Angela at Now Smell This did a great post recently about the stages of fragrance obsession. I think I´m firmly in Stage Four – connoisseurship – although I admit using that word about myself makes me giggle.
There was a period of time not so long ago when I sucked down new sample vials like they were dough-wrapped cocktail weenies – with total abandon and a remarkable lack of shame. I remember hearing strange tales of people with samples in their possession that they – get this – had not gotten around to smelling yet! I could understand those words in English, and yet they did not compute.
I now have a big silver bowl that has mostly unsniffed samples in it. I´m not in any hurry. They´ll be there when I want them. Some of them I´m toying with (do I love that Bruno Acampora musc oil, or do I hate it? I can´t decide.) Some of them got tasted once (PG Haramens, yikes!) and thrown back in the bowl on the chance I was having an off day. The less said about that thing, the better.
Which brings me to my next item. I feel like I need to issue a blanket apology to anyone whose Holy Grail I´ve dissed recently. It goes without saying, but I´m saying it anyway: it´s just my opinion, and this is supposed to be fun, and who cares what I think? I´m the woman who likes Light Blue, remember? You see my point here. If I make some snarky comment about your scent love, bask in the knowledge that I´m an idiot, and/or I´ll probably be blogging in six months about how I´ve changed my mind.
Reaching Stage Four of my fragrance addiction has been a relief. Among other things, it´s allowed me to do previously unheard of things like wearing a single scent for an entire day just to enjoy it and see what happens. I know, I know – strange, but true! Have no fear; I feel no boredom or ennui creeping in. But right now I´m less interested in seeking out the brand-new thing that landed on the shelves (looking at you, Tom Ford Voile de Fleur!) Instead, you can expect some blogging on things that might have been around a bit longer, and/or some crow-eating revisits to fragrances I tried and dismissed previously. Also, in case the suspense is killing you – why, yes, I am still wearing Courtesan regularly and loving it, thanks for asking! Now that it´s fall, it´s been rejoined by Theorema and Chaos, with others not far behind.
So …. Patty’s still in Paris, haven’t heard a peep from her. I hope she’s got a baguette in one hand and a Caron flacon in the other. I feel like doing something a little different, a little weird; will you play with me?
Let´s call this game The Circle of Stuff. It goes like this: listed below are several bottles of fragrance I want to unload. Some are duplicates I wound up with; others I just don´t need. Some I paid full retail; some I bought at discount or got through swaps, or even as gifts (hopefully not from someone reading today’s post). Now, per Angela’s post, I am editing my collection.
Comment below and tell me which bottle you want — one request per person, please. I’ll choose one person for each bottle, get your address, and send it to you with my return address. After you get it, you can pick something (a surprise) and send it to me. What would I like? Well… hmmmm … how about … another bottle of perfume, one you don´t want/need/like? Or, chocolate! Tea! Tea-flavored chocolate! Preserves! CDs of interesting music you think I might like (used is fine, hey, the perfume’s used), another apron, soaps, lotions, costume jewelry, candles, etc. Then I’ll blog on whatever I get in return (“Wow, my first shrunken head! Where will I put it?”). Fine print: if the USPS loses your bottle (a risk with all swaps which has happened to me once), then you get … well, nothing, right? But then you don’t have to send me anything either, do you? In fact, I can’t make you send me anything even if you get the bottle. I’m working on trust, humor and caffeine here.
This will be interesting. I wonder if there will be bottles nobody even wants? Maybe nobody will want any of these and I´ll feel shame?!?! Or maybe not, I´m not on close terms with shame. Clearly. Anyway, in an upcoming post I’ll announce who I picked. I´ll email you for your address. I´ll throw in some extra stuff in each box, too. I can´t wait to see what I wind up with!
Here´s the list, with additional info as appropriate:
Diptyque Eau d´Elide EDT, 50 ml, box, mostly full
Straw Hat (new, not vintage) EDT, 50 ml
Floris Malmaison no cap, EDT, 100 ml, almost full
Estee Lauder Pleasures Delight almost full, 25 – 30? ml (unmarked)
L´Artisan Fleur de Carotte 15ml? (unlabeled) L´Artisan glass atomizer, mostly full
Le Prince Jardinier – L´Eau du Prince Jardinier 100ml, 80% full, box
Gap Spun Orange Blossom EDT, 50ml, almost full, box, don’t laugh, this d/c’d scent has its hardcore fans!
