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1. Perfume has taken a back seat for me this year – I didn’t smell any mainstream releases at all and my other sampling has been sporadic at best, but I won a sample of En Voyage perfumes Fiore di Bellagio from CaFleurebon and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Florals aren’t usually my thing but this is a deep complex melange that breathes rich and classy. Shelley Waddington is brilliant. I also have fallen in love with Imaginary Authors Yesterday Haze. Fig, cream, walnut…..it’s on the buy list for next fall.

   • Hi there Rosarita,
     Lovely choices. Considering you were pulling back you got to smell two that I don’t think I got my sniff on. I love Imaginary Authors and En Voyage, excellent Indie houses.
     Portia xx

2. Hi!! Love this topic 🙂 Reflecting on this year, my favorite release (and favorite scent ever created) is:
   *Sensei* by Piotr Czarnecki. It is a part of me always.
   Runners up that I adore and also own:
   *Sotto La Luna* from Andy Tauer
   *Maai* from Bogue Profumo
   *Sweet Jasmine Brown* from Providence Perfume Company
   *Vanille Debauche* from Perfumes by Terri
   *Criminal of Love* by Kilian

   • Sensational list Erica, love that most are independent too.
     Great to see you at the Posse.
     Portia xx

3. Looking over the lists of 2014 releases on STC and NST sites, it looks like I’ve only sniffed about 8 scents so far. Please don’t take away my perfumista card! Of those, several were very nice (Cuir d’Ange, 1932 extrait, Eau de Magnolia); a few I need to sniff again before I make up my mind (Rosa Nobile, BV Knot, PW Girl); I was indifferent to GA Si, and I couldn’t scrub TF Velvet Orchid off fast enough. I’ll have to be very brave indeed to re-test that one. No real stand-out fav yet.

   • Hi DinaC,
     I’m so angry at myself for leaving out celebuscents. GGRRRR.
     I would have definitely added Pharrel Williams Grrl and the Olsen twins Nirvana Black.
     Cuir d’Ange very nearly made the cut too, I love it.
     Portia xx

4. Loved Sunshine, as you know – also the new Creed Iris Tubereuse. The surprise mainstreams I really enjoyed are the Diana Vreeland line. They are in my queue to review. Wish we’d had time to sample them when you were at N-M!

   xoxoxoA

   • Hey Musette,
     There were only so many hours in that day, I think we fit an enormous amount in. If we had sniffed ANYTHING else my head may have exploded.
     Having said that, yes, it would have been nice.
     Portia xx

5. I can’t keep up – it seems like there are a dozen new launches every day. I think the only new one I tried this year was Delrae’s Wit (which I liked very much). I often wonder how the high number of launches can be supported – are there really that many people buying perfume? I know I buy enough for ten, but let’s face it, I’m not normal (and neither are any of you here, you lovely fume freaks!). It just doesn’t seem possible that the world’s perfume demand in any way matches the supply.

   • Hi LisaD,
     NOBODY can keep up. It’s completely out of hand. I’m pretty sure some stuff sells ZERO.
     You are normal but probably not average buddy.
     Portia xx

6. Sensei, Maai, Honey Blossom by Note, L’Orpheline. I don’t know when it was released, but I fell in love with Memoirs of a Trespasser by Imaginary Authors. The market is so saturated with fragrances that for me they lose the sense of being special, and I have a hard time trying to decide what to sniff and what not. I just may pull back until the dust settles.

   • Hi Ellen,
     I think if you pick one or two a month to order samples of you will get your sniff on the most interesting of the around 1100 releases. That’s why I love the New Releases page at Surrender To Chance, they curate it for you already and you get about 10-20 to choose from each month.
     I had a word to them and next year they are leaving the data up from January to December, you’ll be able to see the year in a Best Of Releases at a glance.
     Portia xx

7. You know, I haven’t sniffed one perfume that was released this year and hope that my perfumista card won’t get yanked.

   • WOW!! How did you even manage that Eldarwen22? Quite an achievement for a dedicated perfumista like yourself.
     We will never revoke your card, that’s the great thing about the fragrance community: Sometimes you really need it as an escape, or to visit and check in, to see what you need to sniff next etc other times life gets in the way. We are here when you need us, fragrance isn’t jealous
     Portia xx

8. Man, I haven’t kept up at all.. I’ve hardly smelled anything on that list. I think Palimpsest might be the only one. I ordered a sample of Maai from Luckyscent a couple weeks ago after it was recommended to me by a couple of people on Facebook, but I haven’t received it yet. Mail service to my apartment complex can be weird. Some packages get to me quickly, and sometimes packages that should take a couple of days to reach me will say they’re delivered in tracking, but it might not show up in my mailbox for a month. I’ve never had this problem anywhere else I’ve lived — just this complex.

   • Oh yeah.. I should mention I really liked Palimpsest.. I also liked Cuir de Gardenia, but if I had to pick one Palimpsest would be it. I get better lasting power from Palimpsest than from Cuir de Gardenia as well.

     • Hi Jennifer,
       Was Cuir de Gardenia 2014 too. WOW! That seems like eons ago. I loved it too. Can’t remember longevity issues with it.
       How annoying about your apartment complex, that would definitely make me a little crazy.
       Portia xx

       • I wouldn’t say I had longevity issues with Cuir de Gardenia (I was thinking CdG was in 2014, but now that I think about it, I’m not 100% sure). I got good lasting power out of both, especially for all-naturals. It’s just that I got better lasting power with Palimpsest, like meaning I could still smell traces of it the next morning.

