I’m awfully late now, but Happy New Year!
It’s the first Tuesday of 2016, and I finally have a moment to get back to blogging. It feels like an eternity to me, but it’s amazingly only five days into January.
I don’t know about you, but it’s been a hectic holiday season for me, and I miscalculated how much it would take out of me! I’m still catching up on sleep, but am being foiled by also attempting to do all kinds of errands, chores, and spring cleaning. I apologize for letting the swatches suffer, but to be fair, my nails have taken quite the beating amidst all the cooking—and eating! Ha! So, you wouldn’t have wanted to see my raggedy-ass cuticles sporting new polishes, anyway.
I’m honestly too exhausted at the moment to haul out the lightbox setup and take photos of my latest hauls (what did you guys all get for the holidays, huh?!), so I’m doing a roundup of the fragrances I picked up over 2015.
I rarely post about perfume, but I am a little bit of a perfume junkie. The worst thing is that I’ve currently been avoiding wearing any fragrance at all (this will be explained in the near future in another post) but it doesn’t stop me from sampling every time I’m at the mall, department store, or drugstore!
Last year, I was left unimpressed by Nina Ricci’s L’Extase (my links will be from Fragrantica, where I try to keep my profile up-to-date), Oscar de la Renta’s Extraordinary, Givenchy’s Rêve d’Escapade, YSL’s Black Opium, and, sadly enough since I adore the handbag-shaped bottle, Marc Jacobs’ Decadence.
What did I like? There weren’t many, but I also didn’t try as many as I usually do. I enjoyed Thierry Mugler Les Exceptions Oriental Express, but probably not enough to purchase it. I liked Eau de Gaga from Lady Gaga, but don’t think I’d buy it, either, unless it was super cheap. My Burberry was nice, but didn’t feel like anything particularly special, especially for the price.
What did I actually acquire last year? A total of 15.5 bottles, some of which were free/gifts. Here’s the rundown:
Barbara Bui — Le Parfum. A really warm and cozy amber that I sampled years ago, but it’s been discontinued. Someone on MUA tipped me off that it was available and quite cheap from some seller on Amazon, so I pounced!
Burberry — Brit Rhythm. Bois de Jasmin made this sound irresistible, so I tested it in-store, kind of loved it, then ordered it from FragranceX. It’s an icy lavender that’s perfect for crisp winter and spring days.
Bvlgari — Black. This was getting pretty hard to find (I think it’s discontinued) and it had been on my wishlist forever, so I finally ordered it from FragranceX this year. It really does smell like car tires.
Bvlgari — Mon Jasmin Noir. Found the 25 mL purse spray on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart and couldn’t resist. Some jasmines read kind of poopy to me; luckily this one doesn’t. It also doesn’t feel very noir, either, especially in that adorable travel-sized bottle.
Chanel — Coco Noir. I’m not the biggest Chanel fragrance fan, but Coco Noir won me over. The stunning bottle didn’t hurt, either! It’s probably the only feminine Chanel fragrance I enjoy, apart from the Eau Première version of N°5 and some Les Exclusifs (Beige and Cuir de Russie are wonderful). For the men—actually, I wear it myself—I love Egoïste. I picked up Coco Noir for “free” with my Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Points, which I love to save for fragrances by houses like Chanel, Dior, Givenchy and Guerlain, which don’t really get discounted much.
Elie Saab — Le Parfum. Another freebie with Shoppers Optimum Points. A gorgeous, lush white floral that doesn’t feel too big for me. The bottle is one of my favorites, too.
Ellen Tracy — Bronze. Rave reviews and a low price at Winners prompted me to buy this one “blind” (unsniffed). Still unopened. D’oh! Well, it’s more of a summer frag, anyway. I keep seeing a flanker, Exotic Bronze, really cheap at Winners, too, but I refuse to buy it until I give the original a whirl.
Ellen Tracy — Tracy. Backup for one of my favorite scents, found at Winners. It’s cozy, warm and milky, and wears close to the skin.
Grès — Lumière Rose. Another blind buy spurred by rave reviews and a tempting price at FragranceX. As a rose fanatic, I’m delighted by this one. It’s not ground-breaking, but it’s very easy to wear: a soft, girly rose with touches of candied licorice spice. Pretty bottle, too. There are two other Lumières in Noire and Blanche; supposedly Noire smells like Coco Mademoiselle, which I dislike.
Jennifer Aniston — Lolavie. I’m not snobby about celebuscents at all (there are two more on this list), though I do refuse to try anything from the Kardashians and Justin Bieber—just in case I wind up liking them. Gotta draw the line somewhere. I think this perfume is just called Jennifer Aniston in North America, or something like that. But the original name is Lolavie. I’m not a fan of superclean fragrances, but this is clean with a light salty, beachy smell that I like quite a lot. Got it for a song at Winners.
