I think I have remarkably few bottles for a fragrance obsessive. I´m not going to name a number because (like sexual partners) no matter what I say, some of you would be horrified at the sheer wanton profligacy of my spending, while others of you would think, is that all she´s got? And she calls herself a perfume blogger. My general rule is, I have to work through a decant (assuming I can get one) before I buy a bottle. Since I already own more fragrance than I could wear in several lifetimes, I don´t “need” any more bottles.
But I continue to buy them. In the last four weeks I have bought:
A ginormous (quart? liter?) bottle of Muelhens 4711, because I´ve been wearing it since high school, my small bottle ran out last summer, and the local Perfumania had three sizes at deep, deep discount – I think I paid $18 for something that´s almost the size of a standard bottle of vodka. (Well, my standard. Your standards may be different.) I´ve never seen it there before and may never see it again. I told my Greek barber about my find and I am pretty sure he sent his wife over there to clean them out. One of my favorite things about his barbershop is the bottles of 4711 sitting on the counter in front of each chair, waiting to be splashed.
A bottle of KenzoAmour Indian Holi because rumor has it it´s an LE (which will probably turn out to be a lie), I thought it would make a cheerful, floral-incense alternative to my usual citrus summer fare, and I bought it from Gail, the long-suffering, lovely SA at the local Nordstrom who gives me tons of samples. Yup — paid full retail. Go ahead, laugh.
A bottle of Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Eau Fraiche even though I have a generous decant I will probably never work through. I bought it because EL was having a really great Gift With Purchase thingy at Bloomies, and I love me a GWP. I cheerfully admit the lameness of my reasoning on this one.
Idole de Lubin, because right after I fell in love with it, it popped up on eBay. I only saved maybe 25 bucks off retail. If there´s something wrong with it (and often there is with frags on eBay) it won´t have been much of a bargain, will it?
L’Artisan Safran Troublant (the teeny bottle) because Patty bought the Epices coffret and mentioned she only wanted the Poivre and Piment, and I was getting ready to buy another decant.
Claude Montana Just Me – unsniffed purchase from online retailer, because LT said in The Guide (in his review of my beloved Worth Courtesan, which got three stars) that it was “reminiscent of the sadly discontinued Montana Just Me.“ Hmmm. Well, they are similar in that both are fragrances for women, and the resemblance stops there. To my nose, Just Me is reminiscent of peppered toilet bowl cleaner. And not in a good way. Damn you, LT.
Jo Malone Dark Amber & Ginger Lily and JM Lotus Blossom & Water Lily – because they are (allegedly) LEs, and what if they run out??! Remember to tease me about this if/when they wind up in the regular line, and/or the supply goes on forever.
Okay, your turn! A little research, please, for my own nefarious purposes. Please tell me why you sprung for your last fragrance(s) – more precisely, why did you purchase it at that exact moment? (On sale, DWB {drunk while bidding}, rare fragrance opportunity, unsniffed purchase prompted by The Guide, pre-date fragrance emergency…) I´d also be interested in whether that was the first time you´d smelled it, you bought it unsniffed, or whether you´d been thinking about it for awhile. For example: my 4711 was a replacement bottle of a long-time favorite, the EL I´d already sniffed a couple times and decided I liked, and the Indian Holi was completely spontaneous impulse purchase the first time I´d smelled it.
* * *
Avon ad image from Corning Museum of Glass (cmog.org)
Perfume Love for Everyone!
Related
Such a newbie — trying hard to rein in the spending!
In the last month:
Red Flower organic Guaiac & Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance: I made it through a decent sized sample of both and when BeautyHabit said 25% off I reached for my plastic.
Chanel No. 5 EDT – Tried it in a duty free on a long lay over at the behest of The Guide. Like LT, liked the EDT better than the EDP or pure parfum. Loved it so much in fact that my friend, a non-perfumista, told me I looked weird because I kept sniffing my wrists. Promptly purchased NIB off Ebay for decent discount.
CB I Hate Perfume Smokey Tabacco Accord — Reminds me of my grandfather, who smoked pipes when I was little. He’s gone ten years in August and when I smelled it I thought, “This is one comfort I cannot surpass.” Bought straight from CB.
DK Black Cashmere — Bought on the cheap NIB off Ebay the day Now Smell This! announced it was discontinued completely unsniffed. Still haven’t cracked open the box! Ha! I’m such a follower.
Hey, those are great purchases! First of all you did the decant thing, which I think is a good idea because it gives you a sense of what you might actually wear.
You can’t go wrong with the Chanel or the CB I Hate Perfume. (And can I compliment you on your wide range of tastes?)
Finally, Black Cashmere is best for cooler weather, but gosh, it’s a lovely thing. I hope you like it very much. Cool bottle either way.
I’ve been on quite the tear since my 3+ month no-buy finally bit the dust (yeah, no surprises there). But since you said last bottle singular, I only have to fess up to the entirely unsniffed purchase of Bulgari Black (only $25 thanks to the Loehmanns 20% email discount). What can I say – there was some list in the back of The Guide of 10 fabulous fragrances (IIRC it was his top ten of all time, but I may remember wrongly) and it was the only one of the 10 that I did not own and had never even sniffed.
LT, all is forgiven. Bulgari Black is so perfect. I never would have considered it otherwise. Thank you muchly.
Oh yeah, I also bought Lou Lou parfum 2 weeks ago, again because of The Guide (and because I was already there to buy a big backup bottle of Black Cashmere, natch). It’s a good thing I’m loaning my copy of The Guide to mbanderson because it will only lead me astray further, I’m sure.
Yep, we REALLY need to do a post on stuff we’ve sniffed/bought because of The Guide. And how we feel about it. I think that would be fun. Maybe I should loan my copy out too…
How was that LouLou?
Really late to the party on this (and since we’re in confessional mode), but I picked up a bottle of Tommy Girl for bust-out retail in Macys a week-and-a-half ago. Then I went to the Chipotle that’s right outside the mall and got a steak burrito stuffed with everything and a side of chips and guac. Try and top that. :d
Nope. You win! This from a woman who has a dresser full of unopened bell jars. Maybe you should store the TG and wear the others? Just a thought … 😉
Nah, I like to live life right on the edge. 🙂
Well, if you had to ask me which will be worth more in 30 years … 😉 I guess your plan makes sense.
I bought Black Cashmere at a discount, unsniffed, the day I read on Now Smell This that it was being discontinued. I like it a lot, but with the weather warming up it’ll be a while before I can really enjoy wearing it. Same with Fendi Theorema, which I bought a mini of recently.
I have been pining for Kenzo Amour Indian Hopi but don’t want to pay full price – is it wearable in the summer?
Those were two excellent, strategic purchases. Theorema is definitely getting harder to find. And BC will eventually. Depending on how you feel about BC, have you tried the lotion? I’m not a lotion person, but it is great. Both of those scents are definitely cool weather for me.
Indian Holi is already on eBay at discount — I think it will be great in the summer. I haven’t had a chance to test it in the full heat, but I think its incense-floral combo will work really well, sort of along the lines of OJ Champaca (although that is a very different scent.)
Miller et Bertaux No. 3. I’ve really been lacking in fragrances that are appropriate for offices and hot, sticky summers, so I think this will end up being a sensible purchase.
Serge Lutens Chergui. Via ebay, with the markup you’d expect. I think that takes care of my perfume allowance for the next month or two.
Um, yeah, that SL will definitely put a dent in your fragrance budget, won’t it?
Of course I buy a bunch of small stuff and then am always stunned when I figure out what the total is for my monthly eBay.
I went to TJMax yesterday looking for Tocade, but could not find anything I liked, until I saw one bottle of Par Amour from Clarins. I think I smelled it once, long time ago and I remember thinking that it was nice, but since I was there, I just bought it (almost unsniffed), after all, Luca gave it a good reviw.
In the last few weeks I also got Dune, a mini of Dolce Vita, L”Heure Bleue, Guerlain Vetiver, and small bottle of Lys Mediterrane and Fleurs d’Oranger.
