The nice thing about being a sample fiend is, if I root around long enough, chances are I´ll find either the perfume I´m looking for or I will be surprised and excited about something I´d overlooked or dismissed. This time I dug up a decant of Chanel Eau de Cologne, which got completely ignored in my mad rush to try the other Exclusifs (my favorites: 31RC by far, followed, oddly enough, by Beige. Although Bel Respiro is really growing on me. Bois des Iles I don´t actually count because I consider it a separate release… there, enough waffling?)
The Chanel EdC got all sorts of raves on my recent cologne post on Guerlain 68, and so I was eager to try it. I can´t find a decent list of notes anywhere, but it´s very much in the tradition of a classic cologne a la 4711, so let´s wing it and call it bergamot, citrus, neroli, petitgrain and according to my nose, definitely some musk, although let me remind you that I am the Musk Magnifier. The initial dominant note to my nose is neroli, and that baby-aspirin-ish smell of petitgrain.
Um. Well. I tell you, I am seriously stymied by this Chanel. Maybe it´s my decant, but gosh, it´s tepid. On second thought, it´s so straightforward it´s probably exactly what the doctor ordered for someone who smells, say, the 68 or Dior Eau Noire and thinks, eh, that there is a whole lot going on in a cologne. The Chanel certainly smells like a high quality fragrance, and … um, excuse me, where the heck did it go?
I am the Queen of Every Fragrance Lasts Until I Am On My Knees, Begging It To Leave, and yet this Chanel EdC goes missing so quick its picture should be on the side of a milk carton. Yes, I get it, it´s a cologne, but – come on, five minutes? Five minutes, tops. If I hold my nose to my skin and huff I get a lovely citrus-musky smell, but I look like some sort of perv/doofus in public enough already without walking around with my nose glued to my hand. Gone In 60 Seconds is not going to be my favorite fragrance, not even in sticky DC midsummer.
I guess today´s going to be one of those days when I won´t be winning any online popularity contests, although I´m going to work my March Magic and invite y´all to comment below on any much-loved or recently ballyhooed fragrance you find overrated or otherwise just don´t “get.”
I didn’t fall in love with this one, cause it reminds me too much of Hadrian, that sharp lemon note. It’s weird, I get a ton of compliments on all the Chanel’s, even tho I can’t smell them, the sillage is pretty ethereal.
Oops, that’ll teach me to post before reading the whole thread. LOL.
As usual, I’m late to the party, but wanted to say that I adore the Chanel Eau de Cologne, and find that it lasts for quite a long time on my skin (albeit quietly). In addition to the orange blossom, I find that there is a lot of jasmine in here, and some vetiver lurking in the base (which connects it nicely to Sycomore). A a really lovely musk that extends the dry down for hours and hours (at least, on me).
And I heard a rumour that it’s March’s birthday. Happy birthday, March!
Aw, but Sycomore would smell great on anyone’s husband!
Not at the nuclear level he applies it!
I’ll bet he was just a wizard with Polo. What was it with that fragrance, that no man seemed to be able to apply without turning into a Level 3 Biohazard?
xo>-)
Hey, it was the EIGHTIES. Give us a break!
I tried to post so many times last night right after this post went up, but your blog elves weren’t having any of it. Now, if I’m lucky, the crickets will see my comment.
—–
March, if you’re the Queen of Begging It To Leave, I’m the King of Oh-Won’t-You-Stay-ay-ay-Just-A-Little-Bit-Longer…
But even so, my most recent “vanishing act” was far worse than usual and was pulled by that Pamplemousse Rose thing. Uh… Where’d it go? Hello? Bueller?
There are a lot of things I don’t “get” or might seem overrated, but I just chalk it up to “it’s a good thing we don’t all love the same thing.”
So sorry! Was the comment “disappearing” after you hit save? That usually means some spam glitch, which we like to know about. If you hit Contact Us and tell us, we’ll put our boots on and go fish you out. The good thing about that is if we “unspam” you the filter is less likely to grab you again. I’ll go check…
Pamplemousse. Shudder.
Oh, my darlings Clementine –
I fell hard for PRose and I’m sooo ashamed. I didn’t buy it, of course,not wanting to give the EHofH any more money (goodbye Birkins, goodbye) but it is lovely.
