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!!!

Haberdashery Ma Griffe is very classy.
The "old lady" thing is very subjective. Many of the greatest classics smell old to us. I remember when I wore Chanel 5 as a teenager, my best friend wanted to know where the old lady smell was coming from. Shalimar smells very old to me - brown mink wearing ladies wore that when I was a child.

When I'm old, I fear my grandchildren will associate Tuscan Leather and Zagorsk with old ladies... Fruity florals may be old lady perfumes one day too...

I have a strange fondness towards 1980s perfumes. That was the time when I first learned about perfume: those were the "adult" (not "old") things I aspired to. I remember when a classmate brought Giorgio from her trip to California - a good friend wore Red by Giorgio; I remember when Samsara, Obsession, Dune, and Amarige were launched, and when I smelled Eternity on a magazine and thought that it was the best thing I had ever encountered...

DonaAna Brilliant and interesting advice and info as ever! I absolutely love Tuscan Leather but DH wears it all the time and I don't think I want to smell the same as him .

I've been wearing Tom Ford's White Suede which is lovely but doesn't seem to last more than 1 hour on me. I've ordered a sample of Cuir de Russie as I think it might be more long lasting?

I shall have a look at all those suggestions and lists (this is too addictive by half). I really don't like anything too floral or pretty.

A great list of modern leathers here.

On the school run I popped into a profumeria along the way and spritzed some Spanish Leather by Geo F Trumper. Very light and debonair, there is a soft leather note underneath. If you remember what the soap Imperial Leather smelled when we were children... This is clearly an "old man" choice but I love it.

My enormous bottle of SJP Lovely, arrived today. I think I like it -am waiting for it to settle on me. I don't think it will be an all time favourite, though - it smells a bit like talc at the moment, but we'll see how it goes.

The search for my true love continues

DonaAna- I'm so jealous. On the school run I go past a Spar and a newsagent.

Right, I finally put my Surrender to Chance order in, after much deliberation, and went for:

Chanel Coromandel
Chanel Bois de Illes
Comme de Garçon Avignon
Guerlain L'heure Bleue
Guerlain Après L'Ondee
Frederick Malle Portrait of a Lady
Jean Patou Joy

The Chanels and Guerlains are ones I've been wanting to try for ages, as Coco and Samara are two of my favourites, but they're not available around here, so I'm very excited about finally trying them.

Avignon is one I've seen DonnaAna loves and after a bit of reading up on Basenotes, I'm very excited abut getting that one.

Frederick Malle portrait of a lady is an unknown for me, they recommended it at the bottom of the page and I'd thought I'd throw it in a wild card. Just to get me started with Frederick Malle.

Joy was just the 3rd choice I needed to pick with the two Guerlains to complete the set. I picked this just because it's a classic and thught it was one I ought to have smelt.

What do you think?

Also today I went into a small independent perfume shop and tried: Jasmin Noir Bvgari, which disappeared instantly on me (but I do have perfume eating skin) and Must Cartier, which I hated at first, loved after the first hour but now want rid of. I'm going to wash it off have a bath and put on Clinique Aromatic Elixir, which is a scent I'd never wear out but occasionally I love it as a relaxing eveveing scent just for myself- Dona I'm wondering of Avignon will be similar?

I also scored samples of the new Valentino Absolu and Ellie Saab from the women in the shop.

I've been lurking on the Basenotes forums. Man, those people are perfume freaks.

Not like us, oh no.

Does surrender to chance ship to the UK and if so, how long does it take? is there a UK equivalent?

Not at all

I certainly hope so, YouOldSlag, I'm waiting for two orders from them

I found the dot com site but it was USA.

Yeah, I think it is based in the US but when you order, the postage defaults to 'UPS International'. You could always wait and see if those impatient fools who've already ordered (me) receive their samples ok.

Ok Mrs arse. I will! . You can be my sniffer guinea pigs.

YouOldSlag, that made me laugh so much it triggered my cough.

I will be the sniffer guinea pig, it's my impatience, it's a curse.

Well done Ohsiena!

