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.

SoTd was, sniffs wrist for clues, umm...lovely then, but I've been so busy catching up with daily life, I can't think back that far.

Evening squirt of pp Noir de Noir. Just fancy luscious roses with a dark edge, which it delivers.

I found a sample of Bulgari Goldea lurking in the Handbag of Doom today, was pleasantly taken, nothing fab, but ok. Had a squirt of Alien-scrubber. But have won a vintage (think 80s) little bottle of Chanel 19 then a vintage miss Dior, almost fb, which dd thinks is going her way. Think on my girl.
Off to Fenwicks Wednesday, I'm dragging her round all the more niche (ie expensive) brands, can't wait.

I have a six year old and she is beginning to get into perfume (muahahaha! Get them young!!) and amoungst other things today, we went sniffing at Boots! She was quite taken by the Daisy and poison flankers (they were pink!!) but declared Angel awful! That's my girl!! (I bought Hypnotic poison and angel on my first ever holiday with DH. I wore the poison every day on hols and thought it was the most beautiful smell in the world, but as soon as I touched down at home it was cloyingly sweet. I bought Angel because one of the All Saints - who were very much 'in' at the time - said she wore it. I passed the bottle on to MIL and she has been wearing it ever since. Foul!!) Speaking of which, I remember reading an interview with Cat Deeley around the same time and she said that she wore a cheapy perfume that you get in the chemist that smells like baby powder. I have always wondered what that was.

Imscarlet - could Cat Deeley's cheap perfume be L'aimant? that's got a definite powdery smell about it.

Diorissimo today, I have been citrus-ly alternating between Jade/Eau du Sud/Liz Earle 1 for days and fancied something even more springlike.

It's gorgeously lily-of-the-valley, obvs, but after an hour has all gone, so when I go back to school in about an hour, I'll squirt something else on top.

I couldn't find MMM Untitled in Harvey Nicks, but I had a good sniff around the Atelier Colognes and some are really pretty. I also found and tested Molecule 1 - has anyone else tried this? It smells of nothing at all! It kind of amplified the hand cream I was wearing, but seems like a case of the Emperor's New Clothes to me.

SOTD was SL's Bois de Violette, but I just don't like this, it has something of the same cloying musk that Feminite de Bois has and that was a scrubber for me too - actually made me feel sick - so I washed the Violette off when I got to work. I then put a dash of POAL on as the sample was in my handbag and it has blended very nicely with the remnants of the musky smell! POAL is working so well for me as a warm weather smell, it was far too sharp in winter, but it's much softer and warmer now.

Do you know what I'm wearing today??? Rive Gauche!!!!! I sprayed some on in a chemist whilst killing time, I have never smelt it before. I'm nearly embarrassed to say this, but I love it!! There is something so comforting about it, it reminds me of the smell of my mum's make up when I was a little girl.

scarlet I am also wearing Rive Gauche today! I thought it gave an air of sophistication to my jeans/denim shirt/trainers outfit.

I might have to buy some! This is what I think grown ups should smell like!!

Absolutely! There is nothing embarrassing about RG! Another one I always like to have around.

If you don't fancy forking out for the real thing- the PP dupe is fabulous- I like it possibly even more than the real thing because it's more similar (to me) to the original old version.

It's a thing of beauty.

2 blind buys today
Mary greenwell lemon - £5 for the purse spray
And this one (photo) £8 for 100ml EDP

i love mary greenwell lemon ..perfect time of the year for that.

I keep reaching for some Anais anais...just adore its freshness

I went to Harrods today and loved having a sniff around the posh scents. My fave was
Roja - sweetie Aoud

Has anyone smelt it? It was absolute heaven!!!!!

£450 for 50ml though!!! that's literally £20 a spray hahaha. Needless to say it's on my never-wish-list. I can but dream

RG is a classic. Out of fashion but still lovely. DSis wore it for years. Do not dismiss it without trying it out.

I've seen lots of adverts for a Narciso Rodriguez scent recently. I don't like rose but I had a look at his other perfumes and some sound lovely.
Has anybody smelt the 'for her' edt or the iridescent.
I'm rather confused by some reviews as the EdT and EdP seem to have totally different notes . I'm basically after the one with the orange coming through.

silver I have and love NRFH. I bought it just before we moved into this house as a special "new house perfume" and wore it on moving day. Is that weird? Anyway, to me it's very musky, and I don't get any orange from it. I have the matching body lotion - I am slightly obsessed with layering - and find it lasts really well. I know people say it's a wintry scent, but I don't associate it with colder days, or being particularly evening-y. I've read that SJP Lovely is very similar but far cheaper.

I had a bath earlier and am now in Tauer Lonestar Memories with my pjs. It's bloody freezing here today.

