Hey, look what the fairies did overnight. Bitch-slapped the blog around. Which makes this the perfect post for today.
A couple of years ago, when I really started down the niche path hard core, one of the first samples I got from Aedes was Serge’s Daim Blond.
When I dabbed it on, I remember thinking – really clearly – Wow, that’s really interesting… I don’t think I’m interesting enough to wear it. Never ordered a bottle or sniffed it again until recently, when someone requested that I get it. This time I spritzed it on and thought, hmmm, wasn’t that a lot stronger when I smelled it the first time?!?!
Does that mean that I’m just interesting enough to wear it now, or have the Carons, Knize 10, etc., etc., shaped my nose to think strong scents aren’t really strong at all?
Notes of iris, apricot kernel, cardamom, musk, heliotrope and hawthorn. It feels a little citrussy on the initial spritz, not very much, but I find it almost discordant, because back behind it is the musk and hawthorn and what feels like a very soft leather. I never smell the heliotrope at all, or if I do, it is blended well enough that I don’t think cherry even once, but there is something there where I can catch a fleeting glimpse of it.
This dries down to a very soft, buttery suede, like what a man or woman’s suede coat would smell like after they had been out in their most expensive, slightly sweet perfume.
I’m still just shocked at how different I smell this than I did a couple of years ago. Was I just stupid back then and uneducated (hush! you over there, no nodding your head and agreeing!) or does it take time to build up to appreciating the stronger fragrances, to the point where they don’t even feel all that strong, just pretty spectacular.
What scent did you originally think was too much for you that you have gone back and smelled again and found fits you?
WOW – this site is looking SO saucy! Love it and the writing as usual:x
This didn’t thread-was in response to Maria’s estrogen comments..
And for us woman immersed in the longest perimenopause ever? What a ride. Maybe that’s why perfume is such a…djedi…on me.
Love the makeover, but then, I loved the last incarnation, too. It’s the way you guys write that makes it fun here – you could be doing black font on plain white “paper” and it would still be fun.
Re: Daim Blond – if it didn’t smell like Bandaids on me, I might like it more. But I can’t get past the plastic bandage smell.
Ahhh…yon skank…how do I love thee???….now,at this age,and all of life’s ups and downs,that I have endured,..I LOVE WITH A PASSION!!….I once bypassed Mitsouko,Nahema,Bandit,all Balmains, Carons,etc.Now I use and abuse them all…even in jeans and a T-shirt,and have forgone Tova,Clean,those simplistic Graces,etc…I’m a WOMAN,with a full-blown lust for things that say…Hmmm,now THAT”S INTERESTING…the perfumes do not ever enter a room before me,but,as I waft past,I know,that my persona is known….I am never boring…I am woman. /:)…carry on O worldly sluts.
Love the new graphics! Lighthearted and HOT!
When I first tried Fracas — Whoa. Too intensely floral and aggressive. Now I adore it. The key is to dab sparingly. When I wear it, I feel 100% Woman.
Thanks, Iris!
I still have not come around to Fracas, but I’m going to try it again, along with Angel. I’m actually thinking of starting back in time to perfumes I used to wear, evaluating them again with a more educated nose and experience and see if they hold up.
the perfume i instantly thought of when i read my email blog was kenzo jungle elephant. now i loooove it; it’s one of my favorites in the world. you have to apply that one super-sparingly though. i don’t care if others like it or not; fragrances are more for me than ever. i think they used to be more to attract others (in my case.)i used to wear nino cerrutti then stopped because i was no longer taken with it–just pulled out the bottle the other day and it hadn’t turned so i put some on…talk about interesting!! i will have to revisit my highschool faves opium (iprefer opium for men now) and one i got as a gift back then, creation by ted lapidus. i have an old bottle of genny which turned unfortunately but i loved that one even though my boyfriend (at the time–lol) asked me not to wear it anymore. i’ve always loved skanky musky skin-accord-y, leathery stuff. it’s the florals i am learning to appreciate, and some of the aldehydics like chanels 19 and 22…wrap your nose around those! hate cristalle though and would rather wear jardins de bagatelle than coco any day, unless coco could be layered with something rougher then dried down for about 12 hours–lol!
