Our negligees may be covered in cat hair but at least they smell divine - it's Lovely Friendly Perfume Thread number 9!

[explodingkittens]

Welcome to the long-running perfume thread! All are welcome - drop in to chat about old loves or new discoveries. Ask a perfume question and someone here will know the answer.

Be warned though, we are a bunch of terrible enablers and you may wish to put your credit card in the freezer before entering

Violet and Smoke & Tar.

My first ever perfume was Bulgari Black and I'm really getting back into smokey scents now.

It's funny how taste perceptions change. I remembered Black smelling shockingly of burning rubber tyres, then tracked down an old bottle on eBay and it turned out to be gentler than I thought. (Lovely and very wearable in fact). Think I've been sniffing things with big dollops of birch tar in the intervening period which has recalibrated 'smokey' for me. (Especially the Beaufort's).

Pest - I seem to remember you're a bit of a smoke fiend, tell us about your favourites?

Our lovely postman delivered three packages today: the Perfume Society Velvet Collection; the FeelUnique samples; and a little package of samples from Bluebell. Thank you Bluebell 😊! I have put the Ruth Mastenbroek Amarosa on this morning. It’s a lovely fruity floral tuberose and the tuberose is not the over-bearing sort, being tempered by other delightful smells.

Hello all.

Day 6 of 13 done. Pfffft. And suddenly everyone is want want want. People wanting university references, summer jobs, extra work. I have a mountain to mark already. Grump.

I tried PP Must de Cartier. A nice grown up chypre-y type I've noticed witj this last lot of PPs that the longevity doesn't seem as good as previously. Been loving the Iris-Cedre Prada. So far only the Cinnabar is a disappointment but layered with a Tauer or Opium it's fine.

I also needed fresh today, so wore Bloom Mandarin Lime Basil and burned my Liz Earle eucalyptus and bergamot candle which is wonderful. Made the house smell clean even though it most definitely isn't. I also booked Portugal for August for after my summer school stint.

Dd needs to order some creams from Feel Unique so I expect some perfume will tumble into my basket.

Sorry to hear about the interview Judy. So frustrating. Onwards and upwards.

All this talk of spring perfume had me reaching for my 1ml Mito sample. This has the perfect fresh green/citrus sherbert opening, Gently fizzy and uplifting, Early rays of spring sun warming new shoots.

Have tried Grey Flannel side by side - it had a slightly raspy first couple of minutes, then a more severe deep green sappiness, with hyacinth to the fore from early on. Will see how they go. May roll up a trouser leg for Silences, and another for No.19....

I went for sexiest scent in the end
Might be PP opium later....

Corrrr, vintage Coco today, it kicks the modern version right up the bum!

I do feel terribly under dressed though, it definitely calls for heels and red lips. My PJs and ponytail just isn't cutting it

OCsockorphanage I would love to try the pp version. That would be so kind of you.I’ve never actually tried any perfume parlour perfumes. I could send you some niche samples in exchange?
It seems to be very difficult to obtain decants of certain niches.I’m looking also for Pure Distance White and Antonia and I can only find an American seller on eBay.I hope the sellers reliable because they’re expensive.
Sotd is Pure Distance White .This is spicy and sophisticated and really lovely .This is what I imagined Chanel no 5 to be - expensive and alluring .When in actuality it smells like dank old flower water ( apologies to all lovers of No 5!).

teta, think I have an unused sample of Puredistance White. I'd be happy to pass it on to you, assuming I can find it.

Trip into town today meant a visit to the HoF Guerlain counter so I'm now in Vetiver. Gorgeous. Although DH told me I smell of museums and theatre lobbys. It wasn't intended as a compliment but I'll go with it.

janetstwalker that would be wonderful!
I can send you other niche samples in return.

Oh thank you but no need, I have samples coming out of my ears! Send me your details and I'll get it out to you on Monday, it's only a little 2ml thing so don't get too excited

Next time Judy, for sure. He'll get there.

