The usual: tell us anything you like — what perfume you’re wearing today, the perfume you’re saving your pennies for, the expensive bottle you dropped on the floor and smashed to smithereens, whatever. Or, ask a question about fragrance, then see if anyone else has asked a question that you can answer.
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Today I’m trying a sample of 10 Corso Como, which I thought might be similar to Tam Dao (which I love). It’s not really, but now I’m trying to decide if I need them both.
HA, isn’t that how it always works out? You try to decide which you like better, you end up with both.
That is so the story of my life!
Or if you’re broke like me, you end up with neither…just in case, you know, something even BETTER comes along. Good thing I have so many samples to wear… lol!
You need them both.
10 Corso Como is so dry, so herbaceous, medicinal but yummy, it’s like nothing else on the skin.
Just helping out.
I agree; Tam Dao and 10 Corso Como (along with Bois des Iles) are my favorite sandalwoods and very different.
I adore Vanille Galante. I thought I would find it boring, but I adore it. I’ve been wearing it constantly since Monday! To me, it smells like the airiest jasmine-banana-vanilla cream-filled pastry in existence. JC Ellena is a genius.
Agree — he really is.
Funny, VG is like straight lilies on me. I’m not getting any of this lovely sugariness or vanilla that others are. I will have to try it again!
I get a salty, slightly watery lily with just a teeny smidge of vanilla. I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me fast. Wow!
I’m going to have to try it again … I didn’t get salty from it either, but definitely got the slightly watery lily part.
I also think it’s a splendid take on vanilla, it’s so funny to me how many different notes people pick up in it.
I’m thinking of getting it for my little sister.
I know. I get sickening lobby lilies from VG. Had to sell my 15ml bottle. Likes it so much better on the strip. Then my skin ruined it.
I’m wearing L’Eau D’Hiver today. I guess I am in comfort scent mode. Weirdly, I just noticed it has a similarity to Philosophy’s Baby Grace, except that Baby Grace is more soapy.
Also, I FINALLY got around to trying Parfum de Therese. I had high hopes but, sadly, it just doesn’t work for me! It starts out very sour on my skin and stays that way throughout — almost a scrubber!
Ack, a scrubber! Ah well, you’ve got Hiver, right? And was about to say you’ve already got one from JCE at FM, but Therese of course is not by JCE, and I need to go take a nap
Well, and I also have Angeliques Sous La Pluie, which I adore, so I can’t complain when it comes to Malle!
Does Angeliques last on you? So unusual a scent but it vanishes after 5 minutes on me!
Interesting — it lasts forever on me! If I spray it in the morning, I can still detect it 12 hours later.
FM day too. Those ones were my tops at wish list when I came to try. But I was disappointed and ended up buying Angeliques Sous La Pluie.
Love Angeliques! One of my favorites.
Just got a sample of Angeliques, and haven’t made up my mind about it. Love Hiver, love En Passant, and think I will love Angeliques. Just need to find 2 others who love the same ones to organize a 3-way swap of the travel sets. And of course, the $ to buy them.
Scent splits — you’ll find people there!
Yup! More waiting on the $ and the timing than anything. Heading into high summer doesn’t seem to be the right time for any of those scents. So thrilled to have discovered splits/swaps through you, though…Lyric would never have been possible otherwise!
I did mistake and bought 1.7 Oz but now I don’t regret since it’s my favorite bed time scent. It stay very close to skin and don’t bother my husband and he needs to be very close too when he wants to smell it.
I got FM travel minis yesterday – Noir Epices and Lipstick Rose. I tried Lipstick Rose at Barneys and unexpectedly liked it. Espices was unsniffed purchase but I love it a lot. So I was excited and ordered Agent Provocateur Strip unsniffed again. Now I’m waiting and hoping. If you tried Strip please let me know how you like it. Thanks.
Hope your luck will hold! I only tried Strip very briefly, hope someone else will chime in.
Robin, I was SO lucky because I found that everything what you like or dislike can be applied to me. So your opinion even after brief sniff is very important. I think that one can be too harsh for you but I hope I can still accept it.
Our tastes must be different though, because I’ve never loved Noir Epices. Strip, if I remember correctly, is based on the ambery base of Agent Provocateur (the original scent), and I’m not a huge amber fan….so, sniffed it, didn’t love it, but don’t think that means much!
I bought a lot JCE and Duchaufur creations after your reviews and I love them all. Now I’m moving to amber directions which I didn’t appreciate before. At least Ambre Sultan is one felt in love with trying sample today.
I like Strip. I’m leaning towards fb-worthy with it. Certain amber scents get all sharp and medicinal on me (Amber Extreme being the worst offender) but Strip is warm and dry and becomes smooth somewhere in the middle.
I love Noir Epices! I keep meaning to try Lipstick Rose but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
My fave is Iris Poudre.
I have Strip, it has a dryish top and a vanilla-y base. I bought unsniffed too and I like it ok.
The weather is so cool here – just begged for Vol de Nuit which I wore this morning. Now, after lunch, I’m wearing Tauer’s L’Air du Desert Marocain which is a real pick me up – so gorgeous!
You smell great!
L’Air du Desert is my next lemming along with Amber Sultan and Patchouli Leaves. And two weeks ago I was ready to remove Tauer, Montale and Lutens from my wish list forever.
I am going to do a swap for some L’Air, but if I wasn’t it would be my next expenditure. It is just amazing!! I’m sorry it took me so long to find it.
I’m only newbie so I still want full bottle. LOL I bought my first 30 bottles during last 2 months and I feel that can’t live without 3 more.
This is more of a survey than a question I guess, but: both my daughters (4 and 13) have suddenly become hugely interested in my perfume “collection”, such as it is. I started wondering this morning, as 4 yr old applied MetB #3 before daycare, whether that was such a good idea. So: let them wear it, or grab them a bottle of Love’s Baby Soft and tell them hands off until they’re older?
I honestly don’t know. Curious to hear what others think.
I suppose to me it would matter how valuable any particular bottle it – like spill issues, etc. I recall my older sister and I gave our Barbies a bath in my mom’s Emeraude (the 70s kind) and dumped the whole thing down the sink. Another time I tried to kill a spider with some Ciara – asphyxiated the spider and also ruined the varnish on a dresser…..kids.
Otherwise I don’t see the harm – do you let them smell flowers? eat all kinds of foods? play with art supplies (non-toxic)? Maybe it would be cute to give them their own little decants so they couldn’t spill or over spray your bottles. I don’t suppose I’d let *anyone* handle my FB of Chamade extrait….but if they are interested in the bottles let them handle them just as you would any special jewelry or accessories. Or find empty bottles at estate sales for them to play with. As far as attention span goes – you may be wise to buy some inexpensive stuff that won’t matter if they change their minds about what they like – look at all of us! We have the attention span of good smelling fruit flies! Anyway…I *still* have a bottle of Love’s Baby Soft and Skin Musk in my collection just for fun.
I actually DID make them little decants of #3 so they’d stop sneaking mine on the sly. And the nice thing about that was that I now have at least a TINY bit of experience decanting before trying my hand at that Lyric when it arrives.
I had a very pathetic decanting experience the other day – pretty unusual- but I apparently have a spastic and powerful sprayer on one of my bottles. Needless to say my hands were drenched before I got the sad little 1 ml vial filled!
As far as your girls – it is actually really cool that they are expressing interest in such a hobby at their ages, and it is natural that they would be interested in things you are interested in. Maybe you’ll have some budding noses on your hands…
Uh oh. I appreciate the Lieu de Rêves.
first of all, what is MetB#3 ???
My daughter loved perfume from day 1. I have always let her wear a little bit of whatever she’s wanted to (mind you my collection was mostly clean/floral/fresh light weight stuff—no heavy patch, musk etc.) I think exposing her to ‘nice’ perfume while young has created a teenager with really fine perfume taste and smarts.
I guess my recommendation would be to find some nice but relatively inexpensive things on ebay or at discounters, make each of them a 5 or 10ml decant to keep in their room (or wherever), encourage responsible and considerate use of fragrance and let them develop some good taste as perfumistas in training.
The small decant bottles would allow you to keep a rein on the usage/spillage…especially with your 4 yr old….when J was about 3 she accidentally dropped a 100ml splash bottle of Liz Claiborne on the kitchen floor….she was DEVASTATED (remembers it still) but I found out what removes wax build up….
Miller et Bertaux: “Green Green Green Green”
oh TY—I was pulling a Winnie the Pooh : think think think
LOL! Good to know about the floor wax.
Miller et Bertaux #3, green green green & green, my most-loved discovery so far. If you haven’t tried it…I’ll stick a sample in w/your package. LOVE it.
Just think of it as my “Juste un Reve”
TY to you too! That would be lovely! If I ever get that bottle of Eau de Sisley #3 I’ll send you a sample of that. It’ll be a trade.
Floor wax remover! I was rolling!
I think you’re doing the right thing, making some decants of good stuff for your younguns and letting them become accustomed to what proper perfume smells like, as opposed to the cheap drugstore stuff I wasted my yoof on. And what great memories you’re making, too.
It’s nice to have people to share your interest – my husband’s general comment is “Smells like perfume,” unless he doesn’t like it, in which case he can be quite blunt. (Shalimar in vintage pdt got this comment: “Have you been following the paving guys around too closely today? You smell like tar!”) My youngest (8) runs away when asked to sniff. My daughter (14) grudgingly says, “It’s oKAY, I guess.” The only person who has any sort of appreciation for smells is my 10 yo, who loves Petite Cherie and Eau Sauvage, likes 31 Rue Cambon and Tocade, and has expressed a wish for me to keep the sample vial of Czech and Speake No. 88 for his personal use when he “gets old enough, because it smells manly.”
Thank you for the decant idea–I have a six-year-old who already loves perfume, but for the time being I keep it way, way out of her reach. I bought her some Love’s Baby Soft SKin Glow Mist (the juice is lavender! With pink sparkles!), since it screamed “little girl”! She likes it, but not nearly as much as she likes my “real” perfumes. She’s always willing to sniff Mommy’s hand for perfume, and will keep coming back and grabbing my hand to smell it some more.
