2025 Fragrance Journaling: I'm Still in This Expensive Hobby

2024 was a great year to finally set boundaries with my wallet. Yes, I did fall a couple of times (like we all do), but nearing the end of that year, I had started getting a grip on things (some might be a bit skeptical, but I'm leaning towards hopeful). 2024 was more mindful than previous years, so I wanted to continue this article format and write some sort of Wrap Up. If Spotify can have one, why can't I make one about my fragrance journey?

Here are my old rules and the new ones (in bold) I've added from what I've learned in 2024:

• Only shop at Sephora, Shopper's Drug Market (SDM) for designer / Sephora exclusive brands (ex. Ellis Brooklyn, Kayali, Maison Margiela, Commodity, etc.).
• Only shop at Etiket and Holt Renfrew for more niche offerings.
• I can only start shopping at Parfum Exquis and H Parfums if my total number of decants has fallen under 200.
• I can buy discounted fragrances on Fragrancebuy.ca and Fragrancenet.com if the full bottle is available from my authorized list of retailers.
• I can buy decants from Facebook fragrance group only if I can buy a full bottle from my authorized list of retailers.
• I can buy from official brand websites only if the fragrance is/was available from my authorized list of retailers.
• Each month, I must limit myself to either: one full bottle of perfume or max. 150$ worth of travel size, decants and/or discovery sets.
  
• I can only buy one full bottle of perfume (at full price) from an exclusive / privée line per year. If it's from a discounted source (seller on Facebook, discount website, etc.), then it counts as a normal perfume and previous rules apply.
• I can only have 48 full bottles of perfume total in my collection. No limits on travel size or samples.

After having tried a lot of perfumes in 2024 and realizing a lot of them are too similar, I have added another rule on whether a fragrance makes it full bottle into my collection or not. New rule is in bold:

• Must be a 9 or a 10 as a Scent rating.
• It must be sufficiently different from the other perfumes in my collection. I can have multiple vanillas, for example, but they must have something that makes them stand out from the others.
• I must be able to picture and remember clearly what it smells like a week after I have worn it. If I can't remember, it means it wasn't memorable enough for me to add it to my collection.

With those new rules, I was curious to see how 2025 would turn out. This is a breakdown of all the months in 2025 and how it all went down.

MONTH 1 - January (bought during Boxing Day):

TOTAL: 255.03$ (FAILURE)

Name + Size: Tilia (30ml)
Where it was bought: FragranceBuy.ca
Price (Including taxes): 167.63$
What happened: Technically, this was bought in 2024 during Boxing Day, but I told myself I'd be buying my "January haul" during that sale so I could benefit from the discounts. Tilia has been on my mind for a while (I tested the fragrance during summer 2024), but it's a pretty pricey perfume. Found it on FragranceBuy, but it was OoS. Has been on my wishlist ever since. Thankfully, they got it back in their inventory just in time for the Boxing Day sale. I'm thus starting 2025 with an empty wishlist (which I suspect won't remain like that for long)!
Review can be found here for Tilia!

Name + Size: Vanille Absolu, Lucky Candy, Crazy in Love, Chocolate Greedy, Bubble Forever, Sicily, Roses Vanille Eau de Parfum, Instant Crush, Évasion Bonbon, Brownie Pop, Villa Néroli, Lilac Love Eau de Parfum (All 0.7ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Etiket (online)
Price (Including taxes): 87.40$
What happened: I did purchase these only three days before the end of January, but I think I'll be fine if I don't purchase anything else for Febuary. Given all the discounts on fragrances that'll be happening closer to Valentines Day, it'll be hard to resist, I'll admit. It's been awhile I haven't purchased anything from Etiket, which is why I decided to go for samples of fragrances I've been watching out for. Had enough samples to get free shipping which is a plus. I have a few bottles that have landed on my wishlist after a full month of sampling, but I've decided to wait and load up on samples instead. I'm also trying to save my money for my boyfriend's upcoming Valentines / birthday gift which is why I decided to go for something less expensive.
Review for each samples are available on the respective fragrance's Parfumo page!