S-Perfume 100% Love {More} (not regular), 40 – 50ml? (unlabeled), almost full
image: Kermit the Frog sniffs the cap of a bottle of Vin de Idaho; www.wineintro.com
I would love to try L’Artisan’s Fleur de Carotte…the others, I have no idea what they smell like:)
March, you’ve inspired me to donate some of my scents to the less fortunate. I normally give it to my three sisters and mom, but they have such large collections that one less won’t make a difference. Off I go the sort the goods and drop them off to a local drop-in family center…mainly new moms with their little seedlings.
hi! if it’s not too late, put me in for the malmaison — not sure what i’d send in return, but i love this idea too much not to comment! bravo.
I have scrolled through the comments, but quickly…so I don’t kow if anyone has dibs on it yet, but I would love the bottle of 100% Love(more). I first tried that because of your reivew and found I really enjoy it…
I think this is a great idea, though it must
be costing you a fortune in postage. I would
like, in order of precedence, the Malmaison,
Elide, or Jardiner, but really I’ll take
anything:) I promise to try it out really
well.
I didn’t know about giving away perfume to
women’s shelters. I could make up a package.
I’m new at this posting stuff but devour every one of your new blogs. I’ve been a perfume addict for many, many, many years ever since discovering Carven Ma Griffe in 1970 and discovering I never want to smell like everyone else around me (remember people who wore Giorgio to the office?). That is what makes this blog such a wonderful new place to visit for me. If it is not too late, put me in for L’Artisan Fleur de Carotte. And I love sending goodie boxes.
Thankfully, I have also reached “Stage 4”. Still love trying new things, but don’t feel the need to try everything in sight. I sure hope you will write about the neat stuff you find in your mailbox! I am still giggling over the image of you pulling shrunken heads out of a package ; )
What a fun idea! But how can you not want your Malmaison?! Please put my name in for that. But I must put a warning: I’m currently in Singapore until Christmas so if picked, I wouldn’t be able to return the favor until Christmas. I am quickly reaching the stage where I have acquired so much perfume and samples that I feel like an alcoholic, except it’s perfume. I can’t stop! When do I reach the stage where I am embarrassed by my buying excess and refine my choices to three or four that are “me”? At the moment, I don’t see that day coming!
I’ll put in a request for the Gap Spun Orange Blossom… I don’t think anyone else has yet. My first perfume love, MANY years ago, was a tangerine blossom scent, and I’d kill to find some now…. discontinued for decades and I don’t recall the name, but it was so wonderful. I’ve definitely got some neat stuff sitting around that I can trade you for it. It’s a fun idea–and yes, those stages are also fun. I think there are so many memories to be recorded around perfume–family members and their unique scents and histories. Over the years you can generate a kind of perfume autobiography, and it’s strange to remember the phases you had that you just could never go back to but still remember fondly. (For me, one of them was Patou’s “Sublime”, for example.) I also love the suggestion to give samples and bottles you no longer love away to a local women’s shelter–I’m going to do that.
Dear March,
Lovely idea of yours….though I am not inclined to any new ones at this moment. I certainly haven’t reached stage 4 but I think I am in hiatus….too much real life interfering to obsess as much as normal.
I like the idea of a home for orphan samples too but probably too much work involved. Unfortunately the collection of samples that you don’t like build up unlike the ones youy love which disappear far too quickly.:((
I would feel like I had died and gone to heaven if I had a bunch of samples lying around to try! I am fairly new and novice to niche perfumery, but I am having a ball finding out what I love and hate. I hate gourmand sweet fluffy stuff. I was just sitting here trying to imagine what I would send to you….definitly requires thought and more thought! The 100% Love sounds like it’s beautiful, so that is what I would love to try.
March,
Super, super idea, and what fun! Please put me in for the
S-Perfume 100% Love.