Oh, March, sweetie — you’re not a Jennifer, are you? Do tell! Do you use March in real life or only as a nom de parfum?
Hah! Nope, although that is an excellent guess. No, I changed it legally at 21 to March, to the fury and disgust of my parents. Our three girls have lovely, old-fashioned but unusual names; I’m afraid we stuck our son (aka Buckethead) with a family name that’s absurd, but maybe he’ll grow into it.
Congratulations, ladies, on a beautifully functioning site! I like skinning, now that I know what the term refers to.
I haven’t rediscovering perfume long enough to say my nose has been educated. But I am a lot OLDER, and this has had a profound effect on my experience with scent in several ways:
1.) My estrogen has gone into permanent retirement and is wearing shorts and a flowered shirt on some golf course in Palm Beach. I believe hormones used to play tricks with perfume’s chemistry.
2.) My skin is drier. Oil holds fragrance; I guess, dry skin, not so much.
3.) I have learned the virtue of patience.
I have an illustration of patience. Last weekend I put on for the first time the full-strength extrait version of Bal a Versailles. I didn’t get even a hint of the…female…odor Patty and others have mentioned. No. What I got was straight “animal butt,” gender unspecified. Perhaps you’ve had experiences of quietly sitting, minding your own business, when a cat or dog suddenly shoved its butt in your face. That’s what it was like. In fact, the image I kept getting was based on my friend C’s story of humiliation: of turning over in her sleep and kissing her cat, only to find she had kissed her butt. I was nauseated, but I stayed with it. I have learned to do that from all you wonderful perfume instructors. Eventually the butt notes mellowed, and what wafted up instead was a reminder of CURED horse manure that has lain about in the sun for days and become mostly sweet. This calls up some pleasant childhood associations. Eventually what I was left with was an amazingly smooth and strong musky amber. Will I be willing to go through the animal butt accord to get to that payoff? Because of all of you, I probably will, but I’ll keep my arms at…well…arm’s length during the early phase. 😡
Maria — do you really think it is the estrogen heading south that helps? That makes some sense. Whatever it is, I’m glad that what I used to think smelled now doesn’t bother me. It could be just that teenage boys have helpe me revise my idea of what smells good. 🙂
Bal A — yup, that sounds about right. She definitely hangs around the pink parts of something or another for a while, but once you warm her up, she’s a beauty.
Yeah, girlfriend, estrogen is a key. My body used to react differently to perfumes depending on the time of the month. Now it’s steady as she goes. There HAVE to be some advantages to aging. 😉
Love the new look, even if it reminds me of Hot Topic!!!! Hee hee. SO CUTE. March – it looks just like you! Patty, can’t say from experience but based on reputation I think the picture’s not hot enough!
S — well, back in the day, I was that hot, but old age has caught up with me, so I’m living in the past. 🙂
I love Daim Blond, but wasn’t sure if I could wear it at first, either. About a year later, after my entire life turned inside out, I tried it again. Lo and behold, I could wear it, and wear it well.
There are others I’ve recently started wearing that I felt I couldn’t wear before. Mitsouko is one of them, Rochas Femme, Rumba…I’m glad I’m a creature of changing tastes, a total perfume whore.
Love the new look on the blog!
Gina, you are among friends in your perfume sluttydom here! 🙂
I definitely feel at home! Thanks, Patty! Read something about you in the Chicago Tribune. Very cool!
Love your Valentine Look!! Two scents that I could never stand….on me or on anyone else, I now love: Madame Rochas and Bal a Versailles. Our noses do evolve and mature…Inscense scents are new to me and very appealing….I never could have worn them even last year!
Patricia
I love Madame Rochas!! Everybody talks about Femme and neglects that one!
Patricia — Bal is pretty special, and it’s only recently that I appreciate it for the dirty little thing she is. 🙂
I LOVE YOUR NEW LOOK.
Today is my Birthday (!!!!74!!!!) so, it has been a beautiful gift.
This is an special B’day, since last year I went thru a lot of health worries and, in the end, everything was perfect.
