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.

Far away is supposed to be lovely
I used nightmusk for years and always got compliments on it it sadly no longer available :(
My mum always wore Avon perfume when we were young. Some of them were really gorgeous.

Some of the old Avons are magnificent.

Fracas is scary isn't it? I have a wee bottle that came as an extra to a Vent Vert I'd bid on. Bandit is much more accessible (even though it's still not shy and retiring)

I wore Paris yesterday- beautiful warm day (23 degrees) and it seemed appropriate. When choosing her bath stuff last night dd pointed out to me that the L'Occitane Neroli Orchidee she settled on had been her "first ever perfume" that I gave her out of a gift set present about 2 years ago. She now has about 20 bottles - I've created a mini-me!

Is Fierce the Abercrombie scent? My boss wore that last summer.

I am marking essays and treating myself to the Boxed set of Mistral's Daughter today, so in full early days of 1986 mode, I am in Anais Anais. What else?!

I'll give the Mon Guerlain a miss I think, from your descriptions. What on earth has happened to Guerlain? Jacques will be spinning in his tomb.

I received a freebie sample of Mon Guerlain, so am giving it a proper go today. As a gourmand lover, I do enjoy it. On me, I get quite a prominent iris and lavender in the opening and as it drys down, a sweet powdery vanilla with a hint of lavender. It reminds me of Shalimar Parfum Initial, maybe less patchouli? I don't feel the need for a FB just yet but who knows...

My problem is that there's very little I don't like! I love most Guerlains and Chanels. I've worked out that I'm not fond of prominent carnation, incense or leather but am quite happy with any of those in a supporting role. Even so, I've not yet experienced a 'scrubber' in all my 40 years

I threw my sample of mon guerlain away - dh liked it but it's not for me
Avon used to do one called odyssey and another called Sasha that I loved when I was little
And of course soft musk which is really lovely

Vintage - which old Avon fumes would you recommend looking out for? Some of the kitsch bottles are fabulous - would be a bonus if their contents were wearable...

Moonwind is my absolute favourite- I just love it. Not only for the perfume itself, but the association- it's one of the earliest scents of my childhood, I remember there being a big pot of Moonwind talc in the bathroom cabinet- probably only the once, but it's remained solidly in my memory.

Interestingly, Scented Hound likens it to Miss Dior [https://thescentedhound.com/tag/moonwind/] Not sure about that, am going to try one on one hand and one on the other and get back to you! It's definitely not sweet.

I also have the Bird of Paradise that SH reviews and I think he's a bit unfair there. Most 70s Avons are quite sharp- most of them fall into the chypre/aldehyde category to my nose (so I love them, but many will see them as old lady and old fashioned)

Rapture was my latest discovery- I bought a soap set from the bay of E and fell in love, nabbing the only bottle on ebay in Europe (seemingly)

I also rate Topaze, Timeless, Occur! (think this is intented to rival Bandit or Fracas in its scariness, Barbara Herman is less than complimentary (a cook who threw too many things in the pot!) but in the style of Fracas, that's what makes it interesting.

Tasha is IMO the last of the old ones worth a sniff. I remember when this came out (poss early 80s, will check in a mo') and it seemed quite revolutionary (in all senses, modern purple packaging, and the advert was all Dr Zhivago-esque) We were all a bit obsessed with Russia and the Cold War etc at the time, and Tasha fitted the zeitgeist.

Just checked and Tasha was 79, and someone on Fragrantica likens it to Rive Gauche.

It was, I think, just after Tasha came out that they brought Gianfranco Ferre' in to whack his names on their perfumes and they went "upmarket" and designer (or cost about a tenner, instead of £1.49!) I haven't smelled much since then tbh.

I will ask my vintage Avon mad friend for other recommendations, but tbh, I would have a punt on any of them.

Today- first SoTD is Yvresse. Think will hand this one over to DD. (she said she loved it) It's very very clever, but it's too sweet for me once the initial violetty thing goes (even though no violet note is there I think this little gem may be partly responsible (along with Eden) for the slew of fruit and fizz that we have to wade through these days.

Am having a shower and will experiment with the Moonwind after!

Moonwind!
God I loved that one!

Well my Cavalli Serpentine arrived this am. It is beautiful and so different to the heady musky scents I usually like. I'm so glad I found this, it reminds me of Rome for some reason, maybe I was wearing something similar when I was there.

My mum always had some Avon talc on the go (probably still does!) the ones I remember are Nightfall and Occurr. She had a little collection of 'day to day' cheaper perfumes- Avon Far Away, Yves Rocher Isaphan and Le Jardin (anyone remember the ad with Jane Seymour?) and she'd save her Ysatis for 'best'. My Nan wore the Devon Violets perfume you used to be able to buy in seaside souvenir shops (hence my love for all things violet!)

SOTD is 4160s Evil Max, very dry and quite masculine. I'm getting mostly leather, tobacco, a bit of that TCP vibe and a little bit of sweetness in there too.

SOTD is By Killian Forbidden Games, which was a bonus sample with my last order from Les Senteurs. I'm pleased I didn't pay for it, because while it's perfectly pleasant, it is most definitely not me. Going by the name - and not having any prior knowledge of it - I'd expected it to be quite dramatic and edgy, when it's really a fairly bog standard floral. It reminds me of something I'd have squirted on at the wee independent chemist by my gran's when I was a little girl.

