The friendly perfumistas thread 32: spring has sprung 🌷 and we all smell amazing ☺️

[ChiswickFlo]

Morning my fragrant friends ☺️

New thread as we are nearly in May now...

Rather grey here today so sotd will be pp mmm btf

Hope @judystilldreamsofhorses is feeling better?

Have a good Bank Holiday x

I'm wearing Le Labo Fleur D'Oranger. It is so perfect for Spring. Fresh and citrussy but warm, not too acidic , so it smells like summer is on the way soon. A whole bottle is a bit eye watering, but they sell handbag sized samples without hiking the price up.

Sotd Gallivant Istanbul
This is a gloriously spicy Amber
My 30mls arrived this morning :)

@DramaAlpaca ...its odd...I really didn't like either 4160tuesdays CbyC or Shazam! When I first tried them some years ago...I can only conclude either my tastes have changed or my skin chemistry has (thanks peri menopause!!) Because they are both like catnip to me now 💜🤣

SOTD Laboratorio Olfattivo Nun. Lovely and fresh, bergamot and lotus flower.

Sotd Seasalt and neroli. Love it. You can really smell the Seasalt.

M&s I should say!

@ChiswickFlo perimenopause is a funny thing isn't it? It's only since then that I like the old fashioned chypres. Before that I wouldn't have gone near them. It's a change in skin chemistry for sure.

Definitely!

Oddly I'm not as fond of chypres as I used to be...

Sote 4160tuesdays SSOTPE

SOTD M&S Plum Blossom. It's a very nice floral woody musk, and only £9.50 for 30ml.

So, 4160Ts Tarts Knicker Drawer is a firm like. At first, I got an almost strawberry note, but thankfully that faded quickly. I then got lovely parma violets and other sweets, mainly violets, and it made me think of eating a pick 'n' mix bag in a hotel room - there was definitely a smell reminiscent of hotel rooms rather than drawers, for me. I liked the basenotes best, where a lovely warm powdery incense note came through and reminded me of my mum burning purple coloured incense cones. I still have to test on skin.

I also tried Oakmossery, and I'm afraid I didn't like it at all. I'm fact, I had to move the mouillette to the other end of the house as it felt like there was a stranger in the room with me when it was on the table beside my seat. I'm also confused as I didn't get any chypre notes - I smelled coconut, rum and a sharp rubbing alcohol smell, then tropical florals and more coconut, and the basenotes frankly smell like industrial chemicals, to me. Not what I was expecting at all, and I didn't get any oakmoss in the form I know it. I'm almost tempted to say they sent me the wrong perfume - except I briefly smelled a sort of chemical writing ink smell and I've read that oakmoss can sometimes smell like that (although I've never experienced this myself.) Very confused, and I wouldn't call this a chypre at all (in fact it didn't really even smell like a perfume to me, more like a collection of smells), but glad this was a freebie.

Captured by Candlelight is nice on paper - I think it might smell better on skin though. Sort of like a less fruity Angel's Share, or By the Fireplace with a strong ice-cream vanilla note added. I couldn't smell any plum pudding or Christmassy-ness, and actually it made me think of a fairground - the smell of ice cream, doughnuts and smoke. Am reserving judgement until I've tried on skin.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. 😊

SOTD is Angel's Share.

Oops, that was long post, sorry. 😊

I'm really enjoying testing the 4160Ts, though. They are all provoking lots of thoughts and feelings in me, which is great, and surely so different to mainstream perfumery - where my reaction is usually: "meh".

I knew you'd like TKD, @FestivelyScent. Shame about Oakmossery though. From your description I don't think I'd like it either.

This evening it's 4160's Pillowtalk on one wrist, which isn't doing much for me at all, and Rome 1963 on the other which I'm finding very interesting. Fragrantica describes it as a floral woody musk, a type I tend to love, but this one has an intriguing vintage darkness to it. Fascinating.

@FestivelyScent Agree completely re: oakmossery. I had high hopes for that one!"

Pillow talk is another I should love on paper but...

@DramaAlpaca Rome 1963 has a tobacco note I dislike sadly.

Cbyc definitely has shared dna with Angels share

I like this one too. I got it in a set of three purse sprays with Riviera Neroli (a soft neroli, with a musky base) and Celestial Fig (green).

