Finally! I've realised what kind of perfume I love!

[JFDIYOLO]

At school in the 70s it was Blasé and Charlie.

In the 80s at uni and first job (quite a few 21st birthday prezzies because they were expensive) I'd discovered Chanel no 5, Cristalle and 19, White Linen, Eternity, all the shoulder padded high heeled striders of the time.

I was travelling a lot in the 90s so often bought those sets of miniature perfumes you could get in duty free - an Estee Lauder set was a particular favourite and I got the full size Beautiful and White Linen Breeze.

SJP's Lovely was a phase til Mum said she thought it smelled like poo ...

And then things got a bit dicey and perfume became a luxury I just couldn't justify other than the odd Next / M&S cheapie.

Now, I'm finding a whole new hobby - Instagram keeps advertising perfume discovery sets at me and I'm on my fourth. And I realise ...

The ones I love are usually variations of petigrain, neroli, bergamot, orange blossom, jasmine, tuberose and vanilla.

And I no longer like the heavyweights of my younger days.

I’m with you - perfume has become a luxury I can’t afford. I love anything with a bergamot scent and all the things you describe.

Have you got any recommendations for budget friendly ‘fresh’ scents?

Inis,it's gorgeous.

https://www.chemistconnect.com/fragrance-c10/ladies-fragrance-c35/travel-size-spray-15ml-5fl-oz-p20271/s20429?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=inis-travel-size-spray-15ml-5fl-oz-inis-travel-size-spray-15ml-5fl-oz&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&cid=GBP&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwg4SpBhAKEiwAdyLwvDERETKBJYRidWu74Yyo7ZI3Flnn6kOAOKISJ3VyIxpUnKMZUmw61hoC4V4QAvD_BwE

I’m not saying this is budget-friendly, but it isn’t ridiculous and it does last a long time.

4711

It is a cologne and has the corresponding staying power but it is cheap enough to decant and reapply through the day.

It has virtually all of the notes OP lists: top notes lemon, bergamot and orange; middle notes lavender and rosemary; base notes are neroli and petitgrain.

4711 is one of my favourites.

I recently bought some Spanish cologne which I'll decant into smaller bottles, have one in every bag and spray when I need.

Perfume Parlour has some amazing copies.

Loads of Zara perfumes fit this description.

If you like neroli try Sana Jardin Berber Blonde. There are a lot of people selling 10ml rollerballs on vinted/eBay at the moment, it must have been in a beauty box etc. It's a wonderful dry citrus neroli that evolves into a sunny, almost sunscreeny scent.

You might like White Company’s Seychelles fragrance - light and fresh, with bergamot, vanilla and amber. It’s relatively cheap - £30.00 for 30ml - I have a few of their perfumes, and they are worth trying.
L’Occitane is also worth a look.

The Essence Vault is your friend. Thank me later 😁

I’ve recently gone old school with Sunflowers and get quite a few compliments on it, and it’s nicely cheap

Can you recommend any to try?

I love White Linen and Chanel No 5. I love a Lily smell as well (not Lily of the valley) -can anyone recommend something with a Lily undertone??

I'm wearing Sana Jardin's Berber Blonde today! My favourite from the discovery set. It's gorgeous. And the jasmine Revolution des Fleurs and the tuberose Jaipur Chant ...Lovely.

Also had several bottles of White Company's Seychelles, yes indeed!

The Essence Vault looks intriguing! EDP dupes for a fraction of the cost. I like the sound of this one - four fave notes and a sample at £4.95. Type the notes you like in the spyglass thingy and it comes up with suggestions.

https://www.theessencevault.co.uk/

Yeah, it's amazing. I have 6 100ml bottles from The Essence Vault. The likeness to the branded ones, the quality and the longevity of the fragrance is as good if not better.

My particular favourites from the ones I have are Gucci Gardenia and La Vie Est Belle.

TEV do CRAZY offers like 40% off, so when you can get 3 x 100ml bottles at 40% off the full price, the bottles work out at about £10 each with free delivery. My parter has 6 different bottles too after being told about it by work colleagues. Both of us are regularly complemented on the fragrances we're wearing and I've just bought my dad 2 bottles to try. It's his birthday later this week so I'm curious to know what he thinks of them (I got him the Armani Code and the Sauvage 'copies').

TEV is completely legal and legit. There's another company who do them too (the name escapes me right now). I have a couple of theirs but I wasn't quite as impressed as I am with TEV.

PS. I think the code to get 40% off was from a Facebook ad and I think it was FB40. I don't know if it works all the time though.

Had to Google it but the other company I've tried is called The Scent Reserve.

Apologies though, it's the Scent Reserve who do the FB40 code.

The essence vault do (or did) this offer (attached pic).