Whew!  2011 is nearly over and I still don’t have my Escape limo and I have NO idea where Woody Harrelson is right now.   Better hustle!!!  But – we still have a few days so let’s take a look back at the  best/worst/most intriguing of 2011.  Most of this will be perfume, as it is The Perfume Posse, not Anita’s Playpen…but save room for a couple of weird inclusions, just because I Am In That Kinda Mood.  We are also not limiting this list (or your comments) to stuff brought forth in 2011 – rather, we’re interested in what piqued your interest this past year – some may have transported you with delight, some might’ve brought up your lunch!  Ya nebber know.

So, without further ado, here’s what grabbed us in 2011.

Anita’s picks:

Cartier les Heurres Fougueuse.  I fell in love with this the moment I sniffed it.  Then, inexplicably, I fell OUT of love with it – I think I got scared.  Then I just…gave in.  And swooned as over the course of the year it wrapped its honeyed, monied silken tendrils of sun-kissed hay around my soul….sigh.  Oh, Mathilde…..every time I wear this my step lightens just a little.. Liz Zorn Centennial.  This is an offshoot of her Historical Chypre, which I fell in love with (and bought nearly every drop she had) during the Chicocoa Scentsation.  The perfect peachy chypre, it is the essence of everything I love about Liz’s work;  I’m praying she brings it back soon. Chanel Coco (the original).  Blame March.  I wondered what y’all were yarking on about.  Now I know.  Amouage Epic Bath Gel and Body Creme. (not too far behind on this one, right?   I know it’s a 2009 but I wasn’t able to make it to the Dubai launch -previous plans, don’tcha know…)…anyhoo, 2011 made it New To Musette.   I just might make it through the winter (and the coming Apocalypse) with this.  I’m going to have to send my water bills to Christopher Chong, though.  Or His Majesty.  Whichever one is most likely to pay.

Alahine.  Epic FAIL.  Can you believe it?  Neither can I.  I waited 2 years to sniff that and when I did……..nothing.  I mean, it’s nice.  But what in the hell are you people smelling that transports you so?  March can’t even SPELL it, she is so in love.  She’s all ‘Alahiiiiiiiine’.  Wish I could have what she’s having.  sigh.

BestChowDiscoveries: Trader Joe’s Chicken Shu Mai.  For all I know these are made with chicken feet and beaks.  But isn’t that the best part? Sonoma Farm (from Chicago, go figure) Hot Pickled Garlic (that’s not what it’s called but that’s what it is ).   The website is seemingly gone and their stuff is hard to find (and when you do, at Food Fairs, etc, well, let’s just say they are not Good With the Publick.  But!  these (and the Brussels Sprouts) are worth the slog. Perfect in everything and yummy alone.  But I suggest you actually BE alone when you eat this stuff.  You will be comin’ in HOT for awhile…

Movies:  I hate going to the movies so I’m usually months behind everybody else.  And I admit to being Cranky Old Bat about the sheer volume of crap that gets released every month – there must be a whole lotta money needs launderin’, is allz I got to say (don’t believe me?  take a look at this 2011 list  (and I’m not even that fussy – I love blow’emups and Tony Scott!).  I did brave the plex for Contagion.   3 of us in the theatre.  Hey, I could get used to that!  El O hated the movie.  I thought it was quietly horrifying.  I also finally got around to The King’s Speech - hey I said I was behind! Why didn’t the gen pop like this film?  I think Geoffrey Rush could read the phone book and I would be entranced.   The funny, touching scene with him and Colin Firth when Lionel parks himself in St. Edward’s Chair…  Pitch-perfect.

March says: I went back and looked at the release dates of new-ish perfumes I enjoyed, and … they all came out in 2010.  So this year has been kind of a dud for me, in terms of new releases.  The one exception is Bottega Veneta, a less-powdery alternative to the new iteration of Cuir de Lancome, if you like the smell of expensive handbags.  Mostly I’ve been enjoying old favorites gathering dust in my collection, including Alahine, Jubilation 25, Coco, Tauer Orris, and Lutens’ Fleurs de Oranger.  I can think of worse things.  Anita sez:  that’s Alahiiiine! to you, li’l Missy.