MONTH 2 - Febuary:

TOTAL: 241.45$ (SUCCESS)

Name + Size: Indigo Smoke (100ml) with free samples of Torino23, Sakura, Beaver Maple Edition, Bergamot Eau de Parfum and Strawberry Eau de Parfum (All 0.7ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Etiket (online)
Price (Including taxes): 241.45$
What happened: Well I fell for a purchase, which means the month of January will be part of my failures. Worst thing is: I fell in love with Indigo Smoke a few days after ordering my Etiket Febuary samples. If I had known, I would've waited until I'd gotten to this one. Haven't had a 10/10 in awhile, so when I fell in love with it, I checked my usual grey market site and only Etiket had it (although it was OoS). Signed up for the waitlist and got an e-mail saying it was back in-stock. Got too scared it would fall OoS again between now and March, so I went for it. Very lovely black tea with an apricot facet. I'm starting to realize apricot might be a fruit I enjoy wearing as fragrance. If this can remain my only purchase of the month, I'll have at least a success against a failure...
Review can be found here for Indigo Smoke!

MONTH 3 - March:

TOTAL: 241.19$ (FAILURE)

Name + Size: Great Lord, Chimilka, Sun Cities (All 0.7ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Etiket (online)
Price (Including taxes): 22.19$
What happened: I decided to treat myself to a few bath products from Etiket (which is not part of my fragrance goals and a splurge on its own). I no longer have any bubble bath products since my Caprina Goat Milk Bubble Bath with lavender oil has disappeared from stores, so I was on the hunt for a new one and found two I wanted to try at Etiket with a bath bomb and a bath soak. Decided to go for the three new fragrance from the Triptych collection at the same time. Technically these three count towards my March fragrance purchases, but if I don't go overboard, I'll be fine...
Review for each samples are available on the respective fragrance's Parfumo page!

Name + Size: Dipped in Chocolate (50ml)
Where it was bought: Facebook fragrance group (online)
Price (Including taxes): 160$
What happened: Back when I tried Dipped in Chocolate in January, I knew I wanted a chocolate fragrance in my collection and this one was probably going to be it. Tried it very late into the game, but I was able to secure a full bottle from the same person who sold me the decant. Shortly after, the chocolate fragrance became discontinued. Forgot all about it until recently when the seller messaged me to say the order had arrived. Couldn't desist myself, so I sent the money and received this limited edition and discontinued fragrance. This means that I've once again broken my goals and I only have Febuary to show for. I have to do better...
Review can be found here for Dipped in Chocolate!

Name + Size: Memo Paris custom-made Set which includes: Tiger's Nest, Inverness, Ilha do Mel, Flåm, Eau de Memo, Corfu, Abu Dhabi (All 1.5ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Memo Paris (US) website
Price (Including taxes): 59$
What happened: I've been loving Memo Paris in 2024. I currently have 4 full bottles from them and I just want to try them all (except maybe the leather ones since I'm not that much of a leather fan in fragrances)! During Women's Day, Memo Paris sent out a 20% discount code. I filled out a custom-made discovery set but left it in the basket and forgot all about it (also the discount cost wasn't enough to off-set the huge shipping cost). Memo Paris sent out an e-mail with free shipping and I told myself why not? I've already wrecked this month. This will allow me to test out another set of Memo Paris fragrances. I'll also have a 40$ discount coupon if I ever wish to buy from their website.
Review for each are available on the respective fragrance's Parfumo page!