Thanks,
CindyN
What a fun idea! Sign me up for the Straw hat. 🙂
I somehow jumped from stage 2 to 4 in terms of connoisseurship. I went from trying the classics to wanting buy bottles of my favorites, so does that make me a 3.5? This is a great way to “pass the love”. I have a sample of montaigne from my caron phase that I wouldn’t mind giving a new home.
Gosh, the Prince Jardinier sounds just like something I might like! I’m a sucker for balsam. I may be too late, but I’ll throw my hat in the ring anyway.
I have definitely slowed down on my sample acquisitions lately – perhaps I’m approaching stage 4? I totally caved on a bottle of Cadjmere recently, but I’ve really bought very little this year, considering how much sniffing I’ve done. And I have some amazing samples that I’ve barely touched, which is embarrassing. Glad to know I’m not alone :”>
Ooooh – what a splendid idea! I’d love to play along, so would you please put my name in the hat for the Diptyque?
I’m a part of a ’round robin’ for CDs with a group of friends. Each time we buy something new, we burn a copy and pass it along. I’ve discovered some wonderful new music this way.
Maybe you could consider a forum for others to give away their orphan fragrances? No swap required, only a love gift (to use a very old term for a gift given in return) back from the recipient, if they are so inclined.
I am interested in Fleur de Carotte 🙂
Donna
Getting to this post a little late, I imagine all are spoken for. I’d gladly take the L’artisan off your hands, though. Actually, just for shits and giggles, I’d take any of them off of your hands. That’s the kind of addict I am.
Hi there, March!
I would love the Malmaison, as I have been in a carnationy kind of mood lately.
I have a whole “mystery drawer” filled with bottles that I haven’t touched in a while. Each one is hankering after a better home than mine! 😉
Ah, the mystery drawer! Well, I guess this is how I’m moving mine along (I already gave a few things away to people I know would like them.)
Jeez. I have so many untried samples I have to keep them indexed on my computer or I can’t even keep track of them. It is very sad.
Hey, nobody has asked for Pleasures Delight! What a niche crowd we all are.
Heh heh!! You noticed the Pleasures! And I bet you have (or had) the same bottle … maybe it’s the name that’s putting folks off?:-? If she called it Barnyard it’d be gone in a flash.
Had it, passed it on. And not my sort of scent, but thought it was very well done. Most EL stuff seems very well done, more so than the competition.
oops – reply to March that went astray!
No. 5? Really? If you haven’t tried the perfume strength, just send me your address and a sample will come your way! Maybe a convert to No. 5 yet?
And thank goodness for the Posse Parents. I have heeded the dire warnings of the dangers of unsniffed purchase (is that the inverse or reverse of sniffing?) and saved my credit card for the Perfumed Court, where it is getting the recommended weekly amount of preventive exercise.
The unsniffed!!! Where was that post … on Now Smell This, probably. A survey on how those went for people. Mine are almost a guaranteed disaster, so glad I’m averting yours. TPC is an excellent place to waste your money!
Thanks for the parfum offer, I’m expecting a samp of 5 to show up one of these days from someone else who felt I needed a sniff!@};-
I would choose S Perfume 100% Love. Thanks in advance (ohh, should I be the one..)
Alica, you are in the drawing!
congratulation to your level of “connaisseur-ship”and thank you for the link to nowSmellThis. So funny. Both of you.
Andy, always a pleasure to see you over here. I hope to meet you someday.
Ooohh what fun!
I’d love to get that bottle of Diptique! Pretty please!
you’re in for the Diptyque!
March, I’m so happy you liked my post! I love your Circle of Stuff idea and can’t wait to read about what comes in the mail.
Well, thanks again for your enjoyable post.
March-
Great idea! I guess I have reached stage 4 as well. There aren’t a lot of automatic lemmings anymore and I am actually satisfied that I might have enough perfumes.
Maybe.. :d
It feels nice not to be so frantic, you know? Not that I don’t have, like, two or three samples of stuff on the way right now.:”> I can’t wait to hear what you think of Cumming!
Well, y’all will be finding out next week if it arrives soon- I am hoping for today..
What a great idea -please put me in for the S-perfume 100% Love! I wish I knew what to do with my samples – I keep ordering, but so many I don’t like on me – know I wont ever wear them, so what to do? Cannot throw away, but I have no friends with the same obsession. Maybe the perfumed court needs a recycling program? A home for orphaned 1 ml scent samples.
