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.

Sorry, I meant to say hello cheap and thank you, interesting re PP Chanels, I will have a peek. I didn't like their Sycamore, but might try the others I haven't tried yet - does anyone know if they do Coromandel, this is one I haven't ventured to yet?

Well I went the true end of cheap and cheerful this morning for my DD (6) and got her primark's glamorous (so that she stops stealing my perfumes!) it's a dupe for sure but I can't decide if it's coco mademoiselle or flowerbomb.

I've just received from evil bay a tiny cute bottle of Beige Parfum.Its a beautiful floral but smells different to the edt which is fresher and so pretty in warmer temperatures.I don't know whether I'm sophisticated enough for this.

We got mum miss Dior for Mother's Day this year
Not my thing but she likes it
I'm jumping furniture around today so not wearing anything...

Hello, cheap - I really must investigate Perfume Parlour at some stage. SOTD is FM Lipstick Rose for meeting my friend for lunch this sunny Saturday. Yesterday was MMM Untitled, and Thursday FM Hiver. Today feels almost like I could crack out the Sel Marin.

Cheers Cheap!
Sotd was Marc Jacobs Rain because it is so bright and clear here. It's very watery, not my usual thing at all, but nice enough.
Right anyone been on cross channel ferries lately? I'm off to Belgium next week (school so no chance of slipping off into pharmacies) but feel I deserve a FB of f something. However, we can get to supermarket so hopefully there will be some nice French toiletries.

Dream sorry to hear about the bed rest. I found BBC Radio 4 Extra very good for passing the time when I was stuck in bed for a while a few years back. L' Air du Temps is always a happy, warm summer evening type scent, I think, and it used to be so popular that you can pick up vintage bottles on Ebay for about the same price as a modern perfume sample. I always look out for the amphora style bottles of EdT because they are definitely vintage and they do smell richer.

My DS, who is 9, selected Coach today, probably because of the coach and horses engraved on the bottle (after Christmas unwanted present Ebay bargain), and he smells delicious. How lovely that our various DSs are growing up to be much more adventurous with fragrance than our DHs/DPs. Though, of course, there is so much more choice these days - the only scents for men that I can remember as a child are Old Spice and Brut, and they were definitely marketed as aftershaves, not, ahem, perfumes.

I succumbed to 4160 Tuesdays' Mother's Day offer and am consequently happily sniffing What I Did On My Holidays today. If my mother was still around her choice would have been Youth Dew.

I never knew there was a perfume called Beige before. I'm now envisaging a very elegant and ladylike bottle ignoring all the trollopy, skanky Poisons, Opiums, Obsessions etc surrounding it.

Les no, not a bit surprised you like Angel!

Welcome Cheap, if you hang around here you might find yourself changing that to Impoverished! Far too many wicked enablers!

Hello Cheap and welcome

Dream I have a few sunny weather samples going spare if you would like them? Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio and Le Chevrefeuille and L'Artisan Seville a L'Aube. Pm me your address and I'll pop them in the post. Coromandel is amazing, but I don't think PP do a dupe yet. It's very heavy on patchouli but with a beautiful gourmand white chocolate drydown.

My lovely DH has ordered me a bottle of Guerlain's Vol de Nuit for Mother's Day. I tested and fell in love with it around two years ago and have lusted after it ever since. Normally very hard to find but a very helpful SA in John Lewis was able to order it in for me (although sadly, they've now got rid of their Guerlain counter )

Green Beige is gorgeous, as is Bel Respiro (very green and springlike) I clearly need to start playing the lottery if I ever want to own any more of Les Exclusifs though

I started off the day in Le Chevrefeuille and later on tested a few things whilst I was out. Hermes 24 Faubourg, have tried this one a few times and it's on my FB list- very opulent white floral. Also tried Paco Rabanne Calandre, a classic retro green but I felt it was lacking some depth. I bet the vintage is fab though!

Calandre is supposedly very similar to Rive Gauche, and various perfume writers bemuse that the YSL advertising machine (and I guess, silver canister) of RG made it the monster it was. I've never smelled Calandre, but am never without RG. (currently a PP dupe)

I've not spotted a Coromandel on PP yet. I'm not sure PP replicate Chanels as well as they do others- there has to be something that makes Chanel perfumes what they so blatantly are, and I'm guessing for £3 a pop, PP perhaps can't quite do it for some of them. I believe it's the Orris root in Chanel 19.

Again unperfumed as just getting rid of the 4 day headache.