SOTD is M&S Seasalt & Neroli, inspired by @gingerjones yesterday 🙂

Sotd 4160tuesdays SSOTPE

Corneliastreet I enjoyed the seasalt and neroli, hope you did too! I've had a quick namechange :)

Sotd is Tom Ford soleil blanc. I have the 10ml size. I won't be buying this again, something about it bothers me.

@ChiswickFlo I wore SSOTPE as my SOTD too! I loved the lemon cake opening, and the sweet vanilla and woods middle, but it faded so quickly on me and was gone completely after three hours. Will have to spray loads next time around and see if that makes a difference.

Eau my Soul is lovely though. Not what I was expecting actually, but really nice. It is extremely well blended and I am having a hard time picking apart the notes. I was racking my brains half the evening trying to think what it reminded me of - and it's Arabie. It is less spicy, but has the same booziness and the same raisin and dark fruits stickiness, only with an added tobacco note. Also reminiscent of cough syrup. Very comforting and lasts much longer than the other 4160Ts I've tried so far.

Dancing with Strangers. Hmm, I'm on the fence with this one. I loved the parma violet opening - it smelled just like the sweets! So powdery and purple and sweet and cheerful. This then morphed into iris. I'm less keen on iris, which is weird as I love violet. Ditto musk, which makes me feel a bit sick in any fragrance. I loved the powderiness though. I actually thought from fragrantica reviews that it would smell more like make-up, which I was looking forward to, but I didn't get that vibe from it. I did get a vintage feeling though. DWS was also more long lasting than the others. One to try on skin for sure, if only to see if it performs differently.

SOTD JM Wood Sage and Sea Salt. God I am so desperate for my taste and smell to come back.

@Judystilldreamsofhorses oh poor you, it's been a good while now hasn't it? It must be so darned frustrating

@FestivelyScent I quite like Eau My Soul too, but I love Dancing With Strangers. I'm going to splurge on three or four bottles when I've finished testing, and DWS will almost definitely be one of them.

This evening I'm trying Centrepiece, which is a like, and Sleep Knot which isn't.

SOTD was Celestial Fig, the green scent from the M&S set @CorneliaStreet mentioned above. It's subtle, but fresh and I like it a lot.

Exactly three months, @DramaAlpaca 🙄 The last meal I tasted was lunch with my GBF, when I started madly coughing midway through, and had to go home. I met him for lunch last weekend in the same place in the hope it might square the circle somehow. It did not!

@Judystilldreamsofhorses oh, you poor thing! My friends taste and smell took an age to return too. Have you tried high does vit A? ((Hugs))

@FestivelyScent so glad you like SSOTPE! It's very much a skin scent though, doesn't have huge projection (I just re spray!) You can get the extrait version but it's £££. I think you'd like invisible Ben too (also a skin scent but so light and fresh I adore it on dh)

I'm not a fan of eau my soul which is odd as on paper I should love it 🤷‍♀️ I think its the fact that are SO many ingredients - an issue with crowdfunded perfume imo. I'm also not a fan of honey or tobacco in fragrances.

@DramaAlpaca I didn't like DWS. I've not been keen on any 4160tuesdays new fragrances tbh...I seem to like her older creations.

I do really enjoy smaller niche perfume houses though...there is so little to tempt on the high street and I hear byredo have now been bought by loreal :(

I really think smaller niche houses need our business or we will lose them :(

I will definitely purchase from gallivant again (another small UK based house owned by the guy who used to make L artisan perfumuer scents)

4160tuesdays too (I may not like them all but they are never boring!).

I may try some Karen timpson next (as recommended by @MissBattleaxe)

Taking mum to drs today then off to the cinema with ds1 - he finished his last essay for this year yesterday :)

I'm not really in the mood and the Dr's appointment with mum will be difficult...sigh.

Sotd 4160tuesdays SSOTPE. I might even wear one of my SSOTPE customisations...hmmm.

Have a good day all x

It's great to see support for small brands @ChiswickFlo . It really is a case of use them or lose them. I wholeheartedly recommend Karen Timson Fine Fragrances. She has five fragrances and they're all equally good. I recently tried Rosa di Rio, a rose musk, and fell in love on the spot. She has a nice violet one called Envide and a fabulous orange blossom one called Hera.

Hmmm does she do samples/discovery set @MissBattleaxe ?

Yep! Definitely worth a look. £18 for 5.