I may still buy the Tocade, but I read some reviews in MUA and now I am scared. I also want Paco Rabbane’s Metal. I used to love that one.
But what I really really want is a bottle of Bel Respiro and a bottle of Sycomore. Oh what to do!!!!
Hmmmmm. Looks to me like someone else has been using LT’s guide for some sampling? That Dune … they were right, but too depressing for me to wear. And I can’t decide whether I think Tocade is wonderful or terrible. A little of both. I’ll probably end up with a bottle. :d
Wonder if anyone’s doing splits of Bel Respiro or Sycomore? They are so huge.
Last bottle purchased? I just bought a house, and the employment that my husband and I had lined up for summer (we’re non contract school employees) fell through, and neither of us can find a job ANYWHERE. Yes, I’m a bit panicked. BUT, since spring is here, Marc Jacobs Blush has been talked about a lot on the MUA frag board, and I actually used up a bottle of it a few years back, and I found a 30ml (my favorite size) bottle at Marshall’s for $10, so I HAD to buy it. And have yet to wear it! I plan to spend the summer savoring my decants.
Oh, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for some employment! But I like the way you came up with an inexpensive fragrance to see you through the spring. @};-
DUDE — we want THE NUMBER! Spill, LOL…
And awesome post title.
And…you already know my latest dumb purchase. Mousson. Bought it because i have no PATIENCE.
You first. :d
I *did* dust everything. And I keep my bottles out, not boxed (although I keep the boxes.) And I have reached the point that, in spite of significant shelving, I have had to rotate my fragrances seasonally.
In my mind I keep mulling this jokey “organizational guide to your perfume” with photos of my collection, showing how perfume has taken over the house. (on top of the dryer, the dining room table, my desk, my purse, the car, the guest bedroom, the fruit bowl in the kitchen…) 😉
A crazy newbie with an appetite, and a husband who was both apologetic and indulgent in one month, led to the following full bottle purchases recently:
– Magie Noire, purchased by spouse, who growled at it on wrist and promptly went out and bought some (I KNOW!!)
– Bandit, purchased by me, who found it as a deal on eBay (and I know, oh dear, but it seems to compare correctly with my tiny sample from a trusted decanter 😉
– Diorissimo vintage edp, purchased by spouse, who thought it beautiful on my skin via the sample I was trying, and who had been in a spot of trouble, and got caught in an eBay frenzy
– PG Bois Blonde, which I loved, and then read copy about it being a limited edition never to be heard from again, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t really have the money now, right, because they won’t have the perfume later???
Am sighing heavily over Fleur de Narcisse. Would that I had oodles of disposable income. I would dispose of $295 right now, with an equal donation to a worthy charity to assuage any guilt. Instead, I’m gonna see if $2.95 can score me a vintage partial bottle at a garage sale this weekend.
Remember, I am new, and consider my “scent library” to be rather empty–and in need of some judicious thinning. I wish that post about comfort scents had led to somebody mentioning one of my “um, I think I shouldn’t have” purchases…would have gladly given it to a happy home.
I see we all fall into temptation (more or less easily). I tend to “sin” terribly when I’m travelling, as I tell myself I’m buying “something like a souvenir”. So, after some time keeping my credit card in its place, I went to Germany and got: Eau de Shalimar (why? I saw it in the duty free shop and I was bored. Luckily I love it!). Then I went to a small village and I saw this cute shop where they sold soaps and Knize Ten and Lilies of the valley… and I fell for D’Orsay’s Tilleul (why? the place was so much of a different time, the smell had to be right. Although it’s been “redesigned” by Olivia Giacobetti, it keeps a kind of old fashioned flair). After that I got Frapin’s Passion Boisee in a great, great perfumerie in Hamburg (why? anything with “bois” in it and I take out my wallet. Luckily again, it’s great, but for colder months). Finally, I went to France (Toulouse) and decided I had to try a bottle of the Esteban line. After so much sniffing, and with a tired nose, I decided I’d choose the grandest name (which was hard): Colère d’epices, which is a fresh scent with courmarin, ginger, and flowery-musky notes. The box was also gorgeous. Fortunately, it’s really nice to wear it to work, even with this much-too-warm weather.
You see, I’m such a sensible buyer. I’m not going on a trip for a while, so I should be out of danger.
Wow, that sounds like a wonderful list of fragrances, several of which I have not tried. Sigh … a trip abroad is in order, yes? And I think the notes for the Esteban sound particularly tempting.
Well…. this is hard to talk about. But maybe good for me to unburden. My turn to propose books for my bookclub and at the last minute I threw in the Chandler Burr and for some reason they all went for it! Felt obliged to buy some Lovely (I already have the Jardin Sur Le Nil) so that they could smell it. Ended up with a $29 bottle from Filenes but just noticed that it’s some kind of spray oil not the perfume. Mistake #2: was persudaded that I would LOVE boucheron Jaipur by LTs review and had sniffed it a couple times before so I ordered online. Not too expensive but I don’t like it — too fruity. Bought another bottle of Rive Gauche (have been wearing it obsessively) because it was cheap at Filenes and thought I might give it to daughter for her b’day. (Does that count?) Bought Cruel Gardenia at the Sniffa because it was so much fun to buy something.
Aha! And some other purchases from The Guide!! Clearly we need a separate post just on purchases prompted by it.
That’s an interesting choice for the book club. I wonder if they will be interested, or just think the whole thing is nutso?
I love Rive Gauche.
This was meant as a reply to March’s comment!
Yup, I open them all. Otherwise, what’s the use? I usually unseal them really quickly to make sure they’re in a decent condition, then I test them properly with Octavian Sever Coifan from 1000fragrances, who is a trained perfumer. He waves them under his nose and rattles off notes. Last Saturday was a four-hour sniffing orgy: dip the strip, smell the notes, note the notes. A perfumista’s idea of a fun week-end activity.
I know whereof (whatof?) you speak!!!! I’m of the open-em-all-and-sniff-em school of collecting. And doing so with Octavian would be such a treat. Followed by a trip to your favorite cafe for something restorative… 😡
That sounds like a dream, Carmencanada…a marvelous dream!
How lucky you are!
Love this post, love the responses! My most recent purchase from TPC was a wee bottle of Jicky parfum which is adorable and which I haven’t opened yet; and two decants, one Beyond Love and the other L’ombre dans l’eau. I debated with myself on the Beyond Love, because I’m crazy about Carnal Flower and I wondered how many tuberoses do I need, anyway, but obviously, I need at least two. And then our mutual friend gave me his nearly full bottle of L’ombre dans l’eau because he said it makes him feel like someone’s twirling an X-acto blade in his nostril.
And I’ve got an anniversary coming up and I hope my husband remembers how much I like En Passant. . .
“How many tuberoses do I need.” LOL! I say the exact same thing–the only reason I haven’t splurged on Beyond Love.
You absolutely need more than one tuberose! And I love that description of L’Ombre … hey, maybe they could use that in their ad campaign!
No?
You need to REMIND your husband how much you love En Passant. Preferably with a business card from Barneys with the SA’s number. Write down the name of the frag so you don’t wind up with Cassie, or Bigarade or something. 😉
I did my last perfume shopping in Berlin. I travel A LOT since I moved to the UK, compared to what I used to do (fat grant, conferences and homesickness) and I like to buy something, usually at the airport. In Berlin I bought Green, green, green and green at Quartier 206 (they have the best selection of niche fragrances I’ve ever seen, squeezed together on 2 tiny desks) because I smelled it in Amsterdam and knew it was kind of hard to get and just so lovely and leaf-green (Luckyscent and First in fragrance don’t carry it anymore…)
I also bought Guerlain AA Grosellina for my girlfriend for our 3rd anniversary because we smelled it at Galerue Kaufhof when we were in Berlin last summer and liked how it smelled – almost – like red currants and when I returned they had one bottle left.