Also, is the year all of you, lovely perfume bloggers, dragged me out of the Guerlain – Caron rut, know I am an SL, AT, PG addict too.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CONSUELO! Hope you are having a beautiful day & of course smelling wonderful! 🙂
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CONSUELITA!!!!!!!!! <:-p<:-p<:-p Isn't trying new things a great way to celebrate living? I turn 55 tomorrow. Don't worry about forgetting. I'm shameless about reminding everybody. 😉
Happy birthday, my sweet friend!!! I am so glad that your health worries are behind you. May you get your best birthday wishes today!
You sexy little she-devils! I love it.
Today I am on my third attempt at forcing myself to love Musc Ravageur. Third times a charm…
Mmarie — MR is worth the effort! I admire it a lot. That’s even my mom’s favorite!
I really do think it takes the nose time to adjust to really liking the heavier stronger perfumes, when I got back into loving perfumes a few years ago it (a few years before that I had wonderful relationship with perfume but I had let it pass) took me awhile to get my nose adjusted to what it previously was, where I could appreciate heavy orientals and chypres and decipher the delicate notes.
Jennifer, I think people may go the opposite way, too, but it must be more rare since skin that eats perfume has a hard time even having anything to smell from the lighter perfumes.
Wow – shocking new look! I’ll miss the Posse lingerie gals, but I love the ability to reply and the “posted by” pics. (Are you going to have one for Lee/o?) Also, I remember at some point that March had dyed her hair red – does this more accurately represent her current ‘do?
OH, yeah, babe — looks just like me, only my boobs are bigger. :)) Also my eyes take up less than half my face. And my horns are longer.
You’ll see my macho look tomorrow, Tigs.
Loving the redesign!
Daim Blond was one that I had to let settle in. I got a strange cherry-cough syrup thing before getting to the suede. Eventually the opening became less pronounced on me (I think I was also over-applying) and I loved it enough to get a bottle.
I’ve introduced a friend of mine whose usual perfume application technique is to spray her chest and consider the job done when she’s standing in a puddle of the stuff and applying this way DB was awful on her: just super-sweet apricot/iris. I guess it’s all in the application.
I can’t wait for the Etat Libre set to show up- I am so curious about the SM I can’t tell you.
I would have guessed the DB would have been a smash hit on you right out of the chute. Well, there you go!
Well, let’s say it took a minute. But it’s an enduring love.
BTW Patty, got the package. That SM is something else. Geesh. 😮
Wow! I’m in cyberspace shock. This looks so 22nd century meets Barbarella meets cyber vixens! 😮
I simply love Daim Blond. Love it! Do you hear me, P? It smells practically perfect in every way on me. I get the apricot and the suede and I just, well, love it!
I also love Ambre Sultan. I tested it when I first joined MUA, and was overwhelmed by it. Now, I just spritz it on all over. :d
But I wonder: To those around us who have not tested the fragrance and are not into it like we are, does the fragrance still smell the same as it did the first time we tested it and hated it? Do those around us still hate it even though we have come to love it?
Hugs!
Barbarella — whee! that’s perfect!
I adore Ambre Sultan, and I never thought I would!
Hey, March & Patty:
Oh, this thread-ability is SO cool! I miss the girlie pinkness of the previous, but then again you are officially adding Lee and Brian — so your posse is not so girlie!
I’m testing having a different nom de plume because frankly “Ellen” is so very, very dull. (Please forgive me, anyone else who may be named Ellen.) One year in junior high, I was one of FIVE Ellens in my gym class. (Did help that it was out of 50 girls, but still.)
Also, I wonder whether I could go back through your old entries & do a little glossary? I like reading the oldies & it would help anyone dropping in for the first time and wondering about, let’s say, MKK or FBW or FdB… Let me know what you think.
Ellen — believe me — Patty, Sarah and I all feel your pain. Back before my moniker was March, it was the most popular girl’s name in the U.S. for 1959 – 65 or thereabouts. When all the boys were named “John,” a name you pretty much never hear any more on anyone under the age of 40.
