Perfume lovers - vol. 6

[FrugalFashionista]

This space is for anyone who wants to talk about perfumes - ask for recommendations, tell us which scent you are wearing today (=SOTD), list your favorites...

Continued from here

[ShatzePage]

Thanks for checking-does anyone know if anyone in the uk sells samples of it?

[Stokey]

Well I have done it - bought the Spring sample set & added a sample of Coromandel which everyone raves about for good measure.

SOTD is Tauer LADDM, love it. I like Jean Paul Guatier;s too Shazte

Anyone got Une Rose Chypree? I bought a sample after reading this review but find it quite a challenge. I sturggle to smell the rose in it and definitely prefer LADDM

[Housewife2010]

I'm having another browse on Surrender to Chance & flicking over to fragrantica.com for more details. Some of the Diptyques are described as "toilet vinegars" on STC - takes away the glamour somewhat!

[EugeneKrabs]

Ooh, evening, fellow perfume pervs.

SOTD - Blood Oranges by Shay & Blue

Am out tomorrow night and will probably wear the tragically discontinued Gucci EDP. It was a Tom Ford frag and is fabulous. Beautiful bottle too.

www.mimifroufrou.com/scentedsalamander/2006/09/perfume_review_musings_gucci_e.html

[EugeneKrabs]

Eff it, not cooperating

www.mimifroufrou.com/scentedsalamander/2006/09/perfume_review_musings_gucci_e.html

[EugeneKrabs]

There we go

[FrugalFashionista]

Eugene loving perfume pervs... (Frag freaks would work too ) Tom Ford just gets so many things right - Guccis have been pretty empty-headed after he left. I think of Tom Ford frags as the new Estee Lauders. Well made, commercial but just different enough so that you can never find a cheap knockoff. EL tapped into the 1980s American psyche (unnaturally flawless, radiant), TF really gets what we want now. (Unsurprisingly it's the same parent company and they own MAC, Bobbi Brown, Clinique and Aveda too.) And then they have Jo Malone and its pretty packaging as a gateway drug...

I'm wearing Le Temps d'une Fete. It's one of the best spring perfumes I have, one of those cool-warm perfumes I adore, clear green and piercing hyacinth and narcissus notes with a warm and sensual incense heart. I smelled narcissus absolute at a perfume fair some time ago and have been obsessed with it ever since. Here is a great description - it's both green and dirty. And yes, you need a tiny bit of dirt, feces, rot, decay, sweat, semen, urine or unwashed skin in a great perfume. Those smells are human, and if you ignore them completely, you get room air freshener.

I've always liked the Diptyque toilet vinegar - have never lived in France but guess they have used vinegar for various household and beauty routines just like we do now (limescale removal anyone?). Don't buy a sample, just sniff the apple cider or white wine vinegar in your kitchen... Some explanations here. Italians use it for their hair, here is a fairly enthusiastic thread on the Italian version of MN - Santa Maria Novella apparently have a cosmetic vinegar too. I wouldn't wear it but would prefer it as a bathroom scent to a can of Glade... If you want to do your own cosmetic vinegar, preserve rose petals in a jar of white wine vinegar. It makes a great hair rinse...

[cressetmama]

Has le Temps d'une Fete been discontinued? It's not on the Parfums de Nicolai website any more.....

[wiltingfast]

I'm afraid it has cressetmama, I went to buy last Summer, found it was being discontinued but was still on the site, couldn't decide whether to buy one or two bottles, went back there recently thinking I better buy one anyway and, poof, blasted thing was nowhere to be seen .

You can still get it on www.luckyscent.com/product/31322/le-temps-d-une-fete-by-parfums-de-nicolai but shipping is $40 .

Anyone spots it a bit more reasonable let me know!

Stokey I got the sample set from Tauer and inc rose chypree but like you, I really struggled with it. In fact the only one I had any love for was LADDM, I found carrillon pour un ange so awful it had to go into isolation because it was poisoning everything!!! I must dig out the box again and see if I like any of them a bit more now... the people on basenotes more or less told me I just wasn't ready yet!

