Lovely Friendly Perfume Thread: Part 3

[MrsCocoa]

Continuing the discussion of all things perfume related. Tell us about your long standing favourites and tell us about the latest finds you've sniffed out. Everyone is welcome.

Ohhh, thank you VintagePerfumista ! I shall try that! It was a very unique perfume, really don't know why they stopped making it.

Forgot to say, SOTD Jil Sander No 4.

Enjoying Courant today, even if it's not very .
Hope you had a good break ^OC*?

I had a great time, visiting my sister, thank you. Went to the tennis (Andy Murray, Roger Federer, and lots of qualifiers) and to LitFest, ate out for brunch, lunch and dinner on different days, saw the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi (staggering!) and an exhibition of 3D art in one of the small malls, plus farmers' market. No serious perfume sampling as we hardly went shopping; it's quite possible to have a great time in Dubai without retail therapy, although most of MN doesn't believe it.

Now catching up with housework as SockDog is home and my menfolk are out watching rugby. Unfragranced until the selection is made .

Luca Turin just came up trumps for me too. I found several L'Artisan Parfumeurs at TK Maxx and dithered hopelessly because I hadn't smelt any of them, but they were L'Artisans and heavily reduced so I couldn't quite bring myself to walk away. I picked Dzongkha because he gave it a rave review and how right he was - it's a lovely, tranquil, green scent with hints of eastern temples and Zen gardens about it. It is the SOTD and I am smitten.

Someone upthread, or even possibly on the last thread, was asking about the new Zadig and Voltaire This Is Him! and This Is Her! perfumes. I knew I'd had two samples but couldn't remember a thing about them. I dug them both out at the weekend and now realise I dismissed Her! too quickly because it dries down into a rather nice sandalwood perked up with peppercorn notes. Him! is woody and spicy, and would be nice if it hadn't been overdosed with sweetness - and this is coming from someone who loves Black Opium.

Zeezeek, a "hug in a scent" is a lovely idea and yes, definitely life is too short for serial monogamy when it comes to perfume. You might like to try the Perfume Society boxes. They are a great source of samples from different perfume houses and very informative. They were certainly very effective at luring me down the fragrance rabbit hole.

I think Miss Dior is now going to be "Misty Whore" forever more here, Thing - DH and DD were very tickled.

I have several of the Perfume Parlour dupes.
Hypnotic Poison - I tested the real thing on one arm and the dupe on the other. They were almost exactly the same. The real thing lasted slightly longer as a skin scent, but this was after about 4 hours! I bought a bigger bottle and am very pleased with it.
Neroli Portofino. I have only tested the real thing in department stores, but my colleague has this as her signature scent, as often as she can afford it. The dupe reminded her of the real thing, but it wasn't amazingly similar. I like it just for itself, but I do find it has a strong soapy smell in the top notes. The drydown is lovely.
TF Tobacco Vanilla. I have never smelt the real thing but this dupe is very pleasant, a very fragrant tobacco with vanilla that gets slightly stronger in the drydown. I can't detect any other main notes.
TF Soleil Blanc. I don't know what the real one smells like, but I find the dupe unpleasant. It has an odd persistent note which I don't enjoy.
Chanel Sycamore. I have never smelt the real thing, but the PP version is gorgeous. I shall be buying a bigger bottle!

GreenPolish I love those TKmaxx bargains! I've picked up a few L'Artisans from there.

SOTD is Annick Goutal's Le Chevrefeuille- a beautifully realistic honeysuckle scent. Honeysuckle is one of my favourite flower smells so this always puts a smile on my face

Id forgotten id ordered a free sample of black opium nuit Blanche.(there was the option of Black Opium or BO 😐Floral shock ) BO was out so I got this. It's not for me-huge white flowers with a bit of pepper. One for dd. Also if it's still there Guerlain have free samples of mon Guerlain on their site.
Sotd was Cabriole, maybe a bit much for the day, but it doesn't last too long.

Vipers Outing: Green and I are trying to do a 4160 'make a perfume day' workshop this year (approx cost £125, W London). We'll sign up to one of the advertised dates, unless several of us here are interested, in which case we would approach Sarah McC to see if there is a possibility of doing a workshop with us?

If you're interested, please would you pm one of us?TIA

MrsC I would love to come too, but I don't think funds will allow for it at the moment. I will pm you if things change though.

Wearing 4160s Invisible Ben today, starts with zingy lime and becomes a soft sandalwood skin scent.

SOTD is L' Eau d'Hiver. I love it so much that after getting every last sniff out of a sample, I got a full bottle for my birthday.

Gosh, eyes, I had New West when I was a student, around the same time I also had Escape and Issey Miyake. It smelt really melon-y in comparison with the rest of the aquatic type scents that were about at the time, I think, and I never really wore it. I'd heard it was really desirable now, and it still makes me sad to think I gave my bottle away! From memory it was called "New West, Skin Scent for Her", when in reality it was so, so strong and very, very far from being a skin scent.

currently i smell of white vinegar cleaner as ive been cleanign the kitchen as it was a right state. only thing with being in a house share is that it's really bloody annoying when there's one person who doesn't pull their weight when it comes to cleaning shared areas. I'm going to be contacting the landlord and asking them to have a word because i'm fed up of cleaning up after this one person. I absolutely don't mind doing my fair share but this person never cleans the cooker, washes his dishes, wipes the sides or sweeps the kitchen floor which we have been specifically asked to do to cut down on mouse risk! he also never empties the bin and never buys cleaning products or bin bags. he's really peeing me off over it tbh!

thank you for my lovely samples cuir they came the other day but i forgot to post as ive been a bit caught up with other things. Really loving New York '55, it smells so delicious!

