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The Big Sniff

560 replies

CountFosco · 21/01/2018 19:57

Welcome to The Big Sniff!

Some of us on the Perfumista threads have decided it might be fun to have a synchronised perfume smelling. The idea is once a week, probably a Sunday, we all try the same perfume and post our opinions here. We’re very friendly so don’t worry if you’re not an expert (I’m definitely not!), the idea is to have some fun.

We’ve contacted The Perfume Society and have wangled a 20% discount on a mixed box of 9 perfume samples (plus a hand cream, some cleanser and a bar of Green and Black chocolate - what’s not to like?). The Box we’re going for this time is The Velvet Collection. All you do is visit The Perfume Society website, Add The Velvet Collection to your cart and use the coupon Mumsnet (we’re original like that!). The box is normally £19 (or £15 if you’re a VIP subscriber), but with our discount it is £15.20, (or £12 if you’re a VIP subscriber of The Perfume Society). There are some other lovely boxes on sale at the moment which come highly recommended by some of our Perfumistas and would make lovely gifts or to keep for yourself not enabling at all oh no

If you are interested then sign up here and get over to The Perfume Society and order your box. We’ll do the first Big Sniff on Sunday 28th January. Oh, and before you eat all the chocolate have a look at the sniffing notes, there’s some on the chocolate as well.

The contents of the box are as follows:
• Atkinsons Pirates Grand Reserve 1.2 ml eau de parfum(full size £120 for 100 ml)
• Floral Street Chypre Sublime 1.5 ml eau de parfum(full size £55 for 50 ml)
• Connock Andiroba Eau de Parfum 1.5 ml eau de parfum(full size £75 for 100 ml)
• Avery‘E’ 4 ml pure perfume (full size £90 for 30 ml)
• Lalique Rêve d’Infini 1.8 ml eau de parfum(full size £72 for 100 ml)
• Map of the Heart Gold Heart v.4 1 ml eau de parfum(full size £150 for 90 ml)
• Ruth Mastenbroek Firedance 2 ml eau de parfum(full size £90 for 50 ml)
• Vince Camuto Amore 7.5 ml MINIATURE eau de parfum(full size £60 for 100 ml)
• Valeur Absolue Rouge Passion 1.5 ml eau de parfum(full size £59 for 45 ml)
• philosophy purity made simple 3-in-1 cleanser for face and eyes30 ml lotion (full size £19 for 240 ml)
• Cochine White Jasmine & Gardenia Hand Cream5 ml (full size £24 for 100 ml)
• Green & Black’s Velvet Edition Orange & Almond Chocolate 100 g

OP posts:
Motoko · 05/02/2018 01:39

Oh no SoFancy, that's a long time to be catless!

Floofy and MrsP, we also have Missy, Mousecow, (so named because when she was born she was the size of a mouse and had the markings of a cow!) Miss Scampi von Monkeyface, (Scampi for short) and Pixel, who was here before the others, yet often gets bullied by the girls, although Scampi is nice to him.

None of the others have been interested BluebellGal, so it's not just yours!

BigPuddleOfFloofyCatOnTheFloor · 05/02/2018 08:18

Motoko I sincerely admire your taste in cat names! Miss Scampi Von Monkeyface especially is a fab name! I love cats as much as I love perfumes and would love to have lots. SoFancy you must love your DH very much Grin Can't he live in a shed in the garden?!

MrsP it's interesting re the testing, I am finding I use other similar (or not Smile) perfumes as references, I think maybe this is how I will "learn" to identify the notes. I didn't get the leather at all in Avery though.

Well, Pirates has given me a Smug Parenting moment, DD3 is learning about Francis Drake and asked me something, it was a golden opportunity to spray her and gabble excitedly. Isn't that what they call a "teachable moment" HmmGrin

I shall wear Plum today as Avery has made me want to.

I am thinking about the Avery questions, especially the if you had your own perfume store I would have huge bottles and lots of teeny funnels so people could come and decant their own small amounts, it would be like the old Body Shop perfume bar I would also have lots of squidgy sofas where people could sit and chat about perfume. And lots of cats. And cake. Like a cat cafe crossed with a perfume lounge.

Omg I want to do this now!!

SoFancy · 05/02/2018 08:20

Off to work and giving Avery E a third try. Smelling less sweet, more smoky this morning....

Silverstreaks · 05/02/2018 09:07

I stopped reading the posts about AVERY E once they generally started mentioning the florals, it's something I thought I didn't like and didn't want to colour my judgement.
Anyway tried it this morning and had to revert to the notes as I really couldn't place what I was smelling. As it's settled the woody leatheriness is there with an ever so soft mango sweetness. I really quite like it and I'm surprised.

MrsGruber · 05/02/2018 10:29

Have lost sense of smell so can't join in with Avery E talk. But am being kept company by cat who although isn't called Moppet, is a lookalike with Beatrix Potter's Miss M.

BlaWearie · 05/02/2018 11:59

I found E a bit too floral for me (although I don't have the best sense of smell right now), so I've gone back to Pirate. My ginger tom hasn't expressed any real preference for either, so far. 😸

ItWillAllBeOkayInTheEnd · 05/02/2018 12:01

😻

BluebellGal · 05/02/2018 13:11

Floofy I want you to open that perfume shop- I would be one of your top customers!