Then again, I am a sucker for all things grapefruitish and JCE hit this one out of the park. Though you’re right, Joe – it wears just like an Eau de Cologne – here and gone in 60 seconds.
xo>-)
ps. Joe, if I’m remembering your recents months’ comments correctly, you and I might be the closest scent twins!
Oh, yes, Anita, we have some scent twin lovin’ going on. Remember: Drama Nuui, Drama Nuui. I also laughed at your comment about GeraniumPM: for me it is also all geranium and hardly any mint.
I am a Grapefruit Fiend! Give me the Pomelo! More! More! So yeah, Pamplemousse Rose is fantastic… if only I could smell it two minutes later. I’ll stick to Balle de Match or maybe even Jo Malone (but none of that feli-uriney Pamplelune).
My Scent Twin! Yaaaay!
I’m wearing the Drama today! Grapefruit was my very first Malone – I got it back when she was still only in London and her husband was the one answering the phone!LOL! But it’s gone ‘off’ for me lately. My biggest current love is Malle Bigarade Concentree – but only on a Very Hot Day – it lasts a bit longer, the hotter the weather (go figure). No grapefruit in there but it’s a zesty, green citrusy bitter orange, much like my beloved, lamented Nina Ricci Bigarade.
I love PRose but am still having none of the Evil House of H, so it will go unpurchased. Lucky for me, it lasts no longer than it does on you!
I don’t know Balle de Match. How could I have missed this? I will go check it out.
xo>-)
A, What is so evil about the House of H? Surely everyone needs a ten-thousand-dollar handbag, non?
I am a Hermes slut, at least when it comes to les parfums: Jardins! Orange Verte! Terre! Galante! Ah, do you not share the love, my dear twin?
I actually love quite a few of the ‘fumes – but the House, not so much anymore. They were incredibly, pretentiously rude to use at the Scentsation – one little maniac SA decided to try to publicly chastise me for bringing some of our Posse members into the shop (huh. I always thought ‘shop’ = ‘customers’ but apparently Hermes exists on a different planet). Funny part of this was at least 4 of our members were, at that precise moment, buying some big-ticket stuff. And my bestie and I have given up many simoleans in the House of H, including scarves,bibelots, bags, etc – but you know, one feels the veriest fool, continuing to do so after being exposed to such appalling behavior.
So…no more Birkins and it’s killin’ me, Joe! But I must stand FIRM! (or at least not too jiggly). That’s why I am so thrilled that PRose lasts about 32 seconds! Had it some lasting power I might’ve caved! Yikes!!!!
xo>-)
Joe, I put my gas mask and eyeshades on and went into the Spam Filter. Ugh. What ever happened to good ol’ porn featuring normal sex between consenting adults? Anyway, I fished out a bunch of Paint Chip links for patty’s post today, but didn’t see your comments!
Happy Birthday! Hope it’s sweet and fragrant.
I just can’t appreciate the By Kilians or Creeds. And Geranium pour Monsieur was a total dud on me. Chanels are great on other people but I haven’t found one yet that was love.
Chanel is taking some heat on here today. In general I’m with you on the rest!
Chanel Pour Monsieur is one that did that on me: spray it on, smells good, doesn’t smell at all. Less than five minutes.
What I don’t get… well, perfume that smells like food. I know they’re popular, but I can’t really see the point!
Like food… well, not cheeseburgers. I like a couple of the gourmand-ish things, but you’re right, not super foody.
I remember trying the Chanel cologne in the midst of our Chicocoa monsoon. I turned to Musette, and said “this is beautiful…but I can’t help but think of how much cheaper I can get Guerlain Eau Imperiale for.” And promptly whipped out the plastic to get Bois des Illes, which I see has no lack of anti-fan/anti-pathy. Have not regretted that purchase for a moment.
Nor my big bottle of Eau Imperiale, scored (relatively) cheap. 😉
I love certain chypres, but offended a fellow perfumista terribly when I didn’t take an instant love to Nikki St. Phalle. It can be tricky, navigating these paths of love…
Imperiale is wonderful. And Niki is not the easiest fragrance to love. I want to try the parfum but I’m a little skeered.
Well now, ’twas the brackish green parfum I tried. And I can see how it would have rabid fans. I just…wasn’t ready. Yet. The snakes await in my closet for when I am ready to try again.
