Part 3- Fully fledged perfumistas- share your fragrances

[shoeprincess2]

Part 2 is nearly full!

For work I have mostly been rotating between Allure, White Patchouli, and Elie Saab. I have also worn a few of my samples, Fleur d'Oranger, Iris Nobile, Nuit Etoile etc. At weekends I've worn Portrait of a Lady, Black orchid and Coromandel. Wearing Coromandel to work today though as I want to go out this evening and won't have time to shower again, so will just be able to top up. It was much appreciated by a couple of colleagues who asked what I was wearing . This has definitely moved to near the top of 'want it' list.

Looking forward to the weekend, going to try out my samples of Petit Fracas and Cuir de Russie. I imagine myself wearing Cuir de Russie on a Sunday with a white shirt, jeans and a soft leather handbag and boots. Not really sure about Petit fracas though, it seems quite flirty so might wear on Saturday for lunch out with DH and a bright lipstick!

I found some of my By Kilian samples and concur with others that Beyond Love is lovely. But has anyone tried Love? It was much-lauded but when I opened it first smell I get is Fermaldehyde, same smell a the frog I had to dissect in grade 11 biology. Hideous. Is that the benzoine?

By Kilian's Rose Oud though, is lovely. Thick, smoky but with a really earthy authentic rose smell. Highly recommend it though primarily for evening not day.

I can try Love later.
Wearing Incense Rose but obsessed with Beyond Love.
Don't have Rose Oud (but would probably like it - Rose Ispahan cannot be too different).

YouOldSlag you have exceptionally strong reactions to perfumes. (I know a lot of perfumistas who suffer from a tendency to get sensory overloads - many suffer from migraines too). Maybe you should start exploring the Eau de Cartier (lovely perfume!) happy direction, clear, effervescent hesperides, perhaps with a touch of spice. Light unisex/ masculine might also work, Eau Sauvage, Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche for example. Do you like classic colognes?

Oh and everyone's current wardrobes sound lovely.
Keep'em coming!
And yy to mainlining Loretta!!!

ProFumo, funnily enough I get a lot of migraines too. I will pursue your advice and look into effervescent hesperides. I love Cristalle, O de Lancome and of course my beloved Eau de Cartier.

If by classic colognes you mean 4711 and that ilk, then yes indeed I do! I will look out for Eau Sauvage.

Perfume is such a journey- it takes me lots of places in my head.

I have been ordering and trying so many samples recently I'm a veritable fragrance tart! The ones I keep coming back to in this chilly weather are L'Air du Desert Marocain, Ambre Narguile, Un Bois Vanille and Tea for Two (must buy a decant of the latter before it disappears).

Anyway, Mr Tauer has redeemed himself after the Orange Star nightmare, as I've been wearing Vetiver Dance today, and really loving it. Sharp green vetiver, with a note of fresh gingerbread, and there are more spices coming through now. Strange mixture, actually, but very sniffable.

ProFumo - that Tonka Imperiale is on my wishlist. I was planning to put an order in through Crystal Flacon, but I'm not sure how - do you just pm the seller and make a request?

Very sorry, Perfumistas. Did not mean to be disparaging with my emperors' clothes remark. Was just lamenting the fact that, so far, have not found any new scent that equals the comfort and/or uplift of a few old tried and tested ones.

But - aha! - that's all the more reason to enjoy the hunt and keep on looking...

Have started off down a different track today with a sample of 28 La Pausa. That has faint smokiness, along with sugary woods and iris and (?) violets. It's very gentle. Nice, but not for me. Rather reminds me of tiny, tiny childhood sweets called, I think, 'fairy gums'.

Hello Perfumistas, I've been following these threads with some interest (and awe at your finely-tuned olfactory abilities) and am hoping someone might be able to point me in the direction of a perfume which would make a good replacement for the Body Shop's now defunct Neroli Jasmin.

The fuckers have totally changed and weakened the fragrance 'remodelled' it as Indian Night Jasmin and the new version's no good. I know the Body Shop isn't exactly high-end in perfume terms, but I loved Neroli Jasmin and wore it every day :( so I'd be ever so grateful if someone could suggest a similar fragrance. As well as neroli and, erm, jasmine, I think it had vanilla and sandalwood notes too.

