Lovely, friendly perfume lovers thread

[MissBattleaxe]

This thread continues from our perfumistas thread which is now full. It is a lovely and friendly thread in which we discuss all things perfume-y, and ask for tips and share opinions and SOTDs ( Scent of The Day). Do drop in- we're not cliquey and we all smell nice.

Your DS has great taste Baroness!

SOTD Zadig & Volatire sample This is Her. it's weird- lots of chestnuts. The jury's out.

Must say MissB, I wasn't struck. I like the men's one though.
Well I had a lovely play. Fenwicks now have a Kiliian and Frederic Malle counter. Kiliian ones I like -Straight to Heaven and Smoke of the Soul, but I don't know if I could cope with it full time. Frederick Malle has to be Portrait of a Lady. Then to Chanel for Coromandel and Sycamores. Both so so lovely (but I was at the assistant who knew nothing of reformulations.) Finally to Dior Exclusifs, where I got the full treatment and a diagnostic (and a glass of Moët) Apparently the one for me is Oud Ispahan, Arabian rose and oud. Didn't get rose, but it was beautiful. However, now there is an undertone of something a bit rank. Suggested La Colle Noire for summer-nope, far too girly. Id still go for Gris Montaigne. (If I had 300 quid to use on scent) I think some decants may come my way.

Hello luvvers! It's me, ThenLater, I got locked out of MN and couldn't remember my password or even the email I used to sign up with, so have rejoined (I know I'm not supposed to, but fgs, I'm only really on here and pedants, it's not like I troll the boards or anything!

I opened my PP stash last night and just had a quick whiff of all of them....Private Collection, Wrappings and Youth Dew (are we spotting a pattern here) are divine and immediately have gone on the FB of the real juice list as has Cabotine. Carnal Flower smells like Poison but diluted which surprise me. Infusion d'Iris didn't smell of anything much. Aromatics does smell like the real thing, but ever so slightly sweeter. Escape is a dead ringer (and so reminds me of my best friend, she wore Escape while I was the bad girl in Obsession) L'Air du Temps is also absolutely spot on. Bronze Goddess made me chuckle, because it is exactly what I imagined- Ambre Solaire in a perfumed oil! Nahema and Femme at the moment just smell sweet and flowery.

I've been in Private Collection all day and now I'm off to ebay to do some searching!

Slinky- sounds fab! I was at the Dior woman at Stansted who kept wafting Miss Dior Reformulation Number 498 at me while I kept patiently saying no, not that one, I want the original.

I said I had a 30 year old bottle of No 5 and she crinkled her nose and said in a superior tone "oh perfume goes off you know!" I did trademark mn tinkly laugh and walked away. (It's me Slinky btw)

Hi, I am a newbie on this thread ... I have a sample of Chanel Coromandel. I like it but I don't love it - I was expecting something more complex but it seems like a weak Opium. Are there any Chanel Exclusifs that are a bit more 'unique' - maybe Cuir de Russie?

OneNightTime, it was me who recommended Truth or Dare Naked. I still love it (have been wearing it today). I can't quite believe that something that good could be so cheap! I shall be very interested to know what you think of it.

A PP asked about Timbuktu. I bought this a while ago from TK Maxx and it's ideal for the Autumn, spicy, smoky and woodsy. It also has vetiver and incense in it, but to be honest I can't pick those notes out (I'm still trying to develop my perfume 'nose'!). On me it lasts for ages, at least 5 hours, unlike many of the other L'Artisans. It apparently smells like West Africa! Not that I've ever been to West Africa, but it certainly seems very jungley. I love it! It's a unisex perfume and would smell great on a man.

Chanel Exclusifs Sycomore actually went down quite well at the local pub this evening - even DH said it was lovely! sharp, woody, smoky loveliness

Ooh! A perfume thread, lovely
SOTD for me was Laurent Mazzone - sensual orchid. Lovely

calm it was me who asked about Timbuktu. Thanks for review. I don't have anything like that in my collection so may purchase.
There's an interesting bundle of Chanel stuff on eBay including sycamore and I'm so intrigued. I'm flying to Brussels next month. I wonder what their duty free is like for scent. Anyone know?
Sotd will be miller Harris coeur de jardin. Far too summery but I thinks it's a lovely floral which is not too overwhelming. I'm patiently waiting some samples but by the time they arrive I'll want more.
My mum had a 20year old no.5 which she saved for best. Guess what? It went off and she had to bin the lot while telling a child me to never save for best. Good lesson I suppose. (Im drinking tea from a wedding present Versace cup!)

swimster- hello and welcome to the loveliest smelling thread on MN!

I have Coromandel, which I adore, and samples of 31 Rue Cambon, 22, Cuir de Russie and Bel Respiro.

Coromandel is definitely my favourite, because to me, it is unique! 31 is a powerhousey flowery chypre. Grown up, think of ladies dressed in Armani and Gucci shoes. Cuir de Russie (IMO) is not nearly as nice a leather as Cuir Cordoba by Keiko Mecheri (but I am v biased as that is on my desert island top 10) Bel Respiro is nice enough, fresh, sunny. Bit underwhelming and I wouldn't be paying £££s for a FB. 22 is a minger. Again, personal opinion, but it was one of very few perfumes that had me running for the scouring pad shrieking "geditoffmenow!"

I have a dupe (Perfume Parlour) of Sycomore and love it. Bit masculine, you do get a bit of an aftershavey whiff. But more sophisticated and woody.

