Tell me about your favourite perfumes

[EmilyWeather]

I haven't bought a new perfume for about 15 years and I'd really like to find something nice, but don't know where to look. I have been bought a few very fancy perfumes over the years by a relative but in truth, I've not actually liked any of them and have given most away. All very heavy, designer stuff. There's one Louis Vuitton one I've kept but can only handle it in very small doses, probably wouldn't have chosen it myself.

I like quite gender neutral scents - natural, botanicals, maybe woody?? Nothing too sweet or musky, nothing too floral (although a little floral is fine).

Happy to pay around £100 or a bit more for something lovely with good staying power.

Anybody got a favourite or any ideas they'd like to share? Or know of some magical source that I can order a few different testers?

I'm currently wearing and loving Korres Black Pepper, but I'm not sure it's got great staying power.

i LOVE Retrospect by Merit beauty. Top note is pear. It's sort of powdery in an old lady way but I love it. Probably not really selling it on that description...

Oh gosh I may not be your demographic as I love a midi but my all time favourites for autumn winter are
NR for her EDT - floral musk - my all time favourite no.1 fragrance.
Jo Malone Golden Vanilla and Vetiver - stunning!! Major longevity.
Chanel Allure - so hard to describe - but snuggly is the word that springs to kind.
Zara Red Temptation Winter. - the most gorgeous base layer for all these other scents - I get stopped daily when I wear this.
Julitte Has A Gun. Mmmm. Raspberry skin scent - very addictive. Again soooo many compliments.

White Tea by Elizabeth Arden. Always complemented when I wear it. Need to buy another bottle but I bulk at paying £40. It’s slightly woody, floral a real mixture.

Ive always loved Coco by Chanel

Jo Malone - wood sage and sea salt is gorgeous. Smells woody with a salty edge.

Body shop have just brought back their tobacco flower perfume, which I used to love.
I bought some and still love it, and I find it lasts quite well.
Also like Calvin Klein Eternity. I wish they would bring back the rose version but that was a limited edition.

I've banned myself from buying perfumes blind anymore, and from testing on a scent stick in store as I've reacted so badly to heady perfumes of late. My everyday is either La Vie Est Belle - it's such a lovely comforting scent and lasts all day, or Chanel Gabrielle which is a bit lighter and less floral.

Others I've got are Tom Ford White Patchouli (very good everyday wear), Estee Lauder Modern Muse, and Tom Ford Cafe Rose (smokey, tabacco with a heady rose top layer).

Jo Loves Red Truffle 21.

Hugo Boss Deep Red
White Tea Elizabeth Arden
Vera Wang Lovestruck

all amazing and I loved at first smell

Le Labo Santal 33 is unisex and woody. I love it.
It is more expensive than £100, but you can pick up some great dupes.

Angel nova is my current favourite

Patchouli Paris by Guerlain. But it’s £300 a bottle! Luckily my sister works near Liberty in London and keeps picking up samples. Whenever I wear it I get asked about it. It’s apparently designed to envoke the scent of a high class Parisian prostitute!

YSL Intense - all day long!

Quoting your post so I can keep it on a thread I'm on as I quite loke La Vie Est Belle and go back again and again to Modern Muse. Would like to try your other suggestions.

Christian Dior's Pure Poison and Charlie Red are the two I have. The former I was gifted, but I shan't be getting another one because it is very expensive. Charlie Red I got from B&M when it was being sold for £6.99 a bottle. Otherwise they're £20+ last I looked. I haven't really tried anything else.

A few gender neutral, woody / botanicals which I like - you can probably get some samples from some of the perfume sample websites:

le labo - Eucalyptus
Aqua Allegoria - Nerolia Vetiver
Aqua Allegoria - Pamplelune
DS & Durga - Cowboy Grass
DS & Durga - Radio Bombay
DS & Durga - Debaser
Aesop - Hwyl
Aesop - Vivere

Tom ford black orchard is on offer at boots think I paid £80 smells lush

They don't make white patchouli anymore gutted as it was my fave

If you live near a Zara, I'd recommend trying the perfumes there. Jo Malone created a range for them, some are quite floral but one I got recently is which I really like is Amber and Fig Cashmere, it's lovely.

I like Eau Duelle by Diptyque. It's a greeny vanilla.

You might try samples of the molecular perfumes made from iso e super or ambroxan. They can come off woody or maybe woody and spicy with a bit of floral. I buy mine from an indie perfumer, I like the woodiness of iso e. Ambroxan is sweeter and musky and woody. Don't pay the jacked up prices that JHAG or another one charge, look for dupes of Molecule 1 (iso e) and Molecule 2 (ambroxan).

If you like sandalwood, Tam Dao from Dyptique is lovely. I wear it by itself and layer it with other perfumes.

I'd recommend trying a Perfume Society box - loads of different samples from a range of really unique perfumes.

Or Harvey Nichols has an amazing fragrance calendar which is £120 in the Black Friday sales - quite a few lighter, unisex scents in there.

Overall favourite though is https://www.tothefairest.com/products/ordre-cosmique-eau-de-parfum

Smells amazing - you can order samples from the website. The body oil is gorgeous too.

I really like Tom Ford Santal Blush. It is a soft woody floral scent. It’s really lovely. I have layered it with TF cafe Rose and my OH loves that.

Amazing, thank you all so much for so many lovely suggestions!! Think I need to go find some samples / have a sniff of some in store. Actually quite excited now about finding my new smell!

Best sources for samples:

Bloom Perfumery What would be useful for you is that in addition to ad hoc samples they also offer sample subscriptions which enable focused comparisons.

Sainte Cellier New and highly ambitious and impressive.

Les Senteurs Old and established - worth spending a bit of time on the site.