Yours is an utterly fabulous idea. A lending library of fragrance. I have a small collection of Guerlain parfums that I would love to send someone–just so that they are better loved than with me. And then there’s the host of other “collections” as well. I’ve thought about swapping, but it’s so much effort to wade between what I want and what others want. Too much. Rather just send.
I know how you feel. I just end up throwing handfuls of stuff into packages I’m sending out, like candy. I’m too lazy (frankly) to swap on MUA. The shelter does sound like a good idea.
Try a homeless or woman’s shelter – seriously, a friend of mine gives all her samples and products she doesn’t want to a shelter and she says they are delighted to get them. I have a shopping bag I’m filling up for the same place.
Alternatively, a library where you have to put in samples first and get credits you can use for other samples. I came across something like for books but haven’t tried it yet.
Oh, I also meant to say, I am so pathetic that I put on perfume this morning specifically thinking that it was light enough that it would fade. I’m expecting something later today that I want to put on in its’ place. It’s a sickness I tell ya!
Gail
I never put on perfume until after the mail is delivered…
=))
OMG. Laughing at that — I am sitting here waiting for the mail to get here, I am expecting something, cross — thinking, I’m going to put on another fragrance, I’m tired of waiting — and look at you two!
Oh honey, I know just what I want to send you! Hmmm, maybe I should anyway since you’ve been so generous already to me. But in any case, I would love love love a shot at the Diptyque. It’s been on my wishlist for a while!
And I have sooooo many samples I haven’t sniffed yet! Periodically, I go through the drawers looking for something in particular and come across much-desired samples that I didn’t even remember receiving! I really need to reach the connoisseur stage :”>
Hah! It’s always nice when other people step forward and admit they’re sitting on a pile of unsniffed samples, too!
Hi March,
Yeah, ‘connoiseur’ makes me laugh, too. I had a SA at Barney’s asking what fragrance I wore, and I informed her, “I wear many things – I’m a bit of a whore when it comes to perfume.” She was horrified and promptly corrected me, “No, no, no! We use the term connoiseur!” Insert snide pun about a rose by any other name at this point 😉
Right now, I have a giant bowl of untouched goodies, and a big bag from the Sniffa, too. (Never even realized I had a samp of Spiritueuse Double Vanille in there, bless her boozy vanilla heart!) I’ve been wearing my beloved AM Kingdom for a week now, can you imagine? Not at all bored with my perfume obsession, just in a mood to savor these days, I suppose.
I’d love to throw my name in for the Malmaison – was hugely carnation-obsessed this summer. Scratching my head and thinking of fun treasures to send from Seattle!
That Double Vanille has garnered some raves, hasn’t it? I can’t think of the last Guerlain everyone liked so much. It is a wonderful scent.
I am giggling at the SA at Barneys — you tell ’em!
What a fun (and generous) idea! I’d love to give Straw Hat a try.
It’s a fun, vintage-y scent, I hope you like it.
This sounds like such fun! I hope you report back on what you get.I would love to try the Prince Jardinier, the notes sound right up my alley.
I am glad this is turning into such a success! I did have second thoughts involving nobody wanting anything, but decided I could live with the pain.;) Turns out I have nothing to worry about.
What a fun idea, March! I certainly don’t need another bottle of anything, but I’ll look forward to hearing your adventures!
I too loved Angela’s post about the stages of fragrance admiration. I am sadly stuck in the third, I think, since I’m still purchasing new scents at an alarming rate. Altho I may be moving *very slowly* to stage four–I am, after all, turning down a chance at Carotte (since I love ISM, I’m convinced I would love FdC, too) b/c I know I don’t need a bottle. AND I have actually installed shelves for decants, since I’m as into them as I am bottles these days–seem more practical, given my fickleness. There might be hope for me yet. :”>
I never take it personally when anyone disses one of my loves, since I certainly don’t like everyone else’s loves, either. For example, I actually *enjoy* Haramens after the admittedly horrid opening. The wonders of skin chemistry!