Fingers crossed someone can help and thanks in advance for any pointers.

I'm wearing another Tauer today - Carillon pour une Ange. It's interesting. I don't see it as very celestial, though; there's something vegetal about its floral-ness. It reminds me very much of Brompton Stocks -- you know, those cut flowers that have such a heavy scent when fresh, but which quickly turn their water stagnant. There's something of the cut-flower lushness with just a hint of brackish water there. Interesting. I don't know if I like it, exactly, but it's a really interesting smell.

Flora no offense taken - and if you ask many experts - say Andy Tauer- they will reply that the golden era of perfumery was in the 1920s or 1930s.

I agree 100% that there are a lot of schlocky, unnecessary mainstream and niche perfumes. These really are the Emperor's new clothes.

I believe our olfactory preferences have a role here too. For me, many classic aldehydic florals are as constricting as an ill-fitting bra. I'm hugely relieved that I live in an era when Haber and I are allowed to wear tarry, sweaty leathers. My interest in perfume withered when watery and fruity became the new normal. For a chypre or aldehyde lover, however, these times are really dire. Or imagine living in the 80s if you liked quiet perfumes...

Oeufs, no need to change, buy yours on eBay?
That's where most of us buy discontinued fragrances.
Most sellers there are honest people trying to clear attics or shift old stock or get rid of unwanted gifts.

Thanks for replying ProFumo - eBay is good in the short term, but I really need to find a decent replacement so I don't start spending all my gin money on rapidly depleting (and inversely inflated) Neroli Jasmin remainders.

I'm going to try Intimately Beckham (much as I'm loathe to fund Beckhams Inc) as someone on this site seems to think it's very similar. Thanks again for replying :)

Hello, I am tentatvely dipping my toe in here as you all seem so knowledgeable about perfumes and I would love to try a few of the more niche ones. I have looked on the les senteurs website and I fancy trying some of the samples but I have no idea where to start and I was wondering if someone here could make a few recommendations.

I know nothing about the names of different scents but I know what I like iyswim. My most recent purchase was Daisy by Marc Jacobs as I really like the fresh scent of it. I also bought Oh Lola by MJ a few months ago and I love it (I think it is quite fruity and floral?!). I also love Miss Dior (the one advertised by Natalie Portman?). For a long time before now I have worn Romance by Ralph Lauren, which is one of my favourite perfumes, and I used to love Allure by Chanel. I know that I dont like the heavy 'perfumey' smells like Chanel no. 5. And I really dont like Angel either.

Gosh I sound like a total perfume pleb dont I! But can anyone recommend anything I might like from what I have said above?

I thought Carillon pour un Ange was a bit like being whacked over the head with a wedding bouquet, niminy. It's not as subtle as the angel thing would lead you to believe! The stocks thing is a really good comparison. I know exactly what you mean.

Profumo, I too am delighted that women can wear leather, rubber, smoke and tar and get away with it these days. I don't think it's that long ago that it would have been completely bizarre. When I was at university I used to wear Eau Sauvage sometimes and several people were SHOCKED that I was wearing a man's aftershave. OK, that's 25 years or so ago but still...

I've been wearing Reverie au Jardin today. I think I need more lavender in my life at the moment.

My standby fragrance wardrobe over the past few weeks has been L'Air du Temps for work, Lonestar Memories at night and interludes of Chanel No 19 Poudré.

Hello, scarletsalt. I am nowhere near as knowledgeable as most of those who post here but welcome anyway!

I think our early experience of perfume has had a lasting effect on our preferences now.

Coming of age in the 1980s and my first perfume at around age 15 being Poison, which I loved, it's kind of hard to fall in love with a watery fruity floral, they just fall short of the mark compared to those big 80s orientals. My mum wore Youth Dew throughout my childhood, which is such a BIG fragrance, it's hardly surprising that for myself I chose Poison, it just about matched my mums signature, in a more modern way but equally loud way.

