The Friendly Perfumistas Thread 35 - ❄️ ☃️ Winter may be here, but our scents will keep us warm!

[FestivelyScent]

Oops! Looks like we ran out of space on the last thread - I hope you all find your way over here.

Anyway, welcome fragrant friends to a shiny new thread!

As always, everyone is very welcome - we're most definitely open to Newbies. Come and discuss your Scent Of The Day (SOTD), old favourites, new infatuations, the best dupes and scents of any price point. We are very friendly! 😊

I’d love to have 50 full bottles! I haven’t counted but I reckon I’m only at about the 20 mark, plus loads of samples, but the collection seems to be increasing all the time 😀

My main issue is my enormous stash of skincare, body lotion, shower gel, etc., plus scented candles. I’m thinking about leaving my job soon and having the summer off, so the spending definitely needs to stop (for a while at least).

SOTD was J’Adore for a day in the office. SOTE is MMM Jazz Club.

Beautiful warm day today in South London. I went a bit mad and broke out the Aerin Waterlily Sun which I love but it wasnt quite right so I popped on some gypsy water over the top which seemed more appropriate.

They range from 15ml to 100ml so not all huge bottles 😀
I'm also not buying anymore for a while yeah yeah I hear you say! but I mean it, honest 🤣
I've got 2 x 4160tuesdays crowdfunded perfumes on the way at some point...
I've got some freelance work lined up for summer but dhs company are not doing great so he could be job hunting soon 😢
Luckily I have enough perfume to last for some time...😉

That's interesting @AprilLady. I'd say on balance they sent me the real deal - they smell too nuanced and well balanced to be the fruit of a chromatography machine? The two I know seem plausible. But, honestly, who knows???

The thing I mainly notice is that they evaporating ridiculously quickly - the plastic sprays are atrocious. Not sure if that is contributing to oiliness?

That's v interesting @AprilLady. I do have two samples of POAL, one from Scent Sampler and one from another place I am sure is genuine, so will compare and contrast tomorrow.

The samples I've had so far do seem genuine to me, but the prices are worryingly good, I agree...

@Alltheevennumbers the plastic atomisers are awful - if they are the genuine scents, it’s almost criminal to put them in such awful bottles.

@TakeYourHatOffBoy I’d be very interested to know how your POAL samples compare.

I ordered six samples, and have so far tried 4. All left my skin slightly sticky and oily in a way normal perfumes don’t - which could be a result of their decant process and the atomisers I guess. Two smell pretty good and like they could be the real deal, two not so much. I’ve looked at reviews on Trust Pilot - they seem mixed too. Lots of positive reviews, but a significant minority who thought they were suspect.

SOTD 4160 Ts Temptation with added narcissus.
Trying out a sample of Hush hush edt, the opening is really interesting, no idea how to describe it, then it settles into parma violets, vanilla with a fresh herbaceous note which might be the cigarette paper accord?

@AprilLady My Amber Orient is from perfume parlour! I've no idea how it compares to the original, but it leaves such an elegant scent trail. And the powdery amber and woods are so comforting. The thyme opening is clarifying, if a little dusty, and the Amber is tinged with a refined custardy vanilla and warmed with a touch of cinnamon. I don't get the patchouli listed in the notes myself, but maybe it's in there somewhere, doing something important.

SOTN is No19. Beautifully sunny day here too, lovely weather for pottering about the shops. 🌞🌷

SOTD is Wonderly by The House of Oud. Its beautiful powdery vanilla. Unfortunately doesn't last very long so needs topping up lots. I only have a 10ml sample, won't be getting a bottle, which is a shame as I enjoy the scent.

I didn't like that one, but I can see why some people like it for summer.

SOTD - DNKY be delicious

SOTD Jusbox Spring Dance. It has lovely bright grapefruit top notes and then settles into a clean white floral (jasmine and honeysuckle according to the card). It's a perfect light, fresh scent for a sunny spring day like today. However, it's pretty much disappeared already and I only put it on two or three hours ago.

OK, so I'm comparing the Scent Sampler Portrait of a Lady (10mls for £10 with the 50% discount) with a much smaller sample from fragrancesamplesuk. Sadly, on doing the side-by-side comparison I think I have to agree with @AprilLady - it was clearly too good to be true!

The fragrancesamplesuk one has the depth and complexity I would expect, with really vibrant topnotes, good sillage and longevity. The patchouli and incense come through beautifully and the rose is deep and luscious. The whole thing is layered and luxurious. It is this sample that made me fall in love with this perfume.

The Scent Sampler was frankly vile in the topnotes, really screechy and synthetic, and whilst it has now dried down into something quite pleasant, it's not even close to the same scent. Much drier, dustier, the rose is barely there and in fact the whole scent is barely noticeable, 3 hours after spraying. And yes, it does have a very faint oily tang. It's a nice enough skin scent but there is no way this is the real POAL.

Bugger.

Having said that, some of the other samples I've had from TSS have been excellent - a couple of the Tom Fords have been absolutely gorgeous (Lavender Extreme / Plum Japonais in particular) and the Le Labo Santal 33 smells very much like the real thing to my nose (although I can't make a direct comparison). So...proceed with caution, I guess!

@TakeYourHatOffBoy if it is all dupes, I guess some will be better than others. The one I tried was similar to your POAL experience - top notes all wrong, then okayish but lacking the depth and complexity of the real thing.

SOTD YSL Tuxedo. Not sure about this. It’s a lovely spicy patchouli scent with good longevity, but is possibly just a bit too masculine for me.

Thanks for the heads up about scent sampler, never bought through them and don't think I'll risk it.
SOTD jhag Magnolia Bliss on me it's a sweet, fresh, fruity floral. Doesn't smell like magnolia though.

SOTN is No5.

SOTD Miu Miu Fleur D’Argent. Clean musk and Tuberose. Its rather lovely.

SOTD Nishane Ani, again

Sotd is Perfumer H Gold.
I've started a bottle of Lavender Savon de Marseille & so I'm carrying on the Lavender theme. I pretty much adore all perfumer H citrus's & this is no exception.
I'm disappointed to hear bad feedback on Scent Samples, though I have heard rumblings before.

SOTD Miller Harris Secret Gardenia.

Sotd 4160tuesdays SSOTPE
Love this so much ❤️

Also sorry about Scent Sampler - and confused.

Have been enjoying Si Le Parfum - boozy Nesquick all the way.

SOTD Kate Spade “In Full Bloom”. Lovely fresh, floral scent.
My mother has a load of perfume samples but I don’t know where they’re from, probably a mixture of places.

SOTD is MFK Grand Soir. My favourite Amber. I heard its been reformulated and I hope not, my bottle is nearly empty, only about 25 mls left

DTeen has serious thing for fragrance. But rips through bottles at an alarming rate.

They are providing the ultimate form of recycling as they are happily working their way through that end of my collection that features wildly bargainous things that are nice and interesting but don't get rostered on much as I have lovelier things that I am more attached to. My cheap thrills section generally comes in large bottles and take up quite a bit of space.

Think L.T. Piver and Pascal Morabito (not the great ones!) from TK Maxx, Spanish supermarket colognes, eBay misfires etc. The interesting thing is they tend to smell devastatingly good on him. (To the point I sometimes contemplate sneaking them back ).

I've been wearing my recent haul from London lately: 4160 Tuesdays Hush Hush, Sapil Intense (fabulous tuberose for not many pence) , Ormonde Jayne Woman, Ormonde Jayne Levant Extrait ( a fantastic peony rose) and there's one called A La Lune Santal something which has too much oud for me.