Fragranceshopping for Christmas (and beyond) 2014

Picture: Julaftonen/Christmas Eve 1904
Watercolor by Carl Larsson (1853-1919)
Wikimedia commons

Soon Christmas is here and hopefully there is some time for perfumetesting during the holidays. Here comes some inspiration when it comes to perfumeshopping not just for the holidays but most of all also in the long term.

• Just as last year: First of all I'll recommend the beautiful perfumes I have tested and reviewed this year. Remember: All are good regardless rating. The rating reflects my personal impression when testing the fragrance, my 3 rated could be your 5.
• From the perfumes reviewed so far 2014, I'm when thinking back most found of: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Féminin Pluriel an eternal beauty, My Burberry from Burberry, a contemporary, urban interpretation of the same theme as Féminin Pluriel. Boucheron Place Vendôme Edp is another mainstream fragrance which, just as My Burberry made an unexpectedly positive impression. Parfumerie Générale Isparta a transparent, purple rose which I think havn't got as much attention as it should have in the blogosphere, Rose Ishtar an intriguing and  unconventional, herbal non-sweet rose, Eau d'Italie Un Bateau pour Capri  contemporary but in the same time retro. When into roses, I'm a roselover after all, Rozy Voile d'Extrait is a beautiful dark, balsamic rose. Another good balsamic fragrance, with winey and myrrh-incense notes which I discovered this year is Olivier Durbano Lapis Philosophorum. The fleeting jasmine-tea of By Kilian Imperial Tea  is another nice finding from 2014 in the lighter fragdivision and so is the new first non-Mona from Mona di Orio, the somehow refreshing and calming Myrrh Casati.
• Lately I've discovered two very good houses, new to my nose, the revived house of  Le Galion and the since many years established Maison Nicolas de Barry. This findings thanks to the sample service from Fragrance & Art, IMO the best retailer in Sweden when it comes to carry a well compsed varity of nichefragrances, many of them very rare. Reviews of fragrances from these lines will start with one from each line before Christmas and further reviewing is planned to the first half of 2015.
• Samples from one of my favorite houses, Oriza L.Legrand just arrived, in a lovely little green retrobox with a motif on the lid inspired from the 1910s. I'll review one of the new ones before Christmas and the other are planned to follow in 2015. Sniffing outside the untested vials, my impression is I'll not be dissapointed. A great Christmas gift is the Oriza sampleset with 7x2ml spray vials of choice for EUR 20.
• Another perfume grabbing my attention at the moment (reviewed early in 2013) is the beautiful cold incense, lily, fir Relique D'Amour from the above mentioned Oriza L.Legrand. The more I try it, the more I like it and now I've drained my first sample and have just one sample left.... A perfume for those who like L'Artisan Passage d'Enfer this is great stuff.
• When it comes to repacking, last year Parfums Annick Goutal was the issue here in the "shopping for Christmas post". This year it's Parfum d'Empire which has changed the bottle design and of course, raised the price. But there are still bargins avaible, Fragrance & Art have some in the old bottle left.
• As a sidenote about the before mentioned Annick Goutal at least one of the discontinued gems soon was brought back in the assortment, but I don't know if it depends of the customer compliants or not. In the new bottle of course and I don't know if the formula has changed: Mon Parfum Cheri, par Camille, the best Goutal so far IMO. The Edp-version of  Un Matin d'Orage Edp launched in 2014 is also a very good perfume.
• A package of samples is an intriguing Christmas gift to most people. If you don't have the time and patience to decant yourself, Fragrance & Art and Riktig Parfym could support.