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

Bonsoir I'm glad - you did all the work. I love it too.

Awkward great list! Lonestar is very love/hate, but very unique.

Charliefox, the secret that many people do not know is that some über-expensive perfumes are not all that different from mass-market stuff (this because especially in mainstream perfumery, the true cost of the juice in the bottle is between 1-3 GBP. The rest is pixie dust and marketing. Many of my perfumista friends think that Lidl knockoffs are quite well made.

Take Loud by Tommy Hilfiger (look for it in dimestores and bargain basements) and Heeley's boho chic Hippie Rose. Both are variations of the patchouli-rose theme. You can decide which one works better for you.

There are quite a few perfume dupes out there. As for Jo Malone (not a huge fan), their Pomegranate Noir Cologne smells almost exactly the same Sequoia from Comme des Garcons (came out four years earlier, costs less and you will get synthetic oud as a bonus track) . Both, by the way, are super-synthetic; CdG proudly so, Jo Malone perhaps less openly.

Creed Green Irish Tweed (a celebrity favorite) and Davidoff Cool Water (your dad and college boyfriend wore this) were made by the same perfumer and are very quite close, but the former costs about 100 GBP more.

They say that Eau des Baux by L'Occitane smells very much like Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford. I haven't smelled the side by side.

My favorite dupe is the one for L'Eau de Chloe. My wool/cashmere washing liquid (made by Henkel - Perlana???) smells exactly the same.

So if you are new to perfume and experiencing a sticker shock, it's worth googling perfume forums and blogs to find out whether the expensive thing you just fell in love with has cheaper variants. Personally, I usually prefer to buy smaller sizes (samples, minis, decants) of the original.

I went to an Arab/Indian trade fair today and there were several stalls selling knock-off copies of famous expensive perfume formulas. I got giddy at the thought of being able to have some Tom Fords at non-silly prices so I let the man spray me with the ones I knew well, to see if they were a good likeness.

Big mistake. Petrol fumes and burnt rubber, anyone?

Maybe it was a dupe of Bulgari Black or Etro Gomma?

Just a reminder, if you need a decant of Tobacco Vanille or Tuscan Leather, here is an UK-based seller and a fantastic Germany-based seller. This lovely Italian lady has some exquisite <a class="break-all" href="//fflacon.ambaric.net/viewtopic.php?t=196&highlight=tobacco+vanille" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">feminine/unisex perfumes - I can warmly recommend her.

Just done another Surrender to Chance order; a mixture of fragrances I've heard about on this thread or from reading Perfumes A to Z. OK, deep breath......

Knize Ten - amber and leather sounds good to me.
Serge Lutens -Ambre Sultan - another one I've read some delicious descriptions of.
Serge Lutens - 5 o'clock au Gingembre - ditto
Le Labo - Iris 39 - not tried iris, and this sounds like a nice one.
Annick Goutal - Sables - had to try, after the recent descriptions of its challenging nature!
Guerlain - Acqua Allegoria Pampelelune - always been a sucker for grapefruit
Guerlain - L'Heure Bleue - tried recently but once was not enough
Heeley - Sel Marin - Sounds interesting and a bit different
Artisan Perfumer - Timbuktu - ditto

I'm certainly finding out what notes I like (tobacco, leather, amber, lavender, vanilla....) and ones I hate (tuberose!). Hopefully there will be a few hits amongst the list above.

Interestingly, it was considerably cheaper buying from S to C in the US than it would have been from Les Senteurs, only 13 miles away in central London. The nine samples including postage came to £23.08. Not bad.

Thank you, Dona, I'll be investing in a decant of Tuscan Leather. Really looking forward to experimenting some more, having worn pretty much the same thing for years until very recently. I got caught up in that 'signature scent' thing - now I realise how much fun I've been denying myself!

Dear Flybynight

This is just a quick note to apologise if you have kindly sent the samples to Glasgow and have been waiting to hear from me. Just before New Year, I got ill and retreated back to my Highland home. I have not been in Glasgow for almost 10 days.
I do, however, plan to be in Glasgow in about a week or so, and will be able to (happily, I am sure) explore your kind samples then.
In the mean time, my sincere apologies for any seeming rudeness/tardiness in not sending thanks.

All the very best for 2013
Fiona

Bargainous Europe-based samples here - we have mentioned quite a few of them here: Kingdom, Rose Vermeille, Beige, Coromandel, Sequioa, Elie Saab, Jasmin Noir, several Malles, Cologne du 68, Marquis de Sade, Citizen Queen, Premier Figuier, Teint de Neige, Bas de Soie, Fumerie Turque, Feminite du Bois, Bergamote by TDC (my summer fave), Neroli Portofino (the only cologne that lasts), YSL NU... So many hits actually that the seller has to be one of us!!! (Not me. )
An opportunity for someone new to niche - these are very good!

Coffee, thanks for the Lumiere warning!

