Turin/Sanchez Top 10 Perfumes
Amouage Gold
Bulgari Black
Chanel No. 5
Guerlain Apres L’Ondee
Guerlain L’Heure Bleue
Guerlain Shalimar
Jean Patou Joy
Serge Lutens Bois de Violette
Thierry Mugler Angel
Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche
My Revised List
instead of Amouage Gold (Givenchy Amarige)
instead of Bulgari Black (Frederic Malle Carnal Flower)
instead of Chanel No. 5 (Chanel No. 22)
instead of Guerlain Apres L’Ondee (Robert Piguet Fracas)
instead of Guerlain L’Heure Bleue (Guerlain Mitsouko)
Guerlain Shalimar, agreement
Jean Patou Joy, agreement
instead of Serge Lutens Bois de Violette (Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger)
Thierry Mugler Angel, agreement
instead of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche (Yves Saint Laurent Opium)
Here’s my thought process:
Amouage Gold may be beautiful but it’s so..so..I dunno..it's just so unapproachable and obscure. It's probably personal, I just wouldn't put Gold in the Top 10. If I am to choose another humongous floral – with uniqueness and classical tendencies – it will have to be Amarige. Sorry to all the haters. Amarige is classic.
Bulgari Black. I think the Turin/Sanchez team are trying to give a nod to something new (ish) – from the last 10+ years as opposed to all the classics on this list which are well over 25+ years old. In this category, I’m picking Frederic Malle Carnal Flower. It’s breathtaking.
Chanel No. 5 – oh please, I just never understood the No. 5 fascination, maybe that’s my loss. I think Chanel No. 22 is so much better.
Guerlain Apres L’Ondee – I think another house is deserving besides Guerlain. For me, Shalimar and Mitsouko are enough recognition for Guerlain in the top 10. Here I would like to include Piguet’s Fracas. Fracas is still a sought after classic to this day.
Guerlain L’Heure Bleue, Mitsouko is just more mind-bogglingly- cool.
Guerlain Shalimar – I agree.
Jean Patou Joy – I agree.
Serge Lutens Bois de Violette, well, while I do agree that Lutens deserves a spot in the top 10, instead I’d nominate Fleurs d’Oranger.
Thierry Mugler Angel – I agree.
Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche – for YSL I think Opium deserves recognition over Rive Gauche.
Obviously I have thoroughly bought in/used the Turin/Sanchez model for this list, accepting their logic entirely and substituting where I deemed necessary. If I were to create a top 10 list from scratch, aside from it taking me a full year, 365 days of nonstop revisions and perhaps never concluding; it might also be completely different. Who knows? For instance, it pains me that Tabac Blond, Chinatown, something from Hermes and Teo Cabanel Alahine are not in my top 10.
(I think this could be fun….What say YOU?)
photo credit: above pic is from Fiordiligi's own private stash. Fiordiligi is her user name on Perfume of Life. this photo makes me drool.