I never get past that opening in Haramens. It’s all opening on me. Barnyard door opening… musty drawer opening…;) OTOH I have friends stop by, pick up my CB Musk, sniff it, drop it like a hot potato and say, you don’t actually WEAR that?!?!?
Uh … yup.:”>
I have (by frag freak standards) remarkably few bottles. I want to smell loads of stuff — I have a ton of samps and decants — but then 95% of those things I never wear. Unless there is absolutely no other way to get ahold of something, I almost never buy bottles any more.
Definitely a fun idea. I’d like to throw my hat in for Malmaison. And I’ve already got some idea of what I’d send back.
Your hat is in the ring … I got more interest than I expected, to be honest.:”>
What a terrific idea! Please enter my name on the Floris. I already know part of what I would send back! Because I’m a giant geek.
You’re in too!
Whet Fun!! Please enter me in for 100% More Love and I promise to send you something FABULOUS from Florida!!!
You’re in!
Terrific idea. L’Arisan Carot please.
Thank you,
Bugs Bunny
Bugs, it’s a little light this time of year for me, but a great summer scent.
Seeing as a fairy godfather sent me way too much stuff (generous kind soul that he is), you’re sending me something and I have three other bottles winging their way to me, one way or another, I think any claim to stage four would be entirely unwarranted. I’m trying though, really I am.
Lee, your restraint is admirable.\:d/
Lee, ya say you’re really trying to escape that level 3? Hehe, hoho, hon =))
Laugh at my post of tomorrow all you want hon. And those things I’m getting – they’ve been on my wishlist for over a year…
So there!
My mockers are vanquished by the power of my rhetoric. It was the ‘so there’ that did it. I even had a ‘whatever’ follow-up prepared…:d
What a wonderful idea! I don’t think I need anything right now, but I will be curious to hear how it turns out (if I were to pick, it would be Malmaison–but I have decants of that so I don’t really need a bottle). I know what you mean about the BA Musc; I decided I really like it, but I still have moments when I wonder. And I am glad that L.FINALLY saw the light about Querelle!
You’re the reason I keep trying the BA musc — because I know you like it!8-} Some days I put it on and after it settles down, it’s lovely. Other days: sk-rubber.
Oh, this is so cool! I have been swapping on MUA for a couple of months now and I’m having so much fun. I have loads of vintage costume jewelry, scarves, stuff in general that I would love to create a package with.
Please put my name in for the Le Prince Jardinier. I am still very much in the *I’ll try anything* stage….and your opinion of Obsession (along with everyone else’s) will not change it’s status as a winter love affair for me. 🙂
Babe, if I’m allowed to love Light Blue and Hilary Duff (and Versace Crystal Noir) you’re allowed to continue your obsession with Obsession.
OK, I think I NEED to try that Haramens 🙂 When you decide that you are not in fact just having an off day with it, forward it to me, and I’ll send you back something equally awful :d
I shudder to think.:-ss Remember those Nez a Nez things? Gak. You probably have something even worse up your sleeve…
I still have those puppies laying around somewhere- I don’t know anyone that I’ve ever been annoyed with enough to send them to.
Fun. Please put me in the hat for Eau d’Elide – it’s my favorite Diptyque (4.5/5 on the Sariah scale). It will be so fun to see what you get in return. I must be getting around to Stage 4 too, I recently gave away 2 bottles. The packrat in me is learning to let go.
Wow, you like Elide that much!? It’s very, very strong on me. I like it but end up feeling like it’s wearing me./:)
Hey, are you coming into town for the sniffa on Saturday morning?
Yep, see you Saturday! Funny, it’s not that strong on me, the only reason I didn’t rate it a 5/5 was it was very faint in less than 4 hours.
Fun, fun fun! March, you love Chaos, the perfume I mean, so you must be an amazing person! The points you score with that one, well you can love Light Blue and diss pretty much everything else. BTW I liked Haramens, hope I never find the boiled in milk dirty womens panties that I think were mentioned.
I would like to try L’Artisan Fleur de Carotte. The bottle is smaller than the one I would be parting with so I can convince myself that this trade is a good thing! :)>-
Haramens. Shudder. Clearly it’s a love it/hate it!
