The Best Perfumes of 2020

Yes, 2020 was a busy year for the perfume industry, despite all the difficulties and obstacles. The industry suffered from the pandemic, lockdowns, and disruptions to global trade and transport links. It will inevitably change and learn to operate in these new conditions, but we'll see the results of these changes next year. In the meantime, let's sample and discuss the launches that have arrived in stores or, via the valiant mail, were planned back in safer and more enjoyable times.

Much good has come out. Every niche and price category boasts brilliant discoveries, not one-offs, but truly talented creations by perfumers and creative teams, so there will be more than one best perfume of 2020.

La Belle Season Houbigant. Delight! A magical breeze, a floral whirlwind, a youthful and fresh fragrance with strong genes for connoisseurs of perfume history. A very precise shot from Céline Ellena and Jean-Luc Perris, carefully crafting a new history for one of the oldest perfume brands.

Mandarino Laboratorio Olfattivo – A breakthrough! An example of how a seemingly simple single-use fragrance can conceal an entire costume party with scented ladies, gallant gentlemen, dancing, and the most exquisite spirits. Never before have Laboratorio Olfattivo compositions been so full of life and vibrant colors. I hope the brand's collaboration with Jean-Claude Ellena continues. It's a pleasure to see and smell what they create together.

Rouge Comme des Garcons Parfums is the long-awaited, sexiest perfume with the scent of cold beetroot soup with ice, fresh greens, incense, and truffles. A mischievous and incredibly comfortable fragrance, modern yet very Garcon-esque.

Panthere Le Parfum Cartier. A delicate and refined apricot chypre. I already wrote when I first tried it that I sensed a new, animalic, and complex chypre base in Panthere, replacing the patchouli sourness that had become tiresome since the early 2000s. This means there's an understanding, there are materials with which to create truly beautiful modern chypres, and Panthere is the first of them.

Collection of the Year.

In the niche, it's certainly The Liquors by Kilian, which reconciles both the smart and the beautiful. The new bottles are beautiful, the theme is well chosen, and practically everyone, regardless of age, gender, or olfactory experience, falls in love with the cognac-tobacco sweetness of Angels' Share.

The best collection among boutique lines of heavy luxury is Les Eaux Armani Prive. All the transparent watercolors turned out well, but especially the new 2020 release – the spring-fresh Jasmin Kusamono.

The mass market also has a successful collection – Color Feeling Brocard. Bright, photogenic bottles plus fragrances whose perception is truly influenced by color. My favorite is Bertrand Duchaufour's iris-and-pepper Orange.

The theme of the year is the transformation of gourmand fragrances from simple, sugary sweetness into something deep and complex, a joy to wear and fascinating to explore. Perfumers are dissecting tobacco, wine, and cognac aromas, cocktails, and all manner of exotic fruits and spices. I'd like to highlight S'il Vous Play by Francesca dell'Oro – a bitter, resinous vanilla and the spicy scent of baking gingerbread. The holidays are upon us.

The scandal of the year is Bitter Peach by Tom Ford, about which no two people agree. For me, it's youthful, brash, and uplifting. It's precisely what normal people look for in a perfume (not notes, pyramids, sex, or status).

In the category of perfume for normal people, the winners are the warm, woody, and finally understandable fragrance from Parfums Dusita - Moonlight in Chiangmai, and the fashionable, creamy, and innovative Illuminea by Mary Kay.

The best luxury perfume (and I'm biased here) is Love Chopard. It's too good for its price and probably too complex. But you won't find sweet roses with amber and golden saffron anywhere else.

The best flankers are Libre Intense and Coco Mademoiselle L'Eau Privée. Both are more interesting than the originals. Libre Intense is deeper and spicier, while L'Eau Privée is recognizable but more modern.

Best Perfume Stylization: the powerful vintage chypre Pogia by Tiziana Terenzi and the "daddy" fougères Beau du Jour by Tom Ford and Pasha parfum by Cartier, which will suit those who remember those times from James Franco's TV series.

Format of the Year: Travel. And the most successful implementation: 15 ml. leather-wrapped bottles with beautiful Roberto Greco illustrations on the boxes from Olfactive Studio.

Project of the Year: Dolce q.b. Adjiumi – the launch of their own perfume by an Italian group of perfume maniacs. The perfume is controversial and complex, but I bow to the creators.

Purchase of the year: Fol Arôme Guerlain – it's scary to say how much this restored vintage perfume, found in Paris, costs. I really hope this release isn't a one-off. That in the future, it will be possible to buy at least a little bit of Guerlain classics.

What's next? Those who can adapt to new retail formats and consumer communication will survive. There will be less money and energy spent on gambles, more attention paid to packaging and descriptions. If, due to widespread restrictions, people choose perfumes without easy access to boutiques and testers, they will choose with their eyes.

Brands that can't come up with convenient mini-formats and sample programs will die out.

The French, who can't fill out customs declarations on parcels or include a phone number, will be the first to die out.

We are facing an invasion of body-oriented, light, natural scents and scents for personal pleasure and mood.

Everyone with any sense is thinking about home fragrance lines—diffusers, candles. Next fall, as far as I know, Kilian will release such a line, and those who were already strong in this area will expand even further. Life goes on.