Posted by Robin
on
21 July 2008
One of the many obstacles facing perfume consumers today is how to go about finding fragrances they might like in the great sea of new releases. As I've written in the past, reading the list of fragrance notes for a given perfume can be misleading, but sometimes it's about all you have to go on other than the ad visuals or celebrity sponsorship. Just because you find Jude Law sexy as all get out, it doesn't mean you're going to love Dior Homme Sport; likewise, just because you like jasmine and saffron, it doesn't mean Ungaro by Ungaro is going to appeal to you.
Still, it helps to know a little something about fragrance notes. Most of us have neither the time nor the inclination to smell absolutely everything. Figuring out which notes you find attractive and which you detest can at least help you to narrow down your choices…
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Posted by Robin
on
14 July 2008
Say you want some JAR Bolt of Lightning, or whatever. You don't want to swap for it, you don't want to buy a decant online, but you also don't want (or can't afford) a full bottle. A bottle split is one option. For anyone who's never done a bottle split, here are some details.
What is a bottle split?
In the simplest terms, you agree to split a full bottle of perfume with one or more other people. The first time I did a bottle split, I was after bottles of Ormonde Jayne Champaca and Frangipani but didn't want to pay full price for both scents, nor did I think I needed that much juice. I found 4 other people interested in buying a portion of each scent, so that each 50 ml bottle would get split 5 ways — each person on the Champaca split would get 10 ml of Champaca; each person on the Frangipani split would get 10 ml of Frangipani…
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Posted by Robin
on
9 June 2008
If you missed it, you might want to take a look at Things I wish I'd known as a newbie perfumista, part 1 for an introduction to today's subject, and many of today's points expand on comments from that post so huge thanks to everyone who took the time to share their experiences.
Don't pay full price if you don't have to. If money is not an issue, buy where you like, but for the rest of us, shopping around is worth the time and effort, and the product you'll get from a reputable discounter (assuming you can find what you want at a reputable discounter) is every bit as good as what you'll get in a department store. You may, however, have to wait another month or two after a fragrance launches before you can find it at a discounter…
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Posted by Robin
on
29 May 2008
This is really a random collection of thoughts that I started pulling together (at my usual glacial pace) back when Angela wrote Becoming a perfumista. The subject: what I wish I'd known when I started out with perfume. Part 2 is coming next week, and I'm hoping all you Stage Four and Stage Five perfume addicts will add some advice of your own in the comments.
After you've smelled 100 fragrances, you'll have a hard time keeping them all straight. It took me a good long while to start keeping notes. When I finally did, I wrote my notes in a little bound notebook. Um, duh! If you're going to smell 100, there's a good chance you're going to smell 500 or 1500, and pretty soon that little notebook is going to be useless. I'm amazed at how long it took me to start keeping my notes on the computer…
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Posted by Robin
on
25 April 2008
We've already got a perfume glossary, but among the many things on my (out of control) to do list is a lexicon of the slang terms used on the various perfume blogs and forums (or fora, for those of you anxious to preserve the Latin plural form). Here is a start, and I'm hoping that anything I've missed will get added in the comments:
Decant worthy: a fragrance that is worth having in some small amount, but that you don't love enough to justify buying a full bottle. See also: how to decant perfume.
Evil Fragrance Twin (EFT): someone who loves all the perfumes you hate, and vice versa. EFTs can be useful — you follow them around and try whatever they can't stand…
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