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

hat's good news Cointreau. Report back when you've had a play with your first shipment. Must get some of the Un Bois Vanille. Sounds like another one that I would like. I believe that First in Fragrance are a European perfumerie that sell samples. Possibly German. Le Labo ship samples from London, so that's good.

Ooops, missed of the first letter- T

Isabelle- no Space NK samples. There was a glitch on their website yesterday, which meant that you got £15 off every order and free delivery. NARS blusher cost me £6!!

I'm wearing Amouage jubilation today. Way too woody for me. Quite harsh.

Wearing Pomegranate Noir from Jo Malone today- I really wish I liked it more as I have a huge 100ml bottle, but I can't get over the medicinal clove/vicks smell in it.

I popped into John Lewis this morning, and had a quick squirt of two I hadn't tried before:

Guerlain Vetiver - Am really really liking vetiver generally; I find it fresh, uplifting and easy to wear. This one was very classic, but I think I marginally prefer Tom Ford Grey Vetiver.

Diptyque Phylosikos - Lovely figs, but of the three figgy ones I've tried my fave is still Ninfeo Mio, which is a bit more fruity and warm than this one, and seems to last longer. Nice though.

Going to try one of my samples shortly!

MajorB, I shall have to add that Diptyque Vetyverio to my ever expanding list.

Yes me too Cointreau. Don't particularly like the Jo Loves Pink vetiver though. Very meh

CDG Tar today. I love it. It smells of tarmac and something a bit lemony but warm. It's very subtle. I was expecting something a lot brasher, but this is actually rather sophisticated and gentle.

Ooooh, a thread full of experts.
Can anyone recommend a budget version of Tom Ford's Lavender Palm?

Loathe anything by Calvin Klein. Obsession is pure Coopers Fly spray - on anyone. The others smell ust as disgusting. Really hate being i a lift with a Calvinite. Back in the day I dreaded walking thru department stores because someone would always spray Revlon Moondrops or Intimate - Cat's pee. Ugh.

I don't know Lavender Palm but it sounds absolutely gorgeous, Pantry.

Haberdashery it is.
I foolishly ordered a sample, fell in love and then realised I can't afford it as it's £135 for 50m. I can probably justify up to £80.

Mind you, I have so many wants on my wish list and so many other frangrances I want to try I shall just to add it to my if I win the lottery list

And I shall have to remember not to try things I can't afford

aJumpedUpPantryBoy - why don't you buy a decant of Lavender Palm, whatever size you can afford? Surrender to Chance stock it (sorry, can't link on my tablet) and you can order online. Code "welcome" (I think) gives you a 10% discount.

Today I'm trying the first of my new pack of samples - Serge Lutens Five O'clock Au Gingembre. I liked the topnote, spicy and incensy, and the tail end is quite nice, but it was a bit meh in the middle. Quite a dry, masculine scent, not as sweet as the name suggests.

Have you tried Tauer's Reverie au Jardin, Pantry? It's a gorgeous lavender scent. Not a garden but there is a big whack of medicinal lavender at the front of it and a pine forest lurking somewhere in the background. It's lovely. Not quite as expensive as the Tom Ford but on the way there, though...

I haven't tried Reverie au Jardin - I shall add it to my list of need to smell

Cointreau, that's a good idea, if I can't find something similar I may well do that

Limiting my time spent online (in favor of RL friends & outings), but love this thread and will do my best to keep it alive...

You all are soon going to be more sophisticated perfume lovers than I am - keep up the great work and sampling!

I've enjoyed Pulp by Byredo on several consecutive days. It's such a fun fruit scent - bordering on rotten, like Carmen Miranda's hat after a sweltering day of desfiles do carnaval. In the gloomy, dark weather this zingy thing (figs, strawberries, blackberries flying past in a dizzy sequence) just makes me smile. Byredos are very uneven, and I haven't sampled them all, but I really like Rose Noir and Pulp.

I went to a profumeria yesterday near Pantheon to score a discontinued bottle (apparently unavailable elsewhere) for a friend abroad. As a thank-you, I got some samples - Feminite du Bois among them. Don't you love a profumeria that gives you one of the reigning queens of perfumery as a token? I've missed FB as I had lost my earlier sample. So right now I'm swathed in a haze of plummy and cedary fumes. This really works in the winter.

Another perfume I've enjoyed last week was Bois d'Ombrie by Eau d'Italie. It contains some of my favorite notes (tobacco, leather, various woods) but is dominated by the scent of dry paprika powder.

Haberdashery happy you loved Tar. Lavendar Palm - definitely decant-worthy, search Crystal Flacon, I'm pretty sure you'll find it there. OldSlag, there are two different Jubilations, XXV (masculine, woody) and 25 (opulent, feminine) - I'm a fan of the latter.

The mail restrictions on perfume shipments are depressing. They don't really affect me, because anything I would ever want can be found locally in Italy, but most other countries in Europe have much more limited supply and as most of you already know, mail ordering is absolutely vital to be able to sample the most interesting perfumes (and to exhange samples with friends).