Move over y’all and make some room for me on the sofa of unpopularity.
Escale a Portofino. Everyone (really, everyone!) loved it. Perfect for summer they said. It’s got presence they said. It’s got lasting power they said. It’s fun and interesting and brilliant they said. Just not on me.
That’s so funny! I am toying with that as my next bottle… hey, we’ve all got stories like that. The thing everyone loves and you think… okay… what part of this is so great?
I’m so glad we’re sharing all this today – all too often I feel the veriest piker, while a big bunchay’all are going on about (fill in the blank) and all I get is a great, big ‘HUH?’. Glad to know it’s not just me….me, and my loser of a nose.
FWIW, all the Bonds smell exactly the same to me – except for Silver Factory.
xo>-)
Oh, I missed the Bonds from my ‘so what’ list. Only Chinatown holds any interest or originslity…
Okay, now you’re scaring me…
I’ll probably be added to the list of imminent decapitations up there, but I don’t get Mitsouko. I agree that it certainly is like nothing else, but on my skin it’s a horrorshow, like peachy-flower scented mildew remover. Ditto L’Heure Blue. The Tauers also don’t do well on me; something in the Tauerade just doesn’t want to play nice.
Okay that’s IT. TURNING COMMENTS OFF.
Blasphemer. 😉
I’m wearing Miss Mitsy today in this craptastic weather (cool, rainy.) I’m wearing my 1970s ballbuster edition with the extra patchouli. Run, run for your life!
I’m feeling you on the 70’s Mitsouko. I bought a little bottle at a garage sale since ya’ll told me that my not “getting” Mitsouko was probably due to my recent EDT. I don’t get extra patchouli-I get a leather note that I quite like, brief though it is.
Yummy! So are you any closer to liking Mitsouko?
Not as upscale,but I was interested in “Lovely” because it got a lot of press and I wanted to see/smell what SJP would consider special enough to slap her name on.
I can’t smell it. I spritz it on my wrist and…nothing. That bottle might as well be filled with air.
Best wishes and happy birthday, March.
You and me both. That bottle IS filled with water. Of course now that I can smell Narciso Rodriguez maybe I should retry SJP?
Happy, happy birthday… I hope the day and this year are both magical for you!
Absolutely do not get Chanel. At all. I have a sample of Coco pure parfum in my cart at TPC, as it sounds like something I’d really love, but the others smell only of chemicals to me. (No 5 adn 19, I am especially looking at you)
I sorta get the Amouages, but they are something I’d like my house to smell like, not my person, as they go straight incense on me.
Serge, OJ, and Guerlain…all quite meh for me, with the exception of Apres L’Ondee and Mitsouko.
Coco is the only one I own in parfum, I have one of those teeny bottles that came in a set at Christmas (?) It’s glorious. Much of the main line of Chanel I admire rather than desire.
Happiest of birthdays, my darling friend! I hope you have a great day…and weekend for that matter. Party on, babe!
What fragrance are you wearing today? I bet it’s not that Chanel cologne thingy, lol!
Of the recent releases, I would have to say Ubar, too. I don’t think the civet agrees with me.
Hugs and love!
Mitsouko. I wore it to Georgetown Shoes to get my new… what are these … some kinda sneakers. They didn’t bat an eye, although Diva laughed at my sox, which I forgot to change. Oooops.
Geranium pour Monsieur. Not quite getting it. Certainly not at that Barneys price point.
God I miss you. Every time I see your name now I think of Dr. Bronners and giggle. I wish I were riding shotgun in your little red lovemobile right now.
that could be read about 3 different ways, deari! 🙂
Happy Birthday
Well, I meant the bighearted, non-porny way. For a nice change. 😉
I know, darjeeling, but it gave me such a big grin to both read and read into..
No nesting comments below this level…
Musette, bless her, tried to show me that path to Geranium poured on Him love. I could not follow. Not for lack of her trying…right, Musetta???
Step. Away. From. Tom.
Come into the light.
You’ll see…..(evil cackle).
Though I do admit that GpM only works IF you like both geranium and that little minty/green thing they got goin’ in the middle. It’s pretty. And that’s about it. There’s nothing IMPORTANT about it, which is weird, given that Malles are almost always IMPORTANT (except my love, Bigarade Concentree and Cologne B, which are just sunny, slicey orangey-green).