Brilliant idea! Don’t actually want any new bottles at the moment, but can’t wait to read your posts about what you get. I also look forward to any crow-eating posts, since I am notorious for changing my mind on scents. I am *not* to be trusted when I diss a scent because in a year or two I may well be declaring it my ultimate HG (I have an awkward number of “ultimate HGs”). My latest turn around is w/ my previously loathed geranium. I’ve not converted into a full fledged geranium sl*t yet, but I did just order MH Geranium Bourbon from BH. Also fell *hard* for Querelle, which I’d previously only been neutral about. However, I do share your opinion of Haramens and I must confess I feel the same about 100% Love. I think Dante could have skipped the excrement in the 2nd trench of the 8th circle and just had scents like these. Oh, and I do not see myself doing an about face on these scents. There are some where the revulsion is just too extreme. OK…maybe I shouldn’t say that about 100% Love. That could be my skin chemistry and I swear I think it changes (how could I *ever* have not seen the astounding magic in Querelle?!). We’ll see.
You’re like my trend predictor anyway, so six months from now I’ll probably be blogging on geranium. I do think Querelle is fabulous as well, wasn’t expecting to like it so much. Everyone says it’s weird, but not so! I found it quite wearable … maybe we’re weird?
100% Love (both kinds) I loved and then … didn’t. Don’t know why.
I love this idea. It seems like so much fun and surprises are always great. I’m not familiar with any of these scents, so if there’s one that’s unloved or unclaimed, send it on to me. I’m always a sucker for that last picked at dodgeball/sad eyed pound puppy situation. I don’t really have anything to swap, but I love the challenge of putting together a fun kind of grab bag gift box. My mind is already racing…
Matt, you’re on! Sometimes the runt turns out to be the best one.
March – a very nice idea. I myself feel totally overwhelmed by samples (and decants, and a few bottles – more than I should have!), and yet somehow I have more coming the in the mail today. My problem is, I want to KNOW what these things smell like, and then when I know, I’m often done with them. I’m so glad to say that I don’t have an interest in anything on your list!! I recently waited a very long time for Barbara Bui in a swap and was totally disappointed, so I need to be calm. Though, if you want to get rid of any PG’s, send ’em my way!…Cadjmere is my new favorite thing.
I had an interesting chat with Robin at NST recently when she did a post on Cadjmere. I have raved over some of the PGs but realized I hadn’t bought a decant of a single one. I think some are great but then have no corresponding desire to wear one once the vial is gone… weird.:-? And yeah, I just can’t deal with the bottles, I’m sort of a sample queen anyway. Sorry about the BBui!
Wow, what a generous idea! I’d love to try the Gap Spun Orange Blossom. I’m having fun thinking of what I’d send in return.
Shrunken head? No Pokemon stuff, thanks, we have enough.:-w
Moi-a lot of stage three, with some progress toward 4. Are organizing and retrying samples and trying to find homes for sadly unwanted bottles signs of lessening obsession? However I am still ravenous for new sensations, so the progress may be minimal.
Are these stages more like Maslow’s heirarchy, in which once a lower need (such as physiological demands) is met, there’s no need to revisit this step, before moving to a higher level (say, safety)? And what, actually, is perfume self-actualization? Or this more like the stages of grief (but in a happy way:> ) in which the stages are fluid, with anger popping up in the midst of acceptance. And where does my tedious over-analysis fit in?
All kidding aside, I’d love the Floris if it came to me; chocolate will come to you regardless.
Yeah, I was thinking more along the stages of grief, and then that whole mental track spooked me, so I stopped! Great minds thinking alike…
Well, just yesterday evening I mentioned Fleur de Carotte to my DH. I can’t remember why. I think he thought there were no salad-vegetable-based fragrances. If not, then Eau d’Elide. Or neither. I’m going to send you something anyway, as soon as I dig out from the school year. That means it will happen after Christmas.
I don’t think you were having an off day with Haramens. :-&
The carotte is really nice. For veggies, I also really like cucumber-based sprays. Even that cheapo one from Caswell-Massey is nice.
