Wilko to Zurich...? Lovely, Friendly Perfume Thread 6

[MrsMacNally]

We'll go anywhere in search of things that smell great, and then we discuss them here. Feel free to join us.

[[https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/2973003-Pink-mohicans-and-cats-Lovely-Friendly-Perfume-Thread-5 Last thread]

Pest - sounds interesting; were you thinking samples or DiY decants?

SotD is Fire. Haven't worn it this year yet and after a bleak night at theatre, and a grey wet morning, I need something bone-warming.

Continuing my aim of trying all the untried stuff in my stash, SOTD is Buddhawood Box (and whilst digging it out I discovered that Sexiest Scent on the Planet had broken in transit and it is therefore that, that my MG Lemon box smells of (I packed all my summer purchase samples into the MG box for shipping and my word the box smells good!)

So, BB was strange at first, that harsh coconut mixed with booze thing? Brandy? Whisky? It's now settled into brandy/whisky infused wood and is much more my thing. It's definitely in the almost-a-Tauer group of perfumes once the jarring beginning settles.

It smells like you are adjusting the saddle height of your bike whilst eating a marmalade croissant. One for the weekend

^^ Pest - this made me laugh out loud for quite a long time.

Mrs M was thinking DIY decants. I have a few bottles of stuff that are big, I don't hate them (I quite like some) but I am unlikely to use them up in the next decade. We must all have some of this stuff.
I also have a few samples that I think are meh, but others might love.

Ultimately this may just be a good excuse to sort out the perfume cupboard. However, it is inspired by last weeks purchase of 100 mls of Agent Provocateur. I only wanted 25 or 30 but I found a bargain. so what do I do with the spare 70 mls?

Why do most companies not do 10ish ml sizes? As a perfume ho-er I would buy lots, I don't really want massive bottles, my curiosity wants to sniff loads and discover new scentsations. I want to smell like my mood or appropriate to the task at hand. I may be a bit weird, I would rather have fifty little bottles than five massive ones.

Oh and while I am edging towards rant mode. Fancy bottles are a pain in the backside. Nobody who likes perfume keeps the bottles on a dressing table. We put them in a cool, dark cupboard. I don't want a bottle that takes up more than its fair share of space or that threatens to fall over. I want it for the juice not the bottle.
Rant over

Two tribes Pest? I wonder why multiple bottle formats aren't more of a thing? That would keep both sorts of collectors happy and have a potentially interesting effect on the vintage market?

Still remember that awful story of someone buying an old half-full bottle of something rare and glorious and the eBay seller dropping them a line explaining they had just emptied the bottle to make it easier to post

There's an odd thread on here asking why people would possibly want half used perfumes at car boots etc
I tried to put them right but the consensus still seemed to be that we are weird mingers!

I am quite ok with being a weird minger

Less ranty now, I suppose I can cope with the existence of bottle collectors. Also, Perfumista will do me for decants. I had a tear in my eye over the bottle emptying Mrs M. Sorry that the theatre was bleak.

SoTD was Who Knew, always good for those "when I take over the world, it will be done my way" days.

Let's make a thread badge?

Can it be like a sheriff star with "Weird Minger" on it, or just an embroidered patch to put on your inside pocket and flash at fellow mingers.

Pest Having reread your bike saddle and marmalade croissant para, I think, to a dispassionate outside observer, you probably qualify for the full sheriff treatment? This is defo a badge of honour though

I have long known I am a weird minger
I am totally fine with it
😁

Can we have bike saddle and marmalade minger as our next thread title?

Just ordered a few samples from Les Senteurs: L'air du Desert Marocain, Jasmine et Cigarette and Nuit de Noel.

Floofy I also have an unreasonable snobbery about D&G and JPG. i think due to the fact I wore JPG Classique and (the long discounted) D&G Feminine in the my hoof, so nth brands have a 90s-tastic vibe about them for me. Never sniffed The One, but it sounds promising.

There are too many things on my Christmas list, which is stupid, as wed not do adult presents in my family anymore, so realistically I can expect one full bottle from DH (and possibly a couple of purchases of my own accord if the NY sales throw up any bargains and I am not dead broke by then). I very much want:

4160T Midnight in the Palace Garden
Yves Rocher Vanille Noire
JHAG Mmmm
Annick Goutal Vanille Charnelle

But if I had to choose one, it would be the 4160T.

Happily a member of the Weird Car-Boot-Sale-Perfume Mingers Society, btw

Ridiculous typos. I will translate if you need me to

Showered again and in vintage Cabochard. (it's the soapy leather conversation got me going!) Similar to, but a lot more delicate than the Arpege I wore yesterday evening- mind you, the Arpege was "extrait" whereas this is Edt...