Patty chimes in: This has been a weirdly great year for me in finding new loves.  From Prada Candy to the new JAR Bed of Roses, to Flowerbomb Extrait to a never-smelled bottle of the now-discontinued Lorenzo Villoresi Ylang-Ylang I found in my closet (yes, everyone should have closets like mine where you find a box full of perfume you forgot you had) that has sent me to the moon (um, see yesterday’s post for histrionics over this), it’s been a mixed bag of great smells.

I still love Bertrand Duchafour because he’s prolific and great, and I know for a fact there is more great stuff coming in 2012, so he gets my vote for Perfumer of the Year? Decade?  Oh, wait, we are two years in a new decade, it’s too early.

Ann’s Picks:

MDCI’s La Belle Helene: Up until this baby, no way,  no how was I ever going into pear territory again. Annick Goutal’s Petite Cherie went sour on me in record time and too many cheap pear body products left me shuddering. Until a sweet Posse swapper sent me a sample of La Belle, and one day, feeling brave, I said, “Oh, what the heck!” and put it on. Wowza! Now this is a pear I can wear. On me, it starts out a little bright, but true to the fruit,  and later, deepens, getting burnished down to a slightly gourmand (is that chocolate I smell?) soft oriental. It has a touchable, almost suedelike vibe to it, not unlike SL’s Daim Blond. It’s almost as if her gloves got left behind in the pear orchard, instead of atop a bushel basket of apricots.

Maison Martin Margiela Untitled: The fashion minimalist in me (I’ve always loved designers such as Zoran and Ronaldus Shamask) coveted this cool, paint-dipped bottle long before I had a chance to sniff the juice. And what lovely green juice it is: A hit of bitter green galbanum a la Cristalle segues beautifully into some musky, almost smoky incense, and thankfully, not an ashtray in sight.

Parfumerie Generale’s Indochine: This has turned out to be one of my favorite comfort “blankies” this winter. It reminds me a bit of Kenzo’s Amour (perhaps the thanaka wood that both share) but to my nose, the PG is richer, more creamy, dreamy and woody. This in a body cream would be nothing short of heaven in a jar. Its stablemate, Cadjmere, is another fave, although it gets a little cheeky with me if I do more than dab it.

Bottega Veneta: This lovely is helping to make a leather lover  out of me, despite my earlier misgivings about the note. BV’s easy elegance just coos quiet sophistication and makes me feel like a million bucks. And it doesn’t hurt that the bottle’s a thing of beauty. Now, if we can just get our hands on some MPG’s Cuir Fetiche to try …

And here’s a wonderful scentiment   from Tom, which we all share!!!

I’m doing my “best of” scent-wise on PST, so I’ll content myself with with celebrating a different best here: YOU GUYS!  That’s right!  I want to toast all of you out there, fellow bloggers, commenters and readers.  In the last several years of blogging, reading, learning and meeting people I can honestly state that I have never met a more warm, funny, intelligent and giving group of people.  YOU are the best of 2011 or any other year and I wish you all the best in the future.

For more looks back at 2011 please visit  Perfume-Smellin’ Things, Bois de Jasmin, Now Smell This and Grain de Musc.

First, winners of the teeny samples of Flowerbomb extrait, JAR Bed of Roses, Puredistance M and I extraits are – Pat Boutilier and Sujaan.  In case you don’t know what to do – click the contact us over there on the left, send me your address, remind me what you’ve won (I know, this sounds ridiculous, but I get like 600 e-mails a day or more, it’s important to tell me what I’m supposed to be doing or I’ll bumble around and just sound daft), and I’ll give you a quick “got it” e-mail so you know it didn’t get trapped in spam, and then I’ll get the little gems out to you, enjoy!

There’s this closet in what used to be my youngest son’s room, which is still sorta his room when he’s here, which is a lot. I’m not exactly sure why he pays rent somewhere else, but my kids like this method of moving out – rent something else, then stay here 90% of the time.  Over time, this closet became filled with lots of things – swords, clothes, old video games, books, stuffed animals, Beanie Babies nobody knew what to do with anymore. This room is supposed to be my zen/meditation/yoga room, though we have to find a buyer for the ginormous lovesak that’s making its home there before that happens, and it’s close to being done, but… that closet!  It scared me to open it.  I told Harry to please clean it out, I just couldn’t, it scared me.  He starts cleaning, gets closer to the bottom and brings me out this big box, says, “I think this is yours.”  It’s filled with Lorenzo Villoresi scents that I must have bought or swapped for years ago, put away – not sure why they went in that closet. maybe the year he got out of high school and went to college and I used it for storage – and forgot.