That’s a good point…little 4 yo has grandma’s aristocratic nose and would probably turn it up at Love’s.
My 2 year old girl is now saying, “on me, too!” whenever I sample something. I’ll admit, I smell everything I buy, even organic bug spray, shampoo, cream, dish soap… so I know where she gets it. Luckily, she is not a “sensitive to scents” type. I think I’ve created another perfume monster.
isn’t it great? my daughter was like that as well. Nothing wrong with developing a discerning nose early.
One of our childhood treats after our mother gave us shampoos was getting cologne (no idea which) on our hair. Let them enjoy and develop a love for scents.
Thanks for all the responses. Kids in general are growing up too fast these days, so that was more my concern than anything. Somehow, while makeup is an obvious no-go to me (for the 4 yo; the 13 yo isn’t interested thanks to my early brain-washing efforts), “real” perfume was a gray area.
there are lots of things that are nice but available for cheap at discounters. And a small decant should keep them satisfied for a while. Besides, that 4 yr old needs to be thinking about something OTHER than big obnoxious roses by next mother’s day!
Heehee! She was led astray by a pretty box with a ribbon.
blindfold while shopping perhaps?
I am not going to be buying perfume for my 6yo for quite some time yet, but I enjoy letting her try some of mine. I squirted Chanel No 5 on to a tissue for her, and then offered her a tissue with SJP’s Lovely. (Just two at a time, to start with.) “I like Lovely” she said, very firmly. No surprise there – I’ll kee her away from the Mitsouko for a while! My 10yo son enjoys a trip to the perfume counters with me. Lots of fun.
Oddly enough, I stopped by the Chanel counter and chatted w/the older SA tonight, and she said that 10 was the age at which kids, and esp boys, begin to be interested in scent. She seemed quite definite about it too, lol.
I am not going to be buying perfume for my 6yo for quite some time yet, but I enjoy letting her try some of mine. I squirted Chanel No 5 on to a tissue for her, and then offered her a tissue with SJP’s Lovely. (Just two at a time, to start with.) “I like Lovely” she said, very firmly. No surprise there – I’ll keep her away from the Mitsouko for a while! My 10yo son enjoys a trip to the perfume counters with me. Lots of fun.
I wouldn’t put perfume on a baby, but I think kids who are interested in fascinating smells should be encouraged! I’d get/make little decants for the 13-year-old and give the 4-year-old a bunch of samples. My son (age 3 1/2) LOVES my sample collection, and just a dab of scent is enough (rather than drenching him in spray and thereby horrifying his entire preschool). Just be prepared for when scents smell better on them than on you!
Oh, everything is better on them: clothing, shoes, fresh air, shampoo. Such a shame that they don’t know to appreciate it until it’s loooooong gone.
Definitely let them have *controlled* access. When I was 3, or maybe 4, I got a bottle of Jean Nate and I felt so big! Then when I was six, my dad got my mom a bottle of Chanel #5 for she and I to “share.” She was thrilled about that needless to say (the “share with the first grader” part seemed to bug her some), but it gave me the idea that there were different types of scents, and there were ‘fancy’ ones and ‘casual’ ones. Started a long standing passion over scent!
My sister had a girl two 1/2 years ago…we live in different states, and were never together during her pregnancy. Sophie literally came out of the womb LOVING shoes (so it’s a born trait, not learned
)…she also loves perfume, purses, and thinks there is nothing better than dancing/music (as well as art and animals)…all the things her Auntie June Bug loves too (vices of her Auntie, not her Mommy). She gets so upset when her Mommy puts perfume on and doesn’t understand why she can’t have any herself. I have been sitting here with perfumes for her, waiting for the right time. I have told my husband that when she turns 16 we are giving her a bottle of Miss Dior Cherie!
So, I have finally joined the Lutens bandwagon and sampled my first fragrances from him…Iris Silver Mist and Muscs Kublai Khan. The Iris Silver Mist was good but didn’t drive me wild, although I recognize it’s greatness and think it will grow on me. However, at first sniff, the MKK was AMAZING! I was doing backflips with glee at how it made my skank heart sing! Pure brilliance.
I first sampled MKK last week too. That’ll make a skank heart sing alright. I think it’s a little too MUCH skank for me, but I do think it smells purely sexy. VERY hard to wear, IMO. I prefer the toned-down skank of FM Musc Ravageur.
Joe – it never occurred to me – dope slap – that AG Ce Soir Ou Jamais is a great rose with a wee bit of skank in the base…you should definitely try it.
Yeah, I like them intense. Though I was thinking about where I would possibly wear it…though had I a full bottle, I’d probably wear it a lot. It does have that shock value! I just have to marvel, though, how it copies nature so well. Amazing what we can do!
Yeah, it copies nature, you might say. Ask Daisy about that.
Joe—Huh? did I miss something?
Jared –you want intense ? you should try the Pulp that Joe and I are lemming over. That’ll knock your socks off.
I was referring to the reference to what Muscs Kublai Khan evokes….
OH! yes, er MKK (grimacing)
Pulp is big and awesome..you’ll love it!
I haven’t ventured into the fruity category- will it be too much for me?
Totally big and awesome….I can hardly wait for the bottle to get here!!! I will of course apply sparingly….it has a bit of sillage….
Jared– what sort of notes are too much for you? ( For example, anything more than a smidgen of patch is too much for me. )
Joe, I was wondering if you’d tried the MKK and how it worked. I adore it, although have to give it 10 minutes or so to settle down! But deep in the drydown, boy is it nice, to my nose anyway.
Daisy, I’m going to tentatively say leather at this point. Out of everything I’ve smelled so far, the leathers need to be scrubbed. (Keeping in mind I haven’t smelled Cuir de Russie yet!)
ps- hi from a fellow Michigander!
Well hello! We established our mutual michiganderness before correct? you live on the west side of the state?
Some the scents listed as “leather” are not to my taste either…they don’t really smell like leather to me, at least not the leather items I’ve smelled ! Check out the notes for the Pulp–it’s a BIG fragrance very green with lush fruit—no leather anywhere in sniffing distance.
Cool, I’ll put Pulp on my next sample list!
I’m on the east side- more Ann Arbor/Detroit
Where abouts, ya know, without giving your address or anything….I’m not terribly far from Detroit but north….you’re more toward Ann Arbor?
I’m a little south of ann arbor- not too far from Monroe actually
okay , somewhere around the Dundee, Monroe area….I’m on the other end of 75 between Waterford and Flint. Howdy Neighbor!
Funny…I don’t get skank from either of those.
Hmmmm… I’m wearing Tuberose Gardenia today and trying to decide what more expensive perfume I’m going to blow some cash on. Between the suggestions tendered here and the recommendations in The Guide, I’m stumped. I’m thinking that my first step will have to be some type of sampler from The Perfumed Court and then I’ll go from there.
I’m really tempted by the Guerlains, but afraid that I might be missing out on something truly fabulous by limiting myself to a Guerlain sampler. decisions, decisions.
Having been burned by one heavily-adored line already, I would recommend no more than 3 samples from any one house until you’re sure it isn’t universally awful on you. JMO, of course!
What other scents are you considering?
I wish I’d started with a big 20-sample set of classics from TPC; instead I think I’ve wound up getting most of them piecemeal, by either ordering them a few at a time from TPC, finding minis on ebay, or swapping for them… that’s a lot of time wasted, I now think.
I do quite well with a number of Guerlains, but the ones that went wrong on my skin went truly wrong! And that does happen to be a house with a recognizable “base” common to many of their classic perfumes. I think Estee Lauder must have a common base, too, which might explain why so many of their scents are horrible on me. The Guide is very helpful, but I find myself disagreeing with many of the rankings – especially some of the 5 stars.
(Have you considered a Monday Mail submission here, just to get some ideas on what you might like based on what you already like?)
I hadn’t really thought of the Monday mail – probably because I was thinking that it was more for someone who is looking for a signature scent type experience and not a place to buy her first really expensive bottle of something (well, expensive for me). That’s definitely a good idea though – especially since I don’t know much about the niche lines.
Besides the Guerlains, I was considering a few of the Chanels – maybe 31 Rue Cambon or an extrait. After reading comments here, I’m also interested in trying Tam Dao and some of the other niche perfumes.
I might have to hit the classics sampler pack from TPC because, you’re right, it would be a shame to pin my hopes on Guerlain and then have them all be nasty on me – like My Insolence is. Although I think that my tastes have changed since I began exploring perfume – I used to like My Insolence and now it smells oily and nasty to me.
I’m trying to resist buying Tauer’s L’air du Desert Marocain but my fingers keep edging toward that mouse and my cc is screaming at me! I think I’m in good company loving it, though!
Hey Violet – I understand your pain! I fell really hard really fast for it right after I’d tested it about 2 weeks ago. It is really stunning. You could always go for a split on scent splits or just buy a few mls in a large decant……If it is the only bottle you buy for one quarter, that is not so bad either.
Hi Ann, Bottle splits are a great idea, aren’t they? As this is a new quarter it would be my first bottle, which is not bad thought! The tale of last quarter added up though: Astor Place, Sottile and Diorissimo parfum (so lovely, if you’re a total Diorissimo nut like me)
OK, if you decide to split bottle take me in your company. I just don’t know how to organize contact here.
Check out:
http://scentsplits.wikidot.com/
and
http://www.nstperfume.com/2008/07/14/perfumista-tip-how-to-do-a-bottle-split/
Thanks, Robin. Now I will be busy another week or two. ANd I have so many 3.4 OZ bottles that I can swap decants too. Great game.
Hi Maha, Will do! Still wrestling with it, because I remembered I also bought a bottle of Teo Cabanel Meloe. I’m hoping 3rd qtr will be less expensive/less enticing, although a friend is going to Paris is buying me a bottle of Eau de Rochas, so I think I’m already racking up $$. thanks Robin for the info, much appreciated!
Testing Six Scents #6 today. To me it smells like a typical clean unobtrustive office musk. It is fading fast, too.
Whoops, typo. “Unobtrusive,” obviously.
I was underwhelmed in general w/ the 6 scents line, although it’s a great idea in theory and love that they’re giving $ to charity. I did like the Cosmic Wonder scent though.