So, I've bought some mascara, lipstick and foundation instead. Oh, and some stuff from the Boden sale. Hanging over a few bits and bobs on ebay though. Some fabulous retro 70s talcs going that they won't send to furrinland.

Dream- rest up and buy perfume/watch netflix

Aww you're all so lovely, I feel quite tearful (you see what happens when I'm forced to stay in bed ) I am Netflixing, inspired by The Tudors I have been looking at Jo Malone Tudor Rose and Amber, but JMs don't seem to smell nice on my skin, sadly...

LesIncompetents that would be so kind! I would love that, Seville a L'aube has been on my wish list for ages, I think I remember reading that the "story" behind it is to do with Easter (?) I will PM you, thanks so much, I do appreciate it. I don't think I have anything to offer you in return that you probably don't already have - perhaps a sample of Katy Perry's cat perfume?

Dream please don't feel the need to send anything in return, it makes me happy just to spread the perfume love

Thanks to Cheap and her Perfume Parlour renamed Chanel suggestions, I have been doing some research. I think some of the Chanel names are:

Revival - Chance Eau Vive
Spike - No 5
Fabric - Chance EDT
Survival - Chance Eau Tendre
Invisible - Coco
Faint S - Allure
Faint for Women - Allure Sensuelle (puzzling that it's this way round and not Faint S, but it's definitely this way round according to the notes)
Adoring for Women - Coco Mademoiselle
Cyborg for Men - Allure Homme
Highlight for Men - Egoiste
Morish for Women - Sycomore
Perfect - No 19
Repute for Women - Coco Noir
Feature for Women - No 18 (but also Phantom for Women seems to have the same notes )
Mr for Men - Pour Monsieur
Punchy for Women - 1932
Clear for Women - Cristalle

The only one of these that I have is Sycomore (love it!) and please be aware that some of these have very few, or mixed, reviews, so you will need to do your own research before buying. I couldn't find Coromandel.

Does anyone have favourite PP dupes? I love Sycomore, but also Hypnotic Poison. I have several others which I really like, but have no idea if they're like the real thing!

The Sycomore dupe is great! The 19 dupe was a minger and I chucked it.

My favourite PP dupes are undoubtedly Rive Gauche and Infusions d'Iris. I bought a big bottle of the latter, and when I smelled the original at the airport realised I definitely preferred the PP one as it is even soapier which I love. It's another of my comfort food perfumes, when I am recovering from a headache or just too frazzled to be able to think too deeply about perfume.

Just sorting through my ebay searches...this may interest someone- it looks to be the same bottle as the full one I have, which means it's BIG! Vent Vert

Eeeep! Thank you, VP! Date and time duly noted, and everything crossable crossed. And hope your poor head is better now.

Super research there, Calm, thank you. I shall definitely save your list.

Bel Respiro is green, you say, Les, you interest me strangely.

Dream I've sent you a PM.

SOTD is YSL Paris Roses Enchantees, layered with JHAG Not A Perfume to add a taint of grubbiness to the demure roses. I'm a bit surprised at how much I'm liking rose perfumes because I really can't be bothered with roses as plants in the garden - too disease-prone, ugly leaves and branches, sharp thorns etc which all outweigh the beautiful scent for me.

Les and Green thank you very very much, you lovely fragranistas

Calm I admire your dedication to the cause

I think we are going to need a photo from people going to the perfume workshop - I'm thinking a selfie in the style of Ellen etc at the Oscars

I love rose perfumes, as a child I was always stirring rose petals into probably filthy mugs of water and offering it to my mother as perfume My "go to" is the Paul Smith rose perfume, it's just a nice "straight rose" hit. Only to be worn in July or August though!

Hope you all had a good day and some sunshine!

Wow Calm that's amazing detective work, thank you!

I've had a lovely Mother's Day wearing my beautiful Vol de Nuit. There is a big burst of citrus and oakmoss in the opening, followed by powdery iris. I don't think any description I do would do it justice, but if you like your perfumes classic or vintage then it's worth a sniff.

A really good cheapie for rose lovers is Tea Rose by Perfumers Workshop- amazing quality for the price and super, super strong.

I like my roses to be rosey and not faffed about with. Hence Paris or L'Occitane Rose whatever-it's-name is. I do like Hippie Rose though, too.

I have the PP Vol de Nuit which I love- I have never actually smelled the original. I loved it before I even smelled it, because of the name.