I also had a Y package today - thanks Bluebell (especially for the extras - that's above and beyond!). Looling forward to giving them a whirl... Hope my package has arrived safely and is more than just rummy bubble wrap...!

SotD was PP Paloma Picasso (or PPPP I suppose). Think I like this more and more each time I use it.

That was my first proper perfume Janet. Interested in how the vintage compares with Coromandel...both J. Polge.

Sote PP cinnabar

SOTD is Liz Earle 15 for a day of batch cooking, a long bath, and a bit of general lollimg around.

Thanks all for the commiserations. My mum keeps suggesting he gets a job in Asda, then clearly doesn’t believe me/thinks he’s a lazy arse when I say he’s applied to all the major supermarkets, plus various other retailers, the Royal Mail, (and about 1,000 jobs related to his field) and got nowhere. He’s over-qualified (and possibly too old at 42?) and a flight risk because of that. I honestly wonder if this is it now and he will never work again - it will be two years in the summer.

Me too janetstwalker
Will pm you.
Judydreamsifhorses I’m so sorry your Dh is going through such a hard time. Your Mum sounds like mine 😟.

Judy it's a bloody nightmare isn't it. I would be in the same position, 20 years and qualifications in one specific industry (and all my networking contacts in the same boat!) The job market has changed so much too. Ironically DH who on paper is much less employable (long SAHP break, left school at 14, no exam results) found it easier to find work, but then round here it is zero hours, usually through a shite agency who don't pay you correctly, badly paid anyway, insecure and too physical for his age really. My parents, bless them, are horrified at the huge number of agency type brief jobs DH has gone through - people parents don't realise how the employment scene has altered. It's absolutely shit and I feel for you. I really really hope something comes up for MrJudy soon.

On a less ranty more cheerful note, "museums and theatres" count?! What a lovely compliment. I love compliments that aren't intended as such! My friend once told me I dressed like an air hostess from the 1960s - I was delighted! He meant it a trifle more bitchily than I took it

Love the swapping of niche samples up thread. This really is a fab thread. It is quite comforting to think of you all rooting through boxes full of tiny bottles and waiting excitedly for Y packages. The great thing about perfume is that there are always more new ones to try.

I'm letting the side down today as I haven't even got SOTD on yet. This bloody lurgy just will not go and I feel worse every day instead of better

Oh dear floofy hope you feel better soon x

Job market is scary isn't it?

Im not particularly well qualified (and I've only ever had jobs, not a career) but I have 12 gcses, 2 a levels and half a degree

I'm a dinner lady 😁

Fits in with dc, and dhs work patterns, but obv very poorly paid. I've worked in academia, the nhs and retail over the years...im 45 so no employer is interested tbh

I keep myself busy with voluntary work which I - for the most part - enjoy

It's prob a good job I don't earn loads ££££

I'd spend it all on perfume 😁

Snowing here ❄ so something warm I think...not going out today

It's horrific how quickly you're considered over the hill by millenials, I was told people in their 40s weren't ambitious enough by a senior manager in his 20s. To make it worse, he really meant mothers, next person he recruited was a man in his 40s. I moved to a different department to work for someone older than me!

SotD soap, we have 2 viewings this afternoon so all fingers and toes crossed please.

Fingers crossed count 🤞

First viewing down, second to go. Seemed quite interested but people tend to be polite to the owner don't they. We'll see what feedback the agency get.

Anyway, onto more fun stuff: THE BIG SNIFF. I've got some time so am writing the OP for the thread. What's the plan going to be, one perfume a week on which day? Saturday or Sunday is probably the best isn't it?

And is a week long enough notice or should we make it two? My box came within a week so I'm thinking next weekend is probably good for the first sniff?

janetstwalker have tried to pm you but apparently you are down for not receiving them.

I've just had a fiddle, should be able to accept them now.