         • WOW! I wish I could remember my wear time better. I have some here and will go back and wear it to see. Thanks Jennifer Counts.
           Portia xx

9. I haven’t tried that many new scents this year, but I just wanted to say that I am a big fan of CB IHP Narcissus also and find that to be a scent that I can wear and enjoy anytime. I need to sniff Palimpset though! Thanks Portia : )

   • WOW!! That is interesting, CB IHP Narcissus was a bit too outrageous to wear for work for me. Loads of compliments if I remember rightly but I felt like a WALL OF FRAGRANCE! At home I love to overdose myself with it and swim in the sillage.
     Portia xx

     • I wear the water perfume version – do you think that is lighter than the perfume absolute? Or maybe I’m walloping people with fragrance and don’t know it??!

       • Yes, I have the absolute and it is HUGE!! Ferocious! Gorgeous!
         Portia xx

10. Man I just got into perfume a couple months ago and so the only 2014 releases I think I’ve tried so far are the dept store ones – oh and Patchouli Absolu (but Patchouli is not really my thing yet). There are so many on this list I really *want* to try though – Or du Serail, Palimpsest, Do Not Ask Me Why, Violettes du Czar, The Dark Heart of Old Havana… I better get on this before 2015 rolls in!

    • Hey Sun Mi,
      No rush. The frags aren’t going anywhere just yet.
      A word of advice. MAKE A BUDGET. Set a reasonable, affordable fragrance budget for yourself each month.
      Oh, and have fun,
      Portia xx

      • “MAKE A BUDGET.”

        Oh, my. I really do need to take these words to heart. I have gone a little insane the last few months (for me, at least), and I do need to set a modest, reasonable monthly budget. That’s one of my new year’s resolutions, actually, so thank you for the reminder!

11. L’Orpheline wasn’t really my thing, but I was happy to score a sample in the draw here earlier this year, and having the possibility to try it multiple times. I really liked Masque Milano Russian Tea (that is from this year, right?), which sits better on my skin than Tea for Two.

    A mainstream scents I would love in FB is Knot, haven’t a clue if it was released this year, but it seemed like a perfect scent for winter when I tried it a month or two ago. And the botte has a catching design, always a plus.

    • Sorry for typos, too late at night for commenting!

      • Knot is new in 2014, you are correct. I loved the bottle but sadly the fragrance was less exciting on my skin. Glad to read it’s working for someone else, I thought it would be a big hit and it smells great on one of my GFs.
        Portia xxx

12. I have to agree on Wit. It has had the most skin time of any other 2014 release that I can think of and I should probably just woman up and buy a bottle. I also really enjoyed all three of the Papillon releases with each being my favorite when I wear it. I’m quite sure there was at least one other I really enjoyed and when the best of 2014 lists start pouring out I’ll remember, but right now I’m far too tired to think of anything.

    • Hey there mikasminion,
      I loved those Papillon releases too, is there a tobacco one? I can’t remember but I do remember thinking they were very good when Karen Gilbert spritzed me with hers. MMMMM You have me thinking again.
      Merry Christmas, get some sleep.
      Portia xx

13. for me, papillon’s tobacco rose & anubis were both stunning new releases for 2014. april aromatic’s SF rose is just gorgeous. i lovelovelove frapin’s nevermore. and o’driu’s peety.

    • THAT’s it Tobacco Rose is gorgeous. Thanks for the reminder SandiPants.
      Wow! Was Peety only this year, it seems like forever ago too.
      Portia xx

14. Howdy, dear! That Creed and the Mohur extrait were mighty fine, I must say. But I think I fell most in love (and wore the most) with the Frederic Malle Eau de Magnolia. But now I’ve got to get on the stick and try some of the other beauties you and others have mentioned. Thanks!

    • Happy holidays Ann,
      I am glad you liked those two, gosh finding two you really like in a year is enough I reckon. Why don’t you sit back with a drink and relax, it’s been a BIG year.
      You know I did smell Eau de Magnolia somewhere but it has completely slipped my mind how it smelled, next year…..
      Portia xxx

15. Mohur extrait, no question about it. Sexiest and most satisfying rose ever. Mohur puts to shame Guerlain Rose Nacrée, my former holy grail rose. I’ll be saving for that gorgeous numbered bottle.

    • Solanace, You are singing my song. What a freaking STUNNER of a fragrance, Mohur Extrait. Ah May Zing.
      Portia xx

16. Loved Liqueur Charnelle and L’Or du Serail, they both joined my collection this year, as well as Papillon Anubis and Tobacco Rose. The other big hit for me was Aedes Copal Azur, which was love at first sniff. Oh, and Ombre Indigo from Olfactive Studios – a lovely leather scent. It was a good year.

    • Hi there TaraC,
      we have a couple of snaps. That’s cool.
      I also loved Ombre Indigo but didn’t spend enough time in its company. I should.
      Portia xx

17. I loved Elle Saab & Midnight Rain by La prairie.. My new favs of 2014

    ? Makeup By Hina ?

    • Hey Hina,
      The Elie Saab L’Eau Couture or the Essences? I never even knew they released the essences until I looked at their output just then.
      Portia xx

18. Wit is lovely. But my favorite of those I have tried is Mojave Ghost by Byredo. Haunting. I’m saving up for a FB.

    • WOW! I love the Byredo line. I think he curates really interesting stuff and now you’ve tweaked my interest. I will search Mojave Ghost out ASAP.
      Portia xx

      • It’s really different and beautiful. I’d be interested in your opinion. To quote the Lucky Scent site: “Mojave Ghost opens with a familiar yet mysterious fruit note, like a pear grown on another planet.” That seems exactly right. It’s a note I haven’t smelled before, and although it stays close to the skin, you’ll find yourself catching whiffs throughout the day.

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