As I pull out some extraordinary scents, some discontinued, my eyes lit on the Ylang-Ylang.  Huh, never heard of that!  HolyMotherofGod, I sprayed it on and literally swooned. This is the closest a scent has gotten to the real ylang like I smelled in Costa Rica.  Rich, sunny, bright, warm, slightly indolent – well, more than slightly, but not so much that you’ll be looking around for what might be spoiling behind the washer – it’s amazing and perfect, and I am back in a rainforest next to a beach in the Osa Peninsula thinking time has stopped. Now why would it get discontinued?  Nobody bought it, got too expensive to make, couldn’t get the materials for it anymore?  Whichever it was, it’s tragic, it is the perfect Ylang scent.

I think I need to clean out the rest of my closets. Best find in your closet or drawer – something pretty awesome that you forgot you had?  Short one today, guys, since I still need to finish up the Best of 2011 post, my part, for Friday, too!  I’ll give out five samples of the Lorenzo Villoresi Ylang-Ylang to five lucky commenters today!

Patty

By March

First off – the winner of the draw of my Christmas music, Jicky etc., chosen by the fickle finger of fate random.org is…. mother courreges!  I’ll shoot you an email.

I got into a discussion recently with some other perfumistas about what perfumes might be considered “dated.”  This was prompted by Luca Turin’s description in The Guide of Chanel Coco as “terribly dated,” although he says lots of nice things about it and gives it four stars in the end.

I love Coco, and I agree with the entire review – except for the “dated” part.  I understand that Coco isn’t the smell du jour, but I’d call it classic, in a grown-up way, along with other spicy Oriental scents like Cinnabar and Opium.  Like those latter two, Coco smells smoothest (and some would say the most beautiful) in extrait, although I’m rather fond of my vintage Coco EDP from eBay.  I like to layer that and the parfum for maximum effect.

You know what smells dated to me?  Mugler’s Angel, which has been haunting us since the early nineties.  I’m still waiting for folks to figure out that choco-vanilla + patch = vomit, but I’m not holding my breath, unless I’m standing next to you in the elevator and you’re wearing this monstrosity.  Another smell that’s dated – anything reeking of laundry musks.  I admit I was charmed when Clean first came out with Fresh Laundry or whatever it’s called.  It was a novel idea, as if Demeter had made a scent called Clean Clothes.  But as the musky border between mass-market perfumes and detergent grows blurrier, it’s a smell that annoys me.  With the wide world of perfumes from which to choose, who the hell wants to go around smelling like a box of Tide, unless it’s emanating from your clothing?  (For the record: I use unscented detergent and vinegar on my clothes.)

Finally, I nominate CK One and anything it inspired in the soapy/fresh/citrus “anti-perfume” category.  Again, if I want perfume, I want perfume.

Okay, your turn!  What smells dated, in terms of scents or scent trends?  Remember, you can’t just hate it because it’s overly popular right now; it has to have been around long enough to be a boring cliché.  (Lots of nominees in the men’s department!)  On the other hand, what do you think is “classic,” particularly if it’s a newer scent?  I’d say Chanel 31 RC and some of those MDCIs, off the top of my head.

image: Coco ad from the mid-1980s, featuring (I think) Ines de la Fressange

March

by the Stuffed-to-the-Gills Musette

So…the frenzy of Christmas (in the US) is done.  Whew!  Ours was very quiet, which was great.  I have spent way too many years stressing myself into a spasm over the Perfection of the Presentation.  One holiday I took a look at it and realized that it was a weird form of aggression, so I cut it out. Such relief.  The food is  good and my house is clean but if the dishes aren’t perfectly matched and I don’t always have the good silver out, guess what?  My guests still seem to have a good time.  Better yet?  So do I.

Which brings me to the point of this post – sorta.   Okay, not yet but roll with me here – I’m still in a food-coma.