Oh and I bought a Mariage Freres Darjeeling candle at Galeries Lafayette. I allow myself to buy expensive candles because they can’t be sampled. With perfume, my rule is to go through a tiny sample vial before I get to buy a bottle. Well… the only samples I’ve emptied ever are Bandit, CdG3 and Tea for two (have bottles, got them all in the last few months) I just keep buying new samples goddamnit, I have a whole bunch of untested ones from TPC!
Aiyiyiyi, it sounds like you have some lovely opportunities for different fragrances. And that is of course one of my favorite things about travel — I am always asking, so where is the PERFUME BOUTIQUE? :”>
Jealous of your shopping. =:)
one of many reasons you need to come to Berlin!!! my latest unsniffed – Alice in Wonderland by Parfums d’Imperfection (purchased from FIF on my birthday) which is…refreshing but I’m not yet sure. and a teeny weeny vintage mini of Jolie Madame at a flea market in Amsterdam yesterday! now to compare with the one we got at TJ Maxx last Xmas in DC…
I am desperate to come to Berlin. You have no idea. I think I would love it.
Go, go, go there as soon as you get a chance, March. It is not my favorite city of all I’ve visited, but I would choose to live there above all other places, including Paris.
I bought a bottle of Hermes Un Jardin Apres La Mousson. That is all. Honestly, even that is unreasonable, but I just fell in love. Plus, I love the bottle. Your list is great though, and your justifications are brilliant. Can’t argue with any of them. 🙂
“I just fell in love” is absolutely the best reason to buy a fragrance. @};-
And I can’t wait to try Mousson. It’s very strange, I sniffed it once on Patty at the Sniffa and got a completely different read on it. Am wondering if I smelled the wrong scent. :”>
More P:tG buying that even I feel comfy admitting. 🙂
Well, you have an excuse! I mean, at least you’re making a business out of it. I keep telling the Cheese that if I keep the boxes all this represents an “investment.”
Yeah. In his PATIENCE. 😉
Well, the very last thing I bought was the Jo Malone Dark Amber & Ginger thing; I really liked the decant I got, and it was supposed to be a limited edition, and I happened to be in NM the day it was released, and I had trotted one of the poor SA’s through their entier Creed collection (had never smelled the line before, just wanted to get my bearings). I felt kind of guilty about the egregiuos amount of sniffing I had subjected her to, so mostly I bought to reward her persistence. I have, however, been eyeing a bottle of Shiseido Karakusa. I’m not sure how it muscled the Ormonde Jayne Chamapaca and the Amouage Jubilation XXV out of the way to claim the top spot on my FB list, but I suspect it has something to do with the words ‘rare’ and ‘unavailable’.
I NEEEEED a bottle of Champaca. Doesn’t matter how many bottles I have, I need one.
🙂
So you like the Dark Amber too? And the Shiseido sounds fascinating — tell me more! I love “rare”. /:)
*Everyone* needs a bottle of Champaca!
I find myself returning again and again to the Dark Amber. I got a sample from BG, and I keep dismissing it when I put it on. But then notes cling to my clothes for hours and I search for this haunting, haunting scent around me. I’m starting to regret not getting that, too. But I must draw a line somewhere, right?
Yeah … the line goes on the other side of all the fragrances. It’s out there somewhere — squint and you can see it. 😉
Kinda like the horizon in a flat world?
The Karakusa is a very well-behaved golden delight of honeysuckle, complete with some green bruised leaves and a hint of lady-like musk. I also get something that smells like violets to me (possible it’s just my nose making something appear out of that green leaf accord) on the opening. I love the smell of honeysuckle, and this is probably the most wearable and elegant version of a honeysuckle perfume that I’ve come across. And if that weren’t enough to recommend it, the drydown on me lasts a good 7 hours, which, on my skin, is practicaly unheard of for a floral-based ‘fume.
BTW, that milky-figgy-coconutty aspect on the JM Dark Amber & Ginger thing is continuing to mystify me–it changes character with the humidity and the temp, it seems!
I’ve actually been really good these last few years and this year I almost feel exceptional in my restraint:
First purchase of the year: Infusion d’Iris, this was my fragrance from France that I bought especially for me. So far I am adoring it. No regrets.
Next: Cuir de Lancome, this is the reason I feel “almost” in my “exceptional restraint”, this was a unsniffed buy, I felt I had to with parfum1’s insane reduction price and well the fact I wanted to sniff it so badly, but it never actually made it to US counters. I figured I could always swap it, the good news I love it and can’t wait to wear it for fall and winter.
Last: Sephora Necterine Blossom Dry Oil Spray, wanted to use up sephora gift cards (they had measly amounts left on them) and wanted something fun for summer layering. A nice addition for summer moisturizing.
Hey, those are great fragrances to buy! And I love the range. I smell the Iris all over here, and I like it very much. And good score on the Lancome!
What a fantastic post and what fantastic answers. I sit here, all by my lonesome, worrying that I’m *bizarre*, and you all make me feel so normal, LOL! I’m afraid I’m at the opposite end, March, because I need bottles. Decants all look the same, so I can’t find things, and so I never wear the scent unless it’s in bottle form–except for something as yummy-yummy as Iris Ganache. So, in heading out to NYC, IG was the sent I was going to come home with, come h*ll or high water–when, what do you know, someone just offers to send me her bottle. And she did. And I’m in ecstasy.
With the unendingness of a hard winter, I’m afraid I amassed a huge number of bottles in the space of a couple of months. Yes–I declare that “the need for spring” made me do it. L’Artisan La Chasse, Mure et Musc, La Haie Fleurie. I swapped for a partial bottle of Fleur de Narcisse, then promptly bought a full one. I had sniffed all these–but minor sniffs, just enough for the scent to scream in my nose, “I’m spring! I’m summer!” Before those dreary months of ice and gloom, I never paid attention to L’Artisan. Now, the line is sheer magic, and I’m lemming Premier Figuier and Safran Troublant. I’m been told that the 2008 LE harvest will be Jasmine. I love me some jasmine! So that will be an unsniffed purchase come late fall.
But, of course, being addicted, that’s not all. Someone sent me a sample of vintage Diorissimo edt–and *that* sent me over the moon. No other version had moved me, from vintage parfum to the contemporary edt. Got that on the *bay immediately. Mona di Orio’s Amyitis came out, so I had to have it unsniffed–Mona slut that I am–and I threw a bottle of Orio into the cart as well, since it was the only one I didn’t have in bottle. Yes, I collect the *line*–and I was thrilled to find Amyitis one of my favorite in that line. Lucky. And the last one I’m going to mention (because of course there are others, but even I have *shame* at such gluttony)–a big, big bottle of Parfum de Thérèse. My husband bought it for me. He’s such a dear! I had finished my travel spray, and I can write an x-rated novella about how it makes me feel. Vetiver is one sexy note–and a bit of melon and there’s va-va-va-voom. Wearing it, I feel like a pin-up…in a great way!
How did I miss you? Sorry! I start skipping around, and this happens…
You ARe Not Alone. 😉 =:)
GREAT lists. Have you tried Jacinthe (L’Artisan?) I think if you dig around you can find them, even if d/c’d. I *think* their Mad Ave store had one. Great, great scent. And it’s nutso, but I love Carotte. Speaking of Spring.
Jasmine for the LE!!! There’s something to look forward to.
I DID hunt down Jacinthe. It sounded so *me* given my new love for L’Artisan. But it smelled like harsh powder to my nose, and hubby wrinkled his face like it attacked him. I breathed a sigh of relief, in the end, as I’m struggling to stay away from discontinued fragrance. I mean, I love to *spray* with abandon–it’s one of the perks of working at home. The thought of worrying each time I douse myself….shudder.
Yep, call me a goof-ball.
Oh, no! I found it kind of spicy. Well, one less bottle to worry about … unless you already bought it? My guess is you could find another willing buyer if you did.
