The Big Sniff

[CountFosco]

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

Yes, thanks to Count & Blue for setting this up. I agree Calm - let's do a Bloom sample set next. (Ps. You need to try B*t if you liked the damp earth of Andiroba).

I think I liked Map of the Heart's Gold and Firedance best of all. But the Connock, Floral Street and Avery offerings were also interesting to try.

This weeks sniff, Vince Camuto starts off pink and sweet, I can definitely detect the passion fruit but not much else, after a couple of hours it dries down to a much more enjoyable scent - although this stage is fleeting and then it's gone.

I agree with others that if this was £10 a bottle I would probably pick it up, but I would never pay £60 for it.

I have LOVED the Big Sniff, Thank you Count

My favourites were Map of the Heart and Avery E, although I don't think I could ever buy MOTH as the bottle is just awful. I do have a bit of a soft spot for the Atkinson's Pirate too

I think a bloom pack is a fab idea, I have recently got the "Around the world in 10 raw ingredients" only tried 2 scents so far but have loved them and it has introduced me to some rare and unusual notes.

Ooh, I think I'll have to have a look at that one Pineapple.

I like this Vince Camuto one. It's very fruity, and considering it's not in an atomiser, the sillage is pretty good. I often find that the sillage on dabbers is less than when they're sprayed, maybe because the spray spreads it over a larger area.

I think I'd give this one 7 or 8/10, but would only buy a FB if it was under £20. It's a nice CBA perfume.

I've forgotten what I thought of each of the other perfumes, so I'll wear one each day over the week, and post my thoughts next weekend.

Thanks for organising this Bluebel and Count, it's been fun doing a synchronised "sniff", and really interesting reading what everybody else thought of the different perfumes, especially seeing how we pick up on different notes, and how our personal skin chemistry can change the smell, even on the same person on different days.

Thank you count and liberty for organising this - great fun and I've loved synchronised sniffing!

Faves have been MOTH and Connock Andiroba, although I'd not be tempted by FBs of either of them.

Would absolutely be up for a Bloom box next.

An ok scent to end on - nothing mind blowing but not at all offensive. Least favourite was Firedance and liked the Avery E and Map of the Heart most I think. Not sure any were FB worthy for me but enjoyed trying them. Thanks Blue and Count
Would definitely do a Bloom pack. And wondered (perhaps round 3) theming around a particular house? The floral street sample packs are good value at £12 for all 8 and I think Chypre Sublime is the worst of the bunch. Could have the interest of seeing whether we feel the house has a signature note, or exploring how varied the scents can be...

And, for TBS 4 (!) a probably pricier idea but what about contacting someone like Sarah M to see if they'd blind package a sample pack so none of us know what each one is until a day/week later?

Love your vision Cheap! But TBS4 so good, lets do it next .

Just on TBS4, we could explore the 2mls from the crowd funding venture?

Good idea MrsG! I'd started to think so many of us have quite a few 4160 scents so it would become "what's the scent" rather than "what are the notes" if you see what I mean - going with the new ones would be good! Also occured to me that Bloom might be willing to blind label - they already know there's some MN love for them

Well I like the bottle for this one! It's lovely to have a different kind of sample bottle (even if I spilt lots on my Nightdress clothes trying to open it )

But sadly that's where my liking stops. There was a "sparkling" note on opening (I couldn't identify this at all, did someone say it was passion fruit? ) stops it being a PM from the off, but it turns very very syrupy on me, very very quickly. Luckily it didn't last that long. The bottle was pretty though, and like MrsG a teenage DD liked both bottle and scent, so a win in that regard.

I've really really enjoyed the Sniff, thank you so much everyone who had a hand in organising it, and also those who sent samples on, lovely vipers My favourite was Map of the Heart and my biggest no no was Firedance, but I think that's a disappointment factor as I was so looking forward to it! Definitely up for partaking in whatever the next step is!

Hello folks! After a short break we're back with The Big Sniff Mk II. This time we're going for my personal favourite style of perfume - Green. If you liked the Connock Antiroba you'll love these perfumes. Join us on the new thread and order your sample set from Bloom Perfume ready for the start on 20 May (next week!). I've already tried a couple of these and they are fab.