Old-fashioned Flemish Fragrance Fanciers - Lovely, Friendly Perfume Thread 7

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Our old thread

Welcome to our new lovely, friendly thread for perfume lovers. All are most welcome to drop in and chat, whether dabbling in scent for the first time or as full-blown fragrance junkies.

Tell us your Scent of the Day, or latest discovery, or ask a question - because one of us is almost bound to know the answer.

Ha ha Kittens I don’t work for perfume society- promise! I’m just a fan gal!

Bluebell

Have just discovered an extra 1ml of Aromatics Elixir too! I'm definitely ordering from here again...

I'm making myself laugh with my lack of discernment though, opening each little vial and going, wow, love this! this is great! mmm, gorgeous! Obviously I can now barely smell anything properly...need to calm down and get back to work

MrsP - that was a painful watch! (Hadn't realised she'd worked at Caron).

PiaM - congratulations on your sizeable collection of accidental soaps

EK - think the question is do you want breadth or depth? Perfume Society boxes are terrific value if you want to splash around in a selection of things, and perhaps try stuff out of your usual 'zone'. If you are in London the events side of a PS subscription would be fabulous. I have mixed feelings about The Scented Letter; am going to try the English edition of Nez (hope there will be more...).

I don't have a Bloom subscription. A lot of their selections are curated much more specifically around particular groups of notes. Bloom seem to deal in niche/art houses, Perfume Society boxes usually have more mainstream contents.

Reading on my minuscule phone screen so only a flyby hello.

SOTD was J'Adore, my favourite white minger, but it smelled too soapy so spritzed some Poeme on top on a whine and it was a winner. Was wafting around work choking colleagues in flowers. Gotta liven things up somehow on a grey Friday .

whim

Whew, I'm glad I'm not cleaning up Trinny's bathroom. And that is a very dangerous Selfridges link Pest and my wishlist is already far too long!

Sounds like Notino did you proud Kittens. I'm now wondering if you could get the effect of Killian's Straight to Heaven by layering 4160 Tuesdays The Dark Heart of Old Havana (rum, tobacco, coffee, sugar, ripe fruit) with Beaufort London's Fathom V (sea water and sodden ship's timbers). I've still got a sample of Fathom V so I might experiment. Though DH did request very politely that I never wear Fathom V again...

The Bloom samples subscription looks very tempting and would be a marvellous present so if I had the choice I probably pick that one.

But like Bluebell I've had a lot of enjoyment from the Perfume Society boxes. They are beautifully put together and mostly they seem to strike a good balance between niche and mainstream scents.

However I do find the online Perfume Society magazine The Scented Letter frustrating because it follows a printed page format that is scanned and put online. This makes the text too small to read without zooming in on sections and by the time I've zoomed in and out a few times I usually lose my place and my temper and give up altogether. I really don't see why it can't be laid out for a website.

Today's sample from the Exquisite Essences box was Signorina Misteriosa. After falling in love with three others from that box and growing very fond of a fourth, it wasn't a surprise when this one failed to match up. It's described as an oriental but to me it was a pleasant but unremarkable fruity floral with a nice vanilla dry down - just like dozens of others. The longevity wasn't bad but I got bored and covered it up with 4160's Midnight in the Palace Garden and had to resist the urge to huff my wrists in public at school pick-up. It is such a fabulous Arabian Nights type fragrance.

Thank chuff it's the weekend. Feels like it's been a stinker of a week. Super tired and looking forward to being unconscious for a bit at bedtime. Here's hoping DS2 jacks in his bright idea of getting up between 4 and 5 over the weekend.

Despite the bleary state, I have now committed on the advent calendar. Or calendars. Ahem. Atelier Cologne and Look Fantastic ordered. The best bit is that according to my flawless logic I've actually saved £40. Woo!!

SOTD was Tokyo Spring Blossom. Liking this more this time - on first wear I was a bit put off by an uneasy acknowledgement that I don't like Parma violets but L'Heure Bleue helped me come to terms with my appreciation of the violet smell. The two are very different - TSB is a bit fizzy at first and much punchier whereas L'HB is more refined/understated. Kind of like standing in a field in a linen dress - not in smell terms just in terms of that feeling. If you see what I mean.

No career in scent blogging for me

4160 half price is The Dark Heart of Old Havana.

Celtic Fire has faded to smelling like I rubbed and ashtray on my arm.
Topped up with some Copal Azur and I am back in happy land.

SoTD was the pp dupe of Noirs des noires; it's very good. I thought about adding a whoomph of (heely's) Cardinal late afternoon but was distracted and didn't, and you know what, it's still coming through nicely. Lots of incense; tons of roses. Perhaps my favourite TF, but the original is discontinued. And I haven't smelt it. But the pp is really good.

SOTD is Mitsouko, overlayed with a faint waft of Papa John's pizza, because Friday. Have lovely weekends, fragrant ones!

I'm still waiting for my order. I picked Candles, Dirty Honey, Pillow and Sleep. Hope you all understand my abbreviations

Hope you enjoy them Silver. Let us know what you think...

Yes, IDSWYM Cheap .

OC - Noir de Noir is lovely.

Might have to get 9ml of The Dark Heart...has always been a bit of a mystery to me why I've not latched onto it before given I really love 4160's tobacco and fruit notes. Don't think I've ever tried on my skin though...

Those AC samples are almost a calendar waiting to happen - would just need some of those fairy lights with pegs, and old fashioned parcel labels stamped with numbers, and you'd be there! (Shame I also have issues with dabbers).