We haven’t focused on big-time gifts in a long time.  We have nearly everything we need and a whole lot of what we want, so getting tons of stuff is just …more stuff.  I mentioned on Ann’s post yesterday that I got one of those Posh Pocket crossword books and was over the moon!  I am an inveterate crossworder and those books are perfect for throwing in your handbag.   I was a happy girl!

What I have focused on in the past decade?  The food!  And guess what?  Everybody else does, too!  We ate like porkrinds yesterday – breakfast was a huge affair, with Pork Products Unlimited (pigs fear me), latkes, cheese souffle, home made yeasted waffles (just take a minute and consider the calorie count of what I just listed there) pots and pots of good, dark coffee and fresh-squeezed OJ ….oh, it was wonderful.

After breakfast, El O broke out the ham, which had been brining in ginger ale and garlic overnight – we got that in the oven for a sloooooow bake  for dinner.  Scalloped potatoes, spinach souffle, homemade Parker House rolls, green beans from this summer’s garden, my mother’s corn pudding…..ah, joy.  Miette double chocolate cake.  Sublime. We count no carbs on Christmas, we just walk a lot, hoping to stave off the poundage with brisk movement.  And every. single. person. we ran into in our small burg talked about….Food!  What they made, what they ate, what they wished so-and-so would quit making because it sucks sooo bad…..all aspects of chowing down were discussed, from one end of town to the other.   Several of my neighbors were unrepentant is revealing the multiple dinners they would  happily ingest that day, often  from the same table!   Leftovers Rule!! Everyone’s eyes shone, as they described some heirloom dish, passed down through the generations, that their own grandchildren are now enjoying each holiday.   The continuity of family and community seems to be so much through food.  Go on Facebook today, see what the bulk of your friends are posting.  I’ll bet it’s mostly food.  Chatted with friends this morning (Boxing Day) – we did not talk about gifts.  We talked about what we ate yesterday.  The Italian pork roast (oh, good grief!  my heart nearly stopped with desire)… chicken meatballs with spinach (and a spirited discussion over the merits of fennel seed  therein (I’m a fennel gal, meself) sweet potato v. pumpkin pie, chocolate, peppermint, red velvet……El O’s cub was here yesterday, having spent Christmas Eve at his mother’s.  No talk of ‘what he got’ .  Instead, pictures of the groaning board, with a beautiful crown roast and this really strange dish with grapes and whipped topping that was kinda freaky-looking – but they love it!  It’s a family tradition.  He brought his best friend to both houses and it reminded me:  food tastes much better shared.

And we are family here…so I wanna know ALLLL about it!  What did you guys EAT?  What are your  fun/goofy/great food traditions?  (mine is:  if you take the last of the corn pudding that’s in the fridge I will Bite you so hard you will cry!).  Are you known for a special dish?  Or are you the one who Brings the Milk?  My cousin is required to bring her mamma’s tamales, no matter what the occasion.  Another friend, whose cooking runs counter to the rural community she just moved to, has been asked to bring the milk to community gatherings – I guess that tofu lasagne didn’t go over too well…

Can’t wait to hear about it.  You can also tell me what perfume you wore: mine was Diaghilev, which was a perfect scent for yesterday’s cooking and eating and walking extravaganza.  Tomorrow it’s back to work.  And oatmeal.  sigh.   I’m wearing Mitsouko to prepare for it.

image:  tolkienlibrary.net

By Ann

Happy Boxing Day, happy Kwanzaa and happy day after Christmas for all you Posse  folk who celebrate it. It’s kind of a slow day, so not much going on here, but I’d love to hear what Santa brought you or if you got (or are getting) something special for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, or any other occasion or just because you deserve it (and you do!).

I got a beautiful champagne silk pillowcase, which I’ve been wanting — it’s supposed to help with wrinkles and help ward off “bed head” – so we’ll see how that works. Also got some lovely Diptyque Do Son soap (want to try it with Carnal Flower), some cash and a gift certificate (thanks, S!),  so I’ll have fun playing with those. My son got a Wii U Draw, which is just so cool to me — like the most amazing coloring book ever! Even a techno-dummy like me might give it a whirl.

Hope you all had (are having) an enjoyable weekend/holiday. I will be out of town part of the day but will pop in and chat when I can.  Take care …