I don't live in the UK but yes, Surrender to Chance delivers to Europe and I have received several orders from them. No idea how long it will take - when I lived in the US, regular mail took about 4-5 days or more to Europe. Les Senteurs is your local alternative. Escentuals sometimes offers perfume samples too.

Italians are very knowledgeable about perfume. There are 3 profumerie about 200m from me, and another 3 or 4 near DD's school. The profumerie are full of niche and vintage stuff - saw Jardins de Bagatelle and Bel Ami today but they didn't have testers. All the designer boutiques are here too (Chanel, Hermes, Dior, Cartier, as well as less well-known ones such as Etro and Costume National), plus run-off-the-mill places like Sephora and Jo Malone. Finally, one of the greatest perfume stores in the world, Campomarzio, is here. So yes, having great access has fueled my addiction, but I also have lots of perfume friends who live in the middle of nowhere and have many more perfumes than I do. We circulate samples, give away unloved ones and often give little decants to friends when we buy full bottles (when you have more than a few bottles of perfume, 50 or 100 ml bottles are always too big - you will never use them up).

Sorry if this sounds freakish... I have a lot of books, DVDs, lipsticks, eye shadows, so why not perfume

I'm not the biggest fan of Lovely. It is okay and inoffensive, but I like dirtier musks - Musc Koublai Khan is my favorite. Kiehl's musk oil is a nice basic linear light musk. But like I said, perfumes like Lovely and Deseo sparked my interest in niche perfumery. I wanted to know whether there is something better out there than my duty free bottles. One of my fumehead friends put it this way: why wear three star perfumes when there are so many five star perfumes. (How you rate perfumes depends on your personal preferences, but also on some more objective qualities like craftmanship, originality, and raw materials.)

LOL, loving this thread. I don't have any revolting ones that spring to mind, but if I do ever get bought any perfume as a present that I don't particularly like, it gets left in the bathroom and used by the menfolk to re-fragrance the bathroom after a dump.

I wear Avignon by Comme des garcons. I love it, but I think it's a strong scent and definitely an acquired taste. Some people comment on it, but rarely think it's a perfume. It smells of Catholic Mass.

I sometimes add Agent Provocateur (original pink) and I love the way the two scents work together.

I spray the AP lightly on my clothes/hair, but wear Avignon on my wrist.

Avignon is the only perfume ever where I had to buy it there and then. Liberty of London has a huge range of beautiful and interesting perfumes..

I wouldn't wear this perfume to work - it's too heady. Night out only.

How did I not know about this website sooner?

Ok - so have ordered from Surrender to Chance:

Chanel Sycomore
The Different Company Sel de Vetiver
Tom Ford Tabacco Vanille

Excited

Sorry to interrupt, ladies. I know nothing about perfume and very rarely wear it but... Since my mother died I have had an overwhelming need to, "smell mother" as I remember her from my childhood. Weird, I know! I know she wore Mitsouko and I have purchased a bottle but... It doesn't smell anything like I remember (going back about 40-45 years). Has it been changed? If so, is there anywhere I can buy an older version, or can DonaAna, or anyone else, suggest an approximate alternative? Thank you for your time.

Oh frantic, tha is so sad and so beautiful. I hope someone wiser than me can help you

Hi Frantic, I don't know much about vintage perfume, but I do know that you can buy it on eBay, and some dedicated sites, but when I had a look it was very very expensive. If it means a lot to you though it may be worth it.

If you look on the forums at Basenotes, there is a whole topic for vintage perfume, and many people on there collect and seek out vintage scents so that may be a good place to look.

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will be along here soon with more advice.

Frantic, sorry.

Of course it has changed. Every classic has been reformulated for mt
Many reasons
But them maybe your recollection of it had changed as well.
It's possible it smellt differently on your mum - perfume changes on the skin.
Also - did she wear the perfume or a different concentration?
There is nothing like vintage Mitsuko, I'm afraid.
You might be able to find some on eBay, beware of fakes though.
The top notes will have gone, dry down should still be there.

Hi Frantic on the surrender to chance website I've found they have a sample of vintage Mitsouko pure parfum surrendertochance.com/guerlain-mitsouko-vintage-pure-parfum/link here so maybe you could order that and see if that is yours mums scent first?