new year, new you.

While in London, I picked up a new fragrance for 2014: Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise. I am picky when it comes to scents. Anything too floral or heavy gives me a headache. I tend to spray myself with my favorite, then leave the store (much to the salesperson's chagrin). If I can make it for a few hours without picking up a nasty headache, I find my way back to the store (much to the saleperson's surprise) and buy the scent. 

As we walked away from the store, beautiful bag in hand, I realized it isn't just the scent which makes my perfume purchases so time-consuming. It is the fact I attach memories to whatever scent I buy. The Jo Malone pick from London will always remind me of our European escape. For me, the perfumes below have big {and small} memories attached to them. Some were worn for a season of my life. Others lasted years. Those scents can immediately take me back to the good memories I earned while wearing it. I regret purchasing a few, mostly because I didn't have the same shopping sense that I do today. {Read: headache city!}

Buying a perfume over the New Year's holiday also made me feel like I was getting a shiny, happy lease on 2014. This smell could be the one with which I remember {what I hope are} exciting things ahead. In the strangest way, it made me even more hopeful for the new year. Sometimes, the whole "new year, new you" idea rings true in the most realistic of ways. This year, Jo Malone and I will take on the world.

Am I the only crazy one who attaches memories like this to smells or are you in the same camp? I'm praying I'm not alone here! If you have a picky nose like me, what fragrances have recently passed your test? xoxo {av}