Hey – a horse just pooped in the street in front of my house. Which means my living room now smells like a barn. Is there a perfume that smells like that?
xo>-)
And there, m’dear, lay all the difference. No, not the horse pile…what you called the “little minty/green thing.” At least that day, it was THE thing, stepping through anything else that was there. Mind you, I’ve some Herba Fresca upstairs. I’m not opposed to minty, herbal, and certainly not green. It was just…weird.
Granted, it was my first go at it. For now, I’m hankering after a Bel Respiro decant. Now THAT’s green. 🙂
Birthday joys you foxy minx.
I’m with Denyse on Italian niche. No thanks. And yes, I include the much loved Etro and their still objectively vile (I’m serious – you are all so wrong) In a Mess in the mass at midnight.
Kilian. No ta.
Tom Ford. Not really.
Those Boadi numbers I sniffed in Harrods. Cheap sh*t furalotacash.
And Chanel. It’s never been love, dool, has it?
Right, back to the work, then the decorating. I’m onto the bathroom. Walls and ceiling in the week, floorboards at the w’end.
If I ever get a custom scent made I’m going to call it “Foxy Minx.” I like it better than “cougar,” don’t you? Where’s my eyebatting emoticon?
Ooooh, are you wallpapering?
Not wallpapering – just painting in the bathroom. I’m trying to convince Matt that we need to wallpaper the living room with Broadwick Street paper from Little Greene: http://www.thelittlegreene.com/designer-wallpaper/london-wallpapers/broadwick-st
But he’s such haaaaaarrrrd work when it comes to making interior changes (and spending money – harumph). You should see my planning list…
Foxy minx is all yours! Always and forever.
Oh, that’s gorgeous. I am sure you can find a way to talk him into it. I have some ideas, but I’m betting you don’t come up short.
Good grief, Lee, I think we might be the same person. And happy birthday, March my dahling.
Really – same dislikes or just you’re decorating too? 😉
The dislikes one. As March, The Birthday Doll would say, ‘persacly!
Well, you’re both funny. And hot. For starters.
Shucks. Straight back atcha.
Happy Birthday–hope you find some time today to enjoy that clean screened porch!
There are lots of “what’s the big deal” for me. Some just aren’t all that and others are so bad on me that I want to smell them on someone else just to experience their potential.
Two recent samples had my husband and son scratching their heads saying, “You mean that’s your PERFUME making it smell in here?!” One was Bond No.9’s Broadway Nite and the other was Kelly Calèche. Kelly was especially bad on me. Kind of like sweaty leather shoes on a 90 degree day.
Both are in quarantine.
It sounds like quarantine is where they belong! Funny what our skin can bring out in a fragrance, isn’t it?
Thanks for the bday wishes. It is cold and rainy all week, no porch love for me.
And happiest of days!
Thanks! I don’t feel any more mature.
Oh sorry…meant to say also that I don’t mind the sweet on the SL’s, but I don’t get any of the “foreign” and “interesting” either. Maybe I should keep trying…
Eh. Or not. If almost the entire line doesn’t do it for you, what are the chances he’ll come up with something you like?
Happy Birthday!
Thanks!
Happy Birthday, you little peanut brittle o’ loooove!
So. Beige is growing on you, is it? Well…I thought I’d found my Chanel Love for Life with Beige (you know I like ‘pretty’ fragrances, like Drama Nuui:-) and I was all swoony and weird and making the Chanel gal a bit nervous with the huffing – and I swanned out into the dank day and found that it was still lovely….
….until it dried down to a musk that almost brought up my lunch.
Dang.
Musk is a weird one on me. They smell fine ON me but not TO me. Musk can make a gal queasy, don’tcha know.
Too many ‘don’t get’s to list them all – def Anne Pliska, bless her heart. I get straight Play-Doh, right out of the old foil-paper jar. I really don’t get 99% of the Serges and don’t really care….but the one that really breaks my po’ custard heart is Andy Tauer. Try as I might, they just don’t work for me.
I am having some staying issues as well – fell in love with TDC Sublime Balkiss but it lasts about as long as it took me to type this sentence. TDC Osmanthus, too – in fact, the whole TDC line, dangit.
And while I love a lot of the Malles there are several that just baffle me.