I don't think as many perfumes go off as salespeople would have us believe tbh. I suppose it depends how it's been kept, but in the past few years of sourcing vintage from ebay etc I've only had to chuck one, an 80s Ysatis, which was actually fine when I got it, but because it had a stopper didn't last very long.

Am just getting rid of my sinusy early morning snotfest and then I shall make a sotd decision. Back later!

Oh forgot, I know what I wanted to ask. Anyone had any luck buying nips from ebay?

I am watching a few sets and they seem quite cheap. Think will pm the sellers and ask what is in them...

I was just scouring the perfume pages of Marktplaats and have been totally put off by an advert which was a request to help collect information on fake sellers to make a case to present to the police. There's no protection either as it's all done by bank transfer. I think I'll just stick to Lego on there.

I agree about not saving for best. I gave that up years ago, having had wine and other things spoil. We use our Wedgwood daily. What's the point of it sitting in a cupboard? It gives me pleasure every time I use it.

I'm not sure about Lady Vegeance. It just disappears on me.
It goes on as a blast of something I can't identify, but settles to nothing. Just a very light vague floral. A bit of patchouli and something nice I can pick out but don't know what it is. I expected a perfume with more balls from a name like that.

Who mentioned the Body Shop Indian Night Jasmine? I used to love that! It was called Neroli and Jasmine, or possibly Neroli and Orange Blossom. Then they rejigged it. It's still nice, but not what it was. To me, that smell will forever be Barcelona. The orange coloured Sanctuary Spa stuff in Boots smells similar too and is now my choice, as the Body Shop is indirectly owned by Nestlé so I won't touch it anymore.

PP Femme by Rochas was plucked from the bran tub this morning....oooh it's nice. Lemony, but with something else a bit more skanky underneath. Almost like fag smoke but in a good way. Touch of the Amarige about it but not as in your throat as Amarige.

Don't know what the real thing smells like but this is lovely.

I have found an old full bottle of Vent Vert on ebay.it. It will probably be mine......

I wore Femme for a bit in the 80s. It had a very rich, full, round sort of smell. With lemon and skank. 😂 It was a fabulous honey colour too.

I never normally venture onto this thread (though I like a read of it from time to time) but had to say, we were in London this week and I had a sniff of Chanel No 5 L'eau, and it is delicious! I usually only wear No5 for evenings out as it can be too heavy, but L'eau is lighter and definitely fresher. I'm so pleased I loved it, as usually I find one perfume and nothing else will do for a year or two, then move onto the next. I bought the 100ml bottle and sprayed it at 7am today and can definitely still smell it on myself when I think about it, so it has reasonable staying power.

It's funny how scents have connections to times and places. For me coco madam is forever summer holiday in Spain. Chanel number 5 is honeymoon in Paris, and Lush (ctg) takes me back to the 90s and nights out with work.
Just had a squirt of sjp Stash-blimey, that's a monster! Expect her stuff to be "pretty" it could hold it's own with some of the squirts from yesterday. I went mad and got one if those dinky Lovely baubles. If I don't like, it's a secret Santa.

Oh and I've sent my sample of No 5 Eau to dd with the sample of Zadig and Voltaire. I'm trying to wean her off Chloe.

SOTD L'heure bleue Again.

Love it today. Soft and warm and sexy. Far less powder and more of that benzoin. Am a big fan.

It's the body shop night jasmin I've got. Very strong so I like it for sleeping.
I had a lovely time trying a few things in our larger boots. The sjp stash is good. I love the opening clove. But then I tried shalimar,dune and various aromatics. Stash voyldnt really compete with those bigies. The aromatics in black i got a sample for and was all excited I thought it would be darker - but they've made it pretty instead. Not a fan - tho i will give it some goes.
Shalimar is so warm. Definite smoke incense on me and lasting a good 6 hours now. But the dune is beautiful. And holding up really well too. I'm glad others are liking it too btw.

I'm trying to decide which one to try to buy at duty free this week and think the dune will complement other things better. I've a few woody spicy scents but dune also really floral. Fills more of a gap for me - I only have tuberose gardenia as a floral and it's v white flowers. I get lots of lily and rose off dune. The shalimar I keep sniffing tho. Arrghetto expensive hobby this!

Stash didn't last long. I felt the need to buy something and as pp's stocks are low on stuff I want. On recommendation I got some Truth or dare off the bay of e, but I got 12 sample bottles for a fiver. If I don't like it I'll be offering it round the thread. What I wanted was some Frederick Malle or Killian, but the decants are still £££.

truth or dar naked arrived and i really like it. i get lots of spicy, woody deep vanilla. i wouldn't say it's enormous but it's a fairly big hitter especially given how cheap it was. Another for the celeb fragrance but actually decent pile

Apres L'Ondee again today. Nope, it's not one for me. Too violetty all the way through which doesn't really go on to do any interesting swerves as it settles. It could almost be a soliflore, although 4 hours on I suppose it has just settled into "vague white flowers".

I might do L'Heure Bleue tomorrow to compare notes with Cock. My friend said exactly the same as you, but she doesn't like the benzoin kick-in. (she likes powdery a lot, which is why I recommended it to her)

SOTD for me, Kilian - good girl gone bad. Beautiful scent and it really lasts

I've been wearing a lot of Shalimar Ode a la Vanille sur la Route du Madagascar lately. Probably the longest flanker name out there, surprisingly wearable, a bit of luscious sweetness and sensuality for wet and cold days. Sur la Route du Madagascar is a bit more austere and leathery than Sur la Route du Mexique - assuming can a dessert cart dose of vanilla pudding austere