The Worst perfume ever!

[anniewoo]

Was in HOF today and as i have no money at the moment to spend (despite their sale) decided to cheer myself up with a spray ( or two) of their posh perfumes. Big Mistake- sprayed Serge lutyens Tuberose Criminale- and it was!!!! Well the smell was criminal- like camphor, moth balls mixed with wintergreen , that awful muscle rub stuff. Jesus wept and it lasts and lasts and lasts. Can't kill it off, despite Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio on my other wrist. You have been warned.....Though i do dare you!!!

MadameOvary- I have a sample of Must de Cartier on order. I had a smell of it in House of Fraser, after a SA recommended it. I didn't test it on my skin though, so am really looking forward to trying it out. It may be a toss up between that one and the Coromandel, though Must won't make me destitute . I love this thread!

Guerlain do a great orange in their Aqua Allegoria range, Orange Magnificat, which I've got.

The blurb says: 'fresh and sweet orange aroma. The juicy beginning is composed of bergamot, orange and clementine, the heart of jasmine and neroli, and the base of cedarwood, almond and amber.'

man, I love all this perfume talk. I went to bed last night with a dab of Tubereuse Criminelle on my wrists and smelt gorgeous. It amuses me that this was the perfume that started the whole thread. I like it better than Fracas. The initial smell reminds me of my husbands motorbike - sort of oily/ petrolly. Then gorgeous Tuberose. I sometimes wear Ambre Sultan with it to make it more ambery. I have a bell jar of each (I am so lucky!) but would like some more Serge Lutens bell jars ...

I have a growing list at Surrendertochance.com -L'eau de Hiver, Tonka Imperiale, Heliotrope, Apre le ondee, Luctor et emergo and now Coromandel.

I adore ambery/ orientally perfumes and adore the almond/ vanilla of heliotrope so they are my main foci at present.

Today I tried the eagerly anticipated Coco Noir and it doesn't work on me. I love Coco. I love Coco Mademoiselle. On my skin, Coco Noir smells like I've dabbed the other two on each wrist and rubbed together. I expected it to pack more of a punch. It's sweet and pleasant but I don't really understand the point of it. There's a hint of something in it that I wish would surface ...but I can't identify what that something is.

I tried La Vie est Belle today by Lancome. Just another run of the mill fruity floral. So many new scents smell the same today. Boring!

(note- I don't have a good High Street so make do with the local dept store).

Like many other fume heads, I am on a limited budget but it's amazing what you can buy and sell on ebay. If I order a used scent and loathe it, I just sell it back.

Blimey wiggly do tell us what you like, what you really really like!

I would take a look at Ineke - it's a perfume house that pretty much covers what you like, a whole series of perfumes. They are unisex- in the best possible way.
Google it, it's turn up, with a list of notes and everything.
In London you can smell them all in Liberty.

Tomato - Sisley Eau de Campagne. Very pricey though.

Smoke - sorry, the one there was- and it was the best ever is gone now, so I wont even recommend something to try.
They all call themselves Noir and Fumee and what not, but most dry down to a sweet mess.

Add Farnesiana and Une Fleur de Cassie to your list Kiwi
Slag yep that's the way it is done - and samples can be traded too.

I'm so bored by high street these days that I'm not exactly running to Sephora when a new perfume launch is announced. My recent tries - Coco Noir and Fan di Fendi (edp) have been really boring. Coco Noir is so insipid it could be a shampoo. I have a deja senti associated with it, cannot identify the scent, and do not care enough to make the effort to find out. La Vie est Belle was packaged together with Italian Elle this month - I wish they spent a bit more on the juice and a bit less on the marketing: cchose not to buy Elle at all and got Vanity Fair instead.

I am hankering after the newest Shalimar flanker though. I liked the last two (but they are too mainstream-pleasant for me) - the original is unfortunately too geriatric on me.

Kiwi as s a tuberose lover, you should try Loretta by Tauer (from First in Fragrance). It's very close to real tuberose absolute. Histoires de Parfums also do a tuberose trilogy.

Many great ones on this list. I have Luctor et Emergo somewhere, also would like to wear vintage Poison, and I think I have a sample of Must...

