The Venn diagram now includes a collective longing for Spring. It’s Friendly Perfumistas, thread 20.

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

New thread for scented discussion, plus cats, teeth, and cats with problem teeth. Everyone welcome, we are as friendly as the title suggests!

I’m drinking coffee in my sunny conservatory watching the lambs gambolling on the hills. It’s a mild spring morning and Cristalle is Sotd.
It’s wonderful to have some warmth and sun again.
Has anyone tried making up their own essential oil mixes? I’ve ordered Myrrh and Elemi to see if I can concoct a blend with Frankincense and a carrier oil. I’m becoming increasingly disillusioned by most modern offerings, but am falling back in love with old stalwarts like Paris, Safari, Silences and Cristalle. The only recent perfumes I’ve really rated ( and I’ve tried maybe nearly 100) is the Sana Jardin in the niche box and Patchouli Clouds. Am I just becoming really fussy or is it a sign of age and maturity🤔.

LADDM is definitely something special isn't it?

SOTD is L'air de rien. Like unwashed knickers, but fabulous

teta i am desperate to find something to make my house smell nice. hav ing windows shut for so long and convinced something is dying beneath my floorboards, most candles make me gag. Should i try the granules on PP? Have you tried those? i have never mixed oils but i wonder if anyone here (on MN i mean) who is a masseuse or something might have...

Blimey teta my morning couldn't be more different. I'm juggling manic children while looking out on a grey skied east London row of terraced houses... fancy a swap?!

Going in to work to prep for an interview in advance of mat leave ending. Think I'll wear 4160 Who Knew.

Oh dear lots I’ve been there. It’s not fun. At one stage I had 3 under 3 in my 40’s. My kids would swop this scenery for the grey of London in a flash. They think our beautiful scenery and elderly population are frightfully boring. Have a good meeting.
kalifornia The White Company Grapefruit Candle smells really good Also M&S do some good Reed Diffusers. The Myrrh gets really good reviews on Amazon for making houses smell nice. It hasn’t arrived yet so I will feedback when it does.

Kalifornia, if you leave some bicarbonate of soda around in saucers or jars then it is really good for absorbing odours and freshening the place up. You can also sprinkle on floors and carpets and then hoover up. I highly recommend it.

teta, it sounds so idyllic but I guess sometimes what you're not used to seems more exciting... I'm in London with all of the urban grimness and excitement. It's lovely for children here in terms of all the activities and places to see/go, but I do sometimes worry about the pollution and we have very little green space or nature nearby. Re essential oils, have you tried the Marina Barcenilla chakra scents? They sound lovely.

maud Yes, it really is! I am finally "getting it" with perfume now that I try something like this and feel like I am actually in love!

Mother I really like the sound of the Marina Brow Chakra oil. It’s scented with Myrrh, Frankincense and Elemi so I thought I’d have a go at mixing up my own. It can’t be too hard can it? 😁

SOTD here is AT Phi: Une Rose de Kandahar. My first time testing it out. It's a very lovely multifaceted rose that keeps changing on me -- complicated, exotic and tender. I don't tend to like rose scents and I don't think this is for me, but I'm drawn in much more than I thought I would be.

Sorry to barge in but I need help. I'm late 20's haven't worn perfume since I was late teens and need help on where to start (I don't do well in perfume departments - I find them overwhelming). I need some suggestions so I can go in, get a tester and leave to actually smell said tester.

When I was a teen I used "ghost" but think that will probably smell too young now??

Thank you!

kali pp dust is great imo. I've got the by the fireplace one

chevvy great - i am going to choose some dust
bet there's one called Angel dust haha

swimming i still wear White Musk!

Hello Swimming! Perfume departments can be daunting and it’s often difficult to get testers from them nowadays. You might be more comfortable buying samples, particularly discovery sets. Do explore these websites:

The Perfume Society
4160Tuesdays
Bloom Perfumery
Les Senteurs

If you are able to visit London, I would particularly recommend a visit to Bloom Perfumery, They are very friendly and helpful. I have often spent a happy hour or two in there and have bought some amazing perfume. The fragrances are mostly niche but they also stock Brocard, which are cheaper.

For more mainstream perfumes, there are various websites which sell samples. Try Notino or Scent Samples.

Happy sniffing! 🌺

Oooh i may pop to Bloom next week...

Whilst waiting around for a meeting first thing this morning I nipped into Lush and bought a bottle of Vanillary because, well, vanilla. God, I don't know whether to love or hate Lush It opens with the weirdest plasticky, faintly urinous note which is frankly vile. I think it's a weird Lush version of jasmine and it's rank. However it does settle down after a bit and the tonka comes through really strongly which is lovely, but there's still this odd burnt-plastic undertone. Gah. Bloody Lush.

Yeah.
Not a lush fan.
Sote Avon timeless

swimming, welcome! You might want to check out some other fragrances by Michel Almairac who did the original Ghost perfume? The easiest ones to get hold of on the high street would probably be:

Bottega Veneta Bottega Veneta
Burberry Body or Burberry Woman
Chloe eau de parfum or See by Chloe
Givenchy Dahlia Divin
Gucci eau de Gucci or Gucci Rush
Zadig & Voltaire This is Her

Alternatively, just head down the rabbit hole and go bonkers with random samples from some of the sites mentioned above - much more fun tbh

Burberry body is nice

Thing is, I find Lush perfumes (well, Gorilla really I suppose) fun and unique and challenging, and there's definitely a place for that in perfumery. But bloody hell, sometimes I just want to smell nice .

Trouble is you can't properly test them in that shop because you're under olfactory assault the second you step in there!

It is settling and there's definitely a lovely tonka note, but that jasmine...sheesh. And I'm someone who's happily wafted about smelling of unwashed pants all day today

SotD MG Lemon. One of my favourite for work.

Came home to a box containing ELDO Archives 69 so I'm smelling of camphor for the evening.

Lush do like jasmine!

SOTD was Miss Dior, but have had a bath and SOTE is Chanel 19.

Today I put washing out on the line for the first time this year! Every time I looked out of the window I could see the cat’s head peeping over from inside the laundry basket, as towels blew around above her.

Ok, humour me...

What are your top three 'desert island' perfumes? The ones you just couldn't live without?

Mine are Monyette Paris (still! I can't get over my first love for sentimental reasons), L'Air Du Desert Marocain, and Hidden on the Rooftops. I kind of feel like I could end up swapping that last one for something else if I really fell in love. I do have a number of fragrances that I like a whole lot but, when I think about it, I could live without them all.

Thanks for the descriptions Maud - mine haven't arrived yet. I didn't order Rose Vermeille in the end - but a jammy rose sounds good, so this is building my case for another discovery box later in the year.

Thanks for the constitutional crisis suggestions. Pots - the link to 4160T's SotW was particularly inspired.

Needed the big guns today, so in Coromandel.

Blimey couldn't choose just 3....;)