Hey. How is everyone doing?

Despite this being a year when I spent so much time hunched over my home-desk that I ended up in physical therapy for shoulder and neck issues, I didn’t blog as much as I would have liked. My apologies! (On the other hand, I did manage to give plenty of online talks and speak on a few podcasts; many thanks to everyone who joined or tuned into those events.)

Even given my lack of consistent posting, I saw a gratifying amount of activity here. Blogs are dead…and yet, I also know several people who actually purchased domain names over the past few months. Maybe things will come around again. Who knows?

In any case, here are my five most-visited posts from 2021: two reviews, a look back at a discontinued fragrance, a thematic scent round-up, and a memorial post.

5 Beachy Perfumes (…That Are Not Louis Vuitton’s At the Beach): My annoyance at a less-than-creative new release from an overpriced designer line propelled me to put together this list of other seashore-inspired fragrances that have stood the test of time, in my humble opinion.

Maybe this one just rose to the top because people were doing “Seinfeld” searches? I’ll take it nonetheless.

New Year’s Eve: Yves Saint Laurent Champagne (1993): This post—from 2018!—still generated lots of hits, not to mention several emails from people lamenting the discontinuation of this perfume.

L’Oreal: please hear us.

Perfume Review: Imaginary Authors Whispered Myths: A link to a review I wrote for Now Smell This a while back. I’m not sure why this one keeps popping up. Maybe this fragrance didn’t receive many other reviews?

I’m glad, whatever the reason, because this post gave me a chance to pay a very small tribute to the security guards at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (and museum security guards in general).

Elsa Peretti (1940-2021): This post felt, to me, like a very inadequate expression of my admiration for Ms. Peretti’s life and work. It if encouraged anyone else to learn more about her, though, that’s a good-enough reason to have written it.

Perfume Review: Jo Malone Tangy Rhubarb and Elderflower Cordial: These fragrances, from Jo Malone’s “Marmalade Collection” of Summer 2021, will always remind me of that brief, optimistic window between my first COVID-19 vaccination shot and the arrival of the Delta and Omicron variants. I’m glad I purchased them and glad that other people were curious about them, too.

Feel free to share a few moments of your own from 2021…some favorite scent-related reading, a perfume you tried or acquired, or just a fragrance resolution for the year ahead!

Top image via Wikimedia Commons