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.

Pestilential what a great post, love the perfume wearing you v wearing the perfume!

Vintage i am so tempted by those vintage sets with the teeny bottles. I saw LouLou is only about £14 on Amazon - is it still the same formula as the 90s behemoth, does anyone know?

Very interested in the Avon haul, I still mean to examine my mother's dressing table as I'm sure there will be some ancient vintage Avons there!

Love the limp draught excluders! I cuddled FloofyCat before and she was so hot and warm. I actually opened the fridge just so she could sit in front of it. Like a good cat slave does :)

MrsC I haven't read Coming To My Senses yet, is it the Alyssa Harad one? I have it on my wish list I think, is it worth getting?

OK- I am conducting the same experiment as Pest- I have 2 cards, one sprayed with the vintage, straw coloured miniature I picked up earlier this year, and one with my current bottle.

The vintage was twangy at first because its topnotes have gone I think, but 3 hours down the line and the new one is sweeter now, whereas the vintage is still defiantly sharp and green and woody at the same time.

Apart from our disastrous sample seller on Etsy has anyone else bought perfume over there? Lots of sellers in Germany seem to be using it and there's some reasonably priced stuff. (plus us furriners don't have to pay the bleeping extortionate "ebay international postage" thingummy. (£14 a pop!)

Eau du Sud alert - have just got 30ml for £15 from someone on eBay who is selling in 10ml decants on a buy it now or best offer basis. There is some left - but listed as Eau de Sid. (Does look the real deal though...). VP once it arrives am happy to try and decant you a bit for comparison purposes?

Floofy have an unused vintage miniature of 90s Lou Lou from one of those sets if you fancy a swap (pm me)? Yes it is the Alyssa Harad. Have only read the first chapter - about falling down the perfume rabbit hole - and it is enjoyably familiar!

Hi everyone - I am new to this thread and have a question if there is an expert who would be kind enough to give an opinion.

In an attempt to get out of my perfume rut without risking £££ on a new fragrance, I bought a few fairly cheap 'smell-alike' fragrances (from a company that had been recommended by a friend, not a dodgy market stall!). There are a couple I have fallen in love with, but the 'real' versions are quite expensive. In your experience generally, is it worth paying top dollar for the real version - do they smell even better/last longer etc. or can smell-likes be just as good? Any advice gratefully received

Hmmmm
I have to say the next dupes are excellent imo
I've not had much luck with PP sadly but other posters on this thread have had some great buys.
I would always buy a bottle of something that I fell in love with, but if it's only "like" then a dupe will do.
😀

It's also worth bearing in mind that bargains can be found on eBay even for the more £££ scents.

Thank you, Mrsmartell. I've seen perfumes on sale on eBay but always worry they might be (bad) fakes if the price is much lower than through an official channel. I've had some bargains in the 'bottle with only one squirt out of it' private sales but generally with a very tried-and-trusted fragrance where I'd immediately be able to spot a poor fake.

I tested Jo Malone's Oud and Bergamot in town today. Absolutely adored it. I was so hot though I had to a get a shower when I got in. Has anyone any experience of this and know about its longevity at all? Thank you. Am so enjoying reading this thread.

Pest - thanks for the animalics link. Feeling guilty about enjoying some of these notes in vintage formulations.

Oh! Jo malone site has freebies today!

Hi Asmoto. Welcome! I think 'dupes' are hit and miss, really. If you find one that hits the spot, I don't see any reason to pay top whack for the original unless you're a collector or like having original from a particular favourite perfume house.

I've had some fantastic dupes from Perfume Parlour, but also a few misses. I tend to buy a 3 or 5ml sample and then if its good, a full size bottle.

Melting tonight! Argh....

Liberally sprayed M&S Aqua Rose EDT all over and it is surprisingly similar to my much loved citrus-rose Sisley Izia. Longevity is a bit crap, but to be honest nothing but the strongest musky scents seem to last on my skin in warm weather .

Thank you ThreeForAPound. I'm not particularly a collector, unless a bottle is particularly striking and appealing. I will check out Perfume Parlour as the 3/5ml samples sound like a good idea.

I've got M&S Aqua (not Rose) and really like it - it seems to last quite well on me and a colleague asked if I was wearing Issey Miyake .

Asmoto - buy beautiful things but in small quantities first of all? If you are patient most things turn up in affordable formats on eBay eventually and there is a lot of protection for buyers. The wonder of perfume collecting is that it is quite possible to try absolute masterpieces for pennies. Even small quantities will be enjoyed on multiple occasions.

Thank you, that sounds very wise MrsCocoa. I'm always wary of buying too much of a perfume at first because some seem to react badly with me - they smell wonderful for about 10 minutes, then seem to 'turn' and trigger a headache - often it's something I have admired on others so guessing it must be something in my skin chemistry that doesn't suit the fragrance.