Went on a birthday binge last month. Isn’t that the greatest excuse? Anyway, from beautyencounter I got Lancome Sikkim (unsniffed lemming purchase, and I lurve it), Goutal Heure Exquise edt (sniffed before, and for some reason didn’t think I needed it since I have enormous amounts of Chanel 19 already. LT’s review made me interested again, and boy was I wrong. Both are definately requirements.) and Guerlain L’Instant PH (always sniff this at Saks and finally went for it). I also bought a small bottle of Chanel #5 parfum on *bay… I know, I know, I didn’t pay much, and I hope it’s real; it was a good seller and the pics were good (no stock photos). I’ll find out soon, anyway! Wish me luck. Thanks for the post today! Great fun!
Man, why do I NOT OWN L’Instant PH?!? It’s cheap (relatively) and I love it every time I sniff it. Huge hole in the lineup.
Those are all great choices, and yes, good luck on the Chanel. 😉
Oh dear. You had to ask this week, huh? Well I’m not tellin’.
[-(
In the interests of Science, however, I will say that I am normally pretty restrained in my perfume buying. I use my samples, have many more decants than full bottles, and almost never, ever, buy anything retail. When I do buy full bottles, it’s often because it’s: a) after 11 o’clock at night, b) something that is discontinued and I’m feeling like a need a back up so I can share, and c) um, after 11 o’clock at night.
I do find that flea-bay has addictive logic — the more I’m on there the more I search, the more I “lose” the more I feel I deserve to buy something, etc.
Also, as of late (ahem) I’m finding that buying leads to more buying. You know, once you get used to the idea of having spent, oh I don’t know, say $80 on a bottle of something that is way more than you know you can use, then suddenly $40 for something you’ve wanted for awhile doesn’t seem like a big deal, and then there’s that thing you know will go away and…and…
And…it’s all a really great, really absorbing distraction from things I’m desperate to take a little break from. Which I think is really a very wrong reason (for me, at least) to buy perfume. That way madness and 1000’s of bottle lies…
On the other hand, I’m not sorry about any of my recent bottles. I love ’em every one. (Well, every one but one — and that was a really cheap one.) :d
You saved me from another purchase last night, March. Was about to hit the button on Mauboussin, and then didn’t thinking –“let’s just see what March thinks of that one, first.” So I was disappointed to see it’s not in your list in spite of your recent claims about levitating credit cards…/:)
That laughing sound you hear is me, at your preamble. Sounds like what goes on in my mind. And I can totally relate to your price-point comment — it all ends up being, how could I pass that up!?!?
Well, until you’re staring at an unloved bottle of Montana Just Me, anyway. /:)
The Mauboussin? Honestly, after that Montana … my unsniffed track record SUCKS. It’s almost a guarantee I will hate it.
Ah, seems boring compared to the others, but I bought Chanel’s CdR and BdI in parfum since according to absolutely everyone (but their SAs) but including their own PR person, it will be discontinued here in the states. Of course now it’s available on the Chanel website…. go figure.
Augh! Wow, if you’re going to go all the way and buy some goodies, you know how to do it. Those smell like wonderful purchases.
And ps that was a typo — of course I MEANT those “sound” like wonderful purchases. But I think what I wrote is funnier and more appropriate. :d
Pending the outcome of Mother’s Day gifts, I may be purchasing some Fracas…which I have now tried three times, and it’s instant love each time. I’d love a bottle of Indian Holi-it was a lovely, warm comfort scent that never moved into sickeningly sweet territory-perfect for the heat and humidity in H-town. The last purchase I made unsniffed was a ten perfume sample pack(2mls each) from Fragonard’s Women’s collection. I’m still trying to figure out which ones are love and which ones I hate, so it’s was worth the $30-odd spent. Sniffing through them at different times of the year, (or even month), has taught me almost almost as much as NST, PP and BdJ.
Those Fragonards I need to sniff around in more, I can’t keep them straight either. And you definitely need some Fracas. Everyone needs some Fracas. 😡
Talking about purchases, how do you keep yourself from purchasing things when you have tremendous lemmings, not much money, and many decants and sample that really should be used up….or at least put a dent into them? Argh….. I need Putain des Palaces and Miel at Bois.
And Apres L’Ondee.
And five or 15 other things! Don’t even talk to me about samples. You will notice there is nothing about samples in my post. I have samples all over the house and coming out my ears, and I want more moremoremoremore. :@)
Last Bottle…I think I just bid on a bunch of Hopefully really really vintage bottles of Windsong on ebay. I wore it in HS. It smelled kinda good in the 90’s but the evil LT suggests it may have been magic earlier. So I’ve been determined to try. fortunately it isn’t too expensive.
Youth Dew and Tabu– I reviewd some Tabu and loved it, so had to buy some cheap parfum. I haven’t dared spray lest I be disenchanted so I am working up to it. I tried Youth Dew and loved it despite my friend saying her grammy wore it.
My other big problem is decants. I get a big cart ful and desperately try to weed them out and always buy way more than I need. Damn Patty. 😛
Oh and I just scored soem Avon SOft Musk in roll on! I’m a cheap whore today.
Lord, I’m going to do a cheap post. Wonder if I have the stones to call it “Cheap Whore”? What do you think?
That Patty. I know. I feel your pain.
Okay, we definitely need a future post on what LT/TS made us buy.
Yes!
Cheap whore!
Cheap Whore!
(sniggle:-)
;))
SL’s Fumerie Turque. Because I used up my sample and didn’t see the point of buying a decant. Love, love, love it.
Great, great scent. An excellent choice for a full bottle.
I’m still new to this perfume world but I have definite hoarding instincts, so I’ve been trying to keep it in check (unlike my collection of vintage coats). But last month I bought Bulgari au Blanc from Ross since it was a super price. Plus when I wore a sample of it that I got from Sephora, my partner said she liked it!
Then this weekend I was in New York for a reunion. I think it’s highly ironic, but perhaps a good thing, that I wasn’t into fragrances when I actually lived in New York. I somehow resisted the charms of the SA at Barneys and didn’t buy any Frederic Malle Carnal Flower. The next day I wandered over to Bergdorf Goodman’s, snagged some samples from the Jo Malone counter, tried a few others on my wrist, and almost made it out when a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere and asked me if I was familiar with the Serge Lutens line. Next thing I know, he’s sniffing my skin (the part sans fragrance) and he’s introducing things that he thinks I’ll like and will work on me. And amazingly he was dead on. So now I’m the proud owner of a bottle of SL Fleurs D’Oranger (at full price at the NY tax rate)–my first SL. After I got home, I ripped it open and put it on to make sure I still love it, and I do! (sigh of relief and thrills of ecstasy)
What a *cool* SL SA! How I wish they were more like that everywhere, including the good nose that he has for matching up skin scent with fragrance. Fantastic story. Thanks for sharing it.
Hey, I wear that Bvlgari Blanc all the time in the summer, one of my go-to scents. Good score!
And that’s also a great story about your first SL. It’s the first one I fell for too, so it has a soft spot in my heart. 😡
Too much! hahaha! I love the bit about the “lameness of your reasoning.” Actually, that’s just the kind of reasoning we need sometimes to find something we really are going to enjoy immensely but wouldn’t normally buy. I recently smelled Cartier Declaration after having declared (pun intended) that I hated it above all others, or many others, a friend visited and to me, on him, my apartment wafted of all the great things about Bulgari Eau Parfumee au The Vert with a big cardamom slap. I’d never been able to enjoy the sillage of it, but now I ALWAYS smell it in this beautiful way. Gone is my mental connection to BO and deodorant. So, where I live I can’t receive the good internet deals of the US. So-in-love had I become with this 1998 fragrance scrubber-become-masterpiece, that I paid full retail price for it, and with import fees and all that, it ended up costing $100. I paid $100 for something I hated less than a year ago, and which came out 10 years ago. “I will chearfully admit” how completely insane that sounds knowing that back at home in the US Tauer compositions are waiting to be bought, and Lucky Scent will be at my fingertips, but, I had to have it. I don’t regret it a single ounce. I FREAKING LOVE IT NOW… weird.