I imagine for many younger women who have been born into a world where the light fruity floral is all they have known, any of the aldehydes and chypres and heavy orientials must smell vile.

scarlet you have quite mainstream tastes at the moment, I think you will find many of scents on les senteurs a little 'different', someone with a bit more experience than me might be able to steer you in the right direction of something good quality but not too challenging to satrt with, maybe some of the Annick Goutals, or Serge lutens??

I agree Profumo, the scents I fall in love with always remind me of something else. Sometimes it's a perfume I've met before on someone else and enjoyed but don't realise it's the same one until I try it myself, which happened with Coco (now worn by three generations of family members!)

Sometimes I try a perfume and it triggers an old memory- Insolence brought back my Nan's pink lipstick in a gold case but that's why I like it. Luckily for me, there isn't much I don't like (not so good for my poor wallet though!)

Oeufs, there is nowt wrong with the Body Shop, I may or may not still wear White Musk from time to time

I have purchased three cheapie samples from ebay, two of which I didn't even want, all so I could get one of YSL M7. I can highly recommend this page- www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Yves-Saint-Laurent/M7-1031.html

In particular, try clicking on the bottom picture of the ad campaign

Sorry, not so good at links.

OOOOHHH DH used to wear M7, can't for the life of me understand why it was discontinued!????!!

Whoops, obviously took ages to post

Scarlett, I'm very new to niche fragrances but the L'Artisan Parfumeur perfumes I've tried have been very approachable.

Isabelle, I find I'm drawn to stronger scents too and I've also spent my childhood around powerhouse fragrances. My teacher in my final year of primary school wore a cloud of Poison every day, but strangely it didn't put me off and I still love it.

Thanks isabelle yes you are right, I have definitely always only ever really smelt the mainstream fruity florals, but am fascinated to see what I would think of some of the different ones. I have looked at the annick goutals and serge lutens and have seen a couple on there that I might do a bit of further research on and get a sample of.

Dont think I will be going for the knize ten just yet!

Isabelle - I was a teen in the 80s too, and used to wear: Jovan's Sex Appeal for Women (cringe), Cinnabar and Halston. I used to love Halston! I also used to wear Pino Silvestre, which was a "man's fragrance", and I still love it. I had a boyfriend who used to wear Aramis, and another who used to wear Kouros. There was nothing subtle about the 1980s! My mother used to wear Giorgio and something called Charles of the Ritz, which despite its naff name, used to smell rather nice.

My eighties fragrance was White Linen -- I was musing on it the other day after reading Bois de Jasmin who gives it 5 stars. Powerhouse -tick; aldehydes to the max - tick. Hm, I must go and have a sniff again, just for old times sake.

Yes, Haberdashery, hit over the head by Brompton stocks. Are those the flowers that Morrissey used to have in his back pocket (can't the eighties out of my head now)?

I think tomorrow I might have a break from testing and go back to Shalimar. Sooo beautiful, I'm tempted to wear too much

I used to love White Linen too. And I also liked Youth Dew. I couldn't believe it was still going. Haven't used it for years and years. I like the sound of bois de Violettes. But it so expensive. I don't think I could ever justify spending that much or even asking for it as a present.

Fuzzybirds, can you get the l'artisan parfumer perfumes in sample size at all? Dont want to commit to a big bottle, but am loving some of the descriptions of the fragraces!

I haven't worn Poison since my first bottle ran out (it lasted years), smelled it recently, and although it is not exactly the same, it is similar enough to bring back great memories. The 80s were great!

I still like similar ones now though, I always think of Black Orchid as being in the same family.

Perfumistas, which perfume do you find projects the most on you?

.....On me it is probably Portrait of a Lady or Coromandel. Insolence and the Gucci EDP (the original now sadly discontinued ) used to get noticed a lot too, as did D&D pour Femme (old one) and Boudoir

Did anyone ever wear Exclamation! ? It was in a white round bottle and the lid was an exclamation mark, if I remember rightly it smelled powdery and quite sweet and i used to buy it in boots, not from the fragrance counters though, it was stocked amongst the coty laimants etc in the cheaper fragrance section. Ahh those were they days