Scent of the day part 7 - let the friendly perfumistas take you to perfume heaven!

[IDontHateRainbows]

Old thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5443053-scent-of-the-day-part-six-what-will-the-friendly-perfumistas-spray-next?page=38&rep

Hi ladies and Happy New Year to u all im so pleased I found u all again i have been on previous threads but always fall off them ive had an awful year health wise but in the up now I hope so back on the fragrance wagon and I literally have stupid amounts to use up of full size, smaller sizes and testers plus perfume parlour largely dupes. Hope u dont mind me tagging along esp as some of my older perfumes I intend to try and use up first are largely very standard commercially targeted ones and some high street lady million, black opium, body shop and the like. However I am quite into killian perfumes and have several of those and have also ordered several minis on vinted of newer to ne scents but have promised myself no more now until I use some up lets see if I stick to that

Welcome back @Mackemlass79 I've also had bad health issues and am up consequently up and down with fragrance. I hope you are well on the mend now.

I know a lot of the perfumes mentioned on here are quite niche / obscure but Carolina Herrera seems quite popular, so there's no reason not to share designer or high street fragrances. I only got into perfume last year and am still very ignorant and uneducated about them so I'm as happy to hear about mainstream scents as the esoteric ones. I post about high street own brand ones like Zara or M&S. People might secretly roll their eyes but seem to be very tolerant.

I'm not sure any of the regular posters on here will roll their eyes at designer over niche, nothing wrong with designer frag and some of my favourites are designer eg carolina herrera very good girl, flowerbomb tiger lily and paradoxe radical essence. I like to mix it up - my philosophy being if I love how it smells who cares!

SOTD - well the evening at least - is Byredo Mumbai Noise. I love this one and it's extra perfect for winter - warm spicy with labdanum, can't get enough of it. It also has a hearty dose of oud in it, I'm one of those people who doesn't particualry like oud forward scents but when it's blended well with other stuff it can work wonders, as it does in this.

Thank you @IDontHateRainbows and I agree that is my attitude too if I like the smell and i feel if suits me (I can be very fussy) then I shall wear it regardless if designer, niche or high street. I have always very strongly disliked the smell and also taste of vanilla at least real vanilla taste but have seen some lovely recommendations on here when ive been quietly lurking ao have been over to the old vinted and ordered some smaller sizes to revisit the vanilla scene. I shall report back my findings and if I become friends with vanilla scent finally

Thank you @IDontHateRainbows and I agree that is my attitude too if I like the smell and i feel if suits me (I can be very fussy) then I shall wear it regardless if designer, niche or high street. I have always very strongly disliked the smell and also taste of vanilla at least real vanilla taste but have seen some lovely recommendations on here when ive been quietly lurking ao have been over to the old vinted and ordered some smaller sizes to revisit the vanilla scene. I shall report back my findings and if I become friends with vanilla scent finally

@HolidayHattie Definitely no eye rolling from me either! Am currently wearing M&S Red Berries & Rose. It’s lovely. Similar to Armani’s Si. A warm fruity floral. Doesn’t last quite as long as Si, but at that price who cares?

I used to think I didn't like vanilla, I think I had memories of quite cloying body-shop-of -the- 90s vanilla scents but there's a whole world of vanilla - tropical, beachy vanilla, spicy vanilla, herby vanilla, citrussy vanilla so I hope you won't be like me and write it off because of how you may have viewed it in the past. Vanilla is probably my favourite note now and i've got into quite a few - matiere premiere vanilla factory, JHAG vanilla vibes, chloe vanilla planifolia and bibbi vanilla factory to name a few.

SOTD is Versace Crystal Noir, want to use up the mini I got in the JL advent as have a big bottle coming from Harrods thanks to @JoRaRaRainfluencing.

Finally got round to trying the valaya. I like it - possibly more one for spring as it's quite 'airy' - reminds me a lot of Byredo Gypsy Water. I'm not a massive citrus fan but this has a touch of citrus, quite light and soft, which I enjoy. Not sure whether the valaya exclusif beats it- they are both nice - on balance I'd say valaya tops the exclusif which is just as well as the set came with 10ml valaya and 5ml exclusif.

Sotd Dedcool Taunt. I finally opened space nk fragrance advent. Its lovely. Red on here about it and was curiosity. Would possibly have just sold. 🥰

Absolutely no judgment here! I love an M&S dupe and a designer scent. SOTD was from a CH Blush smallish sized bottle from a GWP I’ve just finished. I was glad to get rid as the heel wouldn’t reattach so it was awkward to store. I need to get through my other mini bottles now as some have been hanging around for a while.

I made an effort to sort through and arrange my travel sizes mainly by brand. I’m glad I did as I have a few duplicates to sell of the ones I don’t love.

Intrigued as to how it has lasted this long!

Agree with others, I like a mix of niche and designer. Designer scents are often much easier for work or anywhere else you want a pleasant, not too over powering scent. CH Good Girl Blush is often my work go to.

I only fell into niche brands due to a friend who is very into fragrance giving me samples. I still love testing all the perfumes in Duty Free and they tend to be more the mainstream ones.

I like trying niche scents but a lot of my most loved perfumes are designer - J’Adore, Mon Guerlain, Black Opium, some of the Margiela Replicas and various others over the years. Like others have said, I think designer scents are often easier for work. J’Adore is my perfect office scent.

Even with niche, I seem to like ‘easier’ niche brands like Gallivant. Brands like Etat Libre D’Orange scare me!

Even scarier is Toskovat, they have one called 'spinal fluid on the walls' which smells of metal+ meat. I can't imagine they sell many bottles!

I like hearing about high street perfumes! @HolidayHattie @Mackemlass79 I like smells that die down by dinner time. A lot of the posh stuff and “beast” mode mentioned in Fragrantica is not for me. I’ve loved the M&S EDPs they launched this year. I’ve liked the M&S Floral Street Sweet Almond Blossom we got in the advent calendar in December 2025. Very wearable. I’d be interested in hearing what other high street EDPs you rate. Not found an EDT I’d like yet though, except Amber Maquis which smells and lasts like an EDP.

Wow. 😬

https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Toskovat/Spinal-Fluid-On-The-Walls-112538.html

I once splurged on the entire tester set of all l’Etat d’orange and there was one called Secretions. OMFG! It was the worst scrubber imaginable. Literally bodily secretions, both male and female. Could not get it off me for about 2 days. I had to hide in the house.

That's gross. Who'd want to smell like that? Really?? 🤷😕
Grim

Probably some fetishist weirdo bloke.

Wow, that ‘secretions’ sounds absolutely revolting 🤢 I think most of my loves are from ‘niche’ brands but I do have a couple of mainstream ones in there too. I’d like to try the zoologist range as I find the concept so intriguing but I’m sure there’s a couple of ‘dung’ notes in them too 😂 but would be very fun to try and I’ve read some are more wearable/less challenging than others.

Going to test valaya today even though I’ve already spritzed on Vyrao free 00 this morning (I loveeee but I can’t justify a full bottle right now :() as your description sounds lovely @IDontHateRainbows

😳 I'm sure we got a perfume from that brand in our Harrods calendar 🤢