MONTH 4 - April:

TOTAL: 279.15$ (FAILURE)

Name + Size: Clementine Dream, Miami Nectar and Guava Granita (All 10ml travel size)
Where it was bought: Sephora (online)
Price (Including taxes): 124.63$
What happened: As spring starts rolling in, I find myself wanting to smell more fruity sweet with light, ready-for-summer fragrances. Since I only have one month where I followed my goals, I figured I could try and be more reasonable by holding myself accountable during one of the most addictive month in the year. With the Sephora Spring Sale (I'm still Rouge so I get a 20% off), I decided to go for Clementine Dream, a fragrance I have tested out in-store (which I wanted to explore further) and Miami Nectar, a delectable, fresh, pina colada type of scent I seemed to have skipped over when it was released. Guava Granita is also coming out during the Sephora sale, so I decided to go for it as a blind-buy. The notes seem mouthwatering with the fruity array and it's been marketed as being a layerable fragrance with Miami Nectar and Salt (which I have a full bottle of) so I figured why not? I pray that I'll only be going for those and not yield to further FOMO...
Review for each are available on the respective fragrance's Parfumo page!

Name + Size: A Little Secret (2ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Facebook fragrance group (online)
Price (Including taxes): 12$
What happened: FOMO got to me, what can I say? And now that I've seen the reviews rolling in, I might be regretting my purchase... Oh well, it's only 12$, so we'll see how it goes!
Review can be found here for A Little Secret!

Name + Size: Lach'n discovery box which includes: Valor Essence, Solberry, Fruity Blush, Amberwood Soul, Leather Mystique (All 2ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Lach'n official website
Price (Including taxes): 9.29$
What happened: Stumbled upon a free offer of Lach'n's discovery box (paid for shipping). Couldn't resist and I was curious to try a new and upcoming brand, so I guess I went for it. Blatant disregard for my rules, I know.
Reviews haven't all been done for those new samples.

Name + Size: Argentina, Granada, Kedu (All 1.5ml sample size) + The Harmonist Discovery Kit which includes: Hypnotizing Fire Parfum, Magnetic Wood, Guiding Water, Metal Flower Parfum, Royal Earth Parfum, Velvet Fire, Golden Wood, Sacred Water, Matrix Metal, Desired Earth (All 1.5ml sample size).
Where it was bought: Fragrancenet
Price (Including taxes): 133.23$
What happened: I spotted the upcoming release of "Flora Nebulae | The Harmonist" on the New and Notable page of Parfumo and it reignited my interest towards The Harmonist, a house I've been following since the beginning of my fragrance journey. Unfortunately, they do not ship to Canada and my usual fragrance shops do not have samples of them, so I kind of forgot about them until then. While searching around, I saw Fragrancenet DID have their discovery kit which I went for (despite my rules, I know). I also went for Argentina that I seemed to have skipped over when I bought sample sizes on Fragrancenet and two Memo Paris fragrances I want to try again (and maybe go for full bottles?).
Reviews haven't all been done for those new samples.

MONTH 5 - May:

TOTAL: 459.88$ (FAILURE)

Name + Size: Memories of Japan d'Annam Discovery Set which includes: Moonlight Samurai, Tokyo Nights, Sakura Snow, Matcha Soft Serve, Strawberry Mochi, Kimono, Arashiyama, Hinoki Meditation, Japanese Whiskey + Enchanting Vietnam d'Annam Discovery Set which includes: White Rice, Monsoon Tea, "In The Garden | d'Annam", Harvest Season, Phu Quoc, Da Lat, Pho Breakfast, Through the Forest, Vietnamese Coffee. (All 2ml sample size)
Where it was bought: d'Annam official website
Price (Including taxes): 128.41$
What happened: It's my birthday month! After receiving The Harmonist Discovery Kit, I realized I wanted to go for another discovery set of a brand I've been curious about. I realized I was getting jaded about trying out samples from fragrances I haven't been necessarily hyped about. Now that I'm further into my journey, I know a bit more about what interests me or not. d'Annam has interested me ever since I got into more niche offerings and I saw they had a discount code up which made one of the discovery set at half-price, something I couldn't pass up. They're also now available at Parfum Exquis which means I'm not breaking any rules!
Reviews haven't all been done for those new samples.