Have you figured out your Birthday SOTD? Share.
xo>-)
Musk can be scary. Particularly because Musk Gone Wrong is awfully hard to remove from the skin. Have you tried finding a fragrance to dump on top? Over here, Mitsouko or Vintage Femme will kill off almost anything. Oh, and Bal. And they all work well over bad musk.
Birthday SOTD – Mitsouko. For this weird, cold (sweater! in June! in DC!) weather. It just seemed right.
See? I knew it’d be right for you today.
Yep, Chanel EDC broke my heart. I loved it and it left me. Now I gaze at it on my shelf… wanting… but my lower lip trembles and I decide I am worth more than a 5-minute-stand.
Hey, we need more than five minutes of loving, right? Esp at that price.
(ducking behind cover) I don’t get Chanel No. 5. It seems so absolutely shrill to me. Ugh.
Re persistence, I wish they’d do something about both Bel Respiro and L’Artisan’s Bois Farine. I dearly love both of those scents, but they disappear so very quickly. :o(
Happy birthday!
Bois Farine, there’s a struggle. I love it for five minutes, then it does the evil Play-Doh morph. BR seems like a common complaint (although not on me!) And the Chanel haters are delurking today!
Oh…F..Ubar. Yes. LOL!
Hm, I have only a small sample of the Chanel EDC, but have slapped on half of it to check the longevity problem. (I’m temporarily stepping away from my Monster Linden Fixation in the name of experimentation.) Um, it’s almost Gone, and it’s been about 15 minutes. It’s really lovely, probably the best of the genre I’ve tried, and I do love light fragrances, but wow. I’m guessing from your experience that spraying from a decant won’t get me much better results, but I may have to try it anyway. You know, for the sake of science (or something).
Plenty of stuff hasn’t worked out for me, but I have elected not ponder that anymore. (Pondering was killing the fun for me.) If I don’t get it, I don’t get it. Hopefully, it will come to me in a blinding flash someday.
Happy Birthday!
Oh, yes yes. All in the name of science, m’dear. Let me know if it works out for you.
If pondering kills the fun, Stop Immediately.
happy birthday!!!!
I can’t stand Chinatown.
Sacrilege!
I love Chinatown till it gets to that gross part where I think I’m going to have to lop off an arm.
ha ha!
I am going to hide under my desk after I post this, because I’ll be raining on a large, passionate parade, but I don’t get Ormond Jayne. I’ve tried a number and they are all really very nice, but they don’t do anything for me – and I don’t find that they last on me. I know that OJ Woman is supposed to be a religious experience, but it just isn’t anything on me.
Oh well. Plenty of others to choose.
OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!!!!!! Snerk. I love me some OJ, but no double standards on this blog — if it doesn’t blow your skirt up, it doesn’t. No hard feelings!
I’m with MJ–I don’t get OJ either.
Off with my head!
I’m with you – there are a few OJ’s I like but I don’t get Woman – not nice on my skin and disappears fast too
Happy Birthday March!
Sycomore is a huge disappointment; it lasts all of 30 seconds on me and I love it to death. I generally try to avoid anything that is eau de cologne concentration because I know I’ll be setting myself up for failure. For instance, I’d love to try those Payards that Patty recently reviewed, but how do you do gourmands in EDC strength? It’s like drinking an egg cream; fizzy and chocolately lusciousness, but you can’t manage to stop yourself from sucking down the entire thing in 30 seconds flat. At least I can’t.
I can’t think of anything right now that I don’t “get” but what really gets me are fragrances that claim to be eau de parfum strength, but disappear faster than your Chanel EDC. What’s up with that?
Okay, skipping ahead to giggle at the construct of Sycomore doing the disappearing act on you. That is SO UFB strong on me it’s scary. It’s right up there with the Vero Kern one.
Happy birthday! My scent-sucking skin is shivering with empathy for you dear March! I love the Chanel, but I haven’t even bothered with a decant. I figure that it will probably last about 2.4 lovely seconds, leaving me frantically sniffing for remnants.
What I don’t get? Les Nez Manoumalia. I get burnt wood and rubber, but none of the floral notes that others describe. I keep trying, but my little decant is running low and so far, no go.
See, I love that. I love hearing when people get none of the regular items off the menu from some fragrance. That’s a huge part of enjoyment of group sniffage — smelling the same scent on many different swatches of skin.
