A Look Back at 2017; A Look Forward to 2018

I do not do a list of "best of" fragrances at the end of the year (although I love reading them) for two simple reasons. I did not get to test even a small percentage of the new perfume introductions this year, and my blog is more about scent memories or scents of place.  Lists that I enjoyed this year include:
Cafleurebon - Read their editor picks here
Colognoisseur - Read his best of here
Kafkaesque - For a list of perfumes you've never heard of but will now want, read here

Instead I am looking back at the year through my own personal lens, mainly what experiences my love of scent led me to this year. First and foremost was an interview I was able to do with master perfumer Francis Kurkdjian here. Besides the obvious thrill of speaking to this talented man I had two very specific gains. First, I went out of my comfort zone by just showing up at my local Neiman Marcus and requesting an interview, and Mr. Kurkdjian couldn't have been more gracious. For you extroverts out there this may sound like no big deal but for me it was a bold move. Secondly, after our interview turned more personal, I mentioned I had a trip planned to Spain where Mr. Kurkdjian likes to spend time. He recommended the area of Los Pueblos Blancos, specifically  Ronda, which I added to our itenary. It led to this review and added huge enjoyment to our trip as we would have never found this place left to our own devices.

The idea of fragrance as an art form continues to grow. I'm not in New York or London where there have been exhibits of this kind, but I was lucky enough to attend the Lush Gorilla Perfumes Vol. IV exhibit when it came to Dallas. I reviewed my experience here. It was fascinating to see an exploration of perfume expressed in both art installations and scented memories, and the theme of home vs. homelessness was a poignant one. I hope to be in the right place at the right time in 2018 to experience something like this again.

Looking back I see that my most often reviewed niche perfumeries were Zoologist Perfumes and DSH Perfumes. As I expressed here I am a longtime fan of Dawn Spencer Hurwitz perfumes and she has had an amazing spurt of creativity in 2017. Zoologist Perfumes continues to surprise me with its creativity and I look forward to seeing what perfumers Victor Wong will work with in 2018.  Mr. Wong seems to be a strong creative director by drawing very interesting work from the various perfumers who have worked with him. I must admit that these were some of the funnest reviews for me to write because the perfumes are often so unusual and one of my favorites was Bat which I wrote about almost a year ago here.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to record my combined love of travel and scent, two things that have always been intertwined for me. I realize these travel inspired perfume reviews are not for everyone, but that makes me appreciate all the more those of you who do me the honor of reading my pieces from time to time. My favorite travel inspired series of articles this year were a trip to India, which made me drag out many old favorites, and which I began writing about here. A short trip to Indonesia was creative inspiration (such a fascinating country!) and I started writing about that here. Lastly a summer trip to Spain inspired a whole new series of fragrance reviews which I wrote about here. 

I hope to be a little more prolific in 2018 but I will probably continue to write about perfumes that stir forgotten memories or fragrances that speak to me of place, rather than just blog about new scents as there are so many people who do that better than I can. I wish everyone a safe New Year's Eve as it's icy even here in North Texas, and may we all find at least one new scented love in 2018.