Hey everybody! Boojum, I have two nieces, ages 4 and 5, and I’m seriously chomping at the bit to buy them “grown up” perfume. DH (wisely, I suspect) tells me I can get them Disney Princess perfumes for the time being. The 5 year old saw one of my sister’s little bottles sitting around one day and her face just lit up! (So did mine.) I started receiving perfume when I was 11. Man, that’s six years away for her!
Anyhoo, my next purchase will likely be Saffron James Le’a. I just received an iris sampler from the gal who itroduced me to Le’a, so I will likely be wearing Iris Taizo today, once I get off my lazy beehind, that is.
How’s that for a long first post? Sorry… : }
You could always get them little minis of something light & cute, like Marc Jacobs Daisy?
Thanks, Robin! I like that idea! I don’t need to be dousing them in No. 5 just yet, anyways…
I second Robin’s suggestion—MJ Daisy is nice , it’s not too old for the girls, it’s a generally inoffensive perfume.
Hey Sunnyfunny, good to see you here! Can’t wait to hear how the iris sampling goes…
Today I’m wearing Elle by YSL. I can’t smell it on myself anymore! Saving up for Gypsy Water by Byredo and Annick Goutal Petit Cherie.
Good picks!
SOTD = D.S. & Durga “Orris Root.” Received my full bottle last night and I’m *very* happy with the purchase. (On a similar note, I disliked the sample of OJ Orris Noir that I tried.)
Also bought a bottle of Mrs. Meyer’s Basil dish liquid yesterday. Nice.
Looking forward to receiving: bottle of Anya’s Garden Kaffir Cologne, samples of Malle Geranium Pour Monsieur, Bal d’Afrique, and Le Labo Poivre.
I’ve come to accept that I’m powerless over my perfumoholism.
heheheh, Joe welcome to “oh, just buy it, land”
I so want a bit of that Orris Root (pretty please?)
Hey, I also ordered the Kaffir cologne too….guess I don’t need to send you a sample, eh??
And you are so bad because you now have me thinking about Byredo Green and I just ordered Byredo Pulp!!! Are you trying to kill me?
No, just bankrupt you.
no kidding…too close to the truth somedays!!
I just got my Kaffir cologne, too. Just goes to show that it pays for perfumers to do fragrance giveaways on NST. And that it pays to offer small bottles! I just love it when everyone wins!
Exactly! I wonder how many bottles she’s sold this last week due to the NST thread….at least 3–you, me and Joe !
Yep!
I have to say I agree on the small bottles at least. Went to sniff l’Occitane’s Bergamot Tea tonight…. with that cute little 20 ml bottle sitting there for only $19, I had to do it…. and with the cute little set including shower gel and moisturizing body spray for only an additional $5, well…….sold.
So it’s pretty yummy, huh?
lol we’re a bad influence on you!
LOL you know, Daisy, I was thinking the same thing…might have to put you in quarantine, bc you seem to be contagious. And that was BEFORE I bought on the spot.
Seriously, though, I probably would have anyway, given the price.
Joe, that Orris Root sounds great! I really want to try out this line- can you comment on what it’s like? Any favorites?
Didn’t love their blends, but I really liked Orris and Coriander. Email me: allegro805 –> hotmail
Accepting powerlessness is Step 1 but we don’t want to get better, do we???
nope, happy mired in addiction….I’ve admitted my powerlessness, then I pressed “buy it” …..and hummed as I went to refill my cup of tea. It’s all good.
Ok, I’ve got to get that Basil dishwash stuff!
Attention Bandit lovers: what’s the best concentration to try it in? I have a sample of the EdT but I think this will just not do. It doesn’t have all of the bad girl leathery ash tray goodness I’m expecting. Is the EdP or pure parfum different?
Can’t offer an opinion on Bandit… I think that one would scare me silly… just wanted to say that your “bad girl leathery ashtray goodness” description made me laugh!
I definitely think there’s a difference in the EdP, but then, I also think it smells more cigarette-y on me than it should. So maybe I’m not the best judge. My best advice would be to get a sample and compare.
Speaking of Bandit and comparing: Before I showered this morning I decided to play with the idea I had that Bandit and Mitsouko are almost the same thing. I tried one on each wrist, and sure enough, at first they did smell the same. But Mitsouko went on to smell like cloves and Bandit, yes, smelled like an ashtray and leather. I’ve smelled both on other people and loved them, but I guess on me they’re both just…wrong. Oh, well, other fish in the sea.
OMG that’s so funny! I thought the same thing! When I was smelling Bandit I thought, hey, there’s some Mitsouko in this! I figured it was their chypre lineage. Fun that I’m not the only one!
PS- I just put Bandit on one write and Mitsouko on the other. They are so absolutely phenomenal. Each makes the other better. I’m in ecstasy over here. I think a full bottle of Bandit is on the list.
*wrist
I love Bandit, and I recommend the EDP concentration (I tend to prefer EDP, as the EDTs just seem to fade away quickly on me). Wish I could smell the pure perfume version of Bandit, but does anyone know if it’s even available anymore?
I’ve never tried the extrait, but I adore the EdP — just make sure you get a fresh bottle (I’ve bought and returned two that appeared authentic but were missing all their Bandit-ness).
Hi everyone..It’s still not warm in New York!!! Since we have already skipped over Spring ..when will summer get here?? I’m wearing Beige today because I was in such a rush to catch the train that I forgot to put any perfume on (Horrors!!!), luckily I have a small Beige sample at work!
I have a question, I have never smelled Chaos (original or new release), but have smelled Anarchy…to me CDG Red series Sequoia smells like Anarchy but better.. To those of you who have smelled Chaos would you consider the CDG a good replacement? Thanks…
Hi Tara – if you want to go to a great frag that is very similar to the very warm spicy drydown phase of Chaos, check out the Sonoma Scent Studio fragrance called Femme Jolie. It is not always listed on the website, but you can contact Laurie Erickson, and she will mix up a sample or bottle for you. I had some Femme Jolie and really really adore it – warm, soft, spicy, – and then got a sample of the new release of Chaos. After Chaos gets through the woody opening, the rest smells very similar to the Femme Jolie. Doesn’t hurt to try.
I have never smelled Anarchy, but Chaos & Sequoia, off the top of my head, don’t seem more than vaguely related. Curious now, & if I wasn’t already covered w/ perfume I’d put them both on!
I gave my sample of A.Maze another try and I still hate it so I tried to cover it up with Patchouli 24 and it really is not a very good combination.
I was disappointed in A.maze too; it just seemed so ordinary I gave it away. SOTD: Diptyque L’Ombre dans L’eau. Waiting on: Ava Luxe Cafe Noir!
Oh I do that kind of thing so often! Usually I end up feeling naseous and have to scrub the lot off, which is a waste of the second, much nicer scent
I am wearing Annick Goutal’s Petite Cherie. It’s one of my favorite spring/summer scents. I’d love to own a bottle of Stephen Jones.
I just ordered a bottle of Stephen Jones from Tobi, it was 15% off I think..It’s so interesting and different I really like it! But it is expensive!
I almost put Petite Cherie on this morning but decided to test Histoires de Parfums 1873/Colette instead. (Mistake. 1873 was sort of, I dunno, dull?)
Dull? I thought it was so sharp it almost gave me a headache…or maybe you mean dull as in ordinary.
Yeah, ordinary. Inoffensive, sort of nice, nothing I have to have. I haven’t tried the other ones yet (Blanc Violette and George Sand). I remember we said of Vert Pivoine, “WHAT Pivoine?? This is a rose!”
I am finding most of those HdP’s a little dullish. I have been frantically trying to find one I like well enough to take advantage of miomia’s clearance, but am not having much luck (of course I love the Amber, which is NOT on sale). Colette is pure soap on me, Mata Hari is meh, George Sand is seriously fruity but not too bad, the one I like best is 1826 – Eugenie de Montijo. I love the Marquis de Sade but havea decant tha twill last long enough. Vert Pivoine got weird, and Noir Patch is just not me. Sigh.
I squirted some Petit Cherie in my 3 year old daughter’s hair this morning. She loves it! “mommy, I want my pear perfume!”
Petite Cherie is so perfect for the younger set of perfumistas and perfumistos
How sweet!
I am testing out the edp version of Kelly Caleche (having already fallen on love with the edt). Very nice! Its quite different tho. I would have expected the edp to be stronger, with more sillage– but it’s actually softer on me. The edt had great lasting power for me already, so I can’t say that the lasting power is any better. But the edp is less tart and missing that top note that is medicinal/minty/herbaceous on me. Love them both! Will have to test more to decide which one is the better frag fit.
Interesting! I am very fond of the edt but haven’t tried the edp.
I got a 15 ml of the EdP & really enjoying it…will update my original review eventually. Would love to try the extrait!
Wearing an old favorite today: Gendarme. Very aromatic and green with a fantastic jasmine accord. It’s become my workhorse fragrance over the years because it’s just a ‘friendly’ fragrance if that makes any sense. Some scents, as much as I adore them (Narciso Rodrigues for Him, I’m talking to you), tend to suck the air right out of a room whenever I wear them. Which might be ok every once in a while, but they’re just not practical for everyday use.
Friendly is good, especially for work. I’ve never run across any men’s scents that had the bludgeoning capability of something like, oh, Poison or Opium or Angel or Youth Dew, but boy, do I just HATE getting stuck in a room with anybody wearing those, if I can’t get up and leave.
Couldn’t agree more (on the first 2 anyway; I’ve been in a cave a long while and, believe it or not, have yet to smell Angel). P and O are what I’ve always scientifically referred to as “choky” perfumes… and it seems the people who prefer those also prefer very heavy application. Either/or, please!
Don’t feel lonely – I just smelled Angel last year, and like it in small doses, and also liked some of the flower flankers. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
I’m wearing Sisley # 3.
Oh the snap of ginger at the opening! And the juiciness! I like it, but my boyfriend likes it more, he feels it’s a heart throb, so I’m thinking of getting it for him and nabbing it occasionally. Quite pricey though, eh?
I’m off to India this Sunday and am wracking my brain over which fragrance to take with me. I’ve developed some lusty feelings for jasmin recently, but can’t decide on one. I thought about bringing AG Songes, but to be honest I don’t actually love that scent, I was contemplating it more because it has kind of a tropical vibe.