But — YAY! I mean, I am happy for you. We have discussed price before … I laugh about it, but it’s a fascinating subject. None of us (well, almost none of us) is buying fragrance as some sort of investment. We buy it like art, or chocolate. We buy happiness. What is Declaration worth? It’s worth what you’d pay for it, isn’t it. And that’s what matters, not whether you got it for 50% off retail on eBay, ya know?
And now I think you should try Declaration Essence. You need a new Lemming. 8-|
I THOUGHT somewhere I’d read you enjoyed that version more… but maybe I’m still wrong. At any rate, I loved Essence as well, but in the end I went with the original. It is more challenging and less instantly gratifying and for some reason, that is WHY I chose it. I know I’m weird hahaha, but Essence almost smelled “too” good right away. 🙂 Thanks for the recommend though. Maybe THAT one’ll be my 50% on ebay purchase 😉
I like Essence because I’m an immortelle sl*t. Regular ol’ Declaration I used to hate until I saw the light. Just like you. 8-|
I think alot of the Cartier perfumes are like that – the first time I smelled Must de Cartier, I gagged! But I love it now! Must try the men’s Must since Declaration seems to get a lot of love.
I haven’t smelled it either…. 😕
I think that’s a pretty decent haul…I’m kicking myself for not seeing that Idole de Lubin before you did! :-\”
Anyway, my most recent purcahses:
-received A*men Pure Coffee as a gift, and that forced me to buy Ice*men due to included samples ($30 on ebay)
-Iris 39 from Colette (waaaay too much…had someone pick it up)
-Helmut Lang EDC on ebay ($35 I think)
-Skai by CDG ($35 at a local store…synthetic series is cheap here)
-Baldissarini (at a discount shop for $35)
I think that about covers my past 30 days…
Heh heh. Yeah, so far As You Can Recall.
I tried to nab that vintage Idole too — did you see that? But I got shut out. I’d love to know what it smells like.
My last fragrance purchases were about a month ago: EL Bronze Goddess from Dillards – unsniffed except for a quick squirt at the counter, a wave of the wrist, another sniff, and an ecstatic yum. Then a big ol’ purdy purple bottle of Mandragore from eBay, which I deserved because I’d finished my decant all up like a good girl.
Now, I will patiently wait for y’all’s homage to 4711 😉 A scent that has been sitting on my dresser in one bottle size after the other since the day I was born and without which life would pale and whither.
Hey, search for 4711 on here, I’ve mentioned it several times, I am pretty sure. What is life without 4711? I mean, I guess others are limping by, but I am not sure how. It’s the fragrance equivalent of lemons in my kitchen — none left signals an emergency.
I keep my bottle in the fridge in the summer for that frosty fresh feeling. And thanks for reminding me, time for another mention on the blog… :d
Also you get a (*) for Mandragore, which you know I love. And the Bronze Goddess is just so cheerful, how can anyone resist?
Love the ad! 🙂
I haven’t actually bought perfume for myself in AGES, March, you wouldn’t believe how long. But I have two new bottles, Apres L’Ondee and Le Pot Aux Roses.
Well, for someone showing a lot of restraint, those are pretty lovely bottles to add to your collection.
And yes, the ad is a hoot. I saw it and thought of you, in fact.
My last FB was Bois D’Argent, almost a yr ago. I’d drained a few samples & needed a bottle that was mine, all mine. There’ve been many, many decants & splits since then, most recent being Cuir Beluga which I loved after 1st trying on at the Sniffa & may need to own for myself someday. Oh, and there’s the tiny Le Labo Labdanum that I got in the Discovery Set I split at the Sniffa. It was a first sniff purchase & I’m not so sure it was a good idea but it’s not like it cost a fortune.
The last thing I tried to buy was a back up bottle of Barbara Bui. Every now & then I panic that it’s d/c’ed & I may never be able to buy it again & the world supplies will dry up & the price will go over the moon & I better bid on that bottle NOW. Eventually I’ll get one.
4711 … ya know, my Nana had a constant bottle of that on her dresser. I don’t remember her ever actually wearing scent & to this day I have no idea what it smells like.
Actually … to use one of my favorite over-used words … BB is supposed to be resurrected, I am pretty sure I read somewhere. But you never know if it’s going to be the same.
And I need to go resniff the Bois d’Argent. I gave both the other two short shrift compared to Noire, and I know I’m wrong there, they deserve the attention. Guess it must be time for a trip to NM! I’ll bring my Taser…
I read that too, but the person who wrote it said SHE read it on MUA but couldn’t say who posted it or when. And you know how THAT goes … “But I read it on the Intrawebz!!”
And it’s never the same. That seals it, I need backup bottles ….
I love that thing. Still not sure why…
Ah, well I’ve been on a bit of a bender. My husband, bless his heart, has been saying to me ‘go on, it’s ok, why don’t you get a few bottles of perfume if you like them’. So I am the proud and rather stunned owner of a set of 4 of the 15ml travel sizes of Ambre Narguile, a bottle of Villoresi’s Teint de Neige and a bottle of Un Bois Vanille. And I just won a big bottle of Eau d’ Hermes on that famous auction site – never sniffed it but I’m in a leather phase and I reasoned with myself that it was such a bargain… Fingers crossed that it isn’t vile on me.
All this after a visit home to the Land of my Fathers where I collected months worth of ebay bargains – a set of assorted Dior minis, Hypnotic Poison, Maitresse, Bulgari Black, Dzing! (hyperventilating now) a vintage Madame Rochas that was turned and an unusual Guerlain called Secret Intention.
Blimey.
Huh. I hope that Hermes works out for you. I’ve had a couple people rag me for my review — they bought unsniffed and hated it. Whoops! Sorry! I think that one depends on how it sits on your skin.
Nice list.
On a recent business trip – I found an outlet store with actual outlet prices. And I needed a souvenir for myself anyway… :d
MAC Creations MV3 – because it smelled interesting. Imagine LeLabo Labdanum with some rubber thrown in.
Clinique Aromatics Elixir – because LT and TS said so – and for $20 (1.5 oz + a candle), why not?
The MAC I can wear without worrying about it too much. The rubber note is more interesting than annoying.
The Aromatics Elixir – Wearable if I am in the right mood and spray it in the room, wait 30 seconds, then walk through the mist. Any more than that and I can use this floral mossy thing as a Mace substitute. 8-x
Heh. Several people on here are having the same issue with AE. It’s a fierce, fierce thing. I’d have voted for the Azuree (original) meself. Wondering if we’ll be seeing some bottles up for swap soon…
OK, will only mention the scents I bought just this morning, since it would be too awkward (understatement)to mention all my most recent purchases. Extreme stress and too much travel (not vacation related)are disastrous for my financial self restraint. Scents are what I use instead of drugs/alcohol to calm me down (yoga only goes so far), so I’m justifying them this way. I also simply couldn’t resist that BH discount, so combine that w/ my new passion for vetiver, and somehow I ended up pressing “send” on an MPG Route du Vetiver order there. I felt very thwarted last night when I saw that Beautyencounter (who also had a code plus free shipping) was out of stock of AG’s Vetiver. And can I just mention how bummed I am that I paid full price for Jubilation 25 when I could have got it at Beautyencounter for 20% off? Oh, and this morning I also broke down and got a new bottle of DSH’s Au Lait. I know – it exists in another universe from Route du Vetiver, but both comfort me. Before heading off on another trip tomorrow, I may very well break down and end up getting something else at BH. They definitely can reel me in w/ a sale – a back up bottle of Amoureuse is a consideration (I live in fear of certain beloved scents being discontinued – has happened all too often and then I end up paying a king’s ransom for them on ebay).
Oooooh, can I come to your house?!?!!? You are making me feel totally not guilty about my stupid purchases! We can drink a few bottles of wine and sniff things.
And a little retail therapy never killed anyone. 😡
OK–I am including a note on how much I wear said purchase (whether it was wise, etc.).
My very last purchase was a little bottle of Le Labo Vetiver for Mr. Lily who, um, lost most of his perfumes. He wears it a lot, and I borrowed it last night.