Took possession of 3 old bottles of Avon from ebay.de today, Rapture, Bird of Paradise and Topaze. My kitsch collection grows ever larger!

I gave dd a squirt of Diorissimo last night as she opted for lily of the valley for her bath- think it will be her next duty free purchase ( my aim is to get her away from the Burberry counter)

In Liz Earle n1 today. Very much in the zingy, citrussy, greeny, Eau du Sud/Jade camp. Love it.

Yesterday went for Le Labo Iris which I liked well enough, but it dries down far too sweetly for me. (and seemingly for dp- when I came in he said "oh, have you changed your perfume?" (like he thinks I have 2!) and didn't immediately follow up with "how gorgeous is that!"

I also have the PPs of Tobacco Vanilla and Sycomore. Love the latter, find the former a bit too vanilla and a bit too little tobacco.

I like the sound of honeysuckle...Annick Goutal is becoming one of my counters to go and rummage elegantly on.

Hi perfumistas,

I had a conversation with some colleagues earlier about perfumes that smell kind of bad (literally of shit in some cases) but that people love. They didn't believe me but I am sure I read a thread on here some time ago on that very subject - have I imagined this or do any of you know what I'm talking about?

Thanks

My sister took my out to try perfumes at Fortnum and Mason yesterday. The sales guy was great. Trying out different scents for me and listening to my thoughts on each to compare with the another one iyswim. Loved Roja Danger and Juliette Has a Gun Oil Fiction. Sadly they were both around £200 a pop so rather out of my financial comfort zone! Still I got to wear them (both) for one evening.

MsJuniper try googling "skank perfumes". A couple of articles on them can be found - here and here. But you'll see there are plenty more.

LesIncompetents, we shall keep our fingers crossed for you. It would be nice to meet my wicked enabler and your violet chocolate gourmand idea sounds so tempting. So does TK Maxx now you assure me bargainous stray L'Artisans are likely to pop up again!

VP do we get to see pictures of the kitschy Avons? I remember coveting them wildly as a child. The Bourjois Evening in Paris novelty bottles are fun too but very pricey. A shame, because I'd still love a blue miniature grandfather clock.

SOTD is another JHAG sample, White Spirit. I was a bit put off by the name but fortunately it doesn't smell anything like the stuff used to clean paintbrushes. Instead, it's quite a pleasant musky tuberose scent once it's dried down. It hasn't knocked Mad Madame out of its JHAG top spot for me though. Good thing at those prices!

Poor OneNight I had a flat mate like that once. I still consider it something of a miracle that he's still breathing. Well, I assume he is...

What was the one we all said smelt like something had died?
Sordid was pilfered from Dh's drawer, a squish of Chanel for gentlemen. The scent I bought him in Paris on honeymoon. Very proustian.

We all smell things differently but Bulgari's Mon Jasmin Noir smells like this: 💩

Skatoles and indoles are some of the wonderful aromachemicals responsible for these nuances and you can sometimes accidentally overdose on them if you are wearing jasmine perfumes. Not all are guilty though.

People seem to loathe angel by mugler

To me Penhaligon's Peoneve smells of nappy and Another Oud smells like a camel's arse. Oyedo just smells like a combination of everything foul under the sun.

Wasn't it Salome that smelled like mucky pants? Or bedding after The Act? I have never had the pleasure but I know some of you have. (of Salome, not of bedding After The Act- that would be very weird indeed)

I will take pics of my Avon and my fabulous Coty Paris tomorrow.

I've been checking out vintage Avon on eBay...some good memories!!

MsJuniper I was looking at some reviews of perfumes like this! Untitled No 8 and Muscs Koublai Khan seem to be the worst offenders.

I'm new to the thread but I've been reading over the past few days and I've found my people! Am currently working my way through about 20 samples I've accrued over the past few months. SOTD is the PP dupe of Tobacco Vanille. I know a few posters have said there's too much tobacco or vanilla but I find it ideal on my skin. I had the beginnings of a headache this morning and chose it because I find it so soothing and familiar. After 12 hours and a shower I can still smell the hint of buttercream.

4160's Time to draw the raffle numbers, smells of metal, light oil and continental breakfast. Not your standard perfume. Raises eyebrows at work.

SotD was up the apples and pears, 'the most unusual scent fragrance we have made yet' smells really normal on me. Love it, FB territory.

Workshop, Oooooooh, when?

Secretions magnificque (sp, sorry) that was the bunny I was thinking of that was really really skanky.

Welcome Dance.

Badders - think Angel is one of Barbara Herman's desert island sniffs .

Yes, fingers crossed Les . No date yet, but Autumn seems a popular choice? Vintage excitement is ruining my plans to build up Paypal balance via Ebay sales. I smell terrific though! Yesterday in Femme and today in Cabochard - both super long lasting. Trying really hard to stay out of TK Maxx.

Thank you thank you!