Name + Size: Eau de Cologne Impériale (100ml)
Where it was bought: FragranceNet
Price: 117.62$ + taxes
What happened: My boyfriend took me to the Four Seasons Guerlain Spa in Montreal, something that has been on my wishlist for a very long time. It was such an amazing and relaxing experience! I had the chance to use a few self-care products including the Eau Impériale Shampoo and Conditioner. The scent was absolutely mesmerizing, both herbal and citrusy, something I'm currently in the mood for! Back at home, I did my research and stumbled upon the Eau de Cologne Impériale which seemed to fit the products I used there. Kind of a half blind-buy, I decided to order it in the hopes it'd be the exact same scent as the one I smelled in the products I used. I also wanted to keep an olfactory memory of my experience at the Guerlain Spa, so I couldn't pass up on the offer from FragranceNet (got it at 37% off) since it seems Guerlain has discontinued it in Canada (can't be found on their website). Also got a Guerlain shower gel (this one is a complete blind-buy but I also got it at 37% off, so why not?). I'm really digging Guerlain's products right now!
Review can be found here for Eau de Cologne Impériale!

Name + Size: Aqua Allegoria Orange Soleia (75ml)
Where it was bought: Shopper's Drug Market
Price (Including taxes): 165.56$ (but I had a 20x pts offer)
What happened: I've seen Orange Soleia around and once got to sniffing it in-store but one of my friend told me it was one of their fragrances and I felt weird about acquiring it since my friend had it. Since then, we've unfortunately grown apart and I felt okay with revisiting it. Smelled it at the Four Seasons Guerlain Spa in Montreal and decided I had to go for it. Fortunately, there was a 20x pts offer, which is when it's worth buying a Guerlain fragrance (unless you buy it from a grey market discounter) at SDM. I also splurged and bought Guerlain hair care products to bring back that a little of that spa experience at home. It's my birthday and I had a bit of loose change so I went for it!
Review can be found here for Aqua Allegoria Orange Soleia!

Name + Size: Frangipani Flower (10ml travel size)
Where it was bought: Sephora
Price (Including taxes): 48.29$
What happened: I wanted to try out the new Sol de Janeiro Body Badalada™ Lotion since I already have their Brazilian Bum Bum Body Cream. There was a 500pts offer if you bought 75$ worth of products. I spotted Frangipani Flower in a travel size (which I didn't know existed) and since I did like it a lot (and pondered a while on going for a full bottle), I decided I could treat myself with a travel size to my collection!
Review can be found here for Frangipani Flower!

MONTH 6 - June:

TOTAL: 96.14$ (SUCCESS)

Name + Size: Acqua Di Parma Variety set which includes: Colonia Eau de Cologne, Colonia Essenza Eau de Cologne, Colonia Pura, Arancia di Capri, Fico di Amalfi, Mirto di Panarea, Yuzu, Osmanthus, Quercia Eau de Parfum, Oud Eau de Parfum (All 1.5ml sample size) + Acqua Di Parma Blue Mediterraneo Variety set which includes: Arancia di Capri, Bergamotto di Calabria, Fico di Amalfi, Mirto di Panarea, Mandorlo di Sicilia (All 5ml miniature size).
Where it was bought: FragranceNet
Price (Including taxes): 96.14$
What happened: I was checking out what I could buy on FragranceNet because I previously purchased a Guerlain Les Délices de bain perfumed shower gel on their website and fell for the scent so I wanted the body lotion. Didn't want only one item to ship since they usually take up to two weeks to get to me so I was looking around to see if there was anything worth and this is how I fell upon the two Acqua di Parma sets (one which was on clearance). Acqua di Parma have always been on my lookout list, but I never went for their sets since they're pretty expensive (they're available at Holt Renfrew), so I decided to splurge and go for it. I'm going through a fresh, citrus kind of phase right now and figured they'd be fun to try out! It's been a pretty slow month of trying out fragrances (none which have made it past an 8/10) and I've been going back to my collection for another decluttering round, so I'm pretty confident I won't bust my rules this month.
Reviews haven't all been done for those new samples.