Jessica Simpson — Vintage Bloom. I got this as a Christmas gift, since I’m a fan of some of Jessica Simpson’s other fragrances. I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s supposed to be a pretty light floral with a citrus topnote. Fragrantica reviewers say it works great as a fabric scent. I think the retro-styled bottle is kind of adorable! The set contains: Vintage Bloom Gift Set: Eau de Toilette (100 mL), Bath & Shower Gel (90 mL), Body Lotion (90 mL).
Jor’el Parker — Classico. This came in a subscription box, and it’s a travel size 8 mL, so it’s not quite a full-sized product, but I thought I’d slide it in here, anyway. It’s the 0.5 bottle I noted at the start of this list! I think I gave it a sniff when I first got it, but frankly, I don’t remember what it smelled like. I didn’t love or hate it, either way.
Queen Latifah — Queen. Another unsniffed buy, bought off the back of great online reviews and an excellent price on a 100 mL tester bottle (2nd photo). I’m still wondering what made me choose the uncapped tester bottle over the 50 mL boxed version: the bottle is actually kind of cool, I don’t even know if I’ll like it, and how the heck am I going to use 100 mL of this, anyway? Oh well. Luckily for me, hot damn this stuff is good. The opening is sweet and boozy vanilla! Definitely smells more expensive than the CA$16 I paid for it. Queen Latifah’s second perfume, Queen of Hearts, is going on the wishlist, stat! And next time, I won’t cheap out by getting the tester.
Stella MacCartney — Stella Summer (2013). I’m a huge fan of the original Stella, so it was a no-brainer to snag this when I saw it at Winners. Stella McCartney puts out special summer editions of Stella every year, but I never get around to trying them out. I haven’t had a chance to open this yet, but it’s supposed to smell like frozen lemons and green apple, along with the usual Stella rose.
Stila — Crème Bouquet. I haven’t opened this yet, either. It was an unsniffed impulse buy from Winners. Floral, powdery vanilla, apparently.
Yves Rocher — Quelques Notes d’Amour. I got the full size free with an Yves Rocher order. Nice, huh? It’s a perfectly good scent: roses and some warm woods. Nothing special but I wouldn’t throw it out!
That rounds out the 15.5 bottles I got last year. I still have a bunch of samples I received that I haven’t tried, but those will have to wait until later this year.
Did you try out any new fragrances last year that are worth seeking out? Do you have a signature fragrance? (I clearly don’t! Haha! Well, if I had to pick one, it’d be Givenchy Eaudemoiselle, based on how much I’ve worn it over the last couple of years.)
fivezero 
Oh thank goodness, you’re still alive! I was getting worried hahah. If the holidays were hectic, then they must have been good for you! 😉 Have you ever tried Lancome’s La Vie Est Belle?It’s SOOO GOOD! A little sweet, but I could bathe in it haha. I thought it was just me that really liked it, but I saw reviews online that were all raving about it, so other people like it too! 😛 I think a really safe perfume, one that I got for Christmas is the Burberry London for Women perfume, it’s nothing too special, but perfect for everyday wear, it’s nice and fresh smelling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, thanks for the concern 😀 Yes, the holidays were great, but SO. Much. Work. Sigh!
La Vie est Belle is a very pretty one, and I smell it around me all the time! It reads too sweet on my own skin (I find a lot of Lancome’s more recent frags do that on me) but it smells lovely on others.
I do love the Burberry frags – the one you got is great, very classic! I really like the men’s version of that one, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Also, I wonder how that Stila one smells..I like the sound of powdery vanilla 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll have to let you know when I try it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s this new perfume everyone’s been raving about here. Anna Sui’s Romantica… It is really nice! Clean floral scent.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Romantica – I love that name! I haven’t tried too many Anna Sui frags, but clean floral sounds pretty nice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I too buy lots of perfumes unsniffed! 😀
The Queen Latifah fragrance sounds lovely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s so much fun to buy unsniffed! LOL. What was the last one you got unsniffed?
I’m really happy with the QL and am looking fwd to trying her other one, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m trying to think… I always buy the Kenzo Amour limited editions unsniffed since they can rarely be found in department stores, so I have to buy them online. I also bought a few Celine Dion perfumes. They were £2.99 each – so what could have possibly gone wrong?! Yes, they came from a reputable retailer. 🙂
I really need to sniff the unsiffed ones. Soon! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh do you have Amour Le Parfum in the gold bottle? I’ve been wanting that forever! LOL. I saw it once in store and didn’t buy it – SO DUMB. Might have to suck it up and buy off eBay or something.