I am crazy about Sisley 3. I agree, the price kills me, but this is the one I am saving for. I love it.
Have you tried the Annick Goutal Jasmin? That has ginger too, and would be light enough for summer heat.
Thanks so much for the rec!
I want to a good dept. store this evening, but not many AGs are distributed in Berlin, no one carries Jasmin. Too bad, sounds perfect!
I’m home sick from work today, so I decided it was a good day to wear Bulgari Voile de Jasmin–this one seems to be something everyone around me hates. At least I can enjoy it by myself today.
I have a (most likely) stupid question about refrigerating fragrances. So I have an embarrassing collection of about 50 bottles, and finally decided to at least put my winter scents in the fridge for the summer. Here come the dumb questions: can food smells affect perfume bottles (I don’t want my Dzing! smelling like leftover ratatouille), and is it bad to alternate between keeping things refrigerated and then taking them back out every now and then?
Again, these are probably dumb questions. What can I say? Under the red dye, I’m really a blonde.
If it helps, I’ve wondered the same about in and out of the fridge.
Hi Kitty,
I would also be scared to store my perfumes in my food fridge, but I have an exceptionally smelly fridge with lots of naff items lurking in the back, despite the fact that both my bf and I are v. good cooks and take great interest in food. I know others who use their fridges as storage space and have never heard of perfumes being poisoned because of it (as far as I know it’s lipids that carry odour).
My great-uncle had a special fridge just for his fragrances — another possibility. And he told me I should just store my tiny collection in a box in one of the cooler rooms of my flat.
Anyway, I’m sure some of the experts on NST will have better advice to give you
Miss K– I keep my perfumes in the fridge and they all smell just fine. Glass is non-porous so there should be no issues with absorbing odors from foods. As for in for a while and out for a while….that I don’t really know…I’ve never noticed a problem (I have on occasion had something out for a day or two then put it back in) But I can only say about my own experience. As it is, my collection is taking up too much room and there have been whispers of getting me a Perfume Refrigerator…as soon as I can figure out where to put it!
Oh, I have noticed that some fragrances will precipitate out ingredients when cold….then when you shake it up the juice is cloudy….as soon as it warms up : clear. But then I put them back in the fridge…Felanilla does this like crazy!
Girl, you NEED a perfume refrigerator! I only keep one in the fridge so far – Petite Cherie, because of repeated comments that its pear component deterioriates fairly easily.
I think of all the vintage perfume that stayed good, kept in its box in someone’s dresser drawer, amongst the full slips and girdles and pointy Jane Russell cone bras and garter belts and stockings and love notes… through un-air-conditioned decades… and I just don’t worry all that much about mine. Still, I can’t imagine that refrigeration would harm perfume at all.
egad! pointy Jane Russell cone bras?? perfume was too scared to go bad! (I would be too) . so many have said that it’s just fine to keep them cool and dark (perfumes, not the bras) so a fridge probably is “overkill” but dang it, when you add up the $$$ involved in all that perfume….something going bad would probably make my little Scottish heart twist in my chest!
If light deteriorates fragrance, though, it seems you may not want to keep fragrances in your fridge. Your perfumes could be exposed to a lot of light, depending on how often you open the door. And a special perfume fridge, even a small one, seems like a waste of energy to me. I keep mine in their boxes, in a cabinet, in the coolest room of the house.
Ok, kids, thanks! That helps. Maybe the fridge ain’t the place? I just can’t seem to find anywhere in our house that’s cool and light-proof. Hmm….
Basement? Closet? Cupboard under the stairs? Wish I had my parents’ root cellar…
The only problem with a nice cool, dark basement is accessibility….I’m far too lazy to traipse all the way down to the basement everytime I want a dab of perfume….I’ve been looking around my house for a nice accessible spot that is dark and cool since I’m probably about to be forced out of the fridge.
sigh….maybe I’ll keep Petite Cherie and some summer colognes in there so they’ll feel fresher…so hard to know what to do.
OH, I guess I’m terrible because part of the joy and loveliness in fumes for me is seeing the pretty bottles on top of my dresser, next to my jewelry tree and my framed pictures, little boxes and under my art work. It just is so pretty-looking and represents a decadent femininity, those pretty bottles amidst it all. I’d like people to see them and try them if they like. They are not sitting in the full sun, of course. I just wouldn’t want to keep them in a dark cupboard.
Well, maybe the “out of season” ones could go down there, and you could rotate? I almost never wear colognes or citrus/tea scents outside of summer, for example. Those could all hit the basement the other 9 (oh who am I kidding, 10) months of the year.
Dagmar, I agree that the downside of keeping your perfumes in a dark cupboard in order to preserve their lifespan is that you can’t enjoy and admire those pretty bottles on your dresser! Oh, well, before each spray (and before I stuff it back in its box), I make sure to take an admiring look at that example of the bottle designers’ artistry. And Daisy, I also thought about storing the bottles in our cool, dark basement, but gave up on the idea out of laziness.
SOTD = Apres l’Ondee. I went to NYC this past weekend to Bergdorf Goodman’s to buy this lovely bottle. I’ve been wearing it almost daily, enjoying the herbal drydown so much. While there, and powerless, I bought the last bottle in the store of Bandit — they had to go hunting around for it! It smells slightly different in the opening than my little old carded sample, both EDP, in ways I can’t yet put into words. (I’m not good at naming notes as so many here are). Maybe it’s just the age? Love it still, in both incarnations.
Great buys, both of them — congrats!
I paid full price too! It felt decadent…
This is mostly a vent, but I went to the Ormonde Jayne website the other day to order myself a bottle of Ta’if EDP for my birthday, and found out the price had gone up by 10 pounds since the last time I visited the site. So the price increase plus whatever the dollar’s doing means the cost for me is $125 as opposed to $100 the last time I calculated. Alas.
So, what I decided to do was order a bunch of samples (mostly roses) from Luckyscent, and if I still need Ta’if after I’ve tried them, I’ll just deal with the price increase. I ordered Czech & Speake Dark Rose, L’Artisan Safran Troublant, Amouage Lyric Man (have already sampled Woman), and a bunch of Montales–anything else I should try?
Turns out I am a FREAK for those gorgeous deep translucent rose scents like Ta’if and Lyric Woman. (Thank goodness for decants.) I liked Dark Rose too, but I was really miffed at the idea of spending that much money on a cologne strength, so I will just be content with my sample of that one. I have samples of Aoud Roses Petals and Oud Queen Roses from Montale, and they’re quite nice as well. Etro Shaal Nur was a lovely deep woody rose with just a bit too much patchouli for me, and Juliette Has a Gun Citizen Queen is gorgeous Naughty Rose, with a leathery, musky, sexy base. Here are a few more Deep Roses that are downmarket but smell lovely: Rochas Tocade (rose+vanilla) and Gres Cabaret (rose+wood+amber+patchouli). Both are available at discounters for less than $35/100ml bottle, and both bottles are completely tacky – but you’re not buying rose scents for the BOTTLE, are you????
(I told you I was a rose freak. I wasn’t kidding.)
Wow, thank you for all the suggestions! I got those two Montales and will have to try out the others. Heck, if I can get a great rose scent from a discounter, I don’t mind a tacky bottle!
Oh dear, didn’t know they’d raised their prices. 2 more to try: Eau d’Italie Paestum Rose, 10 Corso Como. Although don’t know that they’re any cheaper.
Yeah, I probably shouldn’t complain about the price increase, since OJ’s still pretty reasonable for a niche perfumer–I just wish they would launch their U.S. website already! Thanks for the suggestions! Will look into 10 Corso Como. Paestum Rose sounded right up my alley, but I have a sample and I don’t really get the rose in it. Same thing with Tauer Incense Rose, sadly.
I’m saving my pennies for Fleurs de Sel. I’ve been waiting and waiting for the price to go down at the Miller Harris website, but so far no luck. Still drives me crazy that it’s $220 to buy it from the U.S. website, and only 110 pounds on the British website. That is not a fair exchange rate at all! Wish I knew someone who was going to England.
they won’t ship it to you?
That really is quite a price difference, but a GREAT scent. I’m baffled that that particular MH is not carried by the US sellers of the line — if I were you I’d phone BeautyHabit or LuckyScent and see if maybe they couldn’t special order it for you at a better price.
I tried that once….and the problem is that they were required to order a minimum of 3 bottles to place an order….and this was of a brand & scent they always carried —I just wanted the bigger size!
I would try calling the UK store and inquiring….I’ve done that a couple of times (France and the UK) to phone order a fragrance…have had excellent luck in spite of my horrible smattering-only of french.
but the minimum order requirement may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer…so it’s worth a try.
What a great idea! It’s certainly worth a shot. I just tried sending an email today, asking them why there was such a big difference in their prices on the two websites, so I’ll see what they say in response first.
Fleurs de Sel is my most recent BIG buy. I just had to have it, so I bit the bullet and paid full price at the US site. It is so very special, and so worth it, IMO!
Where are you finding Fleurs de Sel for 110GBP ?? I can only find it for $220 —shopping tips needed!
At the bottom of the MH website, you can click on “UK”, “France”, etc.
ah-ha, TY will give that a try.
Today I’m wearing Ormond Jayne’s Frangipani. It is rainy and dreary here and I wanted to wear something cheerful and bright. I have been intrigued by Byredo’s Pulp ever since it came out. I really want a bottle of it but have refrained from ordering one. I also revisited my sample of Bal d’Afrique since Kevin’s review and I like that too. However, I already spent a fortune in new fragrances the first five months of this year….Sigh…so many fragrances, so little money!!!
hint: check scentspits.wikidot for a Pulp decant…….(whistling…)
Yum on the OJ — one of my all-time favorite scents!
I’m trying a bunch of scents from samples given as extras in an MUA swap, from a truly kind swapper–Jo Malone’s Blue Agave and Cacao, Sun Moon Stars, and Patchouli Patch. The Sun Moon Stars is nicer than I remember it in the eighties or early nineties. The Patch I can definitely live without (sorry!), and the Blue Agave is interesting, but maybe a little bland on me.
