My 5 favourite perfumes in 2009.

I am more a fan of perfume oils than commercial fragrances, so this was a good year for me, because I discovered Wiggle Perfume, The Garden Bath, and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. There wasn't a huge amount that grabbed my attention in the commercial perfume world - it was pretty saturated with one cheap, tinny celebrity fragrance after another. I hate those things, and it kind of irks me that perfumiers would agree to get involved. I mean, they have to earn a living like everyone else, but it's just so trashy. When Spongebob Squarepants has his own fragrance, it's well and truly time for the trend to die. So with commercial perfumes, I mostly stuck to my old favourites this year (Miller Harris Fleur Oriental, Lolita Lempicka, etc.). I did get a few decants from The Perfumed Court and found a couple of new loves that way, but mostly, I was all about the oils.

5. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. I was given a sample vial of this earlier in the year when I bought some foundation, and I fell in love with it immediately, which surprised me because I'm not generally a fan of Chanel perfumes (too cloying). The website refers to it as an oriental, but to me it's more of a floral with a bit of vanilla in there somewhere. It's very classy and lasts on me for hours.

4. Miller Harris Noix de Tubéreuse. I really, really, really want a full bottle of this (I only have a 5ml decant), but it's not within my budget at the moment, sadly. This is a heady floral that lasts FOREVER. Gorgeous.

3. Wiggle Little 5. This was the first Wiggle perfume I tried and I could not stop sniffing myself. It's a floral oriental that would be perfect for a night out when you're all frocked up and sexified. Of course, I don't frock up and get sexified these days, so I just wear it around the house or at work. And sniff myself constantly.

2. The Garden Bath Southern Magnolia. (I can't link to the specific perfume, as Donna is on holiday and has taken down her wares for now.) I love Wiggle Mostly Magnolia, and that almost made it into my top 5, but in the end it was pipped at the post by The Garden Bath. Southern Magnolia seems to be more of "one note" than Mostly Magnolia (which, as the name suggests, is not entirely magnolia). I don't know if Southern Magnolia has any other notes in it, but the only thing I pick up is the pure, delicious scent of magnolia. It has great staying power on me too. I now want to get the scrub and lotion in the same fragrance so I can layer myself with it. Mmmmm. (I said magnolia a lot there, didn't I? There's not really any other way to describe it, though.)

1. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Jazz Funeral. Wow. This perfume is like nothing I have ever smelled before. I described it to the best of my limited ability here, and there's not much more I can add, really. It's so unusual and intriguing, and whenever I wear it, I just sit there sniffing myself every few minutes. I just love it to death. Ha! Death! Get it? Get it?