Uh, if you want to come up with a glossary, you’ve got the green light from me! We can stick it up along with Perfume 101 or do a separate link. FWIW I’ve hired someone to clean up the mess in the old posts, which is proceeding slowly, and we’re trying to fix the “search” feature. What I’d really like is an index of scent reviews, but that would take awhile.
Am in a rush but please please tell me what MKK is that you all are always initializing about? Sarah
Hey, Sarah:
That’s Muscs Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens. It’s definitely not for beginners but is sort of a touchstone in its skankitude & it is very long-lasting. I had to wash off this “eau de civet butt” after a couple of hours — just couldn’t take it any more. But March, the “skankstress,” often uses it as a superlative! ;>)
It’s Muscs Koublai Khan Sarah, a Serge Lutens perfume in the non-export line. Some people think it’s stinky; I think it’s quite pretty.
Sorry for butting in – as you were.
Oops. This comment was supposed to go HERE:
Oops, Lee. Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that “eau de civet butt†is a BAD thing! It is one of those “love it or hate it†kind of perfumes, I think, though. So far, I’m in the hate category, but, as we’ve noted above things do change so very much sometimes!
Damn, any minute now they’ll be asking me to work…
Oh, and hey, look at this — we have European dates now — so us USers have to remind ourselves it isn’t June! (As if I could forget that at a balmy 1 degree F!)
Oh, no … that Euro Date feature needs to go. I’ll never be able to figure it out. Plus if we go all Euro, next thing you know we’ll all be growing our armpit hair and eating ripe cheeses.:p
I live in hope, ladies, I live in hope…
Um, some of us already…. um, y’know, live in a cold climate and um…. need as much insulation as nature will give. (That’s how I explain my spare tire, too.)
*clap clap clap* Great design, ladies!! And love that you can skin it!
Thanks, Robin! First time I mentioned “skinning the site” to March, she rolled her cyber eyes at me. I’d love if the skinning would take the current comment threading and column layout with it, though. I much prefer the way it looks now, but to put the old design on it.
The skinnig is awesomely cool!
even if my spelig is not…
Oops, Lee. Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that “eau de civet butt” is a BAD thing! It is one of those “love it or hate it” kind of perfumes, I think, though. So far, I’m in the hate category, but, as we’ve noted above things do change so very much sometimes!
Damn, any minute now they’ll be asking me to work…
Ellen – no offence taken – my butting in comment was aimed at Patty and March as I take over their blog! It was anti-serendipity or something that butt appeared in your reply too!
Guess I’m going to have to pull out my sample of Daim Blond again. I didn’t dislike it, it just made no impression on me and was verrrrry subtle. You just shipped me a sample of Tabac Blond so I can see what all the hype is about:) Chergui got me interested in leather so now I have to keep searching it out!
Gail, you must have that perfume-eating skin then. Now, I do think my nose or the season has been affected because I remember DB a so much more virile the first time around, and it seems so soft now.
One good thing is that perfume lasts a little longer than normal on me. Daim Blonde is wonderful! It is in my top 10 for sure. I work in a medical clinic and I have found that scents that are not heavily floral or fruit-based are not as intrusive on perfume-sensitive individuals. Daim Blonde is one of those, when lightly applied, that can be comforting, like a big leather chair, with just a hint of sweetness (like honey).:)
Wow…Your blog looks great! I am still having a hard time w/ leather scents…but Daim Blonde is a good beginner. And I’m having a hard time w/ Montale Oud D’arabie, or whatever the oud/leather one is called. But I’ve developed a liking for MKK. Not SM, though…that stuff is evil.
Sybil, Daim Blond is just excellent for a beginning leather scent, though I think Cuir Amethyst is as well, the leather is softened by the violet, and it’s pretty terrific.
Oh, I hope you love the Tabac! It’s become my winter go-to scent. I swear, Poivre and Tabac — well, ALL the Carons could get me through the winter pretty cozily!
I love the new look, but I thought you’d been hacked at first glance! Wow!