Before that, it was the sniffa. I am always compelled to buy at the sniffa, and considering that, I did very well (esp. compared to my previous expeditures). I only bought
SL Bois de Violette: I do have a decant of this (which I have not quite finished) but I apparently forgot how much I love it. I didn’t see that it was $200 (- $25)until it afterwards, but I have been wearing it so much that I don’t care!!
Chanel Sycomore: Because despite what anyone says, I like it. At least I split the bottle (and it was $25 off). I’ve been wearing it, but not that much.
CB Wild Hunt and Tea Rose. B/c there was a 2-for-1 sale (+ $25 off), and I had most of their other choices. I like them, but I could live without them.
Before that, I bought a bottle of Ormonde Woman EdP because Marina pointed out it was ME (she was right) and then promptly bought a partial bottle of the parfum (well-priced) from an MUAer. Wear it all the time.
And before that (my last purchase in recent memory) I bought a partial bottle of Montale Red Vetyver, because I am addicted to it.
Now, I am trying not to buy anything. I really want Onda, but I am forcing myself to wait (for some time anyway), in the hope that it will come to Luckyscent (and that I will be richer).
Poor Mister Lily. That story still makes me sad. 🙁
And yes, it was fun watching you do your fragrance duty at the Sniffa! 😡
I am still kicking myself that I didn’t buy two of those CBs, that was just stupid. But it was fun watching everyone else buy them.
Ormonde Woman *is* very much you, isn’t it?
Hmmm…just yesterday, I was in a ladies cosmetics store buying some stuff for my boss (I have some unusual job requirements–you know you’re a personal shopper or just a slave when you find yourself buying panty hose for the lady who signs your paycheck). The store’s fragrance department was limited but I figured as long as I’m getting her some lipsticks and nail polish on the corporate card, I might as well buy me something nice. Estee Lauder Azuree–everyone’s been raving about it, cheap as hell (under 50 equals free), and I bought it first sniff. Ballsy, smoky, leathery stuff on me (or was I still hungover from the night before?), a lot more butch than I expected. And essentially free. I think I love it; I’m sure I’ll wear it today and give it a full shot.
I also just bought some neat little Amouage coffrets for a Mother’s Day present, a Sorry I’m an A$$hole Present for my Dad, and one just for me. These came from Aedes, six scents nicely packaged for $40 bucks. Anyone interested in this line should check it out. They have the men’s and women’s.
Just got Halson Z14, but that was a gift so it doesn’t count, right? I’m digging it too. The only thing better than cheap is free. More smoke, more leather, kinda rough around the edges. It’s now neck and neck with Grey Flannel as my favorite drugstore scent.
And I just recently got a bottle of SL Chene from Barney’s ’cause it’s LE export, right? And Incense Rose, simply because I Had To.
I think Azuree would smell terrific on a man; and you are describing it perfectly. And I can’t believe the price! I do think your shopping duties for your boss are a bit peculiar. /:) But it could be worse, right?
Well, she is in her seventies and doesn’t get out much, so I do sometimes find myself purchasing items for her I wouldn’t generally buy. But she’s great and good to me–just this weekend, she gave me her sixth or seventh husband’s wedding band, which I thought was funny as hell. It was the most interesting gift I’ve gotten in ages. And obviously, she doesn’t mind if I use the company card for the occasional little something for me, as long as I’m buying her some stuff.
That’s hilarious! Okay, I take it back. Will she hire me?
My most recent FB purchase was a belljar of MKK. It may not be the most wearable of the Lutens but it’s the one I wouldn’t want to live without. Luckily, the more I wear it the more I love it 😡
MKK is the most fabulous scent, and in my opinion totally wearable.
Mmmm hmmmm. Wearing it today. Scrumptious!
@};- Septimanie Pavillion de Fleurs and Monty Taylor’s Ambra di Venezia, both bought at Tak after a single sniff, in NY during Sniffapalooza, due to the absolute beauty of both of them, as well as a sugar buzz a mile high from the cupcakes (I only ate 3 :-& ) No regrets (except now I can’t zip my jeans…blasted cupcakes!)
EL Bronze Goddess, unsniffed, because the “enablers” told me to. ilovebronzegoddess, ilovebronzegoddess, ilovebronzegoddess. If I say it enough times, it will be true? [-o< Then there's Bond No.9 Little Italy, because shipping was free at the Sniffa, and I love me some vitamin C fragrance when I'm feeling a little under the weather (sample ran dry long ago)(*) Sniffa "enablers" (you KNOW who you are!!!) also forced me into Caron's Poivre (everyone needs an urn scent that is their own!), FM Eau d'Hiver (the first of 7 FM's that I'm lemming...), 2 CB's (hey, they were 2-for-1 at Sniffa!!) Narcissus and Just Breathe and (drum roll) my favorite-all-time-love, by Kilian Beyond Love (because I fell in love, was it with the scent, or with Kilian??? 😡 I wouldn't kick him out of bed for snoring...) |-)(was that too many "loves"? :-@
Hey Vida-enablers can only do so much…without a willing victim #-o
It sounds to me like you were beautifully victimized! And you made some excellent choices, didn’t you!?
Those cupcakes. Still mad I missed them. Made up for it with cookies at Bendel, just ask MarkDavid.
cupcakes await you here…..BIG cupcakes. Yum-ola cupcakes.
cuuuupppcaaaakes!~o)
and a coffee to go with ’em!
Augh! WANT.CUPCAKE.NOW.
I can’t even begin to list all the vintage I got in my latest vintage craze. The reason is always the same: it’s rare and I’m curious.
РGr̬s Chouda, the scent that Guy Robert created for Mme Gr̬s, who later picked Cabochard for her launch. According to M. Robert himself (whom I contacted for confirmation) there were only 5 liters manufactured.
РHoubigant Le Parfum Id̩al.
– Rallet N°1, the original inspiration for Chanel N°5
– a mini of Dior-Dior (never saw a full bottle on eBay)
– Two Roudnitska/Rochas rarities, Mouche and Mousseline
– A L’Origan that smells better and just as fresh than the Osmothèque re-creation
РLanc̫me Cuir in the original version
The only new scent is Guerlain Attrape-Coeur. I’d sampled it three times (my inflexible rule) and really wanted to buy a Guerlain because I received some money for a literary award my book won. Guerlain is one of the sponsors of that literary festival, and it gave me the opportunity to meet Mr Guerlain in person. So I figure that symbolically, I needed to get a Guerlain.
So I finally decided to get this gourmand (and me a non-gourmand person) and was lucky again to run into the lady who has been doing Guerlain’s PR for 30 years, as well as Elisabeth de Feydeau, who wrote the book on Marie-Antoinette’s perfumer.We had a nice long chat.
Also, Attrape-Coeur means “heart-catcher” and I’m single (no husband, boyfriend or lover) for the first time in 18 years, so I thought I might as well go ahead with the magical thinking.
–
Thanks to you for my Coty Chypre samp! I’ll let you know how the bottle turns out :d/
I guess I forgot my reason for buying-“I Buy”-and have had enough analysis over the years to resolve this issue quite yet [-(
Not mine, Louise ! I might press “buy” as a somnambulist, but I’d definitely remember a trip to the post office…
Hmmm…wasn’t you selling some bits of chypres a few years back?…well, I’ll send you some of this bottle if it seems good : )
Uhhhh… Yup, that was me indeed. I think all those neurotoxic nitromusks from my vintage perfumes must be affecting my memory.
Wow, what a great list! So you open all of them and smell them? I know a lot of people buy vintage and never sniff them, which seems … well, a shame to me. But that’s just me.
And the Guerlain sounds like the perfect choice. I hope the magic works for you. @};-
Carmencanada –
What book? I’ve been soooo curious about you, ever since I ‘met’ your writing on this and a few other blogs, including your own – did I miss the info on the book? Congrats on the award!
You got a bottle of vintage L’Origan? Getouttatown! I’ve been eyeing it @ TPC but just ……well….you know what that will lead to.
