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!!!

Mind you, last time i decided to but exactly what I liked without looking at the price tag or thinking about my budget i blew £500 pounds on a pair of hand-made, French, glasses frames (without lenses!). Not that i regret buying them for one minute even though it meant no new clothes for a long time.

MsArseBiscuit if you really honestly don't want your Premier Figuier, I'd love it. Would you like some money for it? My bottle is coming to its end and it is probably my favourite perfume of all time. If you don't want money, could I reciprocate by getting you some samples from Les Senteurs or similar?

And I have started a list of things I need to go and smell somewhere. Planning a trip to central London some time to go and sniff.

Of course you can have it, Haberdashery, it's just been sitting there, being unloved - hopefully it's not gone off, call it a present from one fig-fancier to another. If you pm me your address, I'll send it off to you.

Seriously, could I order you some samples or something to say thank you? Or can I pay you? I would be happy to do either, whichever you are more comfortable with.

I do think that some stuff, Creed does well, Dona Ana - Bois de Portugal and Eau de Cedrat, I like. But I agree that they are becoming a bit mainstreamy - Virgin Island Water is very mainstream.

Do you know Fragonard?

Enjoying the swapping - great! It's very satisfying that an unloved bottle finds someone who appreciates it!

I have a sample of Virgin Island Water somewhere but haven't tried it (I get a lot of samples from profumeria owners who know me) - but don't think I have Fragonard MrsSchadenfreude. Haven't sought them out because many traditional Grasse offerings don't appeal to me (have a friend who works in one of the houses there). I do have a small bottle of Habanita by Molinard: it's a slightly scary tobacco-vanilla seemingly shaped with a chainsaw (I like to think it's a lumberjack's vanilla). Interesting, but not easy to wear, at least not easy for me.

There are so many perfume houses today (and each year many more) that I really haven't explored everything. I've found so many that do perfumes in the style that I enjoy (favorites: Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, Caron, Frederic Malle, Hermes, Lutens, L'Artisan, Comme des Garcons, Heeley, Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier, Histoires de Parfums, Nicolai, Tauer, The Different Company, Tom Ford, YS Uzac), plus I occasionally explore conceptual new things like perfumes by Geza Schoen, Odin New York, Humiecki & Graef, or Olfactive Studio. But there are also many perfume houses that do things that may be very good, but are not really interesting enough from my personal perspective.

Tastes in perfume are very personal: I know many perfumistas who love and collect things I don't get (say, light fruity perfumes or white flower bouquets or classic chypres); they usually don't like my favorites. (I even have a friend to whom I routinely send things I don't like - she usually loves them. And vice versa.) I've found most of the perfumes I really love by listening to men who collect perfume - I wear a lot of classic masculines and feel that they fit like a glove.

Today I'm going retro and wearing vintage Fidji. It opens with very tart, puckering bitter-green galbanum - I'm waiting to see what comes after. Not an easy perfume to love, and could not see this selling in Sephora these days - the opening is blasts of soap and bitterness. But there is an airiness to the heart that I like. Old perfumes rarely reveal themselves at the opening - they are usually very forbidding at start.

Wiggly one more recommendation for you: Cuir de Russie by Chanel has both birch tar and leather. I love to wear it in winter.

I used to love Fidji- it's not as commonly found as it used to be, IME. I know what you mean about vintage scents being "forbidding" at the start DonaAna, I found that with Cabochard. I thought it was real howler at first, but then after about 30 minutes it was amazing.

It's all just so interesting, Dona, and tragically sounding a bit 'X-Factor', it's a real journey - I think I started off wanting to smell like everyone else, and now I want individuality and depth and interest in my perfumes.
I kicked off by receiving, as a child, L'Aimant and then ( wish I'd realised this was a classic at the time but I'd never heard of it ) Vent Vert. Moving on through Anais Anais at 15, Poison at 18, then Opium ( leaving people gasping in my wake, no doubt ), Body Shop White Musk. 20s and 30s were Byzance, Elysium, Eau Svelte, Bois de Feminite ( another one that I never realised was a classic ) and Baiser du Dragon. My 40s have seen me move onto Philosykos, Eau d'Hadrien, Buddha's Fig, Un Jardin en Mediterranee, Cuir Amethyste, Black Orchid, Fico di Amalfi and most recently ( and thanks to your suggestions ) Bottega Veneta. And there are so many more I want to try, almost like standing in the doorway of Willy Wonka's factory, with delicious temptation in every direction.

the opening is blasts of soap and bitterness

This sounds amazing. One of the things I dislike most about a lot of modern perfumes that I try is the excessive sweetness.

MsArse, I started off on Apple Blossom (Helena Rubinstein) which I was bought as a young teenager but I recognise quite a lot of the things on your list as points that I've passed through, too, and think we may be of a similar vintage. Anais Anais is one that I actually think is hugely underrated these days. It's a really beautiful perfume and although it was seen as rather sweet and unsophisticated at the time I think it smells quite grown up compared to some things I come across today.