I’d have to say that Bulgari Black repulsed me the first time I smelled it – eau de retreads. I tried it again, and I forced myself to suffer through to the next stage, and I like it now. I can’t say that I love it exactly, but I like having my decant. I still remain frightened by MKK though because I am afraid that people will just think that I forgot to shower. My tiny decant will probably be enough for me for a lifetime. I do love Daim Blond (and I agree with March – I call it that Damn Blonde), but it is actually subtle on me.
Well, we were hacked… sorta! 🙂
Bulgary Black is pretty repulsive, but in a good way! The drydown on it is worth smelling, but that open is a fright. I’m not sure I could wear it in spring/summer at all.
MKK, it is one of those that I would not go out of the house for minimum 30 minutes after putting it on, and it’s not a spritzer at all, just a dabber.
oh God MKK…. I have to endure weekly meetings on thursdays with some VERY tedious types. Last thursday I put MKK on as i thought it would cheer me up to watch their faces…damn meeting cancelled. Had to sit in a fug of MKK all morning feeling furtive. i wouldn’t have appreciated the artistry of MKK a year ago – now I think I do – just not sure how much I like it!
Furtive and MKK do belong in the same sentence, like PB and jelly. 🙂 Whenever I wear it, I have that creepy feeling that maybe my nose got used to the BO part of it and people are just clearing the hallways as I go breeze through, thinking I smell pretty great, and they are thinking… she spent the night with the hockey team.
WoooHoo! Such a cool new look! And when I went to post a comment there was a drop down menu thingy listing everyone’s comments – excellent. I’ll probably screww it up now….
Anyway – Tabac Blonde for me. Though it might also be down to not having smelt the extrait until recently (thanks FF/Patty). I also used to run and hide from frags with vanilla listed as a note – am much stronger now – hence TB and Bulgari Black.
Yeah. On Firefox/mozilla, you can just click Reply, but IE 6 and 7 require you to do the scroll-down list. It’s just a bug that isn’t fixable right now since it is a third-party plug-in, but I love threading! Makes conversations so much easier to follow.
TB, I think I definitely would NOT have appreciated that as much as I do now. With Caron, I’m always glad to do the urn/parfums, they are so much better than anything else. my biggest cry is always the disappearance of Parfum Sacre extrait from the world I need to harass Caron about why they have done that and if they will ever bring it back!
WHOA!!! is all I can say, ladies. WHOA!!! 😡
Hee hee! For our next design, I’m thinking something very coolly elegant, cream and black. After that, I’ve got an even better idea, but I won’t say it here. I love working with Lisa to do these changes.
P, we can’t do a coolly, elegant blog look — nobody’s believe it was us.
Well, we could too and just pretend some nice people took over the blog for a bit?
My God, the redesign looks great!
And I find that the more I know about perfumes, the greater I’m able to appreciate them.
Thanks, Christine! We are tickled too. Just ready for a nice change, it gets boring looking at the same old thing!
I think that is a true fact… even if I hate something a lot, I still can appreciate the effort behind it, unless it is most of the celeb scents, and then I just feel bad for the perfumer because I know the parameters they must have had to work with were horrible.
What article was I reading recently that said a lot of perfumers are doing this volunteer gigs just so they can flex their creative muscle. Maybe the Tom Ford interview in WWD, which, whether you like him or not, the guy is interesting and has a unique point of view. I know if I were stifled creatively, I’d give up some free time just to play around with fun stuff — Exhibit A, this blog. 🙂
Love the new design! SMN Peau d’Espagne, which I’ve been trying the past few days, I’d need to get used to. It is very strong.
Thanks, Helene! I don’t think I’ve tried that SMN. I found Nostalgia oddly comforting, which surprised me. Now I need to look that one up!
OK–I was using IE (I do have Firefox, but I want to see if this–my interp. of what you said–works for me [it’s not exactly a pull-down menu on mine–a sidebar, really; trying that]) .
Trying (I hope not completely unsuccessfully) to prove that I’m not a COMPLETE idiot, I’m trying to reply to myslef in Firefox. I am using IE 7, BTW, and there’s no pull-down menu.
Well, I can’t spell or write, but I can reply in Firefox:)
Ah, that worked. The one thing that isn’t working yet in Firefox is holding the log-in information, but hopefully that will be fixed soon!