I can totally see Manoumalia doing this though because it has such a strong gardenia-y creaminess to it!
But I don’t get the gardenia creaminess that I get in other fragrances! I get rubber and burnt wood. And maybe road kill!
I have the same problem with Manamooo as you, Melissa-all I get is rubber….and the road kill it hit ;(
You poor thing! Manoumalia is my go-to fragrance right now, I see how you could get rubber (white florals do have that note) but oh, you are missing a thing of beauty… Louise, I’ll wear it when you’re there, see if you get that note on me too.
I’m looking forward to sniffing you soon 😉
Oh, I adore it! I’ve already posted this somewhere, but it smells to me like the line-dried sheets my mother would make the bed with, with me in it. She’d put on the bottom sheet and say, *Okay, lie down and close your eyes!* and then she’d flip the sheet up in the air above me and let it float down over my face. It was the most incredible smell and sensation, and that’s what Manoumalia is to me.
Happy birthday, March!
Ok, so, colognes. There are two schools of thought on these. Either they’re fragrances, with or without citrus (usually with), at a lower concentration than eaux de toilettes (that’s where I’d put the Dior trio) or they’re bona fide Eaux de Colgne, in which case THEY’RE NOT MEANT TO LAST. Never were, never will be. Citrus isn’t, and the real edc is citrus, mostly. They’re just meant to be a delicious-smelling mist or splash for freshening up, not bang-for-your-buck stuff.
For all it’s worth, thanks to the musk and neroli, the Chanel, which I’m planning to buy a 400ml vat of if my finances hold up, does last a reasonable amount of time for the genre. And it’s utter perfection.
Now, about what I don’t get… Practically all of Italian niche perfumery, I guess. Derivative stuff. Otherwise, even the stuff I wouldn’t wear, I usually understand why people love it. Small things by micro-niche houses, I often don’t get, but I won’t name names because I don’t like to diss people who work on an artisanal scale.
D, that’s totally legitimate, and I probably should have linked to your blog, didn’t you do a discussion on there somewhere of various concentrations vis a vis colognes? People looking for the erudite stuff would be better off not looking here… you’re right, the Diors and probably everything else I thought of naming are designed to be stronger than the Chanel. Nonetheless, I’ve tried other cheerful, classic EdCs and I understand the brevity tradeoff, but it was particularly brief on me. 🙂
PS. French question – is there a casual french word for “stuff?” You know, a generic imprecise word that wouldn’t be used in formal conversation? Curious for no particular reason.
“Les trucs” maybe? I forgot almost all the French I once knew, but this came to mind. Also, I had the “wha?” reaction to BdI, but maybe I need to try it a few more times. It just didn’t make much of an impression on me at.all., especially given the hype. Not offensive, just “meh”. I find 31 RC has great lasting power, and then there is my favorite, and the only Exclusifs FB I own, Coromandel. One spritz lasts a few days! 🙂
Trucs, machins (with that peculiar French nasal “ahn”, but the “a” pronounced in the back of the throat).
And, no, I didn’t post on concentrations (or if I have, my own concentration is defective).
And oh, I love, love, love Bois des Iles in every form. Actually, there isn’t an Exclusive I don’t love except… well, maybe Gardenia is just a like.
I got my mother in law Gardenia back in the day (1995?) and I swear it was different.
Happy Birthday! My “hunh?” fragrance is L’Artisan Fleur d’Oranger. Nice but for me, it sure isn’t the religious experience many have opined.
Wow, is my computer slow today. I think I have caught something watching videos online…. I agree with you about the Oranger. It’s nice, but that is a LOT of money (not my favorite smell anyway.) I was more enthralled with the Narcisse.
Hmm….haven’t tried the Chanel Eau, but have been wearing 31RC this week. I too need a skin graft to remove scents from my skin, but this one is very fleeting, as was the new Guerlain Fleur de Lotus. The interesting thing is that I smelled the same floral aromachemical that JCE used in Osmanthe Yunnan in both of them.
Which leads me to the I. Don’t. Get. It. Fragrance….the aforementioned Osmanthe Yunnan. For about five minutes it is all that it is cracked up to be, and then that floral note (I assume it’s the one he means to be osmanthus) gets louder and louder and louder until I’m begging for mercy and scouring my wrists (to no avail I might add) to be rid of the monster.