I'm going to post sparingly - the next few weeks are very busy days of work, travel, friends visiting - but will keep following the thread. I'm always thrilled when someone here finds a new, unexpected lovely perfume.

A winter treat for you: go to the men's department in just about any place that sells perfume and put on some Habit Rouge by Guerlain. Then come back here and let us know what it felt like.

DonaAna you're coming to my favorites.
Feminite and Bois d'Ombrie. Absolutely love both.
Not sure about the dry paprika, it's a boozy woody iris I smell.

I'm trying Annick Goutal Sables today. Yuck. Very odd herby, aniseedy, dusty smell, just like the dried flower arrangements my mum used to put everywhere. It is certainly unique, though, not like any perfume I've smelled before.

It's probably the Helichrysum - immortelle you can smell, Cointreau.

I went out for dinner with DH last night and wore the last of my Portrait of a Lady sample. I think maybe it has more sillage than I first thought as a man sitting about 3 metres down from us at the bar in the restaurant asked the barmaid if it was her that smelled nice. She offered her wrist and the man replied "that is very nice but it's not that I can smell." Think it must have been me as not anyone else close by.

Anyway it was my birthday today and my present from DH was a bottle of POAL!!! My new favourite scent.

From reading reviews and forums and this thread, my must smell list is:

Coromandel and Cuir du Russie from Chanel.
Ambre Sultan, Fleurs d'Oranger and Datura Noir from Serge Lutens.
Visa and Fracas from Robert Piguet.
L'Heure Bleu EDP from Geurlain.
Songes from Annick Goutal.
Etat Libre'Orange from Devin Enfant.
Fleur Nocturne by Isaby.
Forever Now by Gucci.

Already on my must buy list is:

Soir du Lune from Sisley.
Carnal Flower from Frederick Malle.(or Tuberose Gardenia from Estee).
Cristalle EDP from Chanel.
Lolita Lempicka.
Insolence EDP from Geurlain.

However, I have 17 perfumes at the moment and the box I keep them in is full so have set myself a rule of one in one out otherwise I will be bankrupt . Nearly used up my bottles of Mon Jasmin Noir and Ellie Saab EDPs (loved these but bored of them so wearing them to work now).

Well meaning in law sent me a bottle of Amy Child's perfume (WHY OH WHY????) However, it's not tooooo baaaaad! Smells like a cross between Angel and Euphoria. At least it looks pretty in my collection, guess dd will pinch it.

Cointreau immortelle is a difficult note to love - syrupy sweet with a meaty, bacony edge. Cannot remember whether Sables has patchouli but that can also give a dusty feel. It's a challenging perfume. I wear it about once a year.

Lovely gift, PotL has a magnificent sillage Isabelle. Dose with a light hand (I often try to get half sprays) and savor the compliments It is a smart idea to avoid full bottles (gifts welcome obviously) and satisfy your curiosity with samples. It takes a while to really learn what you truly like - so smell everything but avoid big purchases.

Coffee FdB is really great. I wore Sienne l'hiver today and got again a dried spicerack smell. Wonder what that is. We spent a day in Siena this winter and the smell is aromatic wood oven smoke, cool stones and occasional bakery smells. I would have all that bottled up.

Wearing Mona di Orio's Oud tonight. This perfume makes the angels sing. It smells exactly like the gilded contours of a holy picture in an otherwise dark church. Otherworldly.

DonaAna, I definitely agree with what you say about avoiding buying full bottles - I think I would rapidly run out of cash! From all the new things I've tried there are possibly only two or three that I love enough to buy more once my sample runs out, and I think a decant will satisfy, leaving me more cash to spend on a variety of things.

The thing is, I have worn 1000+ perfumes and can isolate only few that to me are full bottle worthy. (You perhaps just need two - a stylish but inoffensive work perfume - Zagorsk or La Pausa is mine - plus your all-time personal favorite - I probably should nominate No 19 because I have it in 4 different formulations. Okay, in reality, you'll probably need more like 10 or 20 bottles to allow for different moods and seasons ) But for most of the time, I'm experimenting with samples and decants. To me, a sample is a full week of wear. If you have fifty samples, it's more than enough for a year...

Sorry about atrocious typing, distracted (the approaching busy work week doesn't help).

I tried Fireside Intense today and like it. I am a bit worried I smell like I'm a part time arsonist cowboy, though, what with all the smoke and leather I am wafting around. This one is very very bonfirey but that's quite nice in the snow - sort of like an illusion of warmth!

In other news, I am so loving Eau d'Epices (Tauer) that I think I may have to buy a bottle to alternate with Lonestar Memories. However, I've ordered some more Tauer samples so will hold off until I have smelt those. Am consistently amazed and delighted by Tauers, much more so than any other perfumes I've smelt.

DonaAna, someone I know mentioned Sienne L'Hiver to me the other day. It sounds intriguing.