Really strange but I woke up this morning smelling Avery E- it was really quite strong. Very nice Iris musk. I couldn’t smell it very well yesterday but after sleeping in it I could. Never had that happen before. I really like it and think it’s suited to office/ client meeting wear. I’m going to wear on Thursday for work trip to big smoke

Today I’m in Amberama 4160

BigPuddleOfFloofyCatOnTheFloor · 05/02/2018 16:50

When I open my Perfume And Cats Lounge, Bluebell, I shall hold an exclusive opening party for MN Perfumistas! We can dream... Smile

This morning I actually posted to say (and totally forgot when I thought about cats) that as MNers have been kind enough to share their Sniff samples with me, I would love to pass them on and share the love. So if anyone's box didn't arrive or they didn't order one, please do PM me and I would be delighted to pass any of them on. It's been a real treat for me to join in atm and I'd like to share the happiness!

SoFancy · 05/02/2018 17:18

Third day in Avery E. Meh. Still not impressed. Unmemorable.

I'm dying to try out the rest.

The cat & perfume cafe sounds like heaven Grin

MrsGruber · 05/02/2018 20:02

Can I have a Saturday job Floof? I'd love it. [Grin]

Thinking about the perfect emporium, I was impressed with Bloom. Nice to be able to browse the shelves and sniff at will, but also to be able to get suggestions from friendly and knowledgeable staff, who were happy to make up as many samples as you wanted.

BlaWearie · 05/02/2018 20:14

Sofancy, so you haven't had a sneaky little sniff at any of the others? You have excellent willpower!

SoFancy · 05/02/2018 21:04

BlaWearie ...I may have tried out the Floral Street Chypre Sublime Grin. No comment. I’m resisting on the others, though.

64BooLane · 06/02/2018 12:03

Late to the Avery E reporting, but I've tried it for two days running now.

This made me smile on first spray - found it uplifting and bright - but I'm not sure I can identify the notes with any precision. A bit fruity, a bit sparkly ... ? I'll say 6/10 based purely on emotional response.

After twenty minutes I liked it less as the powderiness came right up. I'm wary of powdery/iris fragrances because they often turn a bit rank on me and I end up desperate to wash them off. I find them sort of depressing, too ... maybe I just have some kind of negative scent memory associated with them.

Anyway, this one pleasantly surprised me by not going 'off'. It faded rapidly, but I still liked what I could smell on my skin after a few hours. It's less powdery, more woody to my nose. Shame it's so faint but I'll give it a 5/10 for drydown rating.

FB: no. Enjoying testing though, and I'll keep using it through the week.

64BooLane · 06/02/2018 14:01

I've just topped up the Avery E pretty generously, thinking why the hell not (I am working from home today) ... and now I'm getting a big whoosh of pencil shavings, which I didn't really notice before.

opalmum · 07/02/2018 14:00

A bit late to this, but I'm loving reading all of everyone's thoughts so far. Really interesting! here are my thoughts so far:
Pirates Grand Reserve -
Loved this! I got : smoky, cigar smoke , sweet vanilla and chocolate. Then I also got that TCP note, but fleetingly. Loved this so much, I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist, but I was so disappointed that it smouldered away to a very faint smell after two or so hours. If it had more sillage, and lasted longer I'd definitely get a full bottle. As it is - nope.
Avery E. well. : I got berries. And some non descript floral scent that wasn't anything to write home about. And then very little was left to smell after an hour. I wish this wasn't so, but there it is. I'm not very scent- sensitive, maybe? I think maybe I just need massive scents that bop you on the nose! Most disappointing for me. I certainly wouldn't compare it to MGs Plum. No comparison for me. I adore Plum, and find it lasts and I can catch glorious whiffs of it after hours and hours. Not so with E, I'm afraid. Def wouldn't purchase a full size of E.
The chocolate exercise was great too, really enjoyed that. Might repurchase that!
I must add that I certainly am no expert , this is a lovely new adventure for me. Loving the sound of the Cats and Perfume Cafe! Looking forward to the next spritzing!

Motoko · 07/02/2018 21:39

I've been wearing the Avery E again today and prefer it to last time I tried it. Also, the sillage is good, as I can smell it without having to stick my wrist under my nose, even now after having worn it all day.

BluebellGal · 08/02/2018 08:44

SOTD is Avery E - I’ve got an important day at work and think this is perfect as it’s got soft sillage and is quite classy. I will take it with me to top up

Enjoying reading every ones thoughts- a range of opinions but lots of commonalities

ItWillAllBeOkayInTheEnd · 08/02/2018 08:59

Is it Connock Andiroba next? I'm going away for the weekend so want to pack the right one!

BluebellGal · 08/02/2018 10:30

Yes that’s right, the Connock next

BluebellGal · 08/02/2018 10:35

I’ve decided that Avery E is a soft powdery skin scent. I get subtle wafts as I move around and it smells ‘clean’. So it’s an office friendly perfume rather than something to get excited about when you wear it. It doesn’t bop you on the nose at any point so I can’t get excited about it, but know I just smell good in a subtle way.

positivepineapple · 08/02/2018 11:17

Hello!

Just stumbled across this on Mumsnet - I am a perfume/scent addict and am so excited to join in! Just ordered my box Smile

BluebellGal · 08/02/2018 12:02

Welcome positivepineapple! Your box will take a few days to arrive, when it does test the Pirate Reserve and Avery E and post your thoughts on here!

BlaWearie · 08/02/2018 12:11

Thanks Bluebell, and apologies for the name change fail. I'm not a sock puppet! (ItWillAllBe...)

Motoko · 08/02/2018 12:58

This Avery E seems to change each time I wear it! Today, the main top note I'm getting is tea.
I'm growing to like it more. I guess it shows that you can't really tell if you like something until you've tried it a few times.