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

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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.

It sounds very shallow but I steered clear of Rive Gauche for years, shame on me, because I thought the blue and silver can looked like a deodorant spray.

I've had two duds from Ebay, both vintage bottles that had completely deteriorated. One was from a helpful seller who refunded me. The other came from someone who refused to let me return it and then went incommunicado, but Ebay stepped in and arranged a refund anyway. So the buyer protection has worked well for me too so far. I hope your problems are resolved quickly MrsC.

SOTD is Annick Goutal Rose Pompom, in an attempt to diminish the pile of untried samples. It's a pretty, rather jammy rose with raspberry and pink peppercorn notes. It's very pleasant but not really a stand-out for me.

I want full reports on the August 4160 workshop!

SOTD was Chloe Love Story. Safe, lovely summery floral.

Payday today and I 'limited' myself to a £40 splurge on 5ml samples from Notino. Nothing vintage, obviously, just fragrances I've been curious to try.

Sisley Soir de Lune
Balenciaga Florabotanica and Rosabotanica
Cartier Le Panthere
Lancome Miracle
...and a few Escada Pink Mingers for summer holiday purposes

I'm going to brave it next month and try some RG after all of youse lots ravings. I think I said before but it was my Mum's signature fragrance in the 80s/90s and she was very heavy handed with it, so I'm a bit reluctant...but I want to try some more 'grown up' perfumes.

Rose Pom Pom sounds right up my street, Green...

It has been reformulated so it's not as harsh as it once was I believe
Have any of you for must de cartier?
What's it like?

Just found this thread. Please can I join in. I started a thread the other day asking whether I should risk an opened spray of Creed's Royal Oud off ebay, (have name changed since) and got very helpful replies from VintagePerfumista and others. I followed the advice and didn't risk it but have sent off for a 5ml sample :)

I have worn Roma For Men by Laura Biagiotti for the last 25 years+. I never get tired of it. It's powdery, expensive smelling, subtle but lasts for ages and just has that X Factor. I've not smelled anything like it. I get it in duty free or when I visit family in Germany. And it's only around 40 eu.

I made a really bad mistake at Christmas. My DB always gives me a voucher for a perfume/make-up chain in Germany called Douglas. I was running out of time to choose before I went home and ended up getting a bottle of Airin Tangir Vanille. I was pretty sure I liked it (not loved) it but once I got home I decided not only didn't I like it, I actively really dislike it. And it must be one of the most long-lasting perfumes ever. I'm so cross to have wasted my precious voucher. should have held on to it and resumed the search next time I was over :(

My wish list is for a full size bottle of Creed's Royal Oud at present. For now it's samples when I have spare cash and hoping for a lottery win. So interesting reading everyone's lists.

Typo in post. Should have been Aerin.

What is a perfume to invest in now, to make mega bucks on in the future as 'vintage' ?

I wore Roma for women 15 years ago.
It's lovely.

Rive gauche again for me today

Hi All - and thanks Green . I am sorry we couldn't get an Autumn date for the 4160 workshop - I know August is tricky for several of us. But this does mean we should aim for a 2018 re-match! (Unless we're flying off to Zurich to visit Andy Tauer!).

If anyone new to the thread is interested in joining us on August 12th please PM me or Green. It's a full day with Sarah Mc at the 4160 studios in W London. Several of us have attended these before and they are just a brilliant way to learn more by playing with notes as you construct your own creation.

Disastrous - you should sell it!

Dipdep - ah! Perhaps the case of Nombre Noir is instructive? Think we should be looking for critical acclaim (especially from Luca Turin), a respected nose, and a limited supply (rapid discontinuation/product recall)...?

PS. Anyone smelt NN?

Hi Disastrous, welcome to our fragrant wormhole! You'll never escape now.

I am currently unperfumed as have my headache, but will shortly have a shower and risk something safe like my beloved PP Infusions d'Iris.

Rive Gauche has definitely been reformulated- though is still recognisably its sassy self. That's why I love the PP one so much as it's more like the original to my nose.

Laura Biagiotti died last week. I often have a squirt of Roma in our version of Superdrug. Have considered a FB as it's about 18 euro here! There's something Obsession-y about it I always think.

I won't be able to make 12th August- that is our last week of summer school and it's all hands on deck packing. I shall still enter the labrynth of 4160 this summer though. (and if I'm like I was with your beloved Fire I'll hate them all )

digging around in one of my perfume boxes, i found a brand new and sealed bottle of Alexander McQueen MyQueen!! not sure where i got it from but it's one i do like an awful lot so very pleased with my find this morning.

wearing Korres White Tea Bergamot Freesia this morning, which is nice and refreshing as it's warm today

Did she? Oh how sad :(
It's warm out there today
Friend coming for lunch at 12 so must get on...

Hello Disastrous and welcome to the thread. Yes, definitely sell the mistake - you can put the proceeds into a Royal Oud fund.

Very nice find OneNight. Isn't that one that's getting very hard to find these days?