Vintage, if you mean the Scottish seller that used to be on Etsy, she is no longer there. I did get several samples from her with no problems and I'm sure they were the real thing. The last order I did was for two samples and one arrived just fine. The other did not turn up. After several amicable holding emails from her saying that she was waiting for new supplies, I heard nothing. Eventually, after almost giving up hope, at least a couple of months later, my sample arrived and it was double the amount, presumably by way of apology! So I concluded that perhaps she had been ill or had some personal problems. So, altogether not a bad experience. I've bought other things, not perfume, from Etsy and all has been fine.

Asmoto, have a good look at the reviews on Perfume Parlour. If you go for the ones with lots of 4-5 star reviews, you're more likely to get something pleasing.

Badders...in lieu of missing out on the Sun Moon Stars on eBay I have finally purchased a big bottle of Diamonds and Rubies on Amazon

Another round of applause for the perfume wearing me / me wearing the perfume analogy - perfectly articulates my scent challenge!
Interestingly, for me at least, whether or not a perfume is wearing me has nothing to do with its strength in absolute terms - just whether or not it suits my skin chemistry - so I definitely wear Truth or Dare but something like the Shay and Blue Blood orange mentioned above wears me!
I am in awe (and slightly envious) of all the scent sampling everyone is indulging in despite the heat - I have been on a T&D / Addict / Versace Pour Femme trifecta for weeks and am boring myself!

Oh I hope you like it three
I wore it yesterday!
Might be sun moon stars for me today...
I'm off out tonight so I shall wear something else then...hmmm...decisions decisions....

Yes, Calmina- that's the one- I was the one who introduced her to you all and then felt guilty, as I hadn;t had any problems with her!

Asmoto- welcome! What is the perfume you've fallen for? Maybe one of us has already tried the dupe? I have about 40 PP dupes, as others have said, some are so good I'll never buy the real thing, others are a bit iffy.

Disastrous- IMO Jo Malone's last about 13 seconds, but I've never tried one with oud which seems to last as long as nuclear fallout would in other perfumes!

MrsC- I'd love to take you on that, I will wait until holed up in my boarding school in Kent in 2 weeks!

I am going to finish sorting through my samples over the next week and pack up some duplicates /PMs/just-not-me ones to bring over, which anyone can have..I will list idc.

The 19 experiment was interesting....by last night they had dried down to virtually identical scents. It was in the first 2 hours that there was a massive difference. This morning you can still smell the old one just as beautifully and unchanged as last night, while the new one has gone completely.

The honeysuckle in my garden smelt devine last night, really warm, musky and powdery. It was absolutely devine, really luxurious and sensual.
Does anyone know of a perfume that smells like that? I have only smelt honeysuckle perfumes that smelt 'sharp' and don't want that.
SOTD is going to be Guerlain Heritage. 😀

Sotd is Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuer.

MrsCocoa, who could resist Eau de Sid! I've ordered 10mls.

In honour of the Scottish lady (I wish her well) I'm wearing one of her samples, Francis Kurkdjian's APOM (A Part of Me). This is a beautiful orange blossom and ylang ylang, quite strong.

I'm wearing (old) Chanel 19 after my experiment yesterday. I'm a bit twangy at the moment but I shall settle magnificently!

I love the smell of honeysuckle bushes, and jasmine. There's another bush here that I've been asking the name of for 20 years and nobody knows, yet it's everywhere! It is slightly jasmine-honeysuckley and has small yellowish flowers around the beginning of May. It's a hedge rather than a vertical bush.

The nicest honeysuckle I can remember was a Boots own brand cheap one years ago. DD has an Occitane one but it's honeysuckle and something else.

There's an old vintage Avon Honeysuckle....I like it .

Yes, Calmina especially at that price. Will decant back into the dregs of my bottle which I've been eeking out.

at "Eau de Sid"! MrsC very kind offer re the LouLou thanks, but my finger may have slipped on the keyboard already about five seconds after I posted and made an EBay bid, will PM you though if it doesn't work out :)

Asmoto welcome and agree with all Perfume Parlour comments, if I find a PP dupe isn't as good as the real thing, I tend to buy small samples/decants as recommended up thread as it is in theory anyway easier on the pocket.

Flapjack welcome too, I found the longevity of Jo Malones terrible considering their prices but they don't suit my skin I don't tend to buy them. I gather the Perfume Parlour JM dupes are pretty good.

Really interesting article re animalics. Funnily enough I saw a "suitable for vegetarians" label on some sample the other day and internally rolled my eyes, I don't know why this didn't occur to me! I feel a little guilty as my perfume loving DD is a veggie and uses my ancient perfumes which no doubt aren't suitable for vegetarians. Now I have a dilemma. I think on the basis she wears leather shoes I'll say nothing. AIBU? Actually that would make a great AIBU but I'm not in the mood this morning to have every aspect of my parenting questioned and criticised

Rainy but still warm here...definite Jade weather.