I wore Avon Moonwind on one hand, and Miss Dior vintage on the other to test this (seemingly bonkers) theory that they are very very similar, and do you know what? They absolutely are! Not initially- but after half an hour or so, I was sniffing one hand, then the other, and they are virtually identical. Powdery, definitely not sweet, slight hint almost of sweat (wasn't me, honest!) but in a good perfumer-skank kind of way.

Another lover of Rose perfumes here.Yes, I used to make Rose petal and Lilac perfume by stripping my neighbours Roses and a glorious Lilac bush. I don't think I was very popular. The best Rose perfume for me is Piguet Rose Perfection - pure Pink Rose. Red Roses -La Fille de Berlin and Yellow Rose - Rosine Rose d'ete.Vintage Paris edt is a fluffy Pink and Violet Cloud of Powdery Roses.

Lentisque By Phaedon today.Woody Galbanam and Mastic with a Ambergris tinged Musk.So addictive and sensual.I've just ordered a bottle from Bloom plus some more green samples.Apparently there is a run on Greens at the moment.
But why do they charge £7.00 for postage in the U.K.?Its far too much

SOTD is Chanel 19 - last week of term here, and I am crawling to the end on bloodied knees. Yesterday was Narciso Rodriguez.

One of the Bois de Jasmin posts last week was on spring vetivers; hanging my head in shame, I confess that I had almost every scent mentioned in either a sample or decant. So I am working through them again, and today, drumroll, is MH Fleur de Sel which is delicious and slightly bracingly saline.

On the rose front, I adore Eau Suave (PdE) and would definitely buy an FB, if only there were a size smaller than 100ml. And also a smaller than 100ml bottle of Hippie Rose. Why don't companies make smaller sizes? Alternatively, has anyone come across decants of either? I love the 15ml and 30ml PP sprays. Just perfect. Whinge over.

VP I might have to search out some Moonwind as I love Miss Dior but don't have any at the moment. I've also seen Timeless compared to Vol de Nuit!

Teta I've been debating ordering a sample pack from Bloom for a while but I won't bother if that's the postage charge!

OC I couldn't agree more about smaller sizes, I wish more brands would do them. Finding a trusted decant seller can be a mission in itself and even then you might end up with more chance of evaporation or the fragrance turning (I've found that quite a few of my decanted samples have ended up evaporating to nothing.)

I'm back to my mission of wearing minis and today's is Pucci Vivara. A big blast of gorgeous green and then a leathery/ oakmoss drydown.

lesincompetents no the sample postage is reasonable, obviously bottle postage is pretty expensive.But this is for next day delivery ( however the bottle us out of stock until Wednesday!).The other option was Saturday delivery which I really don't want.

Green! Did you get the VV? One bidder only, was it you? That's a good price, mine was a FB and sealed in cellophane but I paid 60 euro.

I have bought some Morny Sandalwood bubble bath and talc, some old 70s Boots Blue Fern soap (little rosettes, anyone remember them?) and bath cubes, and some Boots Freesia talc and soap. I will recreate my 70s childhood!

Wheeeee! Lucky, lucky me! Thank you so, so much for the tip-off, VP. I am so delighted, and so amazed and, ahem, a bit skint, but it's Vent Vert! Cellier Vent Vert!

I am making note of all the rose suggestions, thank you everyone, and hopefully I'll get round to trying some out soon. I seem to like all the rosy scents but I do especially love the trollopy types.

Sock, Les, yes, you are absolutely right, it is a pain that so few perfume houses will countenance smaller sizes. I wish they all did handy 9ml atomisers like 4160 Tuesdays. It's one of the reasons 4160 gets quite so much of my money - the others being that they are lovely, fun, adventurous and unpretentious scents.

Have you come across Chique in your recreation of the 70s VP? It is still made, though not by Yardley. It is still as cheap as chips and smells so much more expensive than its price tag. The bottle looks much the same (dead boring) too, but I had to buy it for the memories.

Wow calm - amazing effort!

Mothers Day SOTD was Bamboo. Nice enough I suppose but not much to say about it. Yesterday's SOTD was PP White Patchouli. I quite like it as a straightforward fresh Monday scent.

Scent of the night is PP Ange ou Demon, and is always either that or the real thing. It's all part of a master plan - I have to be away from my (not quite so tiny anymore) baby for a couple of nights so I'm hoping he'll associate the smell with me at night time so that DH can wear it overnight while I'm gone and hopefully be that bit more comforting!