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.

Me too!

Something I'm really struggling with - and no disrespect to those that like them - but the huge number of sickly sweet florals around ATM is driving me mad 😡
It's so hard to find a scent I like from current modern offerings....the nearest I've got is Valentino poudre and NArcisso Rodriguez poudre, both of which are lovely.
Things like Prada candy and flowerbomb and angel....bluergh
Is it a fad? hope so!!

I agree re the sweet sickly pink things, though wouldn't put Angel in there. I can't wear it now, and have always preferred the cheap and cheerful dupe Byblos Cielo because it's slightly less gourmand but I think it will go down (along with perfumes like Poison and Obsession, as gamechangers)

Angel is the devils own scent. However, I somehow got a load of samples and dd snaffled them-on her they smell beautiful.
I'm in a between seasons rut. I want cool and elegant, less of my usual old churches and ladies' handbags, more a wander along the boulevardes of Paris on a spring evening. But as usual my bank account is saying no. Sigh.
I am tempted by Avon. I know. All the modern ones smell the same (apart from soft musk 😐 And timeless) but Imari? Lemon, jasmine and vanilla (not getting that from sniffing the page) but £6. For that I can use as air freshener.

You need rive gauche now! on special offer in boots atm
Vintage....meant to say totally agree re ckone et al...ugh! I thought they smelt like loo freshener! But then I'm an opium/obsession fan.
It is very annoying when perfumes you like on others smell like disinfectant on you...personally it's EL white linen and estee for me....LOVED them on my aunt. Made me smell nasty.

Joining in on the Angel hate; amazing bottle but, my word, what a scrubber!

If we haven't been wiped out by an asteroid strike/other catastrophe I should say it's almost certain our grandchildren will be dismissing today's best-selling gourmand fragrances as "smelling like something an old lady would wear."

I have just fallen in love with Orianne, one of 4160 Tuesdays' two Proust perfumes. It's so beautifully blended I find it impossible to pick out the notes but it is very elegant, very powdery and smells like a classic French perfume. Unfortunately the Proust perfumes were made in very small quantities for a special event so I shall have to make do with my 2.25ml sample. Unless, fingers crossed, Sarah Mc makes another batch. After all Goodbye Piccadilly started off as a one-off.

MrsC I would like an even stronger Tarts Knicker Drawer but there's very little 4160 Tuesdays turn out that I wouldn't happily give a home to!

Ollivander and Dream hope tomorrow is better for both of you.

It is a lovely bottle I agree

I don't own a bottle of Angel, but did once have a sample of hair perfume - sounds odd, but it was lovely at that diffusion....

Hello Vintage - good to have you back.

Hope your recovery is going OK Ollivander?

What's the other one like Green? I still have a bit of guilt complex about not getting very far beyond the madeleines in volume 1. Think this is putting me of trying these . An author famous for involuntary memory is a great subject for perfume making though!

My Avon spree continues. For the price of a coffee and a bun (madeleline?) I have a boxed unopened bottle of mid 70s Timeless (delivered). A treat for vintage thrill seekers - a classic 70s bitter and aromatic opening lit up by aldehydes which then flip flops straight over to a powdery amber alter ego, all sweet tonka and balsam, but with a touch of darker patchouli too.

For a similar number of pennies I also have Unspoken. This is from the same era and pulls a similar trick; the dry hyacinth/raspberry/aldehydes top notes combine to smell a bit like rhubarb (refreshing to smell fruit that isn't sweetened), but then, via a bit of animalic jasmine, settle into a much sweeter musky sandalwood.

Oh - think old churches and old handbags just about some my tastes up right now!

off and madeleines - sorry

I'm going to have a look through my Clean perfumes, in the mood for something soap smelling

Timeless is magnificent- I don't know Unspoken- but am going to have to get back onto the Avon wagon.

You've also got me hankering after some real Rive gauche now too. I have the PP version which is good, but I want an old bottle to sweep me back to summer 86 when I was desperate for some Obsession having fallen in love with the advert in April's Cosmo. (yes, my memory is that good ) Scoured the shops (was in Spain) to no avail and went for RG on my (far more sophisticated than me) friend's recommendations.