I never smelled Sun Moon Stars, ever! Is it wonderful?
I always felt that sun moon stars was a copy from eternity. In the early 90th you could smell it all over in germany.
Thanks!
There may be some similarities (florals with freesia and mandarine, musk base), but I never liked Eternity, a big 80s floral with patchouli and a chemical edge that gave me a headache; Sun Moon Stars seems quite a bit softer, moderately sweet, some rose, some powder, some amber and musk, maybe a bit of peachy mandarine in the opening. It’s funny, when I first smelled SMS in the nineties, it seemed a bit too sweet for me to buy a full bottle; now that very sugary fragrances are in vogue, the sweetness seems much more restrained.
A story that can only be appreciated here:
My husband has been out of work since January, so I haven’t been able to buy any perfume for quite a while. Yesterday in the mail I received a surprise from my best friend – two bell jars from Serge Lutens she had brought back from Paris. El Attarine and Bois de Violette.
I had origninally asked her to pick me up a bottle when I found out she was going, but then cancelled because of our $$ situation. So it was a total surprise to open such a precious and luxurious gift, especially TWO bottles, plus cards and cards of samples. Brought tears to my eyes to see such beauty and to have such a lovely friend.
Oh, I’d think anyone could appreciate that story. What a wonderful friend!
Wow … that is a wonderful friend! And not just one bell jar, but two!
Oh! I love Bois de Violette! Where would we be without our true friends?
Yes, that sounds like a wonderful surprise!
Last week I had a similar treat, I received a red Royal Mail parsel, a wildly scented box which a good pal of mine had sent from London, as she felt I needed cheering up. She had assembled lots of different things as she’s a makeup and beauty fanatic, and I’m a bit of a beginner as far as makeup goes. Sadly, we have really different scent-styles, so I wasn’t too keen on some of the products she had included (weird strawberry massage bar from LUSH — yeech) and even less on the perfume (Vera Wang something or other). So sad! Such a sweet, insanely generous friend and such a crappy puritan on the receiving end.
Glad your friend knows your taste in fragrance so well!
Ironically, she doesn’t even like perfume that much!
Sounds like you have a lovely friend as well. Nothing like a good friend to know when you need cheering up.
What a wonderful friend!!
I’ve had excellent gifts from friends this week – one slipped me a $20 because I was lamenting that I had run out of chocolate and had been working on an ancient bottle of Hershey’s. She said go get some chocolate! lol
Very nice to receive such a nice scent gift!!
That is a great story. And El A makes me swoon.
I’m wearing the El A today, it’s gorgeous, although I need to transfer some to an atomizer to get the full effect. It doesn’t get much love, but as I told someone here once, it’s like Arabie without the Chicken Tikka Masala!
I love most of the heavy Lutens though.
I actually acquired a mini of Arabie recently, long after I tried El A, and I like Arabie almost as much. El A just has a hint more sweet fruitiness to it, I think.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Arabie. As a matter of fact, my first SL purchase was an emotionally painful right-arm vs left arm DEEEP sniffing contest to choose between Arabie or Ambre Sultan. I ended up picking AS because it seemed less foodie.
I’m sure someday I’ll tire of all these heavy SL orientals, but I don’t know when!
Wow. That really is an incredible friend. VERY jealous of your bell jar of Attarine!!
Oh, and SOTD is PdN Odalisque. Second try, and I think I like it even more than the first time. Think I’m finally starting to get a reasonably high success rate w/the samples I order. Must be learning something.
I wore that one (sample vial) yesterday! It’s somewhat similar to LTdF, which I love more, but sometimes nothing but that slightly-bitter tang will do. Odalisque’s one of the few chypres I can wear – I get a lot of florals (iris and jasmine) out of it. It’s so cool and reticent, without the mean edge that bothers me about many chypres. It actually reminds me somewhat of 31 Rue Cambon, but without that smooth ambery base. (I like RC slightly better, though.)
And great that you’re starting to map out your territory, so to speak, with your sampling. I continue to be surprised from time to time. Lots of things I think I’ll love turn out to be wearable but not exciting. Sometimes I never would have picked something based on the notes, but I wind up with a sample and it’s love! And sometimes I get blindsided by an unexpected note. Case in point: PdN Maharanih, which sounded right up my alley, and which I enjoyed very much until the drydown, when it started smelling like, um, well-worn boxer shorts. (No, really, I’m serious. I checked. Dead on.) Sometimes I have to retest. Case in point: see below for my Chanel No. 5 experience.
Oh, I’m not at 100% by any stretch… just doing better than 50% now.
On me, the Odalisque is straight floral, which is usually NOT my thing, but perhaps it’s just a matter of being the *right* florals.
Welcome to Confessions of an eBay Idiot! I was watching several auctions for Chanel No. 5 extrait, trying to find a bottle for my mother, and accidentally (yes, accidentally!) bid on two of them, and won both auctions at quite reasonable prices. I thought I was bidding on quarter-ounce bottles, but turns out that one is a half-ounce bottle and one is a full ounce bottle, with maybe a few ml gone (probably used). I was starting to worry that I’d been cheated, having heard all the horror stories about fake Chanels on ebay, especially “vintage.”
I opened the bigger bottle today, and thought, “Yep, I’ve been had. It’s definitely No.5, but it’s cologne strength, not parfum.” So I put two dabs on the ol’ wrist and ate lunch, thinking that at least it was clearly Chanel, and $33 wasn’t all that bad a deal for an ounce of either edc or parfum that had lost some of its horsepower.
An hour later: Oh. My. God. This is gorgeous, there is a lovely cloud surrounding me – why did I ever think No. 5 was cold and statuesque and too powdery? It’s beautiful. I’m stunned.
I haven’t even opened the second bottle. It’s newer packaging, judging by the typeface and the descriptions PARFUM and 1/2 oz. and 15 ml on the box – and it’s sealed in slightly yellowed cellophane. I hope hope hope that one’s real too. Mom is NOT getting both of these!
weren’t you the one who said that you couldn’t wear Chanel no 5? hmmmmm? HA! well, I’m just enjoying this too much!
Too bad I can’t remember how to do a blushing emoticon! My mother always wore the edc, and I’ve tested the edt in department stores. Bleah, smothery powder. Plus that whole “this is my mother’s scent” thing. But the parfum is all smooth and gorgeous. The last time I walked around in this scented cloud of stunned speechlessness, it was for Lyric.
stunned speechlessness? lol , I’m gonna need some proof of that claim.
Well, I had to wait until it wore off… I mean, obviously…
lol, I was about to start making Monty Python “I got better” type jokes then realized that I’ve been making a lot of stooopid comments today and controlled myself (sort of)
I can relate, I’ve been waiting for my ‘fall in love’ moment with Chanel No. 5.
It took me a while with Shalimar too, but it’s so awesome when it happens.
I feel like No. 5 is a sneaker fragrance… I hated hated hated it for over 30 years (I believe the description I used for it was “cat piss”) and one day I woke up and loved it. Now it’s the only perfume I’ve bought several times in a row. I feel a little predictable saying it’s my favorite, but I just don’t care. I love it.
I’m happy to hear others get ‘cat urine’ from some frags as well. I say ‘happy’ because I was seriously thinking that living with cats must have made a permanent ‘cat urine’ smell in my nose! (and we have an auto-cleaning litter-box) (My husband complains I always smell cat urine when the smell isn’t there…though he HARDLY EVER SMELLS ANYTHING so I don’t trust his nose…)
I always get “cat pee” from chamomile or pineapple notes.
Today I road-tested my sample of L’air du Desert Marocain at work, and my nearest neighbours in the office coughed politely then switched on their desk fans (I only dabbed on the *teeniest* amount – I swear!).
Heathens!!!
I know!
I may just fog them with it tomorrow…
They can have Dress-Down Friday – I’m having ‘Fume-Up Friday!
LOLOLOLOL —you might get the office all to yourself !!
LOL! Go get ‘um, Kizzers!
ROFL! That’s too funny.
I am wearing Chanel Coromandel today, although the weather is a bit too hot for this, but it’s new to me, and I couldn’t resist. I love the dry patchouli in the base. It reminds me somehow of chocolate. I think it would be lovely on a man, too.
Could anyone tell me if any store in NYC carries Frederic Malle and the Different Company, please? Barney’s?
Barney’s does. I sniffed there this past weekend.
Thank you, Guerlaingirl! I might have to travel, and I definitely want to sniff more TDC frags.
Oh wait, TDC is at Takashimaya; Frederic Malle is at Barney’s.
Gerlaingirl,
Barneys has TDC also–that’s where I got mine.
Today I’m wearing Divine by Divine and it is, well divine. I’m rationing out my sample but love it so much I’m considering a purchase at some point. Makes me feel like a 50′s glamour girl complete with hourglass figure and bright red lipstick (very far from the truth in real life, but in my head…)
My question is: What differences do you find between sampling with a spritz vs. a dab (spray vs. non-spray decant)? Do you have a preference? I’m developing a serious dislike for non-spray vials. I found them awkard to use and don’t find I get as good an impression of the scent. But maybe it’s just me
Divine’s on my to-test list.
I do find that sometimes you get a different experience with spraying versus dabbing, but sometimes it doesn’t matter. (not helpful, I know…) I started buying spray sample vials, and then found that frustrating when it turned out I didn’t like the scent, so I backed off from sprays. I blame Insolence edp – I’m still shuddering from that one last month. I think I’d rather put on three dabs of something and keep it quiet, and then if I really like it, the spray is a bit more forceful. I admit, though, that I have a real aversion to loud perfumes.
I retried that Divine L’ame Soeur again the other day (while I was having an Amouage test-a-palooza) and started lemming for it all over again. I know Naz is a dear, but she said she’d get that in her store back in February!! I’m not a good waiter.
One of the other Divines turned into baby powder on me–now I can’t recall which it was.
I’m perfectly happy to dab vs spray for a sample…but I have noticed, if I have a non-spray sample, when I buy a FB it doesn’t always quite “match”. Whether that’s bc one is older than another, or reformulated, or just the difference between dabbing and spraying, I couldn’t say.