I also don’t get most of the Serge Lutens – sweet and generic on my skin – but I figure I’ve incriminated myself enough for one day. In my defense I will say that I’ve worn both Mitsouko and Vol de Nuit since high school! Instant love, no questions asked.
Osmanthe Yunnan. Wasn’t that you and me doing the Ragging Duet on OY a few weeks ago? When I said something about how it’s too sweet? And it gets bigger and bigger etc…. you, right? Otherwise there’s another member of our club. 🙂
The Serges I’ll stick up for, although too sweet I can relate to. The hardest part for me was sampling them, since you eat one or two and you’re done, you know? So rich and so long lasting. But they appealed to me as a style of perfumery that was totally foreign and interesting to me.
Erm, I might be the third member of the club, if the ragging conversation took place here. I’m going to be all weasel-y about it; it really depends on my mood and how much sugar I’ve consumed or something…
Yep, must have been you!
LOL! No, it wasn’t me, but I see Leslie confessed. Wish I had been there though.
Happy Birthday dear March!
Beige. Didn’t like. At all.
You are allowed to not like Beige. You have plenty of company. 😉 And thanks!
Hmmm. Need to retry the Chanel EdC. I’m wondering if it’s as fleeting on my skin. Could be my reason for not having felt inspired to buy a decant last year.
I’m afraid I don’t get any of the Kilians. I’ve really tried, but they simply aren’t working for me.
Happy birthday!!! 🙂 Hope you have a wonderfully scented day and an even better year ahead!
Thanks, honey. Still trying to pick my SOTD.
The kilians, urk. I haven’t reviewed any of them I am pretty sure. Partly because those names are a little cheesy (Straight to Heaven?) Also the marshmallow fluff one terrifies me.
Huh. Figure that. I came upon the title of your post and did a double-take, as I’d *just now* dug up my sample of Chanel Eau de Cologne to wear today – only to find out that it doesn’t last 30 minutes on me, either. And I’m right there in the inner circle of the everlasting-fragrance-skin cult, too.
But alright, the Big One I Don’t Get: Chanel Bois des ÃŽles, parfum strength. It’s getting raves all over the intertubes, I hear tales of seemless smooth gorgeousness, promises of elegance, notes intricately intertwined, the perfect rendition of sandalwood and for me… it’s aldehydes (sneeze) plus soap (ick). Sure, it has that Chanel elegance thing which I wouldn’t dare to aspire to until I’m at least 50 and elevated to several knighthoods, but it’s not pleasant to my nose. Or bears any relation at all to the reviews I read, for that matter.
I’ll reach for my trusted Tam Dao.
Tam Dao. Sigh. Hey, you say “aldehydes and soap” like that’s a bad thing. Giggling.
I am afeared to try BdI. I loved the old EdT, and I agree that it’s too wan in Les Exclusifs, but a parfum sounds like it would be too smooth. I liked its bite.
Bois des Iles is soap + rotting driftwood to me!
aw, sorry ; ) While I lament the reformed edt, I am enjoying the parfum a lot, after it’s too-sweet opening. It layers well with the older edt, and my very old #22-brings out a certain skank 😉
Right on review! Love the Cologne, spray, poof, gone!
Bought Cuir, also swift to depart….
Sycomore lasts!
Sycomore lasts and lasts and lasts. Decided not to get it for my fragrance-overapplying husband.
It’s sooo hard not to snicker up my perfumed sleeve at the shock you must have at a disappearing fragrance 🙂 , cause this is so often life-as-I-know it. Only in my case, this happens with many deep, rich scents as well. Though there are odd exceptions-some Hermes, including the “transparent” Vanille Galante, last all day with me.
Ah, just found my samp of the Chanel….it is almost all neroli and bergamot at the top…and at the bottom…and…gone. While the Dior Escale a Portofino lasts a bit longer, they are almost identical in that too-sweet orange accord my skin pulls out. Back to 4711?
Which Ballyhoo don’t I get? Any of the Estee Lauder recent releases, especially Sensuous, and that Ylang-y thing. I usually find ELs to be well done, if not to my taste, but these were pure plastic to my nose. Though I remain curious about the newer Jasmine one….
oh, and….Happy Birthday, darling!
Thanks doll! Can’t believe all these folks remembered my bday! I am verklempt. And yeah, you’re right, it’s really irritating to have things disappear like that, it must drive you nuts.