My purchases are bizarre this year. I went from Bal A Versaille parfum to Muguet des Bois edt..to that blasted bottle of Aromatics Elixir parfum I got for 30 cents, which is in perfect condition and stinkin’ up my house – I finally give up on that fragrance. sorry Luca, sorry Tania, sorry Neil. I’m just a piker. I ‘get it’ in theory and it’s everything they say it is…..but it just blows my sinuses to smithereens.
Not a full bottle, but a groundbreaking purchase: 5ml of Djedi. I was so excited to get it that I tore the package open on the walk home from my shop – it was a windy day so I stepped behind a bush to spritz (I live less than 3 blocks from the shop but simply couldn’t wait:”>
Boo-yah! Djedi is……well, it’s……:o
(and I mean that in a good way!)
Djedi is awesome, isn’t it? It taught me that, without a doubt, I love strong, deep perfumes and Guerlain. I can’t believe this but I don’t even find Djedi that strong – or are half my nasal neurons nonfunctional with all this sniffing?
Kim,
I don’t think it’s that Djedi is strong…it’s just that it’s so…weird?
Djedi is the ONLY fragrance that rendered El O speechless. Usually he has some snarky ‘smells like roses’ comment just to tic me off (he actually said that about Tam Dao, which was just mean)
– but with Djedi he actually took a step back, blinked, opened his mouth and….nothing!
Ha!
Musette, my book is called Sex Game Book: A Cultural History of Sexuality, published by Editions Assouline. I wrote it in French, my native language, and closely supervised the English translation. Only thing is, I like the French cover ever so much better than the American one… The award was French: a very insignificant one in the French literary world, but it’s my first and I’m very proud!
No book award is insignificant!
Congratulations!!!@};-@};-@};-@};-
You write beautifully in English and in French-big congratulations>:d<> ^:)^
Vintage all the way, baby. Little new this spring has grabbed me. But with the Beauty Habit code, who knows?
I am awaiting a semi-huge shipment from Malaysia from an incredible MUA gal of vintage Dioressence edt and parfum, and two discontinued Borgheses-all greenish florals, my newest obsession.
And today, I hope, an incredibly cheap bottle of Coty Chypre still in box from *bay…my tiny samp from France is run dry. Fingers crossed that the juice is still good…vintage is a wild game.
Oh, and that “Just Me”…does it need a good home? It was a fav here a few years ago. No pepper in my toilet bowl :d
Well, Minette says I need to give it another try. So I will. But I have a feeling it’s coming to you. :)>- We have some areas of overlap, and some areas of … not. I think this is NOT.
Your Malaysian score sounds amazing.
My last purchase is easy. I’ve been having to hold myself back from buying fragrances I want because of a dire lack of employment till fall. However, about ten days ago I received an offer from Beauty Encounter (formerly Perfumebay) of a 20% discount if I answered a questionnaire–brief and painless.
I bought a bottle of Yatagan for my husband’s birthday in July. Turin and Sanchez have left me paranoid about all Caron fragrances’ getting watered down sooner rather than later. I want the real Yatagan on my DH!
With the same order I purchased a bottle of EL Youth Dew Amber Nude because a friendly SA at Macy’s recently informed me that it has been discontinued due to the split-up between Tom Ford and EL. I felt like a child left short-changed by her parents’ divorce.
The final item in the order was a sample of Lolita Lempicka, which got five stars from Turin-Sanchez but I had never knowingly tried. As soon as I spritzed it on I realized that I was already very familiar with LL. It was the smell of the area around department store perfume counters circa 1997. “Herbal”? I think those two are having us on.
I have an idea: How about if we come back in a few months with stories about what fragrances we tried because of LT-TS reviews and got quite different results from those described?
I think your post on scent attempts/purchases from The Guide is a great idea! Clearly there is some of that going on here today.
Yatagan. I really need to get me a bottle of that. My sample is almost gone. 🙁
I have a vat of Yatagan-help yourself:d/
Hey, let’s work something out, shall we? 😉
Fer sure :d/
i saw that courtesan-just me thing and thought it was a missprint, since i have both and never would’ve linked the two. but what do i know. give the just me a chance though – it is a weird little scent.
bought smn gaggia today because it smelled like real flowers (there i go again with the real flowers) and because therese, who knows more than most about perfumes and perfume bottles and perfume lore, said one of the guerlains said – about mimosa – something along the lines of it being the scent of a woman with a bad reputation. i liked that. i can understand why he would say it, too. mimosa is powdery and has a honeyed sex note hiding underneath it. the smn smells just the tiniest bit like my beloved une fleur de cassie, too.
yesterday i don’t know what i was thinking when i bought the ysl paris pont des amours without sniffing. but it turned out to be quite lovely and wearable. i also bought paestum rose yesterday, on the spur of the moment but after longing for it for many months.
no more perfume buying for me for a while.
Okay, I’ll give Just Me another chance on its own merits. Honestly, though, it does not smell a *thing* like Courtesan to me.
I love Paestum Rose. Catching a hint on a sweater you’ve worn is wonderful.
And I agree about the mimosa, and think if you like Cassie as well, you like those naughty bits. 😉
I contemplated buying one of the following
SL Fleurs D’Oranger, SL Un Lys, Jo Malone Dark Amber and Ginger..
I would’ve bought the latter if the dry down wasn’t oh so powdery on my skin (the SA at the Jo Malone counter in Neimans is a doll, though)..I would’ve bought Un Lys, if DH hadnt made a face when he smelt it..lol..And SL FDO, I have an uncertain relationship with it..sometimes I love it..However, once I came home, everything I’d sprayed on my arm smelt great..and then I wasn’t sure which to get..
Finally (ah finally): I bought Aimez Moi and Encens Mystic from Beauty encounter (the cheapest option that I will not regret ..still lemming the SLs also though)..:)Why: tomorrow’s my B’day and I’ve been living off samples and decants for the longest time..plus they had a discount..:)
I was also tempted by L’Artisan Spice trio..but wasn’t sure about Piment Brulant
The Piment is straight green pepper to me. It’s a cool exercise in perfumery, but not something I want to wear. REGULAR pepper, though, or saffron — different story. :”>
Happy birthday, Lavanya! I’ve missed you! <:-p
Aww..thank you, Maria!
Yeah, when they make a face it might be a deal killer. And that F d’O is great, but once you make the commitment, it’s your scent of the day. At least it is on me.
Okay, my confessions are:
1. Vero Profumo Onda – I know you’re not a fan, but I adore this stuff and I’ve been thinking about it ever since I first sniffed it. So, when I unexpectedly got a bit of a tax refund (was expecting to pay this year!), it seemed like fate. :d
2. Thierry Mugler Angel Lily – for my daughter. She likes Angel and is on a complete lily rampage. I found a good price so I got if for her. Unfortunately, it just smells like Angel :(( So now I’m contemplating SL Un Lys but having trouble finding it, can’t get a reply from The Perfume Shoppe in Canada and not finding it anywhere else. Any ideas?
3. I just ordered a bottle of PdE Osmanthus Interdite from Beautyhabit for two reasons. One – I love it and have gone through two of my three decants. Two – well duh, they’re having a sale!!!!
So there you have it!
Un Lys is available at beautyhabit.com (25% discount with code luckybreaks2)..I almost bought it today..but didnt..(I know I’m going to kick myself for not buying it)
Yay on Onda! Okay, it’s not me, but it clearly is a lot of people, and those small lines deserve some attention.
I really need to get over and check out that sale. :d
What I did NOT buy: Mille et Une Roses and Climat, at an outlet, unreasonably marked down to $120.00 apiece. Outlet my eye. The sticker ruined the fun of finding something at a (slight) bargain and caused me to turn tail and go home. No, that is not strictly true. I bought some nicely pungent BBW lavender/vanilla salt scrub for a whopping seven dollars.
Oh-Beautyencounter has both Lancomes for about 1/2 that price :-j
Wrong emoticon, of course…it was supposed to be an evil temptress!