I tend to prefer the dabbers, because I have way more control and like to start small. I can always pour on, but I can’t un-spray.
I just can’t get the full effect of a fragrance without spraying. Maybe it’s all those cigarettes in my 20′s, but I feel like I miss the top notes when I dab.
No, that’s probably true…and I have skin that eats top notes likethis, so I wouldn’t notice as much. It’s a super lucky day if top notes last 10 minutes on me.
I prefer spraying vs. dabbing. I feel the spritz allows the notes to play better than the glob of the dab. Could just be in my head though…
Today I’m wearing Divine by Divine and it is, well divine. I’m rationing out my sample but love it so much I’m considering a purchase at some point. Makes me feel like a 50′s glamour girl complete with hourglass figure and bright red lipstick (very far from the truth in real life, but in my head…)
My question is: What differences do you find between sampling with a spritz vs. a dab (spray vs. non-spray decant)? Do you have a preference? I’m developing a serious dislike for non-spray vials. I found them awkard to use and don’t find I get as good an impression of the scent. But maybe it’s just me
I’m wearing Divine today too! I got a sample from TPC and was smitten. I actually purchased mine from France. I must say it increases the appeal when your package arrives with a handwritten note enclosed saying “Chere Mademoiselle, We hope our creation will delight & seduce you”
Yup, in pricing I have found it’s best to order straight from France.
I received my samples from Divine along with a similarly charming note. They arrived in Canada less than 7 days after I placed my order!
Did you have to take a big hit on duty? I’d like to order direct, but have heard horror stories about duty on orders from abroad that are over $50ish.
I’m in San Francisco and didn’t get hit with any extra duties on my shipment. And like Daisy mentioned the price (and the selection) is better when ordering direct from France.
“Delight and seduce” – that’s so wonderful! And so much what I think of typically French, although I might be wrong on that.
I’m so glad there are other Divine lovers! I bought a sample of it just because I loved the name: my dear departed tabby cat, whom I loved more than anything, was named Divine. I think it’s a gorgeous scent. I almost didn’t try it, because someone told me they thought it was just a marked-up version of Chloe (the original Lagerfeld one). I can see the similarities, for sure, but there’s something… I don’t know, just rich about it. I was trying to figure out what perfume to wear with a retro 50′s dress on Saturday, so thanks for brining this one up–it’ll be perfect!
As a newbie perfumista, I’m wondering if it would be wise to buy some classics, like Mitsouko, before the oakmoss ban goes into effect. What do you think? Have all these favorite, classic perfumes already been reformulated so much that the new regulations won’t matter?
I’d only buy it if I had already tested it and loved it. Mitsouko hates me, and so far the feeling is mutual. I hear that Mitsy has been reformulated already – can anybody else speak to this?
I’m seriously thinking about a small bottle of Odalisque, though, because it’s really growing on me, and I think it’s slated for reformulation if not worse.
Yikes, thanks for the heads up, and glad I have the sample now!
If definitely brand new, I believe everything’s already mostly reformulated (esp. something like Guerlain). No way to know how old the stock is in a particular shop though. I tried a site once that tells you the appx age of certain products based on the code numbers on the bottom of the bottle — I suppose if you were really OCD and had a cell phone with internet access you could do that while you’re in the store, but…
the problem with falling in love with something that is being reformulated or has already been changed is that if you are lucky enough to find the old formulation (and don’t have to sell a kidney to buy it) you most likely will not be able to get it again. Which is sad.
there are so many many many many new things to love.
Yep. My general philosophy is “never look back” .
Yeah, I was told that oakmoss is already banned. Pity.
I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who responded to my query a few weeks back about bedtime fragrances. I haven’t bought anything yet, but I have had so much fun working through the list and trying so many new and unusual scents (and discovered the marvelous Diptypke shop in San Francisco as a result, where I was given several samples!), so thank you, thank you, thank you.
I’ve been wearing Stetson to bed most nights since I realized I actually DO like it! lol
lol
I live in South Africa and is going to london in two weeks time for 3 weeks and can’t wait to test as many fragrances as possible because their is not a lot of niche sents available here or they are extremely expensive because of import taxes and so forth. So I can’t wait to get to Harrods because I have my eye on a botlle of Acqua di parma colonia.
What fun!! Do visit the Roja Dove shop at Harrods, I’ve always wanted to.
I like these lazy day polls. I’m away from home this week visiting family, so my fragrance selection is rather limited. However, to my suprise, all week I’ve been addicted to Un Jardin Apres La Mousson sample I through into my bag before leaving home. I sniffed it once before in Saks, and deciding it was too sweet for me, haven’t given it another thought. But with the weather heating up I thought I would test it again. Well, I’m hooked. The melon is not too sweet at all! And after a few hours, the fragrance is far more complex than I originally gave it credit for.
Today it’s rainy, cooler, and I’m feeling a bit “down.” So I decided on a comfort scent – Amazing Grace. Despite being loathed by many fragrance connoisseurs (perhaps most famously by LT in a recent update to PTG, LOL), I love this. It makes me feel cozy and loved.
Speaking of being loved, my sweetie, who was in Chicago this week for business did a little fragrance shopping for “us.” (We don’t live in a very cosmopolitan area, so we like to make the most of our big city travels!) When I get home, a full bottle of Chanel Sycomore will be waiting for me, as well samples of the two new Hermes scents!!!! Oh and I’ll get to swipe some sprays from his brand new bottle of BelAmi, which I’ve been dying to try on myself after reading Angela’s terrific Masculines/Feminines article.
Oh, jealous! No good access to Hermes here, alas.
You made me look up the review of Amazing Grace…LOL, very funny! Ah well, he hates some of my favorites too. And huge congrats on your Sycomore, wish I had a bottle!
HI all,
Today I’m wearing Wrappings by Clinique, I absolutely adore that scent!
It’s a wierd weather day, we’re expecting thunderstorms in the SF/Bay area (very unusual for these parts).
On the sample front, I’ve ordered samples of Reminiscence Paris’ Eau de Patchouli, Musc and REM. I am such a patch and musk freak!
I’ve been meaning to try Wrappings for a while … I like the name!
I think one can get it from the discounters, but the company only releases it around the holidays in a gift set, and it’s priced quite reasonably too. It’s got great staying power.
Good to know! Thanks. I do remember on the MUA reviews everyone mentioned the staying power!
Hasn’t our weather been weird? My Mom was talking about big thunderclaps and rainstorms night before last and yesterday morning and I just got a little mist. And we just live a few miles apart (but on opposite sides of the Twin Peaks “mountain range”). Then I heard it hailed the size of golfballs in Hayward yesterday. What the heck is going on? lol
Yes, we had an amazing show here in the Sierra foothills. It was stunning! Huge-sized hail reported down in the valley, I heard. Anyway, I took advantage of the cooler-than-usual weather today to wear my Ambre Precieux. Oh so beautiful!
Here is my random thing to add to this discussion. When I have trouble falling asleep, instead of counting sheep, I count fragrances that I would love to get and put into a big beautiful handmade perfume cabinet. I visualize the bottles and usually fall asleep before I get to one hundred.
Oh! that’s great. Sometimes at night, I think about hiking through a forest up to cave behind a waterfall — there are varying flowers in the cave. I imagine the scent — woods, moss, wood smoke, green, floral and a bit of musk. sigh! So dreamy, I just drift off…
Oh, I like this better
I will try that tonight!
Dior’s Escale à Pondichéry has come out in Europe, I’m suspect that I sooo like the name that I am positively biased, anyway I find it has in the dry-down what omnia jade promises in the first minutes (but doesn’t really) , but maybe I’m off track, any other opinions around?
Ohhh rub it in!
Still upset that Portofino goes flat on me, it was so promising…really looking forward to this one.
Clearly we need to order direct from across the pond.
Clearly. LOL.
You can just stop laughing because you know that if I did accidentally happen to order some (did I mention; accidentally?) that I would share with you and you’d like it!
I think I’ll leave that one to someone else this time, LOL! Still waiting for the eventual outcome of my first attempt. (Should check all my accounts to see what’s new, on that note.)
Bee, lucky you, still waiting to try it!
Hi Robin
I could send you one of my 2 samples, I would greatly appreciate your opinion, as great mistress of the scents
let me know (you have access to my e-mail I suppose)!
I still think that the name is probably greater than the scents itself, which is spicy-but summery-fresh-like (I just can’t describe it,), it doesn’t last that long, but I receive compliments as long as it still can be smelled.
I thought this was like Portofino with added spice – too tart to appeal.
Im wearing Guess Suede right now. It smelled a lot better on paper. Im ready to finish it, so i can replace it with somethign better, but i still have over half of a 75ml bottle left.
Sell it, swap it, give it away….shame to waste your sniffer on something you don’t love. I would know…couple of mistakes sitting in my dresser drawer too.
I agree, give it away and move on!
My SOTD, after much deliberation and being much confused and flung in different directions by all these postings is….
Bond 9 Chinatown!
Betcha didn’t see that one coming.
Yesterday was Le Labo Rose 31 – is that a fabulous rose or what? I can definitely see why they call it a masculine, but it is stunning. I felt great in it all day. I am finding LeLabo to be a company I will be perfectly happy owning several scents from.
I almost wore Chinatown today too … one of the few Bonds I love!
Le Labo is really a fabulous brand — one of the few newer niche brands worth having, I think.
Test of the day for me is Reminiscence Eau de Patchouli on one arm and Elixir Patchouli on the other. hmmm…the elixir was a little wet, fermenting hay bale for a while but now it’s picked up an almost lemony note…still, don’t need it. The Eau de Patch is lighter, I like it better….I can see it in a decant to use in layering…sometimes I’ll think “you know, this could use a bit of patch.”. So a decant goes on the list.
If the words, “Hm, this could use a bit of patch,” ever exit my mouth, you will know beyond a doubt that the aliens have taken over my body!
okay, I made a note of that….if we hear that then we’ll all start looking out in the pasture for the “pod” .
