There were no major developments in my life in 2013 and though there were some minor disappointments it was a good year for me overall. I got to smell linden in Kharkov, Vienna and Paris. I met Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels), Sandra (guest writer at Olfactoria’s Travels), Vanessa (Bonkers About Perfume) and Natalie (Another Perfume Blog). I tried several new fruits during our Hawaiian vacation. And I had great winter holidays. So I’m thankful to 2013 but I’m ready for the new, hopefully rainier 2014.
Perfume-wise 2013 also wasn’t a bad year (numbers in parentheses are from 2012, for comparison).
Perfume Testing
Even though I haven’t tried many of the big new releases and out of those that I have tried I didn’t like many that made others’ “top 2013” lists but I did a lot of testing. I tested1 321 (356) perfumes from 107 (114) brands on 461 (572) occasions. Many of these perfumes weren’t new and of some I own a bottle or a decant but I might have done a parallel testing with some new perfume or for my Single Note Exploration posts. But there were 185 (245) perfumes that I’ve tried for the first time in 2013. The number of new perfumes2 I test declines every year but I think it happens not because of my diminished interest in testing new things but just because of time and skin RE limitations since I often re-visit those that I’ve previously tested.
Perfume Wearing
Once my collection (bottles and decants) got to the certain size I decided that I shouldn’t sacrifice my favorite perfumes for testing new ones – especially since I test mostly not for reviews. I wore3 perfumes from my collection almost every day: 142 (138) perfumes from 54 (50) brands on 355 (348) occasions.
Nine out of twelve brands I wore the most this year are the same as the last year. Guerlain got to the first place which is a little strange since I still don’t consider myself that brand’s fan.
I wear a different perfume every day and try to give all of my favorites at least some skin time so I do not use each perfume too often. In 2013 my top five (actually, seven since the last three got the equal attention) were: Keiko Mecheri Johana, Giorgio Armani La Femme Bleue, Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling!, Guerlain Encens Mythique d’Orient, Ormonde Jayne Ta’if, Diptyque Volutes and Yves Rocher Nature.
Perfume Statistics
During 2013 I did statistics posts on the perfumes bought by the launch year, dependency of my enjoyment of perfumes and a type of the bottle it came in, quarter to quarter perfume usage comparison, frequency of the same perfumes usage, perfumes by country of origin, reaction to perfumes dependent on weather conditions, perfume application spots, favorite fruits in perfumes, giving perfumes as gifts and spontaneity in perfumes acquisition. Many of this posts were based on answers from my readers – thank you!
Will I find more angles of perfumes counting to keep up my Entertaining Statistics posts in 2014? I hope with your help I will.
Images: my own
1 For the testing I apply a perfume to one area on my arms easily available for the repetitive sniffing. But, most likely, I’m the only one who can smell it. I can test two, sometimes even more perfumes at the same time.
2 “New perfumes” refers to perfumes that I haven’t tried before, not the current year’s releases.
3 When I wear a perfume I apply it to at least three-four points and usually I plan to spend at least 4-8 hours with the same scent so I’m prepared to re-apply if the original application wears off.