I'm Back!! & Perfume Musings :)

My hiatus is officially over!! I had a busy couple of months with exams and projects, but now I am relaxing on holiday break and can't wait to share my new obsessions with you all :) I'll just jump right in, cause I'm itching to blog!!!!

Over the years, I have picked one go-to scent and stuck to it for as long as it took for me to find another that I liked more...I started out in early high school with Gap Heaven, then transitioned to Bath and Body Works' Moonlight Path around my senior year...for the past five years, I've been using Bath and Body Works' Japanese Cherry Blossom. I decided that it was high time that I get out of my fragrance rut and try something new. My first stop was the Sephora Fragrance Finder, but I found that I had no real clue what I preferred amongst fresh, floral, oriental, or woody. I also didn't have a real favorite fragrance to narrow down my search...so I kinda put the search on pause until I found time to really spend a day in the store and spritz n' sniff til I found my scent(s).

Luckily, instead, I watched AllThatGlitters21's holiday gift guide video and found out about Sephora's Fragrance Sampler ($50)!! After watching the video, I decided that I must have this, that this product was just made for me and I wouldn't rest til I got it (please tell me this happens to other people too!!)...so here's why it's so awesome: 

1) You get 10 mini samples of Sephora's best selling fragrances (another set comes with 12)

2) You get a fuchsia rollerball with a cute mini funnel so you can keep your favorite scent in your purse without worrying about spills!

3) You get a matching fuchsia makeup bag 

4) **Best Part** You get a voucher for a free (yes, free!!) full-sized perfume bottle of your choice from Sephora

How perfect is this?? Not only am I getting a chance to sample 10 popular fragrances, I'm also gonna get to get a bottle of my fave! :) This is available at stores now for anyone looking to give this as a holiday gift to others (or themselves :P )

Right now I have yet to fully try all of the samples. My current absolute favorite is Flora by Gucci, followed by Vera Wang Princess. This surprised me because I didn't think I cared much for sweet scents...see how great this is?! (Lol, I am not getting paid by Sephora, I just really do like this product!)

FYI: Here are all the scents I got in my set: Flower by Kenzo, Coach Poppy, Flora by Gucci, Vera Wang Princess, Very Hollywood Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren Romance, Harajuku Lovers G, Narciso Rodriguez For Her, Daisy Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein Euphoria

I decided to school myself in the science behind perfume scents a bit while having fun selecting a scent, and Wiki had a really nice bit of info behind why perfumes smell different as the day goes on:

Fragrance notes

§  Top notes: The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly. They form a person's initial impression of a perfume and thus are very important in the selling of a perfume. Also called the head notes.Perfume is described in a musical metaphor as having three sets of notes, making the harmonious scent accord. The notes unfold over time, with the immediate impression of the top note leading to the deeper middle notes, and the base notes gradually appearing as the final stage. These notes are created carefully with knowledge of the evaporation process of the perfume.

§  Middle notes: The scent of a perfume that emerges just prior to when the top notes dissipate. The middle note compounds form the "heart" or main body of a perfume and act to mask the often unpleasant initial impression of base notes, which become more pleasant with time. They are also called the heart notes.

§  Base notes: The scent of a perfume that appears close to the departure of the middle notes. The base and middle notes together are the main theme of a perfume. Base notes bring depth and solidity to a perfume. Compounds of this class of scents are typically rich and "deep" and are usually not perceived until 30 minutes after application.

The scents in the top and middle notes are influenced by the base notes, as well the scents of the base notes will be altered by the type of fragrance materials used as middle notes. Manufacturers of perfumes usually publish perfume notes and typically they present it as fragrance pyramid, with the components listed in imaginative and abstract terms (Source).

Will keep you posted on what I finally select!! Glad to be back and blogging again, so much more to share! :) Keep a look out!