As a 4160 relative virgin, do they all have the sillage of a gnat's burp or is it my skin? Despite being quite a powerful fragrance, Buddawood Box had gone by 9.30. (I also didn't treat myself as I had intended to the London 50ml from the naughty cupboard and the other samples I intended to try as £25 for postage no matter what you order, is the steepest I've yet to see on any website so it's a no from me unfortunately....will have to get my fill when next on UK soil.

Lady Rose Lion has the sillage of a komodo dragon's burp all day and night. Time to Draw the Raffle Numbers can do two desks. I still smell of Who Knew, so that is ten hours. They really vary, Rosa Ribes does about half an hour on me.

Perfume, the silage might depend on your skin. I need perfume which is quite heavy on the silage front - anything delicate disappears very quickly on my skin. Scents like Opium, Poison and Angel fade to a more unobtrusive level on me quite quickly.

I feel your pain about postage - costs everywhere seem to have spiralled. I was tempted to order some Imps Ears from BPAL but the postage to the UK was extortionate!

We may be weird but we are never mingers! On the contrary, we are all always beautifully fragrant except for the odd occasion when a sample turns out to be a horrible mistake. Then we are very, very scrubbed.

Nice list 3, yes, I see you in there. Midnight in the Palace Garden is luscious. I got one of the Naughty Cupboard bottles for my birthday and I was delighted. The Buddhawood Box is another favourite although I'm not generally that fussed about woody things. But TBB is oddly compelling after the harsh opening.

PIAM I also have to confess to not knowing exactly what's in the stash. I came across a vintage Diorissimo EdC in the perfume drawer the other day that I had forgotten completely. But this was serendipitous because if I'd known I wouldn't have bought a half-full vintage Diorissimo EdT, which, despite being lidless and shabby, turned out to contain the strongest blast of lilies of the valley I could imagine. It is glorious and I do not think it can have deteriorated one iota since the day it was bottled.

Pest you are really spoiling bankrupting us with these fabulous links. I am practically dancing at the thought of accessible decants of LADDM and Avignon.

I would much rather have lots of small bottles too. I wish more companies would take a leaf out of 4160 Tuesdays book - generous samples with spray tops instead of fiddly stoppers, 9ml sprays, and bottles that line up together and don't waste space.

Floofy you are right about Arpège having been reformulated. If you scroll down here you'll see the modern version is supposed to be very different.

Thank you for all the good wishes for DD. After a good night's sleep she is feeling much brighter and I am no longer emulating Chicken Licken. I have also had the happy thought that I now have an empty drawer where DD's sheets, blankets and quilts were stored...It is now housing the boxes of vintage miniatures.

SOTD is Eau Arpège, either 70's or 80s I think. So pretty, elegant and classic. Definitely worth stalking at a car boot sale.

PIAM what a shame about the postage costs. Could you get it sent to someone in the UK who would mule it out to you? As for longevity I find 4160s last for ages usually. The only ones I've had trouble with were the Our Modern Lives series, which were very beautiful but seemed to fade very rapidly on me.

Mind you, I am not a true aficionado because MrsMac I do have to confess to never having smelt Time to Draw the Raffle Numbers. Something I ought to remedy - who could resist Eau de Bike Saddle and Marmalade Croissant?!

It is the scent of the metal saddle post that is the most memorable bit. I am sure it has normal perfume smells too, they have just faded from my memory.

Talking of scents that fade quickly...SOTD was Bel Respiro. Lovely but completely gone after an hour or so. Disappointing.

Love that we consider things like "perfume mules", now they shouldn't wear badges as they want to sail through customs with 800 miniatures strapped to them under their clothes

I really agree that more sellers should do smaller amounts like 10mls, I could also see it making good financial sense as surely they wouldn't need so many samples if people could take a punt cheaply on a little decant?

PIAM the 4160s are definitely "lean ins" for me but I do have very hoovery skin.

I have a rather embarrassing SOTD (apt for the churchy convo though) in the form of Heeley Eau Sacree (thank you Judy ) My word, this is wonderful, and comes up close behind Shalimar for me. I must confess (see what I did there?!) I have bypassed this previously as for some reason I thought it was called Eau Sucree and assumed it would be a PM I don't think I deserve to be on this thread sometimes

Well anyway, it's just gorgeous and DH sniffed appreciatively and said "you smell like one of those smoky incense things the priest waves around" (is it a censer, btw?!) which is high praise indeed as he normally doesn't notice my perfumes unless I prompt him

Talking of JPG, I still have my original bottle of classic from about 1994 (obviously not that into it).
Fragile is one of my favourites, that tuberose is fantastic. Must get hold of Sotto La Luna Tuberose and Tuberose flash and just experience an overload.
Ma dame has an opening which I find more Mrs Slocombe than Agyness Deyn. It then settles into a nice orange not too dissimilar to some of the Boss Orange perfumes.
Miss, Hit, Meh