God was it really 86?
I got a bottle of obsession for my 18th b day in 1990.
Love some of the older avons....timeless is a beauty

Did anyone wear white satin or lace by yardley back in the 80s?
Keep thinking of bidding on eBay.....

sits on hands

(Have name changed btw from Dream for cat threads btw but might keep this as I like it)

Oh olli I hope you feel better soon, I can definitely recommend the PP Dove perfume for feeling clean. It does kind of feel like you've just sprayed the body spray though...

Vintage good to see you back in the bosom of your perfume family

Badders I used to love Lace - didn't they have a pink and a blue? bottle - maybe more? Go for it and report back

Loving all the Avon nostalgia - next time I am at my mother's house I am going to look at her dressing table as I know she will have ancient Avon stuff there

Funnily enough I used to like Angel but it made DH retch so haven't smelled (smelt? Smelled?) it for years. A free sample arrived recently and it made me retch - definitely a scrubber now! I don't know if it's changed or I've changed.

Green

Revisiting Chanel exclusifs this week I think, having done the vintage Diors last.

31 Rue Cambon today. This was the one that stunned me into an audible "wow" at the airport, then the sample I snagged was less than amazing somehow..maybe it was the wrong moment to be trying it out. Back in it today, and it's now settled from its initial cacophony of chypre (which is good) + sweet powdery something (which is not (for me)) It's now warm and spicy almost, and looking up the notes I am surprised to see patchouli in there, as I do not feel like a hairy biker but a sophisticated Parisian woman. Still errs on the sweet for me, but I feel good.

I have just encouraged a whopping lizard to get off my bedroom wall, and snagged a photo of him nestling between my posh perfumes on his way out.

ponders why a 6 inch lizard is cute, yet a 5mm spider is a monster from hell

Vintage Safari today with three light sprays.After the Galbanum opening it morphs to a powdery comforting heart.Sort of reminds me of Lipstick Rose and Paris , but without the Violets. Perfect for this current wet cold miserable weather.
Had a lovely dog walk last night smelling the glorious Hawthorn in the hedgerows, purple Lilacs and those Turkish Delight smelling deep pink Roses.Also a cherry almond white flowering shrub that I don't know the name of.

My aunt used to wear safari - fab scent! Perfect for a rainy cold day

My Givenchy III has arrived. Ohhhhh it's like a portal to a happy place, I can't stop sniffing it!

SOTD - library of fragrance pure soap. The spray has broken but only a little bit left. Will buy the dove one I think

Is the Library one good, olli? I love them as the names like marshmallow and fresh rain etc sound so enticing but they all turn to air freshener on me, my skin just doesn't like them at all.

If you let me have your address I can send you a decant of the Dove one, if I can find it in the Teenage Room From Hell! PM me if you want, will be pleased to do it.

Vintage it's interesting to hear you say you are revisiting "perfume houses". I do this, try everything by one brand and move on, but I'm the same with books, read everything by one author one after the other. And albums too, will go through weeks just listening to one artist or band, then move on.

Although I think every one of us on these threads is slightly obsessive

Have also been looking at Givenchy lll now, damn you all!

I am about to shower off the day (and Rue Cambon) so will have a squirt of Givenchy III to keep in with everyone else.

Ollivander you might like to try the current version of Balmain Ivoire, the dry down smells exactly like Dove soap to me and, judging by the reviews on Fragrantica, a lot of other people agree.

After all these paeans to Safari I have finally, finally managed to snag a vintage half bottle at an un-silly price.

MrsC Swann is also beautifully blended but, unsurprisingly, much more masculine. I like it but it's probably not one I would buy as a FB. Both the Proust scents are wonderfully old world and elegant, and Orianne is definitely in sell a spare organ territory. And I don't believe I've even opened Remembrance of Things Past! I really must get round to it - mind you, I've been saying that for years...

"Slightly obsessive" Floofy? Umm, yeah, ok, but we are beautifully fragranced obsessives.

May we see the lizard photo Vintage? (After Elizabeth Arden's horses, OC's swans and assorted cats, it's good to have a reptile in the mix ).

Anyone know which came first, Demeter or Library of Fragrance, (or is this a branding thing?).

You're right MrsC. It is just branding.
See here