I liked Verdant a lot by the end, DonaAna, but the start of it was so weird. I don't even know what that smell was and I'm not completely sure I liked it but as always with a Tauer I couldn't stop sniffing myself to find out what was going to happen next.

I tried Carillon pour un Ange recently, too. LOVED this from start to finish. Gorgeous whacking great armfuls of flowers. It smells like a fairytale (the happy ending part). And it reminded me hugely of Anais Anais which I have always maintained is a misunderstood classic.

Today's sample was Eau d'Epices (Tauer again). Love it. My husband loves it so much he keeps grabbing my wrist for a sniff. Like the other Tauers I've tried it has a beltingly strong opening, soft and graceful middle and a really surprising end. This is lovely, it really is. Spice and edible notes without any of the excessive sweetness that puts me off most perfumes of this kind. I think it basically smells like a very refined take on mince pies (with a bit of citrus somewhere). Gorgeous. Would buy this like a shot in whole bottle quantities if I could afford to!

Awkward, I can heartily recommend the Tauers. They have taken me to places I wasn't convinced I really liked going and made me love them.

Petrol fumes and burnt rubber, anyone?

Hmm. I would probably give that a go!

That Eau D'Epices sounds right up my street, Haberdashery.

The one Tauer I didn't like was Une Rose Vermeille, which was tooth-rottingly sweet and jammy on me.

I have steered clear of the rose ones so far, so that's interesting, Cointreau. I am a bit scared of rose as a perfume note, even though I love the smell of real roses more than just about anything apart from real violets.

Haberdashery reasonably priced decants of Eau d'Epices here (he's my favorite Flaconer). I find Tauers really interesting even when I don't like them (Zeta, Carillon, Reverie, Auburn and Orange Star are difficult for me).

Rose is a divisive note. A friend says it smells like beer on her; others get an old-ladyish vibe. Luckily, I wear rose really well (unlike white flowers).

Cointreau your list sounds great. Knize 10 is for me perhaps the scariest perfume I know. I usually hate aquatic perfumes, but Sel Marin is really good.

Awkward I find the signature scent concept quite boring. Yes, it's great to know some perfumes really well (No. 19 is like that for me), but I'd stop smelling it if I wore it day in day out. Hope you'll make great discoveries.

I'm wallowing in Iris Silver Mist. I sprayed some last night, and it's still lingering. For me, many irises are the perfect work/office scent (I pick the cool facet of iris and alternate these three: 28 La Pausa, Zagorsk, Iris Silver Mist. May add Le Labo Iris to the list as it is very similar). Cool irises are not dreamy or escapist - rather, brisk and efficient but still stylish and elegant.

Today I'm following the advice of a Basenoter, who mentioned that layering Iris Silver Mist (SL) and Oud Ispahan (Dior) will great the ultimate iris leather. As they happen to be some of my favorite notes, and I have both on my dresser, I tried this, and the result is out of this world... Marry the bitter dark tanninic denseness of leather with the cool airiness of iris. Earthy and heavenly at the same time, perfectly balanced. Eat your heart out Cuir de Russie!

Morning ladies! And a Happy and fragrant New Year to you all! I have been reading this thread and keeping up with all the wonderful sampling that has been going on.

Been quiet, what with various things going on and trying to not purchase anything... However, I'm currently putting together an StC order.... A "Les Exclusifs" sampler set, Lutens' Borneo 1834 (curious, as Coromandel is supposed to be a re working of this) and the famous Tuscan leather. I
also have my eye on the Etat Liber D'Orange sampler set on Escentual.com. £24.95 for 24 samples. Very good offer.

I am completely in love with Tauer fragrances. The more I test them, the more I find another dimension to them. Eau D'Epices is beautiful- a basket of spices, perfect for this time of year. L'Air and Lonestar are just amazing scents. Pentachord White is a delight to wear (it was way back when DonaAna recommended it as a non twee violet). I have worn it about 3 times now, and each time it becomes something more. I haven't tried Carillon Pour Un Ange or the Rose Chypre yet, but they are on my list!

Not long to go until I need to set up the 3rd volume of this thread. I guess I'll be on the hunt for a nice summer scent soon!

Shoe are covering a lot of ground, great!
I love Tauers. They tap into memories, feelings, my limbic system... I think they are a great port-of-entry to niche perfumery. Perfumes that are easy to appreciate to the absolute beginner, but also highly rated by people who have smelled everything.

Chanel Exclusifs are another great place to start - they are at the other end of the scale, stylish, restrained, polished. They use great raw materials. If you'll get a great stylistic tour - classic aldehyde (22), superb leather iris (CdR), hyper-sweet rose musk (ambrette is a plant musk; 18), standout gourmand (Coromandel), one of the most stunning modern chypres (Rue Cambon), an iris soliflore (La Pausa), a very wearable vetiver (Sycomore), a great sandalwood (Bois des Iles), a and a great cologne (EdC). The ones that I'm not so crazy about are Beige (a cute grown-up schoolgirl perfume - it reminds me of the film 'Clueless'), Gardenia (I have white flower phobia) and Jersey lavender soliflore (house cleaning products have ruined this note for me).