I started out preferring opulent orientals, but have realized that I may like leather, incense and dry woods even more. I will wear almost anything - aquatics, light florals and fruity scents are the categories I'm least interested in.

Today, I'm wearing Lancome Hypnose. Mainstream, yes, but lovely. I was given a small bottle a while back, and it is rather different from my usual choices, but there's something about it....I keep sniffing myself!

My DD2 just found a touche dipped in Absolue pour le Soir (yes, our house is like that - and she expertly sniffed it before handing it to me - she's 2.5) a month ago when I went perfume shopping with a friend. We smelled together Puredistances and Kurkdjians. There is still a discernible smell of benzoin...

I'm eyeing up the new vanilla shalimar also.

Oh yes I like Hypnose too. I'd forgotten that.

Yos....I dont need any encouragement, honest!! :)
I think I am going to treat myself to some cinnabar next time I am in John Lewis.
Time for a grown up fragrance :)
(Now I am so old you see....)

Ok, doing a side-by-side now.
Loretta by Tauer on left wrist, vintage Poison by Dior on right.
Minute drops of both, as they are extremely strong perfumes and have nuclear fallout type sillage.
General feel surprisingly similar. I can feel tuberose in both.
Poison has a cool candy-like glazed-sugary smoothness. Loretta is more honeyed and warm.
I love both.

Badvoc, I am 42 and in the last year I have found I want totally different perfumes now. I used to love crisp green scents ( and still wouldn't turn down a bottle of Cristalle), but in the past few months I sort of said "who am I NOW, instead of who was I in the past?" and decided to get completely different perfumes to narrate this chapter of my life.

I am heading towards ambers and orientals after years of light musks and pretty florals. Totally different dressing table as I enter my confident dotage.

Yos...I know what you mean.
I wore a lot of masks in my youth and although I love them I feel I have moved on.
Perhaps that's why I dint want to buy podium or obsession...much as I love them that was then and this is now.
I have never been into florals although I love rose scents.
You might like mitsuko by guerlain....

Yes, Badvoc, perfume as masks, I totally get that. I will sniff out Mitsouko...

Podium?
Opium!

I love Podium- it would smell of gay clubs and cage-dancer thongs

My samples of Amber Narguilé and Tuscan Leather arrived today. The Amber Narguilé is more subtle, so I'm waiting for that to reveal itself more, IYSWIM, but I took both samples out to put on DP because I couldn't wait for him to get home to try them . I've got Tuscan Leather on my own wrist too, and I can't stop inhaling it- it is GORGEOUS, so deep and distinctive, and completely different from traditional masculine fragrances which I often find too citrussy. It smells like a traditional Gentleman's Club- Chesterfield sofas and dusty books. I love it. DP loves that one too, but I'll wait to see how they both develop.

Cage dancer thongs?
Hmmmm...might have a limited appeal I guess...:)
I really like opium pour homme on dh.....swoony :)

Podium for you . Note the price...

Hahahahahahaha
I am soooo tempted to get some...very bargainous :)

I love this thread! I've been lurking and ebaying madly!

What does everyone think about miller Harris? What's the silliage (sp?) like?

I adore Tuscan Leather. I walk round behind my DH sniffing at him when he's wearing it!

I think I will print out this thread and take it with me on my next trip to London. thanks everyone who enjoyed my 'olfactory profile', amazing how even thinking about smells can trigger memories.

Tuscan Leather is a great choice!
This blog post is full of references to some of the most beautiful perfumes ever. Work/life appropriate too unlike my Poison/Loretta cloud... They grew apart, Poison is more understated (!!!) and fruity, Loretta is unabashedly camphoric and unruly: warm and cool at the same time.

I have a friend who likes Miller Harris a lot. I'm a bit more indifferent. The perfumes are well-made and the bottles pretty, that's not the issue, am just a bit less excited. Have lots of samples of them but never get round to wearing them. Too subtle for me? Jo Malones are also not for me. I had Pomegranate Noir for a while but never wore it - prim, proper and cloyingly synthetic - sold mine to someone who liked it a lot more. White Jasmine and Mint smells exactly like thai takeout. Very good takeout, but I don't want to smell of green curry. And the classic, Lime, Basil & Mandarin has a lotiony vibe that makes me feel very middle-aged.