The Scarf of a Thousand Scents: Lovely, Friendly Perfume Thread 4

[GreenPolishToGo]

Welcome to instalment number four of the friendly perfume lovers' thread. Pop in and tell us your SOTD, share your discoveries or ask a question because one of us is likely to know the answer.

Everyone is welcome to join in, whether you are dipping a toe in scented waters for the first time, or a full-blown fragrance addict.

Morning.
Feeling bluergh and coldy today. It's not raining yet though.
I would be interested in the autumn if you plan another outing 😀👍🏻
I think it will be knowing for me today....I only have a tinyt left though 😞😞
I must rein myself in this month hahahahahahahaha
Still waiting for the rive gauche

I know Green I'm not a dedicated perfume fan. By that I mean I'll pick a fragrance I like and stick with it most days, changing it up for a different one for night times and special occasions. I love reading these threads to see how others enjoy perfume and finding out how the weather and the wearers mood influences their choice of fragrance.
I'd love to know how to read a scent (not even sure that's the right word) top notes, Base notes etc.

I'm really only just learning how to read the notes Maud- I have a sniff of a new one and try and work it out then go and look on fragrantica or basenotes to see if I'm right. I am getting better, but still no expert.

I wore Seville a' l'aube today too. It still puzzles me. I want to like it, hell, I want to love it. but there's something in it which is just too strong and overpowering. (and this, as you know, is my big gripe with the name ) I love anything remotely connected to anything remotely Spanish so this should be amazeballs for me, but it just isn't. But yet there is something in it which makes me keep going back and trying it again.

Oh, I'm rubbish!
I look up perfumes or recommmendations and think..."yes, that's just my cup of tea!" Then I sniff them and..ugh!
Not many successes!
Apparently my RG should arrive today! Shame the sun has gone into hiding...
I've found some scents are really my thing...
Powder
Spice
Woods
Tonka bean
Iris
Orris root
Rose
Vetiver
Vanilla
Bergamot
Patchouli

Ones I can't stand are;

Cloves
Cinnamon
Coconut
Ginger
Sweet florals
Gourmand

Sadly most new fragrances seem to include most things on my hate list :(

I like fragrantica too. I enjoy heavy heady scents. So far I've liked all the Roberto Cavalli offerings. I also like most of the dior addicts, La dolce vita and dune. I like lancome miracle and La vie est bell. I really liked flowerbomb but am over that now and have a had a bit of a love affair with shalimar.

RG has just arrived!
😀

Oh!
Btw...if any of you are worried you have a fake (from eBay etc) if you use a site called cosmetic check it will tell you if the product code is valid and date of manufacture!

Maud...what notes do you like in the cavalli?
I've never tried one but I love the bottles!

Quick check-in to say 'hello'.

I can't make the August date for the 4160 workshop, but Autumn may be ore of a go-er.

I'm also just getting to grips with picking out notes. Getting better, but still extremely amateur. Fragrantica is a huge help (and I lose hours on there sometimes ).

SOTD today is Lancome La Vie Est Belle. Huge bottle languishing at the back of my cupboard and have never cracked it open. Very sweet and cloying Angel-a-like on first sniff, and then dries down to marshmallow-ey Flowerbomb. All bit sweet for me. I'm not a gourmand fan, but will revisit this in colder months. Not a summer perfume for me.

Im now happily wafting about in RG...what a fab summer scent it Is!
Everyone back from their travels tomorrow so things will get busy again but it's been a nice couple days just mooching about...

No idea about ntoes badders. I'm trying but brain won't compute and I think my nose isn't great. This new bottle is just cavalli gold. According to fragrantica it has hazelnuts and marshmallow.

*notes

Ooohhh
Sounds lovely.

Three nothing is set in stone for the 4160s workshop yet, so we will definitely pencil you in for a possible autumn date.

Maud if there were classes for recognising perfume notes I would be in with the beginners. I am learning very, very gradually to pick out some individual notes after lots of sniffing and reading, but some scents are so beautifully blended they leave me stumped completely.

I think being a scent hopper means that I miss a lot of the complexities someone who thoroughly explores one perfume at a time discovers, but there are so many tempting fragrances to try!

I like Seville à l'aube but the summer it conjures up for me is a day of oppressive heat and humidity with thunder growling in the distance. There is something dark in it. I also like LVEB, but I agree it's a winter scent. Frustratingly, it smells far nicer on DS than it does on me. Rive Gauche is wonderful and timeless.