I smell so green you can call me Kermit. This is what happens when you slather on MMM Untitled shower gel, body lotion and perfume all in one day. It is blissful.

I remember coveting an Avon perfume bottle in the shape of a lamb. I have no idea what the perfume smelt like or even what it was, but the bottle was utterly irresistible.

LesIncompetents I am intrigued that you have never had a scrubber. Does this mean that you have the perfect 'nose' and can always smell what the perfumer intends, I wonder? I'm assuming none of them actually intend to repel us. Have you smelt Lush Lust? I think it has to be the most revolting scent I've ever come across - think of the very worst bad breath you ever encountered and multiply it by ten. Yet lots of people adore it. Clearly, my nose doesn't work properly when it comes to Lust!

Isphahan!
Blimey I had that one too!
😀

Green I really don't know, I just think I must be really easy to please when it comes to perfume

I have tried Lust, it was a few years ago though... I remember finding it very strong and very sweet, but also quite interesting. I've just never hated anything I've tried to the point where I've had to wash it off. Sometimes I think 'meh, it's ok' but that's about as bad as a scent gets for me. Maybe I'm just weird having said all that, I haven't yet tried Secretions Magnifique. I can see that one being a scrubber!

Ive just git a bottle if Timeless. A fiver! It's the only one (apart from soft musk) that doesn't smell like all the others. Do you remember they used to do cream perfumes? That was great in Australia where the hot weather wasn't friendly to alcohol based scents. And moon wind aerosol talc!
Anyone watching the chest of Chanel scents in eBay? Last time I looked it was about seventy quid. Dh would explode.

I have the solid perfume version of Lust which is easy to apply sparingly - in small does it's the smell of Greek Jasmine at night, having soaked up a day's worth of hot strong sun. Back to indoles?

Sorry to pick on Beaufort again, but I think their 1805 is pretty much unwearable. Evokes the sensation of seasickness, layered with cannon smoke and blood.

Occur! God I loved that - I had it as a talc. It was my first grown up scented thing. I thought I was so chic. It was the black and gold and the exciting type face. And the name - I was so sophisticated and mysterious. I must have been about 11! I'd completely forgotten about it.

The Avon cream perfumes were great. Cream Sachets.

About 10 years ago one of my students brought me an Avon catalogue and I was so excited. But nada. No soaps, no randomly shaped perfume bottles and just a list of about 10 perfumes that all smelled "nice" on the strip thing.

Ebay US is massive for Avon. Can't justify postage and faffery with customs though.

Beaufort sounds....erm...intriguing.

One of my kids had an Yves Rocher wetwipe yesterday. Made me think I was on an aeroplane and had just had breakfast. It wasn't very nice. So Elixir I think.

Rosa Robes today, pink, sweet and comforting. Hopefully it will help me keep a smile on my face as I tender my resignation.

Good luck Pest

I am currently in Bel Respiro, dspite only having put it on about 20 minutes ago, it's almost gone. I didn't like it at first, there was the masculine (is it cedar?) aftershave kick that Sel Marin and Sycomore start off with, but it settled very quickly into something very inoffensive and classy smelling. The fact that its longevity is zero is offputting. I shall wait until PP do a dupe and have a go at theirs.

Might order some PP today. Haven't had any in ages and am trying not to spend ££££s on ebay this month.

Thanks Vintage - good to know what to look out for.

Good luck today 'Pest*.

Had a lovely smokey day yesterday in L'Artisan's Tea for Two, with a dab of Sikkim Girls at bedtime. Not feeling very inspired this morning. Bright and cold outside but with rain later. Have gone with Says Alice/Babylon Sunset - am not usually a fan of big fruity florals, but this is impossible not to love; it is joyous and pure.

Thank heavens it was a canoeing weekend so I missed the offer on green scents at Scent Samples. I might have failed to resist that!

I have been playing with the PP Amouage dupes I bought a while back based on a brief delight in Memoirs which was a Les Senteurs sample I enjoyed. Only one has been a real dislike but equally, there isn't one that I yearn to try the real thing.

My perfume mojo is faltering slightly at the moment; don't know why. Have others endured this? What happens next? Is there a cure?

MMM Untitled here again - I am really enjoying this, although it is bloody freezing today and feels quite wintery.

Les, I think you need to try SM and see what you think of that. I've had plenty of perfumes where I've thought "yuck", but I felt genuine, physical revulsion at it, to the point where I made my DP actually take it to the outside bin!

I feel the same way about Beaufort Fathom Mrscocoa.Fascinating smell but not something I ultimately want to smell of.Its akin to a vase of rotting lilies swishing round in the bilge of a barnacled old timbered hulk.
Tiare by Ormonde Jayne is my choice today for a meeting with ds's teacher. Brisk ,efficient and cool, with a Cristalle vibe.Mentioned in the spring perfume round up in Fragantica as one of the choices along with Fleur du Matin.

Reporting back on the Tigress: school girl error alert! Took 70s description on trust - but lo! The box has a bar code and no fur cap. Consequently it has a roughish opening, but 20 minutes in and it's settled somewhere between Tabu and Rumba. Really quite impressive for a cheapie.

I might have to start a personal challenge to find my first scrubber...Secretions Magnifique sounds like a contender, as do both of the Beaufort ones!

MrsC that's a shame, but it still sounds like a pretty good bargain.

I'm wearing Shalimar Souffle again today, it's become a new favourite for spring.