I was going to smell Tabac Blond by Caron but instead, by mistake, dabbed on Bellodgia by Caron. Bellodgia a very edgy and pungent perfume - avant garde modern and classic old lady at the same time. (I have a tiny 1/2 ml vial from the Perfumed Court). You need to like cloves (smell your spice rack) to appreciate it. It's has also some fizzy aldehydes (which spell sour old lady to people who don't love aldehydes - for me, aldehydes are a bit like biting a tart green apple: they whet my appetite for what comes later. They are used both to give light and sparkle - think champagne - and to dim, as with a veil, what is beneath). And it also reminds me of Middle Eastern hookah bars, their acrid and in-your-face fluit flavors. (I have a vintage bottle of old Soviet Kranaya Moskva somewhere, and its not dissimilar.)
Tabac Blond is much easier to wear - really wonderful and mellow leather and somehow fruity/ floral tobacco. For some reason it reminds me of the rich smell of my grandma's guest room. To give you some idea, it's close to Cuir de Russie (another wonderful perfume) by Chanel, but with slightly different, bolder and edgier feel. But I cannot smell it properly through the cloud of acrid Bellodgia I would also advise against committing to a full bottle blind. Much more sensible to buy a tiny trial vial first - on me 1/2 ml is good for 3-5 wears, these are strong stuff - spend a couple of days with the perfume, and if you love it, buy more. Or go to Les Senteurs to try it on there. Caron perfumes are very special and I love them.
Luckyscent is a good source too - haven't used it personally but have many friends who like it.
I love perfume samples and have hundreds of them. They are much more inexpensive than full bottles (and you can exchange them with friends - they are easy to mail too). They allow you to change daily what you are wearing.
L de Lempicka is an inexpensive jewel - a perfume snob friend who normally only wears niche treasures it.
I have a full bottle of Eau du Sud. I love it in the summer. It feels like lying on the grass somewhere in Tuscany in the very late afternoon when the heat has died down, watching fluffy white clouds pass by.
Great citruses: Eau du Sud & Eau d'Hadrien by Annick Goutal, Eau Sauvage (men's side, Dior, not the new parfum), Neroli Portofino by Tom Ford, Aqua Allegorica Pamplelune by Guerlain, Bergamote by The Different Company, classic and rock-bottom-cheap 4711 Eau de Cologne and Escale a Portofino by Dior. I always take Bergamote along when I'm travelling - it's soothing and refreshing and luxurious.
First by Van Cleef & Arpels is a great scent by Jean-Claude Ellena (who, surprisingly, also created In Love Again by YSL), and is considered one of the greatest living perfumers today. He currently works at Hermes. Their mass market perfumes, including the Jardins series, are quite good, and their boutique perfumes, the Hermessences, are a classy take on modern minimalism. (a travel set of four can be bought for about 100 euros - a relatively inexpensive way to buy great perfumes). First is a curious thing, an anachronism, an aldehydic perfume made in the classical style in 1970s by a novice parfumeur who went on to become very famous. Worth trying if you love Chanel 5.