Ça y est… it’s been a whole year since I caught the spark that ignited my passion for perfume (a flammable liquid, after all!). I think I’ve come a decent way, and yet the memories of those initial days of wide-eyed discovery feel like it’s been only a month or so.

A lot has happened between then and now—if not so much in quantity, then more so in significance. A few momentous events, though momentary in occurrence, redefine the shape of our lives, and their momentum carries through the many comparably dull moments in between. Glancing through my posts over the past year, it’s clear (to me at least) that once I got past the very very basics of perfume knowledge, my writings shifted from a free-for-all playground mentality into a tightening coil of introspection aimed at constantly adapting to new shapes.

Instead of surrounding myself with plaques, mugs, T-shirts, stickers, pillows, calendars—you get the idea—emblazoned with motivational quotes, I spritz myself with different perfumes: each one its own set of motivational accords.

(I will admit to one decal.)

So, I may still be in the honeymoon period of my relationship with perfume, but the romantic in me believes this could be a lifelong pursuit. If not, I should have at least a few more years of Euphoria with my French Lover in Ninfeo Mio before succumbing to Poison while gasping, “Not a Perfume!”

HAPPY NEW YEAR!