Oh yes...l'aimant :)
Reminds me of my mum.
I love that fragrance.
Have been looking at bottega veneta!!..sound great. Must try a sniff next time I am in town...
Smelt one on Saturday at the Estée Lauder counter...not sure which one it was...but it took me back to being a child and smelling all the bottles on my aunts dressing table :) it was such a powerful memory!
Happy days :)

Haberdashery, you know I've not smelled Anais Anais for years, I really must go and have a sniff. I bought it duty free on a school trip, in my mind that trip is Anais Anais, Nutella and a beautiful, beautiful crimson cardigan that cost almost all my spending money.

Badvoc, I thought I was dead classy wearing my L'Aimant - that's another one I feel like smelling again. It's all a bit Proustian, innit ?

Indeed...everything is a Madeleine!
:)

I got a cold and a stuffed nose.
Can't smell a thing today.

stuffy
FFs!

Coffee, you have my sympathy for your stuffed nose, and Badvoc, Oh aye, it's all about the temps perdu at my gaff.

Miraculously, I'm still able to smell the dog....
Oh joy.

Msarsebiscuit :)
Bet marcel was a barrel of laughs at parties!
Ds1 off school poorly.
Ds2 pretty disgusted that he still had to go to pre school.
And I have a sore throat and headache....sigh.
Hope you feel better soon coffee.

Haberdashery, you should explore anything green and galbanum. (Very limited choice in mainstream these days - I've been seeking the historical ones out too and there are not that many). Ideas what to sample here. I have a friend who dislikes sweet perfumes and loves green, galbanum, vegetable scents, dry woods and green tuberoses. She likes Untitled by Margin Martiela, Chanel 19 and Chanel No. 19 poudré and Sycomore, some of Hermes Jardins scents, L'Ombre dans L'Eau, Aedes de Venustas edp, Rhubarb by Comme des Garcons, Honore de Pres I love les carottes, modern Balenciagas, Carnal Flower by Frederic Malle, Loretta by Tauer, and many CB I hate Perfumes. Also, Estee Lauder Private Collection might be one for you to try. I also like Knowing. As a secondary choice, you should explore chypres - many of them are crisp and tart in a way that's not being made anymore.

Anais Anais is very classy and way underrated. I admire it, but can't wear it. It is so sophisticated compared to almost anything else mainstream.

I set out to find a few wearable perfumes that are "me", not to become a perfume addict . But once I found the really good stuff, I just couldn't stop sampling. Like I've said, for me perfumes are like films, music, or books. There is always something new and interesting (or old and terrific) to explore.

Tell me about it Coffee, my dog has eaten something that disagreed with him and so II spent part of yesterday trimming his 'fragrant' arse hair.

Badvoc, Marcel = M. Le Part-aaayyyy.

Coffee too bad, hope you recover soon.

MsArseB, been there, done that! And will most likely happen again in the future..
DonaAna, thanks, wanted to go and retry Tuscan Leather this weekend. State of the nose permitting.
Private Collection was a gem, they did tone the green down a bit though. I has/had? (haven't smelt it for a while) gorgeous chrysanthemums in the dry down.
Comme des Garcons have a new Green one and they are worth exploring for this.
And Clinique Wrappings. Green and foresty.

Chypres are indeed a favourite for me as well as the greener things, DonaAna. One of my very favourites is Ma Griffe which is available v cheaply these days and yet is one of the classiest perfumes I've ever smelt.

I'm making a list of things I need to sample!

Hope you feel better soon, coffee.

My sample of Tabac Blonde arrived this morning. I've been wearing it for about 2 hours and I'm not at all sure about it. I appears to be makign me smell like a very old lady - very powdery. But every so often I'm getting a different smell which I rather like, so will persevere.

Sorrel Tabac Blonde is quite old-ladyish (rightly so, it's almost 100 years old!). You might enjoy this essay. If "old lady" is not your thing, you should forget classics and steer toward modern perfumes, unisex perfumes and masculines. One of the main reasons why I keep switching over to the masculine side is that that way I always get rid of old lady connotations (there are "old man" perfumes however). Have you tried Cuir de Russie by Chanel? It is not for everyone either, and can be a bit vintagey even in its modern formulation, but smells more unisex and timeless. Other leather favorites: Bottega Veneta (dried fruit leather), Antaeus (smoky, herby leather), 1740 Marquis de Sade (dried fruit, pipe smoke, leather), Tuscan Leather (I always associate this with lapsang souchong), Dzing! (horsey leather) (a better list here). Should test Onda and Bel Ami soon. Looking for Cuir de Lancome. Leather lovers, add to the list?

Oh and Fidji is making me smell like a bitter old lady right now. Can't wait to wear something different!