I like the Sensuous body lotion a lot, and Ylang Thing, but didn’t buy them. And most of the newish ELs have a “clean” musk in them I loathe. As you know, considering how often I yark about it.
I am a big Chanel fan and have long loved Bois des Iles, Cuir de Russie and No 22. My all time favourite iris perfume is 28 La Pausa from Les Exclusifs. But the cologne disappears quickly on me as well so it is not one I care for – plus it is too masculine on my skin for my tastes as a woman.
I don’t get the love for the Parfums DelRae or Parums Nicolai. I keep trying but I just don’t get it – they are all kind of blah on my skin.
In general, from people with less fragrance adhesion than I have 🙂 the longevity/concentration of the Exclusifs is the big complaint, along with the ginormous bottle.
I love the Exclusifs, but the ones I truly adore….31RC, 28LP, BR…are ALL gone in 60 seconds…at the latest. What’s truly heartbreaking is that I love them…they are gorgeous. But I can’t spray them every ten minutes, no matter how big the bottle. I truly hope they are seriously working on parfum concentrations and that isn’t an urban perfumista legend. Sigh.
The cologne, in my very humble opinion, is the most beautiful, simple cologne on the market. I am not a cologney kind of guy, if that’s a word, but I have smelled quite a few in the last 17 years of obsession. This is the one I keep going back for. It doesn’t last too long either, but I guess my expectations weren’t high for a cologne’s tenacity.
What don’t I get, hmmmm, probably the cult faves like Anne Pliska or black gardenia oil. But if they bring someone joy, more power to them. If it makes you smile, it makes me smile.
Wow, 31 RC disappears on you? I’m sorry…
28 La Pausa and Bel Respiro disappear on me too. And I told on them to Jacques Polge himself. He says for 28 he’s not surprised. BR puzzled him though. Last time I saw him he let on that they were considering 31RC in parfum, but that was a few months ago and I don’t know if that’s still on, so, no, it isn’t an urban legend.
Huh. Thanks for this tip, you insider you! Wouldn’t a stronger concentration of 31 be delightful?
huh. 31 lasts very well on me…not sure I need a stronger concentration…but I’d love one in Bel Respiro…
I’m with Louise on this one: 31RC also lasts fine on me (though a perfume sounds delish), but Bel Respiro is gone without haunting. Beautiful, and actually, almost taunting me enough to say what the heck…and ask for BR as a gift… 😉
Skreeee!!! A 31 RC parfum!!! I would be in heaven if that happened. Please keep us posted if you hear anything more.
Well, there ya go. I knew somebody’d stick up for the cologne.
Anne Pliska… somebody (NST?) did a post awhile ago on cult perfumes, and Anne Pliska was exhibit A, I think, along with POTL. I don’t get the dreaded Play-Doh from AP, but man, is it sweet.
The Amouages. All of them. OK, OK, I haven’t tried FUBAR, I mean Ubar, or the fancy-schmancy Homage Attar, but I’ve tried the Lyrics, the Jubilations, the Dias, and sorry, but I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Further proving that I am a fragrance Philistine, I don’t really get Serge Lutens either, although I will admit that Gris Clair has been growing on me. Go ahead, burn me on a pyre of frankincense, stone me with hunks of ambergris!
I did like the Chanel Eau de Cologne, however, although I’ve never tried it on skin — and 31rC, Bel Respiro, and Cuir de Russie struck me as far more interesting in any case.
Oh, I love FUBAR! I’ll probably end up thinking of it that way. I’m fond of the Amouages but I really bring out the stank in a couple of them. In general they are A Bit Much for me.
No….there can’t be a fragrance called FUBAR…..off to check
We’re joking about Amouage Ubar, but let me know if you find one. I’d totally pony up for a fragrance called FUBAR, as long as they weren’t charging a fortune. I want to try Pon Farr too…
Then if you haven’t tried Ubar or Homage, you haven’t tried all of them.
I say this only because like your I would have dismissed the entire house until I tried those two, both of which are exceptions for me, and exceptional.
*you* dammit.
Don’t worry, hope springs eternal, and if I get a chance to sniff them, I will — and if they’re not like the others, that’s yet more incentive.
Oh, and a very late (but not yet belated) happy birthday!