Thank you, Judy, I'll have to wander round Frangrantica a bit more. I'm convinced that I saw one with orange notes on the 'right hand side'.
What a great thing to do! Have a signature perfume for a house move... That rocks.

SOTD was Vera Wang Sheer Veil. I think this has been discontinued, like so many of the ones i love have been. I find it very soft, not quite a skin scent but almost. Very floral with little to no fruit which i like as i'm not the biggest lover of fruit in my perfume, although that's not a rule as there's some i love that are ont he fruity side but in general, i prefer them without the fruit. I just find that an overload of fruity notes makes things smell sickly to me, like disinfectant covering up a bad smell, if that makes sense

Les thank you for the tip about the Body Shop online sale. DD has had a happy frolic with the scrubs and shower gels and also has a big bottle of Fuji Green Tea cologne on the way. I was so tempted myself, but having just snagged a half bottle of Diorella I thought I had better exercise some restraint - well what passes for it here! Though I may go and see what my local Fragrance Shop has in the way of Mary Greenwell purse sprays later this week...

Mary there are samples and decants of L'Air du Desert Marocain on sale here. I haven't ordered from this website myself but it looks like they have a good selection.

I have finally cracked the problem of the poor projection from the 4160s Our Modern Lives samples. If you pair one of the seven naturals with one of the two synthetics in the set, they blend beautifully and it seems to amplify the strength and longevity of the natural fragrance.

SOTD is A Scent by Issey Miyake - lovely, green, galbanum-heavy and fresh. I don't love it as much as MMM Untitled but it's pretty special nonetheless.

No probs Green- I love Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea as a summer cheapie and have heard good things about the body shop one, hoping it will be nice and refreshing on the (fingers crossed) hotter days to come!

Yesterday's SOTD was Miss Dior Originale and today's is Paris again. We are away for the rest of the week staying with relatives, so my perfume wardrobe will be somewhat limited. In our room on the dressing table, there is an old bottle of White Lace (yardley? Not sure...) and the aforementioned Green Tea, which I will have to have a sniff of at some point!

My Givenchy III and Safari have arrived.
The Givenchy III is, of course, fab, much more powdery than my tiny miniature seems to be for some reason. It is pre-barcode and has a code on the box so I shall do some research in a bit.

The Safari is a tester (bit hmm at first as the seller didn't declare that) but oh my! It's an eau de parfum- and I'm surprised you can't smell me from there. It's wonderfully early 90s (would it have been?) and one tiny squirt has reminded me why I always went for a squirt in Kendals in Manchester back in the day. I love it, unlike Barbara H who, in her pursed-lip review of it, clearly doesn't! It is sweet, which is generally not me, but not pink-fruity-sweet.

Dd meanwhile is burning a sea salt and sage Yankee melt, and I have told her there is a perfume called that, so she says that will be my her next perfume purchase.

The Atelier discovery set has arrived! It's worth buying just for the beautiful presentation, individual little phials all packaged up with a beautiful postcard (for each one) of the fruit/flower etc.

I have a feeling I'm going to find a lot of them very samey and not me, but I love the branding (and the price for the set is very reasonable)

I am in Cedrat something this morning, and it's a bit aftershavey. (Sel Marin fans would like it, it's like that with a twist of citrus)

My Atelier set also arrived, yesterday. As Vintage says, they are beautifully wrapped, each individual scent with its own matched picture postcard of smelling notes. I shall get a lot of pleasure from these! I have tried Orange Sanguine, with top notes of a very juicy blood orange. Delightful while it lasted (not very long!) and I could hardly make out the other notes (jasmine and sandalwood). I will need to try again another time.

Today I am covered in the vanilla heaven which is Eau des Missions cologne (Les Couvent des Minimes).

Oooh, looking forward to your cologne reviews, the couple of samples I have tried have been absolutely gorgeous initially but my hoover like skin just seems to suck them up - longevity in a lot of scents is non existent for me, despite my frantic moisturising. It's a shame as the colognes themselves smelt delicious.

Les vintage Lace I used to love this when I was young - I'm sure I had a pink lid/bottle and a blue lidded one? Is that INXS I can hear in the background, I think it might be

Is it too soon to say Happy Easter? DH has just gone out to get some fish which is apparently compulsory today (I forget this every year although I should know after 20 years, you see this is one of the many reasons my MIL hates me ) - I don't want the house to smell of fish as I am finally properly wearing my Seville sample!!

I like it a lot. To me it smells very leafy at the moment, and it smells slightly of the proper honeycomb you get in a jar of £££ honey. I am very interested to see what the drydown is like! I shall put my foot down on the fish issue

I forgot to say Vintage - Kendals in Manchester! Used to love it - do you remember the food hall? Goodness I loved the food hall almost as much I loved the huge waft of expensive perfumes (with a blast of hot air!) when you walked through the doors when it was cold outside.