SOTD is straying into pink and very probably minger territory for many of you but I like it. It's a cheapie blind buy from the TK Maxx clearance shelf called Jeanne en Provence Le Temps des Secrets and the notes are blackberry blossom, bitter almond, bergamot and mandarin. It turns out to be a heavy, syrupy, fruity, floral that smells just as good and better than a lot of the far pricier pink stuff in the department stores.

Definitely pencil me in, Green - thank you . Very exciting. I think I might die and go to 4160 heaven .

I do have a soft spy for various PMs, to be brutally honest . I was wearing complete minger Victorias Secret Sprays all through my 20s and into my thirties, so I have hangover tastes from those pink and fruity days .

So far on my perfume geekery journey I've discovered I'm a total floral lover, but stray into fruity florals frequently. Gourmand not so much, but not totally ruled out. Floriental good for me, too. Citrus as long as it isnt too masculine.

I'm scared of anything skanky or with masculine notes (tobacco, coffee, leather). Too much vanilla is also a no-no for me. Very pronounced spice - cinnamon, clove, ginger - makes me nauseous. I haven't got on with proper Arabian oils at all.

Its a bloody great hobby, though, this perfume lark.

Reply now received having checked for an autumn date for our potential 4160 makers workshop (sorry - can't seem to italicise text below...):

...In August we have space because I have kept the whole month clear, autumn gets a lot busier and we don't have many Saturdays left.
We don't have enough space left on any of our Saturday workshops to fit a group in, as they only take 8. So if you can go with August that would suit me best. We'll get an air conditioning unit because the afternoon get quite sunny...

SOTD was Narciso Rodriguez for Her. I am so envious of people going to the 4160 workshop, you lucky things.

Just been reading the wise words of VP on the buying perfume from ebay thread. Timely, as I've had a couple of problems this week; vintage bottles topped up with water, and a Prism reformulation listed as Max Factor. But sellers and ebay moving quickly to resolve, so whilst it's a bit of a faff, it does confirm there is pretty good protection if purchases don't work out.

Might be reaching for the Seville a l'Aube today -always marvel at its staying power. The white flowers dominate on my skin - would have loved the incense to have been ramped up a bit. Might experiment with layering with Passage D'Enfer....

Rive gauche for.me.today as the sun is shining!!

Just...the NR scents are gorgeous
I love the poudree version

I am in Perfume Parlour Rive gauche and it is phenomenal. Probably the closest to the real thing of any PPs. I have immediately plummeted down the 1986 wormhole again. I first bought in in August 1986.

Can't stop sniffing myself.

MrsC- I haven't had a problem with ebay but my friend did, and they stepped up immediately and she was refunded. As I said on the thread, unless it's someone in China but pretending to be a UK seller with 300 of the same bottles, I'd risk it probably.

I got 30ml of RG for £7 off eBay 😀
It's lovely. Perfect for a summer day

As a buyer, eBay is great as they always side with the buyer in any disputes (not so great for sellers I find). If I'm buying a sample I tend to look for a picture of the original bottle in the listing, if possible and check the feedback.

I tend to stick to the UK Ebay though, I really should cast my net wider but then I'd spend even more money. I'm even worse with Amazon as I do use worldwide and spend £££ on random crap from Japan

I apologise for saying Perfume Parlour hadn't delivered my last order as they had and my skanky neighbours nicked it All is resolved and I'm wearing PP dupe of Allure (Faint S) in a bid to test all the PP Chanels - simply for research purposes for you lol of course It's very good actually. Some have been hit and miss but this is very close to original and even has the same vanilla dry down on my skin. Bargain.

Did Rive Gauche use to come in a metal tin or I am imagining things? I must get the PP dupe if you recommend it vintage

I hope you guys get the workshop sorted, I can't commit sadly due to health and logistics of getting to London but looking forward to living vicariously through your exploits

Yes...a blue and silver metal can 👍🏻
I shall have another spray before I go to the hairdressers...

MrsC thank you for all your sterling efforts organising the perfume workshop. It looks like August 12 then, fingers crossed that everyone who was free for that date will be still. Anyone who can't make it, we shall report back fully, and maybe we could fix up another one in 2018.