[FrugalFashionista]

Not everyone loves everything!
I started out with 'easy' perfumes near my comfort zone (orientals, classic masculines) and then later started liking more challenging things, even things I originally disliked like white flowers and aldehydes. I've changed my mind about tuberose for example, used to dislike it. It's a bit like gorgonzola and olives, didn't like them as a child and now they are some of my favorite foods.

If you are new to perfumes, many of the classics will smell impossibly stuffy and stale. Chanel No. 5 (now a firm favorite) can smell soapy and Shalimar like your grandma's musty fur coat. Later, when you are familiar with more perfumes (and when something that merely smells 'good' does not satisfy) you will start to enjoy nuances, harmonies and dissonances that are beyond 'I love this' or 'I don't like this' it's time to revisit some classics and initial dislikes. Some of the dislikes are permanent, others not. (I struggle with lily and gardenia for example and there is one synthetic sandalwood that makes me gag.)

Some of the discoveries are surprising. I like herbs, woods and resins a lot more than fruits and berries. So on the high street, many masculines are easier for me to like than your average fruity floral. I think many aldehydes smell bad (have smelled through the raw materials with a perfumer friend - some of them smell like candle snuff, others like ear wax or bad breath) but they add edge and contrast to perfumes, and I've started liking that, and I love Chanel No. 22 and the discontinued Le Labo Aldehyde.

Carillon is really vile though...

[cressetmama]

WiltingFast The Perfumed Court have just sold me an 8ml spray (and some other samples ) and the international shipping was $16.95, which is almost a bargain, no?

[florascotia]

Help, please,Frugal and other perfume experts. Your description of Le Temps d'une Fete has triggered memories. Long ago, I smelled a wonderful springtime scent. It reminded me very much of jonquils, but it was fresh and subtle, not overpowering.

It might have been Le Temps d'une Fete. In which case, I've missed it. Bother! I don't think it was Caron's Narcisse Noir. I've not tried Narcisse Blanc, but does anyone know of any other green Jonquil-type perfumes? Thanks.

[wiltingfast]

Flora I recall having chloe narcisse years ago? Have no idea if it smells like jonquils though, can't recall how it smelled and no idea what jonquils smell like!!

Thanks for the tip cresset I hadn't thought of them...

[JustLikeHeaven]

I am trying to follow this. . But you ladies have a beautiful language of your own

I need a new perfume. . . I currently wear Stella. . But am bored with it. I like jo malone pear and fresia (sorry spelling) on other people but I don't think it suits me and used to like lime and basil
One but everyone seems to wear it around here.
Any suggestions where to start.

[FrugalFashionista]

Flora narcissus absolute does not really smell like daffodils (they smell a bit waxy and sharp ime). If I remember correctly, Chloe Narcisse is sweetish and oriental, and you don't like sweet? Check out the perfumes TPC and STC include in their narcissus / jonquil samplers and Google image search them, maybe you'll find what you remember! For really charming vintage bottles, google Narcisse Bleu...

[whataboutbob]

As with everything else one always covets the fragrance one doesn't have. Probably the most impressive, well balanced one I possess is Vol de Nuit but I don't wear it that often, I work in a hospital and it isn't suitable. So I fall back on my old Eau Dynamisante.
I went through a big phase of coveting Amouage perfumes but the price! I got some samples of Lyric and it is amazing- layer after layer of beautiful smells.
Tolu by Ormonde Jayne is in the same vein, but maybe a little more adapted to Western tastes ie not so heady. Also half the price.

[FrugalFashionista]

Heaven EPF is a hyper-lite sweet amber. So very light ambers might be a starting point. If you want quality, Hermes do a nice light amber, L'ambre des Merveilles, but try other Hermes perfumes as well, particularly the 'Jardins' perfumes (Le Jardin sur les toits for example). I love 22 Faubourg too, not similar but worth trying. And why not Dune from Dior or Cinema from YSL. You might also enjoy other perfumes by Christine Nagel - Eau de Cartier and Miss Dior Cherie and Narciso Rodriguez Her and Armani Si are easy to sample in just about any department store!