I seem to have screwed up the threading, though!:( I thought I picked the right comment to reply to, but maybe not! Trying again, somewhat differently. . .
Judith — it works pretty well in my Mozilla Firefox, but is a bit glitched out elsewhere — keep trying and let P know, we’ll have the blog designer work on it along with whatever else we might not have discovered has blown up yet.;)
I do love the threaded comments! Sooooo coool! But I was off investigating the pinup artist, wondering if i could find something that looked sorta like me for DH on Val’s day. Did you get him to design your pictures according to specs?
Judith, in IE6, i have to do the pull-down menu in the comments screen and pick the comment to reply to. In Firefox, I can just click on the reply on the post itself, and it automatically picks. We are having Lisa check it.
Rion does do private work, yes. He was gracious enough to let us use some images that he already had, and we just adore his work, and he’s a really great person. Not sure what the design would run, but one day when I’m rich, I’d love to pay him to do one for me!
Whoa! Full throttle dose of attitude! Very sharp! 🙂
I had Judith’s experience w/ DB – was too sweet and light on me initially, but due to the hawthorne, I persisted and have come to love it. And, again, like her, it took me a little while to find MKK wearable, but it’s now one I don’t think I can ever live w/out. I have a limited attraction to musk scents, so I think that had something to do w/ it. It also took me a LONG time to put my foot in the white floral camp. Even then, I had “starter” white florals like Yosh’s White Flowers (which is actually mostly green, so like a placebo, it just gave me the illusion that I was accepting them, when, really, I was still just teetering on the brink). I think SIP’s Lady Day was the first full fledged white floral I really felt 100% olfactory love for.
The Hawthorn is pretty awesome in the drydown, and that’s definitely the hook for Daim blond for me. Hmm, I had to go the opposite way, from a White floral slut to learning to love the darker, more leathery things out there!
Hardcore stuff, gals, cool look.
Patty, you gave me the inspiration to try again some of the stuff I dismissed as “not me” and set aside, thanks.
I have also started keeping a fragrance diary, just noting the date and what I wear; am not sure what the purpose of it is at this stage, but may be some mathematical correlation formula will one day emerge from all the data which will reveal some groundbreaking evolution of my nose. May be not but it’s fun to do.
Yeah, that’s how I started mine, doing an Excel spreadsheet, and it really helped keep my thoughts organized on what I liked and didn’t like and to make sure I didn’t order the same samples three times. 🙂 But I think a lot of these differences are seasonal too.
Loooooove the new look (though it’s difficult to read posts about “SM” (the perfume) in this context.8-|
I had sorta the opposite experience with Daim Blond. The first time I tried it I could hardly smell it. Had to douse myself with it to get anything–and when I did, I thought it was too sweet. Tried it again later and found it lovely. I think my skin eats a lot of perfume, so I gravitate to stronger smells. Sometimes it takes me awhile to “get” the subtler ‘fumes. But I did have an experience more like yours with MKK: always found it interesting, but wasn’t sure at first whether I wanted to wear it; now, I’m addicted to it!! 😡
Don’t we look awesome? 🙂 I love redesigns.
I’ve figured that you and March and Marina have to be devouring stuff on your skin. and I find that so odd. I have super-dry skin, especially now, in the winter, and I’m wondering if maybe that’s why during winter, I’m fine with some of these much more strong perfumes, but if I put them on in summer, when my skin goes oily, they just don’t work. Well, if I were a smart person, I would investigate that scientifically, but I”m not, so I won’t.:)
But don’t you just love the threaded comments? I’t smy favorite part of the redesign, now people can have an actualy conversation inside of comments! Sorry, I’m easily made happy. Lisa, who does our designing, is so much fun to work with and always manages to give us something better than we had in our heads.
Oh, I love these threaded comments!!!
Patty, when I tried on Daim Blond (which I love saying, because it sounds approximately like Damn Blond) I got — are you ready — blond suede. Light, creamy suede. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else, nada. Sometimes that is perfect, and sometimes it is boring.
I have really dry skin, which I slather with olive oil, which does seem to affect the retention (longer).