Yeah, but isn’t it kind of fun to see what pops up? I get these completely random emoticons, and I kind of like that yer-killin’-me one you got.
Marked DOWN to $120?
Snerk.
haha, i feel like we were at the same outlet mall (or are they all the same? i dont know…) i too gawked at the lack of significant discount of lancome, but bought BBW coconut lime verbena creamy body wash and chocolate amber EDT for 4 bucks apiece.
Hmmm… my most recent purchases:
The smaller bottle of Montale Orient Extreme because I’d had a sample and just HAD TO HAVE IT NOW!! Love the packaging.
A bottle of Datura Noir on ebay because it was just $89 and the price in my local perfume supplier store is $120. It was the next SL on my list. When I saw it on ebay I just hit that Buy It Now button without blinking.
Jo Malone Dark Amber and Ginger Lily at Neiman’s because I got the little scent samples in the mail and it smelled so divine, I went straight to the store the very next day to purchase it.
CdG Jaisalmer because I told the SA at the perfume store (if you are in Houston it’s Kuhl-Linscomb and her name is Therese and she’s incredibly knowledgeable and nice) and I told her I was having an incense scent phase and she had me try several and this was the most unusual. I don’t like the more church-y incenses.
I wonder how Datura Noir and Dark Amber would smell layered?
Eh. Datura would probably eat Dark Amber’s lunch. Nice purchases.
I should retry Jaisalmer, I know I have a samp. That and Oarzawhosits were my least favorites *because* they were the most unusual.
Hmm – my recent full bottle purchases of the past month? My rule is never buy unsniffed and buy a decant first if I’m not sure.
1) Mitsouko and L’Instant – Mitsouko EDP at Costco online because it lists “Tree Moss” in the ingredients and it is incredibly discounted; also L’Instant parfum discounted at Costco. Both previously sniffed/well sampled, purchased because of the discount plus they were on the to-buy list anyways.
2) Estee Lauder Azuree and Knowing – I finally sniffed Azuree prompted by your recent review and loved it – it does remind me of the resinous pine smell in the heat of summer at the summer cottage of my childhood, plus a little bit of skin/sweat under there from the heat, and I do love a chypre! I agree with you that it is an ocean smell, not aquatic, but also a lakeside smell – it kind of is like a “seaweed on the beach” smell. Bought Knowing b/c Azuree was $3 under the gift with purchase so needed something else. Knowing was previously unsniffed but sprayed it on and shopped and sniffed before buying – considered it because The Perfume Guide gave it 5 stars and I was curious to try it.
3) Parure edt in the bee bottle – a hard-to-find Guerlain found at the Bay in Canada. I had tried a sample first and loved it – yes, another chypre – and to find it just sitting there as I walked on by? Sold!
Hmmmm, I wonder if you were doing the same Estee GWP that I was! And didn’t the price of Azuree crack you up? $35 or something? For such a great scent, seaweed on the beach in a GOOD way. 🙂
Parure is an underappreciated Guerlain gem, IMO.
I was really fortunate to have the time to visit Roja Dove’s Haute Parfumerie at the top of Harrod’s. Fortunate, because it was a family (ie: KID) vacation to London, and I was able to sneak away from the dinosaurs and interactive museums for an hour to shop! Anyway, fell in love with the boutique and Dove’s Unspoken, a yummy chypre. Bought it after wearing it for 5 minutes and have not regretted, it’s a delight. So are Roja and his staff. Also ordered a cheap mini of Just Me, based on you-know-who’s recommendation. ACK! Well, that was just a few bucks….
Unspoken is my favorite of the line! It is an outstanding fragrance. And Maria down there suggests a separate post where I invite people to comment on whatever they might have tried or bought unsniffed b/c of The Guide, and what they thought. I think that would be a fun post!
Diorissimo. I had been thinking about it for years, but did not leap because I so associated it with my grandmother, and that made me a bit sad. But I finally took the plunge and purchased a 1 oz. EdT from beautyencounter.com, and I love it. It’s not quite the same as I remember it, not as deeply floral and muguet-like, but it’s beautiful nonetheless.
Also picked up a .25 spray Dolce Vita for about $18. from the same website. I was curious. I mean, isn’t this the lost fragrance from the Bois series of the Lutens’ collection that I read about on the blogs and in The Perfume Guide? Whatever…If I don’t like it, the bottle is so adorable, I will simply display it on my bathroom counter.
And, I love the thought of buying retail from Nordstrom when a long-suffering SA has been kind over the years. I too purchased a fragrance from my dearest Nordstrom SA last month. Unfortunately, the fragrance I purchased, Missoni, was not for me, and I returned it. I’m still scratching my head over its 5 star rating in The Perfume Guide. Double damn! 🙁
Hugs!
Diorissimo is getting a lot of play on here today. I know it’s been blogged on recently, plus the perfect time of year. I love those tiny flowers in the garden. @};-
Dolce Vita is lovely — I can’t quite justify it, as the drydown (on me) is very reminiscent of FdB. And I too loathe Missoni, don’t care what they say!
I fell in love with a sample of Dolce Vita recently and have been looking for it online. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
You are welcome!
Hmmmmm…. maybe at that price I DO need it… :”>
Bear in mind I am trying to rein in my scent ( spending ) habit this year , so purchases are few and far between.
I think I just bought that same bottle of 4711 for $4 CAD at Liquidation World. Reason being that if it’s been around that long I gotta have it , and summer is coming and this strikes me as just the tonic for a sticky day. First time I had sniffed this was on a German pal’s dresser at the age of 12 , ever since have felt this to be a must have basic for any fume lover , well, for this fume lover.
Baghari, why ? Cus this gal cannot resist a scent that makes her feel as though she is snuggling inside a 300lb powdery orange. I had sampled it previously ( just for your scientific records March).
Diorissimo —I DID NOT SPRING FOR THIS …however , this puppy is never seen at The Bay ( the real Bay , in Canada folks !) in this backwater. On an excrusion to a neighbouring town we stopped in at the Bay and there it was ! I just had to test it , and yes , it lived up to the LOTV hype. I rushed over to hubby in the gents section to let him have a sniff , and his face lit up with recognition — he bought it on the spot(yeah , he is a swell guy who puts up with my scent fixation). Love at first whiff and happily ever after.
Next – Must get mitts on bottle of proper Chloe , not the all new and ruined faux Chloe , replacement bottle… it’s easier to track down a purple polka dotted mynah bird than this juice at the brick and mortar shops.
:((
Love that 4711! I hear Germans use it medicinally — I mean, they put it on a cool cloth over their eyes if they have a headache, etc.
Perfumania had Chloe, it’s still out there although will definitely get harder to find. I need to get one too, it was my mother-in-law’s scent. Smelled lovely on her. Her clothes I kept still have that smell.
Okay.
I got a full bottle of Cumming on eBay that saved me maybe 20 bucks off retail. I feel bad about that and am willing to make it up to Mr. Cumming, In specific ways that I will not get into here.
Call me,
I was brutally forced to buy a bottle of Lutens Vetiver because there was free shipping and a tote bag involved. Free three-day shipping. That, and I’ve been jonesing for that one for a while and the Neimans bill was almost at zero.
Oh yeah, and there’s the Perfumed Court bill. That doesn’t count, right? Cable costs more…
So, how much will it cost me to live in your back bedroom?
TPC bill *definitely* does not count. I would also like to provide Mr. Cumming with any comfort I might render, but I have a feeling he’s not interested. Other than my making him tea or something. Maybe we three could go shopping together?
You can live in our mother-in-law suite for free if you bring your sense of humor and your fragrance collection.
i last bought bronze goddess because i was at nordstrom and i had purposed in my heart that i was leaving with SOMETHING. plus, i’d read it’s reviews and wanted a pretty summer scent, and it’s price was better than a few of the other fragrances i wanted.
I love, I’m leaving with SOMETHING. And it’s true, the price is good. You can get some of the ELs cheap cheap cheap.