MONTH 7 - July:

TOTAL: 195.15$ (FAILURE)

Name + Size: Les Délices de Jousset set which includes: Sticky Popcorn, Banana Split, Crème Brûlée, Café Affogato, Belle Hélène + Jousset's Collection Blanche et Noire which includes: Le Gourmand, Accident à La Vanille, Accident à La Vanille - Madeleine de Proust, Delicious Black Powder. La Tarte Tatin, Ciao Bello Pistachio, Gourmand Bakhoor, African Queen (All 2ml sample size).
Where it was bought: Jousset official website
Price (Including taxes): 162.65$
What happened: I've been eyeing Jousset for awhile (became aware of their collaboration with Parfum Exquis for their fragrance Sooo Exquis). Saw their offer of a free giftcard (of the discovery set's value) if you buy a discovery set and decided to buy both. Will probably only be testing these fragrance during fall / winter, but I'm quite excited to get my hands on them! Was planning on purchasing them later during colder months, but I couldn't pass up on the offer! I technically bought both sets 2 days before the end of the month of June, but these should be my only purcahse for July (famous last words / words I've read somewhere before ...). We'll see!
Reviews haven't all been done for those new samples.

Name + Size: Pacific Chill (4.5ml custom decant size) and Sun Song (2ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Facebook fragrance group
Price (Including taxes): 32.50$
What happened: Pacific Chill has been on my watchlist for awhile and I did manage to try it in an LV store a year ago. I've always wanted to have a decant at home so I could try it out for a longer period of time and finally spotted someone selling a reasonable size of it. Jumped on that and an official Sun Song sample to see the hype about it.
Review for each are available on the respective fragrance's Parfumo page!

MONTH 8 - August:

TOTAL: 134.24$ (SUCCESS)

Name + Size: Crème de Clementine (8ml travel size)
Where it was bought: Sephora (in-person)
Price (Including taxes): 48.29$
What happened: Haven't had much luck with discovery sets since I decided to go back and clean out my decants. I've been blazing through a few sets and no fragrances have made it into a full bottle. Took a trip to Sephora with my boyfriend to test a few new fragrances that came in and when I fell upon this one: woah! I might buy a full bottle of it during the Sephora Fall sale in october. Until then, I have a travel size to use up!
Review can be found here!

Name + Size: Une Nuit Nomade Discovery Kit Extraits which includes: Chemin d'Amande, Estrella de la Mañana, Jardins de Misfah Extrait de Parfum, Silver Saffron (All 2.5ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Une Nuit Nomade official website
Price (Including taxes): 85.95$
What happened: Like I've previously mentioned, I haven't had a lot of success in sampling my decants (although I've had a lot of success in decluttering them). Now more aware than ever of which notes I like and dislike, which brands I truly want to explore (and not because an influencer has talked about it), I decided to go for a discovery set of Une Nuit Nomade's extraits. I've become more confident in ordering from official brand websites, even those from France (although the tariffs I got from Jousset did hurt a bit). The extrait bottles are beautiful, they've been on my watchlist for awhile and the four of them have sufficiently gotten me curious that I think it's worth going for a discovery set instead of buying samples of them at Parfum Exquis. I also want to lower my decant stash before jumping into what Parfum Exquis has to offer which is why I wanted to go for a discovery set. There's only 4 months left until the end of the year and I have some full bottles on my wishlist so I might dedicate those months to wrapping up what I can buy in full bottles / sample at Etiket and Sephora before turning my eyes towards Parfum Exquis.
Review for each are available on the respective fragrance's Parfumo page!

