Hello!
Ok, I’m gonna crack straight on with this.
First of all: Happy New Year 
Now that’s out the way – here’s what I loved and discovered in 2012.
My Favourite 3 Fragrances in 2012:
Haute Claire (far too closely followed by Secret Garden) by Aftelier Perfumes. Both of these fragrances are a tie for me, completely different, but absolutely beautiful. The richest, most naturally grand florals I have smelt – truly beautiful, wearable and classic – timeless fragrances that will be with me for a long time. Outstanding!
Rubj EDP by Vero Profumo is simply awesome. A sexy, volumptuous floral with an unexpected, almost tropical/sour “fresh” slice of green passionfruit smothering it. Mouthwatering, huge, and an absolute necessity. Exceptional.
Miriam by Tableau De Parfums is a modern classic. It combines so many elements of fragrances I love into something seamless – the aldehydic resins of La Myrrhe, the aldehydic white floral/incense combo of No.22, various fragmented particles of classic Tauer’s such as the bay of Un Rose Chypree, the violet/iris of Pentachord White… I can go on… but it is its own being – Miriam is gorgeous.
Most Unexpected Beauty:
M/Mink by Byredo completely took me by surprise. After months of thinking I hated it (after trying it only twice on paper) – I found it’s evolution on the skin absolutely captivating. Whilst I still struggle to wear it, when I finally accept that it’s a beeswax/incense/patchouli and not the fishy atrocity that my mind conjurs up – I love it.
New Talent:
Mangetic Scent is an awesome line. Indigo was one of my sampling highlights of the year and I can’t wait to get my hands on a full bottle. The packaging is beautiful, the fragrances are truly brilliant and I can’t wait to see what this guy comes out with next 
Best Marketing and Packaging:
In all honesty, O’Driu is pretty pompous and poncy (a little cringeworthy at times)… but judging the brand through it’s products, marketing and advertising – it owns. Not only have they kicked off massively solely from threads on Basenotes, the gorgeous sample packages were handed out extremely generously, and the packaging is fantastic. I love the boxes stuffed with feathers and hessian, the advertising images are beautiful, the bottles are solid (although a bit wierd, when you buy 50ml, you get 50ml in a 100ml bottle…), and I like the atomizers (but wouldn’t use it – evapouration and all that shit). All in all, kudos to you O’Driu.
Oh and just in the category of advertising, Lady Gaga’s Fame commercial was brilliant (there, I said it)… as we all know, the fragrance was piss poor.
Sad To See Go:
Eau D’Epices got discontinued this year – which gave me a little heartache… but it’ll be back next year I believe so no big deal 
I guess it’s removal from the market re-trigged my admiration for this challenging composition. I will get it when it returns!
A list of other fragrances I loved in 2012:
Iris Silver Mist
Sepia
Bosque
Chypre Rouge
Musc Maori
Putain Des Palaces
Ambra Nera
CDG EDP 2011
Bolt Of Lightning/Fermes Tes Yeux/Jarling
Tawaf
Ok so you might be wondering where all the hate is here? In all honesty – there’s too many to write about and compile into neat categories, so I’m just gonna real some off and get the dirty stuff over with…
Crap of the year:
Seville A L’Aube (loved smelling the ingredients that went in it… didn’t like ‘em all together…)
Serge Noire/L’Eau/L’Eau Froide/Nuit De Cellophane (obvious reasons)
BEX (the write ups that started the trouble)
Sentifique (words can’t describe these fragrances… so I won’t try)
Jean-Claude Ellena’s Dreary Diary (and most of his work)
Seven Veils (I still re-live the nightmare of when it hit my skin)
Jovoy (the line, not the shop)
Blah blah blah – I have a terrible memory and the list could go on forever, trust me. That’ll do for now
So yes – every bloggers doing these in far more detail so there’s my little two cents. Thanks for the support everyone <3<3<3
Freddie x
Oh, and some perfect music… just because
O how many lemmings you have created this year! Congratulations, Freddie
Great end of the year list! It is to my embarrassment that I have not smelled Miriam or Loretta. Must be rectified in 2013! And thank you for introducing me to so many wonderful niche houses in 2012. Here’s to more discoveries!
I would love to have mentioned Loretta but everyone knows how much I love Tauer’s work so there’s no need haha, and it made No.1 on Candy’s list so I felt that good enough haha!! Miriam is my favourite though, I’m very excited for Ingrid
Be sure to sniff them this year uhuh!
Awhhhhh that’s so sweet thank you bacon! I appreciate your regular, thoughtful comments on my writing so much!
Cheers to that for sure!! x
You’re welcome! It’s been a genuine pleasure to get to know you through your blog, Freddie! So pleased that we met this year in this crazy online perfume lovers world. Looking forward to keeping up with your adventures in 2013!
Happy New Year Freddie!
Thanks poodle! Can’t wait to hear what you think of the goodies when they arrive (still waiting on spray vials
if they take much longer it’ll have to be the dreaded dabs!) xx
Oh don’t worry sweetie, I can wait. I’m sure I can amuse myself with the perfumes I have for now.
Sent today
Freddie, Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary! I think it’s great that at least some of the perfumes do not work for you: can you imagine lemming for FB of every perfume you’ve tried?
This is all true! Haha. I lemming for lots though, although now my collection is neat and carefully chosen – I love em all
Congratulations on your 1st year perfume blogging anniversary. I will have mine in July, I can’t believe I’m blogging for a half year already. Time flew so fast.
Cheers!
Hope you and your blog will have a great year.
Happy New Year Freddie
. Congratulations on reaching a year milestone with your blog. I so enjoy reading all your reviews and watching your videos. As usual, your “best of” has sparked the need for me to add the aforementioned fragrances to my must sample list.
Thanks for you constant support melis!
Absoloute beauties! x
You must try all of these
Happy New Year, Freddy! Let it bring many fragrant discoveries!
Keep on the reviews! Most of your regular reviews are so positive, so the COY nomination section came a bit of surprise
As for the best marketing / ads, I adored the Amouage video for Interlude and Arquiste line presentations.
Afterlier will be the next fragrance on my line to test, right after I finish Mandy Aftel book.
Thanks Darius!
So positive?! Haha, I guess they have been recently – normally it was always been 50/50 – but I’ll only write about what I feel worth writing about – like, if it’s bad, but it needs to be said.. you know
Definitely! Can’t wait to hear about your exploration into the Aftelier line, it has so many absolute gems! Gorgeous line (and a great book – Essence and Alchemy?)
Thank you so much Freddie, I am truly honored! Both these perfumes were hard to make; I really struggled with them. With Secret Garden, after many, many tries, I switched to a whole other direction and threw everything out to start over (luckily, the new version came quickly). And with Haute Claire I simply worked a long, long time to get it right. It’s deeply meaningful to me that you would appreciate them so much. And they are so different – it must speak to your wide-ranging taste!
xo Mandy
I remember reading parts of the letters to a perfumer series and how certain things didn’t work… wasn’t it originally meant to be a linden blossom fragrance?
Haute Claire is just astounding for me, absolutely perfect and it was an easy pick for the top spot of the entire year.
Thanks Mandy, I look forward to seeing what this year brings from you.
xx