See, wet, fermenting hay bale sounds good to me
clearly not a farm girl….wet, fermenting hay = baaad
I just got back from a trip and am brimming with stories. But, I’ll just say this. Four hours into a 9+ hour flight, there arose around us an unspeakable smell. It was not bad in the sense of decay, or weird food, or sewer … it was just an unbearable smell of some thick incense-y patchouli-y oud-y amber-y frankincense-y thick perfume, with the resilience and punch of Fracas. We later discovered that it was a flight attendant, using the crew seats in front of us. The crew seats were 6, and they had drawn a curtain around it! I wonder what the attendants on the same rest-shift thought inwardly. A confined space + strong perfume is a terrible combination.
Today, I’m wearing Prada Infusion d’Iris. Yes, I caved and bought it, despite it being owned by the whole world. I have a gigantic vat of it, and I use it liberally with odalisque abandon. Kevin and his 3 spritzes per wrist has nothing on me. Even the dog runs away. Thankfully I am not scheduled on any plane trip.
LOL that’s great! I have a veritable VAT of it as well! Sometime try mixing a bit of PId’I with some Hermes Hiris….best of both worlds!
Wow, that flight attendant’s scent sounds right up my alley! Wonder what it was.
LOL —Tama, that’s it, I’m never getting on a plane with you!
Me neither, not getting on a plane with Tama.
To be fair, it wasn’t so much the choice of perfume, but the strength of it! I wear very light stuff to the office and most of the time, nothing at all on the plane.
I once worked with a guy who, also like me, applied perfume con mucho gusto. It got to be so unbearable at work, that one of us (volunteered by the rest of us) went to his manager and gingerly asked the manager to talk to him. How do you approach a subject like that?
According to everyone I asked, when confronted w/the same subject…you don’t. Guy here went through a mega heavy application of mega heavy patch scent phase that lasted only about 2 weeks, fortunately. Had it gone on much longer, I think I would have had a health claim.
I worked with someone severely allergic to the perfume a temp was wearing to the point of getting nosebleeds, so she just told her not to wear it. Which was a good thing, because it was some horrible cheap crap. But you could always say you are deathly allergic. Then hope they didn’t catch you wearing perfume! lol
Well, I didn’t say I would wear it on a PLANE! lol – just wondering what it was.
whew, close one!
Today I’m wearing my new sample of Vanille Intense by PdN. I’m really digging its spiciness and warmth, and I find it a perfect complement to the June gloom weather we’ve had in southern Calfornia of late. I can’t imagine my boyfriend being much of a fan, but that doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of wearing it!
I really love the opening of Vanille Intense … but it kind of loses me on drydown. I’ll have to give it another try!
just a thought but…I can get away with just about ANY fragrance if I’m also wearing the right undergarments….significant others become much more amenable. He might just decide it’s A-OK.
My husband still doesn’t like the old-fashioned heavy floral opening of Bal a Versailles – he’ll actually leave the room – but is happy to come back in for the drydown… I acclimated him! ;D
That’s how I feel about Shalimar. Opens with paint thinner, finishes with wonderful amber and vanilla.
Too funny! I’ll have to give that a try.
Can all you scent mavens recommend some good saffron scents? I’ve tried Safran Troublant and Baume du Doge — love the latter — but I’d like to smell more. And I’m going to NYC on Saturday, so maybe I can even sniff for free, oh joy…
Odori Zafferano!
It’s going on the list — thanks!
Having a great smellies spring! I have gotten decants of some of my loves (Serge Noir, L’Air de Rien — that one I don’t think I’ll need a fb of), got an 8ml decant of L’air du Desert Marocain and will probably eventually need a bottle of that. I have a bottle of Bond 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory on its way, I got it aftermarket for a real deal. I’ve also been having a great time with some of the classics, I’m ‘getting’ scents I never got before – in teh past six months I’ve fallen for Shalimar, My Sin, and Dioressence.
Today’s scent was Hanae Mori HM. I bought it unsniffed and the first couple of times I wasn’t sure, but now I absolutely love it and can see myself going through a whole bottle and buying a replacement when this one is empty.
Wish I would find a deal on AWSF!
I purely just lucked into it on basenotes! I have had some real luck over there, it’s hit or miss but the hits are really nice.
If I see another AWSF I’ll come give a nudge.
Even though it’s a thousand degrees in Seattle, I’m wearing a tiny drop of Amouage Lyric for Women. I couldn’t resist because my bottle arrived today – it was my first big splurge in quite a while (although I got a great deal from a Basenoter), and probably my last for quite a while, too.
Congrats on your new bottle
niiiiiiice….I’d put some on as well, wouldn’t care if it was 100 degrees….you did the right thing!
Today I am wearing Diptiyque Oyedo and it is “perfect for an early summer day.” I recently bought decants for the first time including the Zesty Citrus Lover’s Set from the Posh Peasant. I have been wearing a different fragrance every day and almost feel subversive. Fragrance and this blog are my guilty pleasures — mini holidays just for me.
Just the name made my mouth water, lol. Might have to look into that set…
That sounds nice…any other citrus winners in there?
Just came back from a trip to Montreal, where all shopping was perfume-based. Holt Renfrew seems to divesting itself of Etat Libre d’Orange, as everything was half price.
After sniffing, I bought Rossy de Palma (rose and -citronella? and me a former “nope to rose perfumes” ) and Vierges et Toreros (even more mechanical than Bulgari Black).
Without sniffing – no tester – I bought Rien. Didn’t like it the first hour on me, usually a dealbreaker, but after that an okay, spare leather.
I bought my hostess Guerlain Pamplune. Visited the Guerlain Institute and finally sniffed Après L’Ondée, but alas, not for me.
Even went to a Yves Rocher store and bought lots of bath stuff. A great trip scent-wise…
ELdO 1/2 off — what a deal, congrats!
What Yves Rocher stuff you bought?
My current favourites there are two shower gels: Voile d’Ambre (even my boyfriend started to use it exclusively – he was a Scottish Fine Soaps devotee before) and the one with lotus scent (it’s in a pretty pink bottle) – fresh floral! Amazing!
Went with the bamboo and the lilac shower gels. Hmm, didn’t notice Voile d’Ambre shower gel or might have tried it. A friend just did an online YR order and I got samples of Rose Absolute, Voile d’Ambre, and Neonatura perfumes.
I had to come back to confess to a weird compulsion, for some reason I have been fascinated by the idea of Kiehl’s Coriander. I don’t know why it calls to me the way it does, but it does. At least it is inexpensive!
I’ve been ready to pop over to Nordstrom to buy a little rollerball of that Coriander or Original Musk many times, though I’ve never smelled either one. However, unless I hate it, LO Bergamot Tea is probably going to beat out the Kiehl’s for my cheap thrill in the next week or two.
hi Joe, I tried the Kiehl’s musk & really like it — have been layering it (new to that exercise) with AGs Eau de Monsieur & loving it.
I want to go back & get rainforest now.
oops – forest rain
Posted this elsewhere too but… I went, I sniffed, I bought! If you like their other tea scents and/or you like the Citrus Verbena, you should be all set.
” I went, I sniffed, I bought!” Some who is versed in latin should translate this for us….like a battle cry! Only, we smell much better than Caesar.
Ivi, olfeci, emi.
KEWWWWL!
IVI, OLFECI, EMI !!
I did not adore the Coriander lotion, but really need to go try the fragrance…hear it’s great.
Hi Robin, I’m a little late to the party. I love these open threads! First can you think of a white floral off the top of your head, that is not too heady or sweet, that is distinctive, .i.e. not hum drum, that is very feminine??? I kind of like Florence by Tocca..but it needs tweaked a little. I have a wedding to go to next month..as a bridesmaid, and I don’t have anything I like for it. My *find Becca a perfume fragrance* did not go so well.
A lot of people didn’t read my likes or dislikes or what I already tried and it turned from ” a little green” to a focus on a green fragrance. NOT that I didn’t get some good suggestions, because I did use them.
The other thing is how do you sample perfume samples that are sent to you? I got 25 bottles last month from Perfumed Court. My nose got confused quickly and I’m afraid some of them didn’t get a fair shot. For that matter, after 3 sample sniffs in a store, my brain can’t register like or dislike, unless of course, it’s very strong. How do you sample?
I’ll chime in!
I sample very slowly – usually something before I shower on the weekend (in case I hate it), and something at night. Anything that has passed either of those tests will get a full day trial. The most I ever put on is two – unless I am out shopping, then I can go to four or six. But I usually forget what I’m doing.
And I always test something more than once unless it is a seriously gaggy scrubber like A*Men – even the rotting pond water Jicky got a second try and may get a third.
Daisy will tell you for sure but I think she draws circles on herself with a Sharpie and writes what each fragrance is and tests about 10 at a time with her body all mapped out. lol
HEY! …..it’s not a sharpie…it’s just a regular ink pen…..sheesh, it’d be weird to use a sharpie….
lol (like using a reg. pen makes it A-OK)
But I only do the all-over-body-test when I lose my mind and have to test some of everything all at once….even with only 4 -6 sample areas on my arms I can lose track…so a tiny notation (that hopefully washes off in the shower) really helps me to remember.
Still, with that many your nose is going to become less discerning pretty fast.
Not sure about “white”, but I get a pure, lovely floral from PdN’s Odalisque…and I’m not typically a floral fan. Sampling… when I get a new batch, I tend to just sniff straight from the vial and choose 2-4 to try on (hand or wrist, and elbow or back of lower arm on each arm). Weekends, or evenings obviously in case I hate them. Once I’ve narrowed the field, they get a full day try, and if I like them, I’ll continue trying them to get a definite opinion. Fortunately for me, my skin amps up the sillage a good bit, so I never need to apply things heavily; a little goes a long way for me.
I bought testing papers (or whatever they’re called) and spray on paper, then if I like it, on my skin in the evening. Usually, I spray two scents on each arm — if I can, I choose scents with similar notes about them all, so it’s fun to compare. Typically, greens for me!
Becca, have you tried Diptyque Do Son? Also wondering if you’d like Acca Kappa Calycanthus.
Thank you Robin. And thanks for the sampling suggestions I love the name of the Acca Kappa Calycanthus. It’s so poetic. The Odalisque is made by who? PdN, I should know who that is by now.
Where do you get the “testing papers” to help you sample scents? That sounds like a great idea.
PdN is Parfums de Nicolai.