ELdOs are the right choice for anyone who is bored with what the shops offer and not comfortable with classics. They are very modern, playful and irreverent.

I'm toying with the idea of the ELdO set as well, even if it's just to try Fat Electrician. I happen to work with quite a few.....

DonaAna - I was reading reviews of Tauer Orange Star and the description rather appealed to me. I'd be interested to know what you think of it.

Gah! I can foresee I'll be doing yet another sample order before long. This is addictive!

DonaAna- the 6 I have picked for my Les Exclusifs sampler set are:-

-no 22
-28 La Pausa
-31 Rue Cambon
-Bel Respiro
-Sycomore
-Bois Des Iles

I had discarded some of the other based on my research and you have just confirmed a lot of them (Beige and Jersey in particular).

I already have Coromandel and love it. That is why I am curious to see what Borneo 1834 is like in comparison.

Go ahead Cointreau and try Orange Star! I have fruit phobia - the great classic Messe de Minuit by Etro (very orangey incense) is appreciated by almost everyone, but smells like a gigantic panettone on me... Orange Star is very piercing and over the top on me, almost painful, but I love the base (shared, I think with many other Tauers). I think most of us have both inborn and acquired reasons why we don't like certain smells (my phobias have to do with industrial strength floor cleaners used during my pregnancies in Brazil). Your dislikes will be different from mine, so definitely worth a try.

Fat Electrician is really mesmerizing

I quite like Orange Star. Didn't at first- felt it was a bit like undiluted orange cordial on my skin. But like a lot of Tauers- it's a grower. Fat Electrician- title makes me giggle. Not as much as Secretions Magnifiques though

I tried La Pausa (and most of the other Exclusifs) at the airport at Christmas (but on paper rather than skin). I liked nearly everything, though some I found a bit pedestrian considering the price tag, but the one that stuck out for me as horrifically nasty was La Pausa. There was something in it that I absolutely hated. It smelt like old stale magazines (the paper kind, not guns) to me.

I love anything citrus and Orange Star is definitely on my list to try!

Thanks for the decant tip, DonaAna.

Today's sample was Reverie au Jardin (Tauer). I think it's misnamed. This isn't a garden, it's a massive terrace of lavender plants with a forest somewhere in the background and possibly an entire vineyard, too. Lovely, though. I don't think it's quite up to the mark of the other Tauers I've tried in terms of originality. But I like it very very much and would happily smell like this any day of the week.

Also, I MUST try Fat Electrician. DH is an electrician and is not fat but is, er, a little larger than when I met him - and doesn't mind being teased about it so he probably needs a sample....

on the back of this thread I have tried a sample of Hermessence Ambre Narguile and now have a 15ml winging to me via Ebay.de.

I'd love to try Chanel Coromandel - does anybody know if I can try it at Selfridges?

Will have to think what else to try now I know I love amber.

I'm wearing Fat Electrician right now.
This, like Secretions Magnifiques, is something you all have to experience on your own. I have to quote someone on Basenotes: "It's a sensory journey into the past for me. It's the smell of our TV burning Christmas day 1979."

Wouldn't you love a book that opened with those sentences?

It's sweet, weird, and a vetiver very subtly treated, and still very wearable.
My DH refused to smell this on my wrists. He told he already knows what fat electricians smell like. Then 15 minutes later he came to the living room and asked what smells so good here...

Haber like any other note, iris can be divisive. I'm addicted to the cool papery feel. (I also quite like this novelty perfume. And if ink is your drug of choice, go for M/Mink.) Iris has other facets too - the warmth of Iris Poudre and Equistrius.

Florence what you already have is really great. If you want to know the amber note better, I warmly recommend an amber sampler from Surrender to Chance.

My favorite amber is Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens.
You might also want to read Olfactoria's Travels and see what she loves. Her nickname is The Queen of Amber - some of her suggestions here. Here's another fantastic amber thread.

I rather love the idea of the book perfume!

M/Mink sounds interesting, too.

I've been wearing Lonestar Memories again today because it's depressingly cold, grey and foggy. Lonestar is the perfect antidote.

Blimey, M/Mink reviews are pretty divided. Some are scary.

This made me laugh:

I own a full bottle of this. I wear it sometimes. It can serve as a complete companion, if, for example, you don't want to go see that Michael Haneke film by yourself. Or read House of Leaves all by your lonesome. I thought I loved this, but it was a trick. I catch a glimpse of this out of the corner of my eye, worried it is a strange man in my apartment only to realize it is me. And I have done this to myself. And I will, again and again. Unsettling, and I only have myself to blame.