Drunken late night message. Spritzed on Sexiest ever imho or whatever it's called(last of sample) AND my new Midnight in the Palace garden. I possibly stink. DH can decide

Inspired by Silver have had a late night squirt of Sleepknot (maybe it's cross-contamination but I get a hint of oud?), and also Another Kiss. Hope they are with you in the morning...

We are all going sample and/or advent calendar mad! I think it is just a seasonal, and socially acceptable, way for us all just to get our fix I am seriously considering starting up an advent calendar for each month of the year, with suitably themed seasonal perfume samples. We already have Lent and Easter sorted. Think of all the smokey Bonfire Night November ones we could have...

Talking of samples green as this is entirely your fault I have just ordered Alien Essence Absolue (was it just me that thought this was actually Absolute?) I haven’t tried it yet as I’m quite poorly and feel so shit that I’m actually not wearing perfume or lipstick. DH is very worried by this unusual behaviour Today is the first day I feel well enough to MN so I although I have read everyone’s posts, please excuse for me for just such a general post without proper engagement (and self centred ness ) . It’s taken me 35 minutes just to type this

Special mention must be made however, as I did wheeze in the style of Scooby Doo laugh my head off at your accidental soaps PIAM. It happens to us all

I hope everyone is having a healthy and happy weekend with lots of accidental, or otherwise, scent or soap purchases.

FFS. Just remembered, I actually posted to say that PIAM you gave me the idea of including little luxury soap bars in my advent calendars. Like posh hotels. I am also having to revise my budget so am including teeny oil bottles from Perfume Parlour, of my recipients’ favourites perfumes, so they can compare them.

Floof - hope you feel better soon.

Have you got good ideas on where to source lots of little soaps from?

PiaM - are you going to make a vintage avon calendar with those soaps?

Floofy so sorry to hear you're under the weather. It is always lovely to hear from you and never mind about addressing individual posters - there are so many of us scent junkies now that it is well nigh impossible to keep track of us all. Hope you love the Alien Essence Absolue. I shall think of it as revenge for hooking me on Mandorlo di Sicilia etc etc - the lovely fragrance with the ridiculously long name - forever to be thought of here as Floofy's Marzipan.

You are so clever MrsMac the Atelier Cologne Discovery set with all its samples in individual postcard packets is tailor made for an Advent calendar. You could do it Shaker style (I think I mean Shaker) with wooden pegs, unbleached parcel string and old-fashioned brown parcel labels. Add a gold pen to do some fancy numbering and it would look fabulous. And you'd have five or six samples left over as a treat for your hard work. I'm definitely pinching your idea next Christmas.

I'm looking forward to your reports on the actual Atelier Cologne Advent calendar Cheap. The larger bottles and the soaps sound delightful and the calendar is so pretty.

Your Advent calendars sound very special indeed, Floofy. I'd love to see a picture of one if you get the time - but only if you have the time - finishing multiple luxury Advent calendars must be a mammoth job.

Nice choices Silver I suppose it is bad that I didn't have to think for instant before identifying which 4160s you'd picked. Oh and anyone hesitating over The Dark Heart of Old Havana I think it's one to pounce on - luscious booze, tobacco, coffee, sugar and very ripe fruit - gorgeous.

SOTD is yet to be decided on but I went to sleep in The Dark Heart of Old Havana which melded deliciously with the dry down of Midnight in the Palace Garden.

Loving all the advent and sample chat

Right, I’m to check out the Atelier discovery set and mini luxury soaps for a diy calendar!

SOTD for ballet lesson E Coudray Iris Rose - just feels so right with the elnett hairspray and powdery make up vibe

SOTD is Aromatics Elixir. Applied this very sparingly from one of those irritating dabber bottles, and it's addictive. Can't stop sniffing my wrists. I know this is a real marmite scent, but I adore marmite! Just loving the bitter oak moss dry down, and there's a bit of smoke/incense in there as well on me. There is definitely a 'herbal medicine' element; reminds me a bit of some concoction I bought years ago sort out my post-baby acne (!!) and I can see how some people would hate it. It doesn't smell like 'perfume' really, but I think it's fab.

Might actually have to go and pop a bit more on, it's staying very close to the skin because I was so nervous about overpowering everyone...

Green, love the idea of a rum and seawater mix - do let us know if it works!

SOTD is Annick Goutal's Musc Nomade. I absolutely love this, largely, I think because it reminds me of a time when I was very happy. The smell just seems to get stronger throughout the day, which is a bonus, too. You can often pick up a 15ml bottle on Amazon for around £10, which actually works out a lot cheaper than buying a full sized bottle. It's a very green musk at first blast, but settles down to a sort of warm skin on a summer holiday smell. I wore it yesterday too. A great scent for a warm autumn.

Hi MrsS . My 15ml lives in the car glove box for emergencies as it suits pretty much every situation and makes the car smell great every time I open the glove box.

How's CUNT developing? Am in A Bit of a Pickle today. It's got much deeper and darker (earthy vetiver), but there is still an airy green cucumber fizz at the top.

Mrsmacnally
Are you referring to your 4160 creations? Can you provide a recap for those of us who are newer to the thread? Your creation sounds very interesting - in a good way!

Kittens that’s the one my daughter comes back smothered in - I think my MIL is an over-sprayer its a shame that it’s a (rare) perfume I can’t stand. Thinking of making her a fragrant advent calendar (cunning!). I’m very impressed by your Notino haul and their generosity. Lots of lovely things to try. It’s good to get feedback on Notino as I’d not heard of them until recently and their prices are competitive.