Dlpdep if I knew...I agree with MrsC, you need a combination of critical acclaim and a limited supply whether through discontinuation or an unsuccessful reformulation. It also seems likely perfumes containing oud will grow costlier because they are so in demand and oud is so hard to source. I don't particularly care for oud in scents myself but there's a fascinating Al Jazeera documentary all about it and the alarming prices it fetches. It's called Scent from Heaven and it's on YouTube if anyone is interested.

Ah Vintage what a pity about the clash. I don't like Mary Greenwell Fire either so don't be too sure a 4160s addiction isn't lying in wait for you...Hope the headache clears up soon.

Badders I haven't smelt Must de Cartier but Barbara Herman described it as "intoxicating" and "beguiling" whereas Luca Turin gave it one star, and said it was a "dreadful thing" and "so indigestible that you could use it as an appetite suppressant." So obviously not one to sit on the fence about!

Rose Pompom was pretty Three and I certainly wouldn't boot out a bottle that chanced my way but I do have quite a lot of rosy stuff already so they do have to be extra special to impress these days. This is what passes for restraint around here.

SOTD is Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire from the sample box. I've tried it before and wasn't that impressed but today the mix of roses, cherry and almond is very pleasing. I wonder how many other samples I've dismissed that I'd like if I gave them a second chance...

Sotd is Rive Gauche. I've just been to Boots and got Jade for £13, result!

Thank you for the welcome :) I hope your headache has worn off a bit Vintage. Just got back home. Had a good squish of Royal Oud in John Lewis on way to bus stop.

I used to wear Rive Gauche when it was in its heyday. I remember it being very strong and distinctive. It was one of the must have perfumes when it first appeared. I must re-visit and see if it smells as I remember it.

How sad about Laura Biagiotti. I found the women's Roma didn't suit me as much as the men's.

I was thinking to sell the Tangir Vanille of doom but thought you couldn't post perfume unless it was in its original sealed package. Though looking on ebay that did make me question that. Where would you say the best place to sell it is? And is there generally no problem with the Post Office accepting used bottles?

I'd like to know more about perfumes. As it goes I just totally love spending ages testing them out, especially ones I've not come across or heard of. Can anyone recommend a book or course etc for beginners so I can learn more about it?

So lovely to see my friend...but I'm shattered now.
Didn't really sleep last night for some reason...
I'm going to have a twilight from lush shower gel and then use the body spray....lavender, tonka bean and benzoin. Mmmmmmm.

Disastrous- Luca Turin and Tanya Sanchez are your people...or Barbara Hermann for vintage scents.

I follow lots of blogs as well- Perfume Candy Boy, Now Smell This, Bois de Jasmine are probably my favourites but I dip in and out of others too.

Headache now gone, so am undecided between Anais Anais or Rive Gauche for my post-shower spray. I updated my FB yesterday saying I'd gone back down the Rive Gauche wormhole and my friend who I lived with when wearing it in 86-87 immediately commented that she only has to look at a can of RG and she thinks of me (we haven't met since 1988!) I kind of like that a lot!

Thanks so much Vintage I'll take a look at the websites you mention and see if I can sell the Tangir Vanille as well as learn more about perfume in general. I can easily spend a couple of hours in my favourite shop in Germany just investigating things.

Glad headache gone :)

I'm definitely not a collector...I'm a wearer .

I do love the way perfume can make every day a bit more interesting, and even in the most boring meeting you can lose yourself in something blissful for a moment.

That said, given the 4160s are handmade, in small quantities, using high quality ingredients, there probably are worse things to amass!

Disastrous we were discussing the hazards of posting perfume on page 39 of the last thread. It's here and you might find it helpful.

As well as the Luca Turin/Tania Sanchez and Barbara Herman books, which are both fascinating and very readable, you might like The Perfume Bible by Josephine Fairley and Lorna McKay, which is more of a guide for people starting to take an interest in scents. And the Perfume Society discovery boxes contain a wealth of information, lots of lovely samples and are beautifully presented. You can find more details here.

Yesterday's Perfume (Barbara Herman's blog) and Raiders of the Lost Scent are two other blogs worth looking at. The latter is very useful for dating vintage bottles from the mainstream perfume houses. And Fragrantica is an invaluable website.

Ebay woes now all sorted with a minimum of hassle. This has made me slightly warier of miniatures/vintage dab on bottles given the topping up issue. Confirms though that my early 1970s Avon demonstrator set (14 different perfumes x 5ml) has been my second best buy of the year. It's very helpful indeed to have this for reference purposes.

Have experimented with layering Sahara Noir (with its massive frankincense note) with Seville a L'Aube - now I can smell the swinging processional church incense!

No SotD as yet - have a visit to the sorting office to (hopefully) collect last weekend's Magie.

Morning all. I was all set to flex my house of Fraser card on som rg yesterday to find they only had one size, and the price! Boots has it still on offer, but out of stock. Had a crafty squirt while I was there. It reminds me of something else, but can't think what.
I wanted something cheap and fresh to keep in my drawer at work (my colleague is not a big scent fan and has hay fever too) don't laugh but I got a little bottle if ted baker body spray. Amazingly not a pink minger, but fresh and still floral. Not my usual thing but will do until the holidays.