My personal favorite pear is Pear + Olive from Slumberhouse, but it's not easy to get in Europe any more

[FrugalFashionista]

Ooh Slumberhouse have an UK stockist - google Roullier White, they have tons of other goodies too. Not sure if they do samples but worth a visit for London-based fumeheads!

[JustLikeHeaven]

Thank you frugal. What is EPF?

Funny you should mention hermes. . I tried that particular one and thought it was 'old fashioned' . . . See? Not very knowledgeable on the lingo. But I loved it as the day went on and couldn't stop smelling it. It's very expensive here 130 euro. . Gasp!!! Is there anything similar to this that is under 100 euro even.

I used to wear dune years ago. . Might look at that again. Thank you for all your suggestion. . Really appreciate it

[florascotia]

Wilting, FrugalThank you both!

I've been doing what you suggested, Frugal, and I think my mysterious jonquil scent might just perhaps have been Chamade. Have not smelled that for ages and can't remember it at all. I will order some samples.

You are quite correct, I don't like sweet scents. Or fruity ones.

SOTD = Jolie Madame. Normally keep it for special occasions only - wore it at my wedding - and don't really think it's suitable for everyday; I don't feel I can live up to its sophistication. But this morning I just fancied a quick waft: violets (as always!) and their green leaves, spice (?like carnations), moss, smoke, and a little bit of daffodil - together with slightly rotten daffodil water balanced by Imperial Leather soap.

[ShatzePage]

SOTD is Dita von Teese's first perfume. I never buy celebrity scents but I really like this. Sadly the sillage is rubbish so have ordered another bottle as I can see me getting through the current one super quick!

Have also ordered Petale noir by Agent provocatuer and Arpege by Lanvin. Cheap as chips from Allbeauty.

[FrugalFashionista]

Flora Chamade is great...

Decent budget perfumes: Yves Rocher, L'Occitane, M&S, Nicolai, Grasse houses ending in -ard (Fragonard, Moulinard, Galimard...), Lidl

How to economize: sales, TK Maxx and other discounters, eBay, car boots, 2nd hand bottles, swaps, samples, decants.


Perfumes have a certain exclusivity though and if you skimp a lot on raw materials, it's like clothes - you end with something substandard. A lot of what is sold now is not great - the fragrant equivalent of 100% polyester - in fact, the bottle is much more valuable than the content. For this reason, it's increasingly difficult for me to get excited about new launches (plus they are boringly samey, a longer explanation here). Chanel and Hermes are still fairly stringent about originality and quality and offer some variety and that's why I recommend them to people new to perfume. But I agree that celeb perfumes can be fun - gotta love this - and you can find very inexpensive gems (Old Spice, for example, more here)

[florascotia]

I expect everyone knows this, but just in case not, you can sometimes get real bargains from all these online shops; they regularly have discounts and special offers on full bottles. (All are in the UK, so no postage/customs difficulties). However, as Frugal says, quality perfumes are not cheap - alas:

solippy.co.uk

www.escentual.com

www.allbeauty.com/ - formerly 'cheap smells'

www.fragrancedirect.co.uk

www.lamora.co.uk - just sometimes

perfume.theperfumeshop.com (ditto)

[FuzzLightbeard]

I have always loved a bargain, but I have to agree with Frugal and Flora after over a year of sniffing and sampling. A small amount of something wonderful but more expensive is better than a large amount of something cheap and mediocre.

I used to be a bit scared of trying niche samples of expensive fragrances as I didn't want to fall in love and not be able to afford a FB- well now I know you don't NEED a whole bottle, actually a 10ml decant is adequate for me as I like to have lots of different scents depending on my mood or the weather. And a small decant is perfectly affordable

I haven't been completely converted though, still love me a cheapie (as long as it smells half decent!)

SOTD is Prada L'eau Ambree- it was a gift. I was actually after Prada Amber but wires got crossed and I ended up with this one, which is a bit disappointing in terms of strength and sillage. I thought maybe my nose had broken, but others agree it is a very close skin scent within half an hour (and applied on top of fragrance free lotion) will try again in warmer weather I think.