The Big Sniff Mk II

[UnnecessaryFennel]

After the success of the first Big Sniff earlier in the year, let's have another one!

This time around, we're going to try the Bloom Perfumery Greens in Perfume sample pack. Bloom is an independent perfumery in Covent Garden which is a treasure trove of unusual and 'niche' perfumes, so there's bound to be some interesting stuff to try.

This is what Bloom have to say about their Green edit:

'This edit and sample pack explore green nuances in perfume and materials that perfumers use to create it.

A perfume belongs to a green family if aromas such as green leaves, cut grass, cucumber, runner beans, green tea and so on dominate in the character. Green perfumes are much brighter, sharper and juicier than anything in the related aromatic (herbaceous) family and are not as woody as coniferous perfumes. However, some notes/materials such as basil, or pine span families revealing greener or woodier nuances depending on what else the perfumer chooses to put in the formula

The most straightforward green materials are: lentisque (mastic) and galbanum resins, green tea (real essence or an imaginary accord), green grass/ leaves accords (made with hexenal and other molecules which really relate to what grass/leaves emit when damaged or molecules that just smell similar), freesias, neroli, violet leaves and pine.'

The sample list is as follows:

1. The Soft Lawn (Imaginary Authors)

1. Aube Pashmina (Huitième Art)

1. Elephant (Zoologist)

1. Gardens of Temptation | Tenderness (Brocard)

1. Eau Simple de Concombre (Phaedon)

1. Panorama (Olfactive Studio)

1. PG24 Papyrus de Ciane (Parfumerie Générale)

1. Pure Azure (Phaedon)

1. Lentisque (Phaedon)

The cost is £15 plus £2.70 p&p in the UK (and they deliver within the rest of the EU as well). No discount on the pack this time around but if you're a new customer you'll get 5% off your next order.

Since it's a bank holiday week, it will probably be best to give people a bit more time to order and for packs to arrive, so let's start on Sunday 20th May.

So, order your pack, sign in here every Sunday and let's get sniffing!

Cheap, I gave Panda a run out today to compare. I definitely prefer it to Elephant - in the end I just couldn't get past what were some very harsh, sour top notes in Elephant, although I did quite like the drydown.

Trying elephant again today after initial bleurgggh reaction - very sophisticated me! Kept respraying yesterday and it definitely has grown on me. To p notes so very very green-went from yuk elephant bed to deciding it was the smell of the reptile house or butterfly house - all green and hot and slightly rotting. Today after this i get a slightly rive gauche moment. Drydown reminds me of elemis frangipani- I guess that's the coconut, although it definitely is not a sun cream coconut at all. Very subtle. Lasted a long time and i keep sniffing .it's an interesting perfume and have decided i like it! More interesting than last weeks.

Sorry I'm late to the party!

I had read everyone else's thoughts and was expecting to not like this - but I do - an awful lot!

The top notes are bold, but not unpleasantly so. It smells almost aniseed like. Does violet leaf smell like violet? Because I do get a hint of it.

I absolutely get what a pp has said about the snapping of flower stems, that extra fresh sappy smell, and also wet leaves - like a walk through the woods early morning.

The dry down is lovely, very subtle on me. I get the sandalwood - I can't say I can pick out the chocolate or coconut milk but that may be as it's so excellently blended. I've used all my sample already and I want more.

This has also joined the FB list. Does anyone know if they stock Zoologist perfumes in duty free?

Pineapple, I think that Bloom Perfumery may be the only UK stockist 😨. I wasn’t going to buy a full bottle (so expensive) and toyed with the idea of contacting Zoologist in Canada to see if I could buy a travel spray (but maybe problems with importing?). In the end I just went for the full bottle at Blooms. The packaging is lovely - it comes in a lovely magnetic box. And it is an extrait de parfum, so very strong.

I think violet leaves just smell very green, so they add to the top notes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some violet flower in there as well - I’m sure I can smell some floral notes. I don’t get chocolate either, but I can definitely smell a milky coconut.

Ah that's a shame Calm I was hoping DH could get it for me from the airport on one of his many stag parties this year.

I too get a hint of floral but I can't describe it further - it's hard to pick out individual notes, as it's constantly changing - but in a superbly well blended fashion.

