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! 😊

SOTD Tauer Une Rose Vermeille. A thick, jammy, syrupy rose with a smoky lavender dry down. Not for the fainthearted, this has been following me around all morning!

Disappointing trip to TKMaxx yielded zilch on the frag front. I do miss the big TKMs where I used to live as they would almost always turn up something worth a punt but my local one now is terrible for perfume. Still, gives my bank balance a rest I guess.

SOTD ZARA - Red Vanilla

Started the day thinking about all things deer-related, courtesy of @VonThorn.

Doe in the Snow felt too chilly (peach icicle) and I don't have a sample of Afternoon of a Faun, so I reached a bit of a dead end.

Was then wondering about snuggly animalic musks - couldn't find my Bal a Versailles, and was wondering about Habanita, when I took delivery of Zara's Leather Jardin and changed tack completely, leaving the deer for another day.

Leather Jardin is so hyped I felt at risk of being disappointed. But it is interesting - opening as a 70s style bitter green chypre and offering a delightful time travel experience on the cheap. This stage leads with bright grapefruit. It then passes through a phase when a smoky leather in the manner of Cabochard is present. But it finally settles down into an unusual dry chalky character (whilst it smells nothing like Chinatown, I associate this dry chalky quality with Chinatown). It's not a harsh 'burnt' leather, or a ripe animalic leather, or even an old stiff patent leather. In fact at this stage it's more a strain to hear a sueded leather in the background sort of leather. It's almost as though dense grapefruit pith, rather than juicy grapefruit flesh, is doing the heavy lifting at this stage? Unusual.

I think I need to get on the Zara website and have a search for Leather Jardin...

What's Red Vanilla like @Alazne58?

Leather Jardin sounds interesting - I've tried a couple of Zara perfumes before, and was impressed considering the price, but for some reason I always passed them on.

SOTN is Ambre Orient. Our TKmaxx is rubbish for perfumes, but the one in the next big town is great. This has proven a big money saver for me, too.

So I fell down the rabbit hole of Zara fragrances and now have small bottles of Red Vanilla and Leather Jardin on the way. A couple of others might've sneaked their way into my basket also...

Sotd narciso poudree

What else did you get @DramaAlpaca?

I've dabbled with a few of the Zara/Jo Malone colabs and rate both Amalfi Sunray and Vetiver Pamplemousse as straightforward but very pleasant and substantial summertime fragrances.

Leather Jardin is in a different league - it still only lists three notes (seems unlikely), has a more complex evolution, and is saying a lot more, ifyswim?

I am intrigued by the other three Jo's in this particular sequence - think there is Universal Oud, Ancestral Papyrus and Incense Sunset? Any one tried?

I also have Red Temptation (not a Jo M I think?) which always confuses me as it is an enormous synthetic moss (tree moss?), as green as green could be and strident rather than tempting. Smells like a 4160Tuesdays experiment - meant as a compliment.

The only Zara I’ve tried is Deep Garden, which was ok but nothing special. I ordered Red Temptation once but annoyingly it arrived smashed and then was out of stock so I just got a refund and never actually got to try it.

SOTD is Fugazzi Orange Crush, which is citrus with a woody ISO E Super base. Similar to Molecule 01 & Mandarin, but a bit sweeter.

I’ve tried a few Zara perfumes. My favourites are Vetivier Pamplemousse and Jo’s Rhubarb. Neither have much longevity, but both pretty pleasant while they last. For the price I don’t mind reapplying.

Red Temptation is supposedly a dupe for Baccarat Rouge - so worth trying if that interests you.

Keen to try the Leather Jardin now!

SOTD Miller Harris Rose et Noir. This was indeed a TK Maxx bargain. The violet/rose combo reminds me a bit of FM Lipstick Rose.

Love a perfume thread!

SOTD is L by Lolita Lempicka, used very sparingly because it’s discontinued (seems to be a theme for perfumes I love). It’s gourmand but citrusy and it takes me back to a holiday on the Black Sea.

I blind ordered la Fille de Berlin by Serge Lutens yesterday, and I’m very very tempted by Rahat Loukoum.

SOTD ZARA - Pink Flambe

Wore Coach Eau de Parfum on Wednesday and Lancôme O de L’Orangerie yesterday. Not sure about today yet.

La Fille de Berlin is one of my top 3 rose perfumes, @whumpthereitis - you won't regret that blind buy (and if you do, I'll happily take it off your hands 😉)

@alltheevennumbers let's see... Bohemian Bluebells for its sandalwood and musk notes, Fleur de Patchouli (because I love patchouli), Sultry Pear (because I adore pear notes), and Amber Fusion because it has bergamot notes and sounds interesting.

I also wanted Bohemian Oud but it was out of stock, but today I've had an email letting me know it's back so I've ordered it, along with Red Temptation and Universal Oud based on the posts above. I'll report back, obviously!

SOTD is Replica Whispers in the Library. It wasn't particularly suitable for the lovely sunny day we have here at the moment, but I just felt like it.

I love Rahat Loukhoum, but you can get a slightly cheaper Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum and it's also super beautiful.

Today wearing Acca Kappa Tilia Cordata.

Welcome to the thread @whumpthereitis 😊👋

SOTN is Miss Dior Originale.

@Alltheevennumbers Red Vanilla lovely warm spicy scent of iris, peony, vanilla, orange mine is from few years. It is also DD 23 her favorite and only signature scent. I gifted her 3 big bottles after she wear mine few times then decide from my collection that is the one she likes. When I wear it think of her, she lives studies overseas in USA. Red Vanilla is also one of my favorites.But I have many favorites.

I like ZARA because lots of variety and prices and I am home so is nice big variety.

SOTD ZARA - Fashionably London I have the 10 ml will buy a larger size soon as this also a favorite, smells beautiful.

Welcome @whumpthereitis !

SOTD: Gucci Bloom

Off to London to meet my sisters in Regents Park for a picnic - have a great weekend, everyone!

Thank you @Alazne58! I will look out for Red Vanilla when next is store. So lovely to have a scent that allows you to remain close to a daughter who is overseas.

Sotd zara femme

SOTN is No5.

SOTD Penhaligons Juniper Sling. Yesterday was Diptyque Eau Duelle.