Budding perfumistas walk this way- Part 2 of the Worst Perfumes ever

[shoeprincess2]

As the first thread is nearly full, I've set up Part 2

personally I can't stand it as it makes me feel as if I have been working in Thorntons all day and haven't washed yet.

I have 20 minutes ago decided to give it another go...................I am now just about to scour my wrists to remove it as I feel I will not be capable of the school run in 40 minutes due to nausea and a general feeling of being unwell...................(I think I will stick to my Coco Chanel...................which by the way, I know alot of people don't like but I do and it dosen't make me feel sick!!).

I feel exactly the same about Lonestar memories and Lipstick Rose

How can they smell so changed on different skins?

The mere memory of those two makes me want to retch

I need a light, fresh, comforting cologne. Dona Ana and friends, what do you suggest, please?
My normal tastes are old fashioned. I love Guerlain L'Heure Blue and many Caron scents. But they are hardly light. I love vintage Balmain Vent Vert but can't stand modern reformulation or many modern green scents eg L'Ombre Sous L'Eau. And Tauer's Pentachord Verdant smells to me - and a close friend - like burnt toast plus dog.

Ooh my Mum had vent vert in the 70's - I would love some of that....

Burnt toast and dog .... Yum ;)

Flora do you dislike Cabotine too?
For a great cologne, have you tried Eau Sauvage by Dior?

I've been sick for a couple of days, so no perfume.

People react very differently to different perfumes. Ormonde Jayne perfumes are well-made and I really like Geza Schön who has created them, but most of them contain an aromachemical that smells revolting and nauseating to me. I do not like makeup smells and am not a huge fan of Paris and Lipstick Rose. Calyx is a great classic (and a vegetable green) but on me it smells like stale lipstick and grated carrots. Lonestar has a strong birch tar note (you will find it in Chanel's Cuir de Russie as well). It's a love/hate association - for me, it's associated with outdoorsy childhood summers - to someone else, it just smells overpowering and petrochemical. A perfumer once explained that for some reason birch tar perfume buyers are often Northern European. In Italy, tuberose perfumes are huge sellers - in many other places, they would be considered loud and overpowering.

The memories I get from Lonestar are of hangovers .....in the days when i used to smoke

and lipstick rose is reminiscent of stale cosmetics

Lonestar Memories is on my "must try" list - but I might have to wait until after Christmas. Someone upthread was in complete raptures about it.

Calyx was my everyday perfume for a while - probably the first "green" perfume that I fell in love with.

You are more than welcome to my sample cointreau...

One that gave me headache was Bulgari Black.
Acrid burned chemicals.

I think I was the raptures person about Lonestar Memories. I am still adoring it (I just knew I would love it and so bought a 5ml sample) and DH is buying me an actual full bottle for Christmas. However, I really like petrochemical smells of all stripes and have been known to inhale deeply while walking through a petrol station forecourt so you might not want to listen to me...

Haven't had any new samples for a while as Christmas is taking up all my spare money! But I found a great use for my unloved sample of Sycomore (and realised what it really smells of). I scented my desk drawers with it and realised that it smells of libraries. In this context, I love it.

OTOH, I have gone right off CB I hate perfume Black March. I really thought I would love it. Would anyone like a large and nearly full sample of it? Please PM me if you would (may not post until after Christmas).

H, I think that's because Black March is damp smoke and Lonestar is dry smoke.
If that makes sense.

It could be! But it's interesting, because I love green/damp/wet perfumes generally. My previous favourite before the joy of Lonestar Memories was Premier Figuier which is pretty green and probably actually wet, rather than damp. No smoke, though!

I'm still hankering after a bottle of Violet Blonde and may well purchase some at the airport this Christmas.

Mine might be le Labo Iris.
Close second was Tuscan Leather.

Thanks, Dona Ana. Hope you feel better now.
I'll give Cabotine a try. I really like a passing whiff of Eau Sauvage on men, but am not too keen on it on me - a bit too much vetyver, perhaps? But your idea of men's scent is a v. good one; perhaps I'll look for something citrussy. I tried a sample of L'Eau d'Hermine the other day. The first few sniffs were absolutely divine, but I was not so fond of the drydown (to me, musky lavender).

It is strange how memories and associations affect our responses so powerfully. I really like the smell of lavender as a plant, but if there's too much of it in a scent it summons up a headache - I assume because, when I was a child, my grandmother used to put drops of what she called 'lavender water' on a handkerchief for me to sniff when I was feeling poorly.

We all have different likes and dislikes. Flora you need to work your way through colognes and greens one by one seeing what eorks for you. There is a lot to discover. Also remember the Goutals - Eau du Sud, the Hadriens and Ninfeo. Excellent unisex colognes with a twist.

Even if you like certain notes and ingredients, you might not like a perfume containing them. I generally like ambers but Ambre Russe leaves me indifferent - it smells tired and dusty to me although many of my friends love it. I also don't like Bulgari Black although it's unquestionably great and original - the rubber note and queasy musks do not work on me.

I need something sinus-clearing and bracing. Aromatics Elixir would fit the bill but I do not have it at home...

Flora have you tried Sisley Eau de Campagne?
Very green classic one?

I'm wearing Ambre sultan and Tubereuse Criminelle mixed together this morning - just makes the amber a bit more floral.
I love mixing perfumes to get my own special fragrance.

I adore Lipstick Rose - funny so many people dislike it. I like it because it smells like old makeup which is what I think puts a lot of people off - it reminds me of looking at expensive cosmetics in a big shop when a child!
I find its a great mixer too, esp under Teint de Neige and anything that could do with a rosy boost. + its one of the only violets that doesn't give me a headache!

DH had a mysterious black box from France delivered yesterday ..... I'm hoping its from Serge Lutens

Cabotine is gorgeous. I'm wearing it today. It's like they made a perfume and put the seeds and stems and ferns in too, with a flower petal as an afterthought. it's affordable too. I don't rate some of the flankers though.

I have just put some Lonstar on. Love it. Probably not appropriate for my son's christmas play this afternoon, but hey ho.

Cabotine is another of my old faves.

Coffeeinbed - I've added Le Labo Iris to my list to try. A few of you were raving about iris generally, and looking at the reviews it seems like the one I would like most. It sounds like a summer/sunny day fragrance from the descriptions.

Having said that, I don't know what iris actually smells of. I absolutely detest jasmine and lilac (loocleaner smells), so do tell me if it has any similarities and I'll cross it off the list!

Cardoon - I'll have a look if I have any samples surplus to requirements, and maybe we can do a swapsie for the Lonestart Memories!

My mum and dad bought me a bottle of Cabotine when I was 14. i can't remember what it smelt like. They also bought me Gucci Envy when I was 15. Maybe i hit my sophisticated peak early...

Iris can be warm but tends towards being a colder scent. The best one I think is Serge Lutens Iris silver Mist - you can smell every bit of the plant from the carrotty tops to the earthy roots. I'm not sure I could wear this as a perfume but love it as a smell/ experience!

It's nothing like jasmine - jasmine can be very dirty, heady and sweet and lilac has indeed the watery loo cleaner tendencies.
Iris is dry - it's what I think paper smells like, some people smell carrot tops.
le Labo Iris is - for me at least - a winter- autumn one. It does not have the clarity of say Hiris or La Pausa.
It's warmer and deeper.
Hiris - which I bought in TKMaxx is what I would wear in the Summer.