2009 has not ended and there are still plenty of launches to come. I made a selection from the first 6 months with the perfumes I consider the best or the most interesting in 2009. I made my choices only from the perfumes launched and available in 2009 and maybe I should have added Manoumalia and Un Matin d'Orage I've discovered before. I put them in a top.Narciso Rodriguez Essence - the best poetic version of the "clean concept" in a very cold aldehyde universe like the liquid silver or space age atmosphere. I'm not at all a fan of clean notes but this creation showed me why: while many are just cheap detergent / soap formulas sold at high prices and so clean that no artistry was left, Essence is a perfume - modern, textured, contrasted, rich - though very white- clean.
Frederic Malle Geranium Pour Homme - the incandescent revolution called geranium + mint, a perfume that burns between fire & ice from the icy mint to the warm drydown.
Kenzo Flower Essentielle - already a classic with refinement and complexity shaped like a modern diamond out of a classic shape.
Hermes Eau de Pamplemousse Rose - the juicy grapefruit becomes a perfume, the perfect equivalent of the words lemonade or orangeade with brown sugar and some rose petals - the first time I desired to drink my perfume.
Christian Dior J’Adore L’Eau Cologne Florale - a flanker but with great floral delicacy and not cologne.
Chanel Cristalle Eau Verte - a neon interpretation in contrasts and dissonance.
Tom Ford Arabian Wood - retro 70's with galbanum and the best souvenir of Sikkim.
Creed Acqua Fiorentina - a delicate floral where the petals are made from fragile powder in the musk cocoa breeze.
Parfums DelRae Emotionnelle - an impertinent and shocking melon explosion - the color of the word shocking is no more fuchsia in 2009.
Juliette Has A Gun Midnight Oud - the heavy oud and rose note becomes wearable and light.
Nasomatto Black Afgano - heavy and breathtaking like hashish, a perfume that should be illegal because of its power and tenacity.
Le Labo Oud 27 - a heavy and animalic oudh note like the mould inside the wood that becomes a sensual balm scented with desires in a medieval bestiary.
By Kilian Arabian Nights Pure Oud - the oud becomes a pervert ink for an intimate tattoo.
The picture is a Dragon from Erté, an artist that I adore (and it looks like the letter of my middle name). Is 2009 the last year before the final stage of the cultural genocide over classic fragrances? Jasmine absolute and other good materials will be reduced for ever in an industry that became bureaucratic and commercial. But creativity is not dead at all and we have some very good new perfumes - niche and mainstream. I do not know how many of them will be around in 5 years when IFRA will come with even more death sentences.
The list will continue.
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