These Etats? Have a half-life of plutonium. Still going strong 24 hrs later…
yeah, it’s not real developy after the initial drydown, but I quite like it a lot, especially for an evening out if I just want to feel all grown-up, but not overly buxom.
Sad, but true: all I get from the Damn Blond(e) is RUBBER: it very quickly goes the way Tub. Crim. starts out on most people, and stays that way. I can take rubber in small doses (Bulg. Black, DK Black Cashmere) but *this* is just too much!
Oh! Speaking of SM, both my SO and son agreed to try just a drop on a finger. My So quietly left the room, and returned 20 minutes later with a bloody scrubbed finger doused in Hemp body lotion-and claimed that he still stank after 11 hours. My son ran screaming from the room and is still not speaking to me.
Heh. :)) Hahahahahaha! Sorry, but it does seem to have an unusual half-life. Does make one wonder what they put in it?
OMG! I thought I was on the wrong page and kept double checking. It looks so edgy – congrats! I love Daim Blond. A beautiful scent that envelops you. I never thought it was too strong, not in the way Coco is. I still have a hard time with that one. It’s the one that got away (along with Shalimar, but for a different reason). I hope in a couple of years to be able to smell it and say, “Oh man, I was so boring two years ago. I can’t believe I didn’t like this”. The first time I smelled Paloma Picasso it was sort of like that, and then I started liking it a lot and then, I got ahold of a pure parfum and that was it – love!
Hee hee!! We’ve been working on this for a while. We were just weary of all pink, even though we love the all pink too!
I don’t remember liking Coco until recently. I’m seriously hoping it isn’t old age making me lose my smell so I’m now dowsing myself in perfume and fuming everyone out around me! :)) Well, who are we kidding, I know I do that already, I just choose to ignore that fact.
Anyway, now I adore Coco, but more in the EDP and parfum than I ever even mildly liked it in the EDT, but I’m guessing you’ve tried the other strengths. There’s a lot of perfumes that have been saved for me by going to the EDP or parfum, and then I see what the fuss is about. I need to try Shalimar parfum one of these days, but I don’t think anything will save that on my skin.
Patty, I find that amazing that you’re building up tolerance to stronger smells. My first “signature scent” in young adulthood was Youth-Dew (1st perfume a guy ever gave me). Then I did the other ELs for a while (Azuree, Cinnabar), then Coco for quite a few years. Recently smelled Coco for the first time in over a decade and it is SO strong. I don’t think it’s just that I quit smoking either, because most other things don’t smell very different. Human neurology is just amazing!
Ellen, I love the old Estees. I wore Cinnabar for quite a while and just adored it. Loved Youth Dew and the Youth Dew Amber Nude too. The raft of stuff they have done lately, like all the Pleasures and Beautiful and LoveMeBEautiful and InnocentAngelBeautiful just have worn me out.
Love or Hate Tom Ford, he gave them a shot in the arm with YDAN and AZuree and Black Orchid.
Tom Ford really made things interesting with both of those, but neither are faves of mine. YDAN I can totally wear, but Black Orquid is did not do well with my skin or something, no can do. Maybe I’ll learn to love it right around the same time I start loving Coco. BTW, I’m really only replying because this feature is really fun and everyone else was doing it. \:d/
I spelled orchid in portuguese (or half portuguese, sorry.).
Hey, and look! We have threaded comments! So if you click on reply by the person’s comment, it will show up right below their name, makes everything easier to follow!
I don’t get any boozy/fruity from DB at all, which would have been the kiss of death if I had. WEird.
I remember when I smelled Chanel No 5 for the first time and though that no waaaay I will wear that super-strong perfume never ever… now I am 30 and find it so beautiful and even *delicate*. I think there is a before/after moment in my “perfume” life since I had *that* brief encounter with Mr. MMK. Nothing feels the same anymore :d
I do remember smelling no. 5 years ago, thinking it was way too perfumey. But now I do react very differently and appreciate what it is and love wearing it. Have you tried the parfum? Oh, amazing.
Oh no! Sweet Tagine and cherry pipe on me. Yum.