MONTH 9 - September:

TOTAL: 41.39$ (SUCCESS)

Name + Size: Crème de Clementine (50ml)
Where it was bought: Sephora in-store
Price (Including taxes): 41.39$
What happened: So. I bought full bottles of Tangerine Boy and Indigo for my boyfriend. They're perfumes he's had in his collection in travel sizes due to me and he's been loving them (and smelling real good). I wanted to buy him his full bottles so he could have them when he finished the travel sizes. It was also supposed to be a gift. Unfortunately, he caught the Tangerine Boy's price and reimbursed me, but I got him with Indigo! Anyways, both of these purchases got me to 2 500 pts at Sephora. I managed to snag Crème de Clementine with a 2 500 pts for 100$ reward which is why it didn't cost a lot. This is a good thing since I've been spending my money into redecorating my bedroom and the apartment, so I didn't have a lot of spare cash to put in my fragrances.
Review can be found here!

MONTH 10 - October:

TOTAL: 0$ (SUCCESS)

Name + Size: None
What happened: It's the FIRST time i haven't spent anything on fragrances since the start of my journey! I've been upgrading my bedroom and my boyfriend's bedroom (yes, we sleep seperately) by buying new bedding, new mattresses, pillows and decorations. Now that we're (fully?) adults, I wanted my bedroom and my boyfriend's to look more comfy and relaxing instead of looking put-together-from-knick-knacks-our-parents-gave-us-when-we-moved-out. I also came across a post on Reddit of someone who said it was weird that people spent so much money on technology and hobbies (like fragrances) instead of investing in a better pillow/mattress when you literally spend a third of your life sleeping. That kind of hit me hard. I've easily spent the equivalent of a high-class, luxurious mattress (maybe even more than that) on fragrances. Luckily, I've also been having a fragrance slump. I've been decluttering my decants and sampling a lot. So many haven't made it past the 8/10 mark that I've become a bit disillusioned? I decided to return to my collection for awhile which is why I didn't have the urge to buy any fragrances. Cold weather is coming up though, so I will be going back to my decants and sampling fragrances that fit the cold weather better. And in November, there'll be a lot of sales, so I'm hoping I fall for a fragrance I'll want to buy then. At least this month I can say I've perfectly respected my goals, haha!

MONTH 11 - November:

TOTAL: 106.95$ (SUCCESS)

Name + Size: Kayali Freedom Discovery Layering Sampler Set which includes: Musk Bouquet | 27, Musk Latte | 41, Musk Matcha| 45, Musk Santal | 34 (All 1.5ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Sephora (online)
Price (Including taxes): 18.95$
What happened: I haven't necessarily been avoiding recent Kayali releases, but oud isn't a favorite note of mine. I've had the chance to smell them at a Sephora and they haven't really caught my nose. But when I heard about this release, I was pretty curious, even though I will say I'm a bit wary due to the influencer reviews I saw on Instagram that seemed lukewarm at best. The latte and matcha one seem the most interesting for me, but we'll see when I'll be testing them! I got the set at a small discount since I had a Rakuten cashback on my PayPal account which is nice!
Review for each samples are available on the respective fragrance's Parfumo page!

Name + Size: Majestic China d'Annam Discovery Set which includes: Mooncake, Pomelo Oolong, Princess of China, Spring Festival, The Silk Road, Chinese Calligraphy (All 2ml sample size)
Where it was bought: Facebook fragrance seller
Price (Including taxes): 65$
What happened: I'm so happy one of my trusted Facebook fragrance seller had this set in stock! I will probably be trying out the whole d'Annam collection next year, when the urge to buy things on sale will have passed (FOMO often makes me buy fragrance that I don't always love, love). I'll have time then to thoroughly explore this brand as I own the two other sets.
Reviews haven't all been done for those new samples.

Name + Size: London Fog (4.5ml)
Where it was bought: Facebook fragrance seller
Price (Including taxes): 23$
What happened: I've been lurking in my Facebook fragrance groups in the hope that someone, someday would have this scent I've been hearing about. I'm a sucker for tea scent, so when I saw one of my trusted Facebook fragrance seller decanting it, I immediately went for it! Thankfully, I haven't gone over my 150$ rule for decants and samples, so this will be rounding up and closing off November nicely. Another month where I respected my rules!
Review can be found here!

