quality, and sell the 50ml bottle for $80 - $90). Way too many lines have nothing that they sell for less than $200. That is a very high entry point. I wish more brands  offered smaller sizes.  Twenty to thirty ml bottles will be ideal, especially for those of us withe large collections and revolving interests.

It is great to get  introduced to olfactory innovation from around the world and see more and more niche and independent brands,  but it does feel a bit crowded here at times. Gaia and I started counting the other day and could quickly name 100+ niche lines of the top of our heads without trying too hard. The real number is easily double or triple that.  At the same time, it does not seem like the niche perfume audience is growing at quite the same rate. Adding to that the escalating prices, it means that even the existing fragonerds will buy fewer full bottles next year. It makes me worry for perfumers I admire. I wonder if this is sustainable.

And one last perfume (and fragrance community) moment from this year: in July I had a fun Q&A session with The Fragrant Man.



Image via vintageadbrowser.com.