And En Passant has that great cucumber note … that Haramens was so nasty. Like MH Rien, sort of. Your basic barnyard, and not in a good way.;)
What a great idea! I wouldn’t mind trying the Fleur de Carotte! I have many things I could(should?) part with, and I am also one of those crazy people with many unsniffed samples sitting around!
Almost forgot-I just dissed Iris Silver Mist so I owe YOU an apology! If we all liked the same perfume the world would be a very dull place! :d
Rita, I got busy and organized my samps (more about that on another day) because not being able to find things was making me crazy. Then I decided I really need to let those bottles go … I can just put them away in a box, of course. Many people do that, and then you’re not longing for something again later. But I’d rather they went to good homes where they were wanted.8-}
PS Hey, can I tell you? Reorganizing my samp drawers, the one with a 1ml vial of ISM (in a sealed baggie!) was by far the dominant scent in the drawer! In most of them, the smell’s a lovely combo of everything in there. ISM and Mitsouko eat everything.
March,
Thanks for the potency warning on ISM – am expecting my decant today and will get the plastic bag ready. Maurice Roucel is a genius. The cats come running when I open my sample closet – must be all the civet!!:-?
You’re welcome! ISM is a wonder, I hope you are pleased.
I cannot imagine just leaving samples to sit. I tell myself that I will put on one a day–and yet six end up on my arms within a half-hour. I am by no means near to stage 4.
I’m starting to obsess with wearing and trying rose perfumes. OJ Ti’af turned my head around, then George Sand. I never liked rose before. Please place me in the drawing for the S-Perfume “Love,” for I’ve been eyeing that fragrance for some weeks now.
Now, what I could send in return . . . It’s like potential Christmas shopping!:x
Catherine-what is it with my/our new rose obsession (stage 3)-I was always a rose hater, but an arabian oud/rose thing got to me this summer. Now, I am clearly a mad for rich rose.\:d/
So happy I am not the only one! This gluttonous turn to rose has startled me. Nearly bought Sa Majesté la Rose unsniffed this weekend, just yearning for a ROSE. My dilemma would be so much easier if I could handle the base of FM, as those two roses are beautiful.
Dipping into my sample of Oud Damascus . . . (raises cup).
Rose. One of the last notes to come around to …. I wonder why it’s so difficult for some people? It’s strong, for one thing, and there are so many bad ones (rose-scented cheapo room spray, etc.) Glad to hear you’ve found some to love, Ta’if is indeed lovely.
What Fun! My vote is for the Floris Malmaison.
I always seem to skip phases and think I have gone from 2 (beginning mania) to 4 (connoisseurship, but still learning). But I’m okay with missing the fully-obsessed stage – obsession is awfully exhausting and hard on the credit-card!
And please, diss on!! You won’t ever budge me from my love of Chanel No. 5, no matter how much dissing. 🙂
I like hearing all the opinions and after all,in the grand scheme of life, it is just perfume (now ducking to avoid assorted sounds and objects). I say, when all else fails, just blame it on the joys of skin chemistry and enjoy the beauty wherever you find it!
Obsession is hard on the credit card … the worst phase for me was the unsniffed phase. Most of my unsniffed bottle purchases were a disaster.
And I decided a couple of months ago (smelling the Eau Premiere) that No. 5 is pretty darn fab.
Ha, what a cool idea! Leave it to March to pull something like that out of the hat:) I’ll take a stab at Eau d’Elide. Oh, yes, USPS will deliver great many surprising things if there’s enough postage stuck on it!:d One guy sent a postal scale(unwrapped) and they delivered it, someone else sent a rock.( I promise not to send rocks,but other then that…)
No rocks! Not gonna pick you if you send me a rock! OR a shrunken head, truth be told…8-x
I would like the S-perfume 100% Love (More). I’m new to the perfume game but an old hand at sending crazy packages through the mail. I haven’t got any bottles to swap but you’ll be surprised what the USPS will deliver as long as you put enough postage on it!
I’ve heard those stories about rocks and birthday cakes … I dunno, my local service seems barely able to deliver my envelopes./:)
I love love love your idea!!! I’m not looking for any new bottles right now, but I couldn’t help but pop on to say what a fantastic and fun idea! Look forward to hearing all about your adventures with this! :d
Thanks! It was a win/win situation.