MONTH 12 - December

TOTAL: 34.49$ (SUCCESS)

Name + Size: Chabaud Gourmand Discovery Set which includes: Lait Concentré, Lait de Vanille, Lait de Biscuit, Lait et Chocolat (All travel size 7.5ml)
Where it was bought: Winners Homesense
Price (Including taxes): 34.49$
What happened: I wasn't planning on spending money for fragrances in December, but when I went to Winners Homesense for holiday gift shopping, I spotted this set in the fragrance section. It's valued at 95$ on Parfum Exquis and even more on the Chabaud website so I was very excited to get my hands on them (they've been on my radar).
Reviews haven't all been done for those new samples.

Boyfriend bought me:

• Valentine's Day: Winter Palace and samples of Siwa (2018) and Sintra.
• Birthday: Samples of Aldebaran, Impadia, Vra Vra Vroom, Divine Vanille, Fig Infusion, Orange x Santal, Nice Bergamote Eau de Parfum, Néroli Hasbaya, Ambre Papier.
• Christmas: Aqua Allegoria Harvest Mandarine Basilic

As the end of the year draws to a close...
I've spent a total of 2 085.06$ on fragrances.

Compared to 3 530.71$ in 2024, I definitely slowed down a bit on fragrance purchases. I have a way better grasp on what I love and what I like vs what I dislike and what I hate in terms of notes and accords. I've gone for brands I really want to try instead of what's been hyped on the internet. I've curated my collection and kept the scents I give 9s or 10s only. I'm more severe with the fragrances that enter my collection.

I haven't respected my rules during the first half of the year, but things did start to die down a bit during the second half as I started getting fragrance fatigue. I was trying a lot of my decants and a lot of scents were kind of supbar to my nose which kind of turned me off for awhile. I also decided to take the time with trying out my remaining decants and I've decided to test them when sales aren't looming to avoid FOMO which has helped.

In 2026, I'd like to get my hands on the Memo Paris I haven't been able to test yet. My stash of decants has also significantly fallen which means I can now turn my eyes towards Parfum Exquis and try out fragrances from them. I have a few in mind, like BLNDRGRPHY, Theodoros Kalotinis, Sarah Baker, etc. I want to reduce my spending (again) which is why I might tweak my rules in 2026 a bit to further restrict myself. I enjoyed going through my collection and decluttering things I didn't really enjoy anymore so I might keep my tradition of going through a collection declutter once per year. Since I recently finished one, I might wait until next Fall to go through it again.

For those wondering:
- My greatest disapointment was probably the Kayali Freedom Discovery Layering Sampler Set. I still love Kayali and Mona a lot, but the brand has fallen in terms of fragrance offerings. I think she should slow down and try innovating instead of following trends. Her newer fragrances are missing the little spark the older releases had.
- My most surprising discovery was probably Chemin d'Amande by Une Nuit Nomade. I kind of had given up on almonds as a note in my collection since I found most to be too powdery and weird on my skin, but this one is what I've been looking for. I will be going for a full bottle in 2026 probably.
- Tihota by Indult was still the one I was most looking forward to wearing when the days became colder.
- Thé Yulong by Armani was still the one I was most looking forward to wearing when the days became warmer.
- The artistic scent I'm the gladdest I got my hands on is probably Dipped in Chocolate by Imaginary Authors. This year I haven't gone through many artistic fragrances, but I really enjoyed this one even though it was a LE.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my Fragrance Wrapped for 2025. I'm looking forward to 2026 and all that will be coming out. I wish you all a great holiday period and a Happy New Year. May you find the scent you've been wanting and whatever other goals you may have for this beautiful hobby!

*** Cover from Jan Kahánek