Olfactory Year In Review: The Hottest Fragrances of 2012

Andrea Kiliany Thatcher December 26th, 2012

2012 saw more than 600 new fragrances. This will only surprise you if you don't frequent beauty blogs, because it seems every day there's a scent being touted. (Nearly twice a day by the aforementioned figure!) These are the perfumes that broke through the crowd to grab our attention this year.

Burberry Body in Baccarat Crystal Bottle

Lady Gaga Fame

The advanced buzz on this was ridiculous. An offhand, offbeat comment by Mother Monster had everyone surmising her fragrance would smell like blood and semen. Not so much. Turns out it contained belladonna, incense, apricot, honey drops and tiger orchidea. The hook is that it is black in the bottle, though it sprays clear.

Lady Gaga - Fame

Victoria's Secret Bombay Fantasy

This perfume is notable for costing $500,000. The bottle is encrusted with yellow and pink diamonds, sapphires, tsavorite, rubies, and a hand-carved butterfly, whose body is made from a 10-carat white diamond. The scent itself features passion fruit, peony, and vanilla orchid, with a dry down of musk, cashmeran, and oakmoss. Unsurprisingly, this is not available online.

Burberry Body in Baccarat Crystal Bottle

Downright affordable by contrast, Burberry Body in a Baccarat Crystal bottle is only $2,545. Only a limited number of bottles were made, and contain enhanced notes of rose, sandalwood, cashmere wood, vanilla, and musk from the regular Body fragrance.

Burberry Body in Baccarat Crystal Bottle

Gucci Premiere

In the brand ambassador department, Gucci Premiere wins Miss Congeniality for 2012 with Blake Lively. Between her last season of Gossip Girl and her impromptu marriage to Ryan Reynolds, Blake has ruled this year, and that means her Gucci role has been in the press a ton too.

Gucci Premiere

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