Friendly Perfumistas 16: If life gives you Brexit wear Lemon Scent

[CountFosco]

Old thread here. Welcome old and new, prepare to freeze your creditcards.

ouch mrsR i hope it all goes well if you do need it.

I do the same One, although I love December shopping - if I’m on my own. Working in the west end over Christmas though not so much.

Fingers crossed for your potential op Mrs8

SOTD, late afternoon actually, Givenchy 111.

It was a cooler 24 degrees here today, but it is predicted to go back up to 28 tomorrow, and it looks like the weekend will be hot. So still in citrus here. SOTD was Jeanne en Provence Verveine Cedrat. Cheap, from local Superdrug equivalent, and lasts amazingly well for something so lemony. I’ve seen it back in U.K. in TK Maxx.

That's interesting MrsS - have seen a lot of JdP in TK Maxx but wasn't sure if it was worth trying.

Have been trying Heaven Sent (HR), which reminds me a bit of Magie - both vintage florals on fabulous powdery musky bases. Both have quite gentle floral notes; Heaven Sent gets mossy where Magie has amber in the base. Delicate and complex all at once. Not strong at all Floof - but there have been loads of reformulations/reincarnations as the perfume has passed through different hands.

Vintage fans - have had a problem with the mini Y bottle. The plastic inner lid/lip that sits in the mouth of the bottle after you take the top off has flicked off and disappeared. . I've put the external top on, but is this now going to evaporate/oxidise? It's in mint condition .

SOTD Mitsouko. I am already excited for Christmas, but tend to do the bulk of shopping on Black Friday. #cheapskate

MrsL- one of my bottles of Dioressence did that- two or so years on, with just the screw cap it seems fine tbh.

Thanks Express - that's reassuring. It's only 5 or so mls, but it is stunning and has only just been opened. Had been planning to eke it out for years . (Also - would you tell us about Dioressence? I keep getting the vintage Diors muddled in my mind).

I like that 50s thing of having very small bottles of parfum, rather than huge vats of EDT. I wonder about why and how that changed? Bottles got cheaper? Transport costs fell? Shops got bigger? People wore scent differently, spending longer outside the home? On the face of it, it would seem much more sustainable to have small, concentrated bottles of scent?

Anyone know how much vintage fans should worry about the nitro-musks?

mrsR could i interest you i a swap for the plum for a large bottle of 4160Tuesdays Invisible Palladia? i think its a 50ml bottle, theres very little used out of it it just doesn't sit right on my skin even though i love the scent int he bottle. its a combination of invisible ben and paradox

Happy to send it on to you mrsr it just isnt right for me and is going to waste not being worn.im out at the minute and cant work out how to pm on my phone so ill pm you when i get in amd swap addresses

In Habanita today. Lovely powdery mastic.

I haven't smelled Dioressence on anyone but me for about 20 years Like all the old Diors it's not an easy perfume to wear if that makes any sense. It's sassy and sexy. Barbara Herman says Mrs Robinson would have worn it. Apparently, when it was reformulated it was to rival Opium, I had never made that connection before, also because Opium is such a spicy wintery thing for me, and Dioressence has always been one of the go-to scents for a business meeting when you need to feel in control- but when I wore it yesterday I thought about Opium and there is something in the middle notes (when it gets that signature old Dior skanky bit kicking in) that was a bit Opium-y.

Today I'm testing vintage Fidji on one arm and reformulated on the other. Not too much difference tbh, and a lesson in how to be sweet and pretty as a fragrance without turning into a PM. So few can do that...

TKMaxx klaxon - lots of Serge Lutens in my local store today. Arabie, Datura noir, Jeux de peux, Serge noir, Vitriol d'oeillet. Sadly no Chergui but I have made do with 50ml EDP of Arabie

Also some Miller Harris - Noix de tuberose, Poirier d'un soir, etc.

Didn't go near the Byredo - too spendy for me!

SotD Scents of Nature | Winter Apples & Wild Strawberry by Brocard. These Brocard perfumes are so cheap! Starts with a synthetic apple then it changed to strong cinnamon then it settled after the first half hour into a lovely spicy cooked apple. I kept sniffing myself, really comforting but the fruit stopped it being too cloying. The Brocards I've had before haven't lasted long at all but this kept going for 4 h which for £15 is pretty good.

I was standing in the longgg queue at TKM when I sent that last message, and just as I pressed send I saw the huge wall display of perfume that I'd completely missed previously. So, after much faffing, I actually ended up swapping the Arabie for Poirier d'un Soir and Feuilles de Tabac (better value, I thought). I don't know if I made the right choice. Feuilles is lovely, really dry, sweet tobacco which is pretty masculine but very wearable. However Poirier is probably too sweet for me, unless layered. Might have to do some experimenting...

My Kerbside Violet was waiting for me when I got home. I wasn't misremembering. It's a brilliantly hyper-realistic handful of dirt, wet green shoots and concrete that then dries down to parma violets, damp grass and cucumber. I absolutely love it.

Meant to say, I think the moral of that story might be never swap out Uncle Serge...

Tried a Tom Ford scent today, Black Orchid (I think, purple bottle) wasn’t keen when I sprayed it at 3-ish, but it’s become wonderful now.

SOTD was MMM Fireplace. Oh, fennel I could go some SL JdP right now. They never have anything good in TK Maxx here!

Thanks for the Dioressence notes Express - have set up my ebay search. .

Glad the KV didn't disappoint Fennel. Think its the hyper-real opening I can't get past.

I like the idea of Perfumista life rules. Never swap out a Serge, sounds a good one; still kicking myself for putting Sarrasins back on a shelf once.

Think mine would be, stock up on desert island items, you never know when they will be discontinued...

I lurrve TK Maxx when the Xmas perfume stock starts to come through. Couldn't see any SL online - if anyone spots some please shout (after you've bagged yours, obvs). My money is going to be on some of that Byredo ending up in clearance .

MrsL- if I weren't on a no-spend until Christmas I'd snap this one up
ebay

There are always a fair few of these 10ml bottles around, but some of the ones in Germany look suspiciously new and the bottles are dabbers so easy to top up with inferior stuff (ie water)