Wow, you girls are sooooo hot! Who wears the spikes?…as if I couldn’t guess. No scent was ever too strong, or odd, or just too, too at first. Well, nothing. I started on Opium at age 9 (stolen from my sister) and have loved all strength and twisted (‘cept SM!)since (Arabie is now a favorite). But Oh! Bois des Iles seemed too faint, too old on me til the red-haired blogger slapped me to my senses (“oh my god, that’s wonderful on you”)-now it’s on my top 3 list. Thanks, and congrats on the makeover.
We both wear spikes! 🙂 Arabie, wow, you are a brave girl. I just smelled that for the first time recently and whoa!!! Meat stew! 🙂
I smell like a luscious ambery fruitcake in Arabie–no meat at all. In fact it’s a great comfort scent. 🙂
It’ll be fun if this response really threads. Great new site look!
Meaty ambery fruitcake. Gak, one of the few Serges that I am hard pressed to find anything to love in there.
Maria-we are scent twins…see my comment misplaced below (this threading thing isn’t quite working yet)
Oh, and yeah, I just wrote a looong blog post detailing my development as a perfume junkie, going from the sweet and gourmandy and shying away from resins and the dreaded vetiver, to a vetiver-resin-and-skank-junkie so I know exactly what you’re talking about. 😉
The other day I rediscovered Bandit. When I first smelled it I thought it was sour, musty, stale and sharp like generic old ladies perfume, but I kept a sample. The other day I felt like retrying it and found I loved it. It IS sharp and sour and musty, yes, especially from the bottle, but it has a lovely development from green, spicy florals to the unexpected frivolous softness of rose, with a certain cool, metallic harshness in the basenotes shaping it up. I didn’t think it was a strong or heavy fragrance. Heck, I hardly think that of anything anymore… Maybe Profumum’s Fumidus which smells like burning tires with extra vetiver… 😉
I also fell in love with the Tabac Blond extrait I got with my FF order, and I knew I would have hated it if I smelled it a few months ago. I would have wrote it off as that same sour/sharp/musty/stale old lady as Bandit. Now, it was MKK meets metal heaven….
I love Bandit – have done from the first sniff but I think I needed to grow into it before wearing it if that makes any sense? I mean its not a jeans and t shirt scent now is it?!
And I love these threads!
Wow, look at that! I was shocked to come her, from all pink to all gothy all of a sudden! But.. who’s posting? It doesn’t say March or Patty anymore…
If it’s Patty – I got the Etat Libre sample set, prompt as always, and Secretions Magnifiques is really by far the most disgusting scent I ever smelled! It doesn’t smell exactly like, well, THAT (it’s pretty close when it’s faded and faint though, like when you’ve tried to scrub it) but it gives me a visceral reaction, makes me retch and gag and shudder. It’s just me, not my sister or girlfriend, and I think it has to do with the fact it so very cool and metallic and stale. I always preferred warm perfumes (warm skanky, like musk, ambergris, civer, leather, cumin is just fine) while mint, cucumber, melon makes me nauseous. But nothing like this, oh no!
Another thing, I didn’t think of it when I ordered the sample set, but how come Vierges et Toreros and Don’t get me wrong baby aren’t included? I’m not critical, just curious, I guess I just assumed it was the whole bunch.
We have to tweak how it is displaying in IE 6, but in Firefox and ie7, there are little posted by icons that you should see, we’ll get it fixed!
So our noses do develop? I mean, I think they do. I’m glad I haven’t tried Bandit or Boudour up to this point, I don’t think I would have appreciated them at all!
Blog makeover or what! You’ve gone from playing the virgin to playing the field in one day. Friday is to blame, I don’t doubt! Good work.
I wore Daim Blond yesterday – the first time in months where it smelled suedy rather than fruity. I was relieved. To answer your question, it’s probably scents with tobacco notes that I just couldn’t get at all when I first sniffed them – stuff especially like Vintage Tabarome… I’m not sure it’s me just yet; I probably need to get a little more Churchillian (and less chinchillian) in my demeanour.
Let me try that again. YOu have to pick the comment you are replying to, and then it will thread
Cool!\:d/