I know I have a few other zoologist samples knocking about that I haven't tried, I'm really intrigued to learn more about this house.

So far I'm loving the Greens pack - both perfumes I probably would never have chosen from the notes, and both I have loved.

Glad everyone is enjoying it so far! I think the high quality of the fragrances is quite obvious already, even if they don't completely float your boat in terms of the actual notes.

Am looking forward to trying Panorama next Sunday. I got a sample of Lumiere Blanche by Olfactive Studio the first time I went to Bloom, and really loved it, so have high hopes for this one.

I've only tried Flashback in New York (a woody Chypre) which was very classy so yes, will be good to try Panorama.

Wooooo! Holy heck this one really blew my head off! Really couldn't cope with it but maybe try again tomoro ..... just got such an initial blast then nothing after an hour or so.

Tomorrow is Panorama by Olfactive Studio.

Top notes: bamboo, fig leaves, wasabi, bergamot, lemon
Heart: cardamom, cut grass, galbanum, violet leaf
Base: fir balsam, patchouli, musk, vanilla, labdanum, myrrh, tonka bean

The notes sound divine, can't wait for this one!

I'm quite excited by the wasabi, don't think I've had anything with a wasabi note before.

Another win!

The top notes are a spicy lemon, I don't think I would have known it was from wasabi if it hadn't been listed.
Actually no, I never would have known!

I get a bit of a chlorine smell - like the smell of a swimsuit dried in the sunshine after a swim on holiday. Maybe that's the cut grass? And the cardamom resembles fabric softener - in a good way. It's making me wistful for a holiday.

The Drydown, to me is a completely different perfume. The majority of the top notes completely disappear, changing a fresh, zingy perfume into one which is smooth and subtle.

Trying to persuade my DH to sample this for me, I think it would smell better again on him. He's having a sensitive skin attack so is refusing. 👎🏻

Off to google the price of this.....

PositivePineapple has described it better than I could. Lemony to begin with but with that wasabi note then a few hours later a very different perfume. Interesting and enjoyable but not a FB for me (I've seen the price).

I've really liked all the Olfactive Studio samples I've tried and while I did like this one I think I need to give it another run on a less scorching day to get it at it's best. As soon as I caught the spiciness I wanted something a bit more fresh! One to come back to...

Well, I’ve completely used up my sample (yesterday and today) in an effort to get a handle on Panorama. The first hour or two (topnotes) are bright and spicy. But I’m not enamoured of the peppery wasabi note (if that’s what it is - I didn’t have any wasabi to compare!). It then dries down to a quite delightful spicy skin scent, but I can’t pick out the notes and it really is very faint for such an expensive perfume.

This one is not for me. I liked the initial spiced note, then it became very quiet- a skin scent and only just and took on quite a musty smell (sort of washing left on radiator) type fragrance. I will try the sample again but this one was not a hit!

Mmmmm, not sure about this one. The top notes are fab, really bright yet spicy. There's something resembling lavender in there which I really like, I guess it's probably the violet leaves although they don't usually smell like that on me.

And then I get that chloriney note that pineapple mentioned - I think that's actually the wasabi, and I'm not a fan at all. It sticks around for quite a while and, although it is now starting to dry down into something softer and more pleasant, I think it spoils the scent for me overall.

Today's Sniff is Eau Simple de Concombre by Phaedon

Notes are: cucumber, musk, freesia, cedar and mint.

First impressions are of lots of cucumber, mint and freesia, and sweeter than I expected. Still quite 'aquatic' and refreshing, though. Will have to come back to this!

I've tried this one previously (got it in my Bloom monthly subscription set). You can smell each note separately but the overall impression was of standing in a florists. I've not sprayed yet today but it will be interesting to see what my second impressions are.

Not keen on today's Sniff. It smells like a cleaning product to me!

This didn't last long on me, and ended up aftershave-y quite fast anyway. Underwhelming.

Loved this one! For me, it was a beautiful strong cucumber and musk, with additional mint and herby notes, adding interest. Longevity was at least six hours and I could still smell it on my arms at bed-time, as a skin scent, twelve hours later. It’s going on my full bottle wish list, which is, sadly, very very long 😨

Not sure on this - it smelt too aquatic for me at the start but mellowed into something more likeable. Not full bottle worthy for me.

Totally forgot about this- will test tomorrow!