Comments on: Armani Prive Vetiver Babylone & Chanel Sycomore ~ fragrance reviews

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:49:37 +0000

I’m jumping in very late here, but I have the same problem with the Chanel rep at Saks. They don’t have the Exclusifs in-store and have never once offered to transfer one for me despite repeated inquiries. They just tell me no, they can’t get one for me. One of them disliked my questions about No. 5 extrait and turned her back on me my while I was talking! She never turned around to help me again. She had been snooty on a couple other occasions, but this was outrageous! I would organize a boycott except that I want about half of the line now, so I guess I’m at their mercy. At least I can bypass the SAs by ordering directly from Chanel online. That woman will never make a commission off me.

By: Eveden

Eveden — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:56:10 +0000

I always require only 50ml for any new perfume when I have it on my Christmas gift list. However, for Channel Sycomore I did get a big bottle and I agree it will last for years for me. (My friend who gave me this and saw the bottle again a year later, asked me don’t be stingy on it since there is Christmas every year!). But not every year you get a classy!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:56:00 +0000

Btw, not to be negative re: poison . . I love it. Just commenting on the powerful sillage.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 20:15:00 +0000

Hee hee hee! You are such a hedonist! Just love your devil-may-care attitude. I always feel guilty if I wear more than 2-3 spritzes. And yes, depends on the perfume. Like . . one or two of poison can sometimes clear the room.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:57:00 +0000

Pearlymom: who would DARE reprimand me for wearing 10 spritzes?! (No one yet!) I am a master at figuring out how much I need to wear of a perfume to enjoy the fragrance most of the day and “share” it with people who are at arm's length or closer. Of course I've made some HORRIBLE miscalculations on the first day of wearing a scent and wanted to reprimand myself for wearing too much.

You had great luck with your S.A…a few friends have bought full bottles of the Chanels and not ONE of them has gotten a freebie mini-bottle as a 'gift.'

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Kevin! You are just a hoot! 10 spritzes? Does it feel like floating in a cloud of fragrance? Much as I would love to be bathed in 31 Rue Cambon, I can't imagine my colleagues or dinner companions would share my enthusiasm. Do you get much feedback, positive or negative? I imagine the allergen-free p.c. throngs in the pac nw may be problematic. Anyhoo, back to Chanel. I was able to try the Sycamore in the Orlando Chanel Boutique on Black Saturday(while traveling; I live in Michigan) and was equally captiviated. Further, the SA (Bettina Rodriguez) was lovely and accommodating and not snooty in the slightest. And surely my 10 year old daughter and I would have taxed the patience of the typical snooty SA. We had just come off a cruise ship, were dressed like beach bums .. my daughter spent her time in the boutique fingering all the expensive merchandise and lounging/sprawling all over the large ottoman/lounge furniture watching videos, etc. And the shop was busy. Bettina didn't bat an eye, and indulged me with sampling. We left for a while, as I wanted to let the 31 Rue Cambon rest on my arm. I had the Cuir de Russie on my other arm. When we returned, Bettina insisted on sniffing both my arms, and offered her opinion re: which was more “becoming” on me. (her vote: the 31). I purchased the 31 Rue Cambon, as it was, for me, true love in a bottle(But adored all three). Bettina gave me a little scented card of the Sycamore, and apologized profusely for not being able to comp me the mini-bottle, as she didn't have one. I confessed I couldn't afford to buy two bottles at $190/ea, and made clear that this was a rare splurge on my part. She did give me a mini-bottle Cuir de Russie(yum), the only Exclusif mini she had left. She also took my contact information and promised to send me a Sycamore mini if/when she gets more. Overall a great customer service experience. I will shop with her in the future(for a big bottle when my mini Cuir de Russie runs out . . and maybe the Sycamore), by mail if necessary. For now I have a monster bottle of 31, and may have to try 10 spritzes today!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:08:00 +0000

That kind of behaviour by sales assistants is just disgusting. Who is the client here, for heaven's sake! Of course we should know the notes in perfumes. How else can we discuss them intelligently. They're morons. But Albert I can't agree with you that Sycomore is just a garden-variety imitation of Vetyver. Yes it does have the lovely almondy note of a good vetyver but to me Sycomore is traditional Chypre through and through (read: no patchouli whatsoever) and a very fine one at that. That labdanum note is absolutely divine. I'd hate to think that people wouldn't go out and try it because of misguided idiots in a department store. Sycomore is a hyper-highlight in fragrance for me this year. I was just pondering today what's been the best of the year so far and I really think this is it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:43:00 +0000

Oh good grief! Who needs that much drama from any SA? I suppose they just expect people to come in, sample something off a tester, go “that smells nice”, and then drop $200 on a bottle? If it works for handbags that cost 10 times as much, why not perfume too? *eyeroll*

I had a really good experience with the Guerlain Boutique in Toronto. I was served by (I believe) the manager, who was very friendly and knowledgeable. (Of course, I did come in for the purpose of buying Spiritueuse Double Vanille, so she probably started off with a good first impression of me!) I sampled a number of things on ribbons, though I was still a bit of an amateur at that point, so I rather ignored the more exclusive stuff (L'art et la Matiere, et al.). I even mentioned the Basenotes forum to her! I was also able to get a mini of Bois des Iles from Chanel in Toronto.

Does anyone know if the Montreal Chanel boutique carries the Exclusifs? I would expect they do, but someone on Basenotes told me they didn't.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:53:00 +0000

Just checking back here to say that I received my decant of Sycomore yesterday and it's absolutely wonderful. Now, if we can just do something about that 200ml bottle….

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:22:00 +0000

That's hilarious! I shall try telling people that next time I am stuck in that kind of situation. I must say in all fairness that Canadian SAs are fairly docile in general. The only store which I feel the need to remind people to get a Bar-B-Q brisket sandwich is the new H&M here in Downtown Vancouver: it was shocking to see two floors worth of size 0 SAs.