I’ve never tried the Celine Dion perfumes – at that price, I’d have bought unsniffed, too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I have the Amour gold bottle. This fragrance is very incensey and it doesn’t have much to do with the original.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It smells so amazing! 😀 I haven’t wanted to get the original simply because it isn’t anywhere as nice!
LikeLiked by 1 person
YOU’RE ALIIIIIIVE!
Did you just say Spring cleaning? LMAO. You silly!
“The worst thing is that I’ve currently been avoiding wearing any fragrance at all (this will be explained in the near future in another post)” Hmmm cryptic. I’m guessing in my head but I don’t want to say it out loud. 😛
You got 15.5 bottles of perfume in 2015? What’s the half bottle?! And wow that’s a LOT of perfume. I typically get 1 a year maaaaybe.
I just looked up Ellen Tracy — Tracy and it sounds really nice – I’ll have to see if I spot it at Winners.
So funny, your love of celebrity perfumes. I didn’t even KNOW that Queen Latifah had not one but TWO scents to her name!
The only scent I got last year was the BBW Waikiki Beach Coconut. Love that stuff!
My “What I got for Christmas” post is here 😀
https://stashmatters.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/what-i-got-for-christmas/
Happy New Year! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy New Year! I’ve been slacking with reading others’ blogs, so I have mucho catching up to do!
If I don’t start my spring cleaning now, it’ll never get done! Plus, the place is a bit of a disaster after having loads of family staying over for the holidays.
The half bottle was the mini Jor’el Parker 🙂
I picked up the backup bottle of Tracy at Winners for $12.99 – it’s pretty cheap!
I’m not sure that I love celeb perfumes exactly, more that I am not biased against them, unless I despise the celeb. There are even some “higher-brow” celeb scents, e.g. Tilda Swinton’s Like This (you’d hate it, it’s pumpkin) and Rossy de Palma (a bloody rose, on my perpetual wishlist), both from Etat Libre d’Orage. But hey, it’s not like most of the celebs even have anything to do with the actual product, anyway!
I love those beachy tropical scents! I don’t think I have too much coconut in my collection – might have to rectify that.
Off to check out your Christmas haul!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a good way of putting it – not biased against celebrity fragrances. And those are typically the scents that make their way to Winners. Tilda Swinton has a perfume!? Whaaaat.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She does! And it’s by Etat Libre d’Orange – I misspelled it! For shame.
https://etatlibredorange.com/boutique/like-this/
LikeLike
That is a whooping 15 more perfumes from your collection and it looks so lovely. Well, you have surpassed my last year perfume wardrobe of nearly 10. And, that’s why, I stopped buying for time being but if I opt for a particular one, then it should be Dior blooming bouquet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, some of mine were acquired quite cheaply/free, so I use that as my excuse! Haha! ❤
And you can’t go wrong with a Dior….I still need to smell that one!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lucky you
LikeLike
This post was just everything I wanted.. I’m a perfume addict & I just love em, reading all about these babies, just made me wanna cry out in happiness!!
Thank you dearie for the post!! ❤️❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for the wonderful comment! I’m so happy that you liked my post! 😀 From one perfume addict to another – happy new year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
From one perfume addict to another it is!! Happy new year to you too, hope this year brings your blog astounding success!! ❤️❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just found your blog on bloglovin’ under recommended and Oh does bloglovin’ know me so well!I love your blog so much!And this post is great as well!I totally agree with you,I love love love Coco Noir!For Christmas I got Calvin Klein Euphoria parfume.Did you ever try that one?xx
beautybyfiora.blogspot.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww, thank you so very much! I’m glad that you’re enjoying my blog! I’ll definitely go check out yours, as well.
Euphoria is a sexy one!
LikeLike
I love Ellie Saab and Black!
My Recent Post: Rouge Dior Baume 660 Coquette Review
LikeLiked by 1 person
Black is such a weird one, but I love it! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
gosh, so many unsniffed buys! That’s daring. XD I only bought a handful of bottles in 2015. That’s good because I still have way too many samples to try.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve gotten so lazy about trying my samples, too! What bottles did you get in 2015? You always seem to have such fabulous taste 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
omg thank you! blushblush let’s see. Iris I bought this year, so that one is out. Chanel nr5 was a present, so that one is out too. I bought two Yves Rocher, Monoi and Neroli and Pharell Williams Girl I think that’s it! O_O My 2014 purchases were a lot more Guerlain heavy. I was so busy testing small bottles last year.
LikeLike