When I try on paper, it’s usually in-store — they usually have strips on the counter. I also have a bunch at home that were sent w/ various samples. When I’m out, I just cut up regular paper, although it doesn’t work as well as heavier stock.
ugh I just went out to eat and we talked about 2012 and then a transformer exploded so that freaked me out
and then when I got home I looked at a fansite for my fav band, who is dealing with some very weeeeird stalker stuff
and now I feel freaked out and sick
I need the most comforting comfort scent of all time
Old Spice!
EL Amber Ylang Ylang
Joy (cause my Mom wore it when I was a kid)
Pretty much anything vanilla/amber/patch
I dunno Krok, sounds to me like what you need is a huge mug of hot chocolate with marshmellows, a snuggly comforter, fluffy pillow and some sleep. You’ll feel better when you wake up.
I just hope the “sick” is from nerves and not something you ate.
I had such a great day. Beautiful weather here in Texas, my daughter was positively angelic, and my swap of Coriandre came! I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I do, and — amazingly — so does my husband (who hates nearly everything)
you’re lucky
the weather here is scaring me
Probably too late to comment on a yesterday thread but I was just informed my friend will be summering in Paris. First thing I do is get out my old euros and ask her to get me a bottle of Iris Silver Mist. And now it’s all a matter of time. ;3
Hey, it’s still a today in the evening thread here in the states.
And lucky you, to have traveling friends!
Lucky you!
I’m wearing one of my favorites from one of my favorite lines: Sonoma Scent Studio Champagne de Bois. I can’t get enough of this! It also lasts for ages, which is a nice bonus. I’d love to eventually buy a bottle of Vero Profumo Kiki, but I’m not saving up for it or anything. I will live on samples for a while. I just purchased Ava Luxe Rasa, which has become a new holy grail, I think. Poor hubby, who hates rose scents!
Yeah! Champagne de Bois is one of my top 5 Deserted Island fragrances. Anytime I spritz some on , I can’t help myself…a big snifffffffffff—AHHHHH slips out.
I’m in the mood for a fragrance based around a note/notes of metal. Any ideas?
Also, Geir Ness (sp?) was at Epcot for a meet and greet a couple weeks ago. I tried to take a pic, but there were a lot of people, so nothing came out.
Oh, I got samples of Laila and Geir last summer. Laila was nice enough, but not for me. My husband, on the other hand, loves Geir. I like it, but only w/light application. Sprayed more heavily, it’s awfully ozonic.
I actually do like the scent of Geir. My Dad has it, and really likes it. But the first time I tried it, it actually irritated my skin a little bit, for some reason. I could be mistaken, but I believe that it is the only fragrance to ever do that to me. I haven’t tried it since :/
Metal…….Andy Warhol Silver Factory? And I believe one of the Comme des Garcons has a metallic ring to it, though cannot remember which………..
Some of the Comme des Garcons Synthetic series is metallic – Dry Clean seems to be the most so.
CdG 2 could be perceived as a little metallic but it’s mostly inky.
I’ve read that Or des Indes is an oriental with a metallic note, but I’ve never actually smelled it. Sorry, I forgot who makes it!
Maitre Parfumeur & Gantier
Thanks! I will write these down, and see if I can hunt them down ^_^
Question: as I am rapidly moving through my samples from OJ, I am forced to ponder the horrible reality of running out soon and needing to make a decision about which ones are FB worthy. For the experienced perfumistas on here, are any of the OJs really worth the price (don’t have a lot to spend on such luxuries), or is there something comparable that is better?
(love your username, btw!)
I am a major OJ fan. I can only talk about my personal favourites, as of course taste is very individual. But I would say that Ormonde Woman is a unique scent that smells like no other. It is also extremely versatile, suiting all seasons and occasions. Champaca is also extremely unusual, and I cannot think of any other scent to combine basmati rice, green tea and bamboo.
Having said that, all of OJ’s scents are worth every penny, as they are made from the best ingredients and so skillfully and lovingly done. So, if you love her scents, my advice is to pick your favourite and enjoy it!
It’s so tough to choose, I know! I own (and adore) three OJ scents: Ormonde Woman, Champaca and Orris noir. They are definitely worth the expenditure because there are no other copy-cat scents out there to mimick their fragrance or quality, with the exception of Tolu, which I find is close in comparision to both Obsession and/or Halston.
It sounds like maybe a couple decants might be the way to go. That way you could have enough of a few of the OJ scents to wear for awhile. I’ve seen decant offers for several OJ’s at scentsplits. By the time you were reaching the bottom of the decants you’ll either have decided which your “ONE” is or you’ll have moved on to something else.
I think they’re worth the $.
My sister-in-law is getting married tomorrow and I’m not sure what perfume to wear. It’s been smoking hot here in Vancouver so I definitely don’t want anything heavy. I was considering The Unicorn Spell but maybe it’s too weird?? What do you think?
The question is, do you like it? There’s always going to be someone who doesn’t like something you wear. Wear it for yourself. (And personally, I think “too weird” is about right for a wedding! But maybe that’s just me.)
Ha! It’s true, weddings usually have an element of the absurd to them. I do like it, and you are right, I should wear it for myself. I guess I was just thinking that a wedding = floral. I’m not hugely traditional so I don’t know why I was caught up in that. Thanks!
Gosh, I don’t think it’s too weird at all! It would be perfect for a wedding.
I guess it’s cause I’m new to perfume. I’m trying to break away from associating perfume with sweet and floral!
Hm, it’s not weird on me at all. In fact, I still need a side-by-side comparison to be sure, but it smells an awful lot like Prada’s Infusion d’Iris on me. I’d wear it!
I’ve never smelled the Prada, it does sounds nice. I get a lot of green bean from Unicorn. Do you get that too?
This is what’s kept me away from the Unicorn–the rumored green bean accord. I just can’t conceptualize that. Maybe I need to get over myself and try it. I’m a big sci-fi nerd at heart, so the name at least has my attention. If you’re new to perfume, kudos for be adventurous. It took me years to move away from sweet and floral. (Ok, who am I kidding–I still have a thing for the flowery stuff.)
The name is what got me to try it! As for the green bean, I don’t smell true-to-life green bean. I get more a garden with lots of green bean growing in it. I hope that makes sense!
On me, the green-bean note fades pretty rapidly, and leaves a cool, invigorating violet. It’s great for a hot day. And the green bean note is a raw, snapped green stemmy note, not cooked beans. Go for it!
No, but then I applied very lightly, and only twice so far. I’ll have to watch for it next time. That’s the advantage/disadvantage of things languishing on your “to-try” list for too long… you forget what they’re *supposed* to smell like.
Odd how a scent can change so much, even on the same person… pulled it out tonight, got the green bean sniffing the vial… put it on, the green bean was faintly there, but gone so fast I’m not surprised I didn’t notice it before. But now, it smells *nothing* like Id’I, to the extent that I can scarcely see where I would have gotten that association. Allergies? Different lotion? Who knows! But I still say wear it.
just a thought but I have montale attar on my left and black aoud on my right, and I’m not saying that they smell totally alike, but still, the resemblance between the two is striking!
I don’t think I’ve smelled the Attar…
Well I’m still in the Eau des Merveilles mood. Desperately need perfume. I also fell madly in love with Un Jardin en Mediterrane. It’s very woody but still manages to be fresh.
And I finally understood: I am a woody-oriental girl. A lot of florals or fruits just ruin it for me. Amber, santal, cedre – these I love!
So my next buys would be Tam Dao, L’heure Bleue in EDP and if anyone goes to Paris: Serge’s Santal.
Thank you for open treads^ these are fun to read and write just about anythink you want perfumewise.
Highly recommend Tam Dao of course! Santal Blanc is in the export line, you know — you should be able to buy it anywhere (and I have my own bottle of that too).
I have just been to Paris for three days – including to the Shiseido store at Palais Royal, which is all purple inside! Didn’t know someone was after Serge’s Santal at the time, sadly.
I sniffed c120 things, had great chats with SAs, scored a few good samples and ended up buying IUNX Eau Frappee, which smells of lemon sorbet and yellow rose petals, and comes in a bottle shaped like a cross between Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber and an LAPD police truncheon (on account of its black neoprene tubular case!)
Lucky lucky you!! Do wish somebody would bring the IUNX line to the US already.
Hello everyone, I’m going to Paris in September and, of course, am planing a perfume tour. Apart from the Shiseido store, L’Artisan, Montale and some of the main brands (Guerlain, etc) would anyone, please, have any suggestions? This is the first time I go to Paris mostly interested in perfumes. Thank you sooooo much!
Definitely check out Guerlain @ 68 Champs Elysees for the gold spiral staircase alone!, then the Sephora and Marionnaud stores just a few doors up from Guerlain, Frederic Malle @ 37 rue de Grenelle with its wacky perspex perfume tunnels, Aepure (PG & various niche) @ 35 rue Guenegaud, Parfums de Nicolai (near Shiseido) @ 25 rue de Valois, Hermes @ 24 rue Fbg St Honore, IUNX / Hotel Costes @ 239 rue St Honore, MPG @ 5 rue des Capucines, AND several department stores: Galeries Lafayette and Printemps (next door to each other on the Bvd Haussmann – Printemps has more niche brands, but GL has the odd SL exclusive in the old 50ml upright bottles eg Un Lys!), also BHV at the Hotel de Ville and Bon Marche in the Rue de Sevres (more upscale like Printemps). You will fall over little Annick Goutal stores anyway, and lots of small independent perfumery shops of varying quality. There is also the Fragonard Museum at 9 rue Scribe, but I ran out of time!
Ohh, Flittersniffer,
Thank you so much for all these tips. I’m taking them with me. When I last went to Paris, some years ago, I wasn’t as interested in perfumes as I am now and only went to the Bon Marche for something a friend has asked me to buy. This is exciting! Thank you!
A possible wedding-attending scent is Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan. It’s very pretty, although very much hoping it lasts longer on other people. All Hermes scents seem to last about eight minutes on me…
Of course, if you DON’T approve of the marriage, or marriage in general, or the fluffiness of most weddings, there’s always wearing something quite scary. My current scary fave is Etat Libre d’Orange’s Vierges et Toreros.