Part 3- Fully fledged perfumistas- share your fragrances

[shoeprincess2]

Part 2 is nearly full!

I went into Superdrug this afternoon and there were a few testers out. I tried Obsession which was OK and another one which I had never heard of before. Lady Million (awful name) by Paco Rabanne. That was surprisingly very nice indeed. And has lasted ages on my hand although been washed a few times.

Superdrug has a MadonnaTruth or Dare Gift set for 12.99. If you like tuberose it's actually a lovely fragrance. And it's VERY tuberose.

Niminy- you lucky lady. Kiwi introduced me to Shalimar. it is stunning. I would really love a fb. Maybe have to have a look online

Youoldslag I like tuberose and have heard good things about Truth or Dare, I will have to try it out as that is an absolute bargain! Dita Von Teese's perfume is also supposed to be good as far as celeb scents go and very affordable. I got a big bottle of SJP's Lovely for Christmas, which I love as a spring scent.

Talking of bargains, I was just thinking today that our local car boot will be starting again in a month or so. It's my happy hunting ground for all sorts of tat treasures. Can't wait to see if I find any decent perfume there!

OK, ladies - SWAPSIES!

PM me if you fancy trying any of these, and have samples you don't want anymore which you could offer me (no tuberose, thanks ). They are either manufacturer-filled samples, or decants from Surrender to Chance, and most used only once or twice:

Tauer Une Rose Vermeille 0.5ml
Dueto City Oud 1.2ml spray
Dueto City Love 1.2ml spray
Chanel Bois des Iles 1ml
Knize Knize Ten 1ml
L'Artisan Timbuktu 0.5ml
Bvlgari Au The Blanc 0.5ml
Dior Hypnotic Poison Eau Sensuelle 1.5ml spray
Gucci Gucci 1.5ml

Today I'm wearing Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune. Fresh, soft grapefruit, but I think I prefer the Herba Fresca.

Shoeprincess I got a 30ml bottle from Escentuals -- it was £37 which is not hideously expensive.

Niminy, have PMd you.

Managed to sneak out today for an hour of sniffing and testing. I tried loads on blotters which are now all layed on the coffee table to be sniffed at leisure. Lots of tuberose ones today, looking for a

I tried

Truth or Dare- sweet tuberose, very heady, the tester almost has a cloud of scent around it, this would probably give great silage when worn. I like it.

Luten's Datura Noir- this is lovely, sweet, almond, tuberose and coconut- tropical, would be lovely for evenings in summer.

Feminite de bois- fallen in love with this, lots of violets and powder and wood! need to test on skin!

Do Son- smells like tuberose, can't smell much else as the tuberose is so dominant.

Fracas and Petit Fracas, giving these another try- actually the Petit Fracas seems nicer and not so sweet once dry and it has a fruity chocolatelyness, but side by side it is not that much different from fracas, it is more modern smelling and even stronger!!!!. I have a sample of this so can't wait to try it on.

Floret EDP from Antonias flowers, this is nice, white flowers and fresh- maybe it could be the green white flower scent I'm after, not sure yet though, will have to try properly.

Finally, tried Songes, EDT on one wrist and EDP on the other. Initially the EDP was more heady and strong, but in the dry down I prefer the edt as it leaves behind more vanilla and is sweeter, I don't know if the EDP has any leather in the notes but I thought maybe I smelled a tiny little leather in the base.

Ooh Isabelle Feminite de Bois sounds right up my street. I do wish our nearest shopping centre had a greater range. I keep dropping hints to DH about going in to Bristol so I can have a good mooch around Harvey Nicks but parking+extortionate bridge toll makes it too expensive to do that often.

Wearing Hypnotic Poision today, one of my favourites

If you like hypnotic poison Fuzzy, try Lutens Datura Noir, it is quite similar, maybe not as much vanilla, but quite heady, coconut, and lots of almond.

Feminite de bois- dirty knickers! I'd be interested to know if anyone else got that scent from it.It was embarrassing to wear and I had to wash it off. It smells like an unwashed lady has decided to use perfume instead of washing.

Really?? Nooooo! Don't put me off, I only got lovely powdery wood and innocent violets! That saying, I only sprayed it on paper so will need to test it properly.

I didn't get that either! Will have to try it again tomorrow - v tentatively.

I don't get knickers or violets, I do know it was cumin so that might explain the dirty note.
There's another one - Bois de Violette, which is a version of Feminité plus violets.

It is definitely Feminite de Bois which I tried. The violets are not there in the top notes, but it is definitely violet I get it in base. The top is all plummy and floral with cedar, but the dry down is pure violets and sandalwood to me. I would like to try Bois de Violette also.

I am wearing Iris Nobile today from Aqua di Parma. I love the opening of this when I first spray, it all orange/neroli with the cooler powdery iris fighting it's way through. That doesn't last though and you are left with a woody sort of iris scent which is fairly warm, but it's not very strong, I have difficulty detecting it on myself. I might try the sublime version to see if it lasts better.

Isabekle- i really liked iris Nobile. After trying Iris poudre, I was tempted never to try iris again, but Iris Nobile was lovely.

I would love to try Bois de Violette too, my list of violet scents to try is getting longer and longer! Also intrigued by Tom Fords's Black Violet.

I've got a sample of Iris Noble Sublime, although I haven't tried the original one yet so can't compare the two. It struck me as a very elegant and refined scent but extremely subtle, I could hardly smell it all by lunchtime. Lovely but not really 'me'.

Black Violet is absolutely gorgeous. Well worth a try, IMO.

The strongest violet scent i have ever tried is Geurlain Insolence, it is pure parma violets, the EDP version is the nicest. The silage is AMAZING. You really would need to like strong violets to like it though.

Isabelle- I loved Insolence. Very violets and very lovely.

I liked Insolence as well.
Really pretty.
Apres L'Ondee is probably my favourite violet.
Haven't tried Tom Ford's.
His Black Orchid put me off his perfumes for years and have been avoiding them until I read - here! - about Tuscan Leather.
So while I still proceed with caution I'm happy to give them a sniff.

Violette in Love is a gorgeous violet. Smells like violet candy sweets. Lovely. By Parfums de Nicolai.

Thank you all for the fab violet recommendations! I do like Insolence EDT but not tried the EDP yet, will have to give it a go. Coffee I really thought I would love Black Orchid but there is something in it I don't like. I've got the perfume parlour version which I actually prefer.

I feel as if I've been wearing and trying lots of very sweet scents lately so for a change I'm wearing Cristalle EDT today, which I love. I'll probably wear it a lot more during the spring but only got a tiny mini so don't want to run out (FB on the ever expanding wish list!)

I didn't like Black Orchid either, but then I don't like a lot of the notes in it (jasmine, sandalwood). It's too cloying for me.

OOO I liiike Black Orchid, I think it is an aquired taste though, I could understand why many people don't like it, the blackcurrant opening is quite strong, but it dries down really nice. I find I can only wear it occasionally though, like Chrstmas parties, or rare times like I feel I want to stand out!

I am trying out Chanel No22 today. It smells like quality, expensive, aloof and classy. In the same family as No5 definitely, powder, soap,floral, aldehydes and long lasting. I quite like it, don't think I would ever have a need for a bottle of it though. It's just too vintage smelling. The only classic I want to get will be L'heure Bleu, which is much softer and whimsical than this one.