Tom has been struck down with killer flu crew so I thought we could all discuss our Best 2015 Fragrance Buy. I know Tom’ll be reading and enjoying our comments from his death bed.
So the question is,
What Was Your Best 2015 Fragrance Buy?
My Answer?
For sheer sentimental and heartfelt love my Best 2015 Fragrance Buy was from one of our Perfumistas Gone Too Soon, Linda Beth Ross. Linda died last year after a long struggle and left behind a collection of vast proportions. Her nephew Jay has been selling the collection off and this year he did some eBay sales. I grabbed a 200ml bottle of CHANEL No 5 EdC and every time I wear it think of Linda. We were not best friends but we did chat on occasion and sometimes it was about our love of vintage CHANEL No 5. It feels like I have a little part of Linda with me and that is really special. (Just reminded that today is exactly 2 years since Linda Beth Ross died. How spooky. Linda, you are still in our hearts love)
It may not be my favourite scent that I’ve bought this year, that would be Nuit Noire by Mona di Orio but it is my Best 2015 Fragrance Buy.
So tell us,
What Was Your Best 2015 Fragrance Buy?
Portia xx
After much agonizing last spring, I finally purchased a full bottle of Masque Milano Terralba EDP and I simply adore its resinous, herbal, slightly medicinal scent. Except in the very hottest weather, it’s just always right.
After about 5 seconds of agonizing over the first spritz of a 5-ml decant of Comme de Garcons Avignon, I whipped out my credit card and sprang for a full bottle. It’s definitely a cold-weather perfume and after that first blast of weirdly compelling eau de musty basement burns off, the smooth spicy drydown lasts and lasts.
And if Santa doesn’t leave it under the tree, I’m gifting myself with Wing and a Prayer Perfume Haight and Ashbury, a lovely, wearable patchouli, sandalwood, and rose that smells much more luxe that its modest price would imply.
Happy Holidays to all!
Smells like a good year for fragrance at your place Kismet429
Portia xx
Hmmm….offhand I have to say that my partial bottle of vintage Miss Balmain EDT in perfect condition for a ridiculously low price was a pretty darn good buy! (And I miss dear Linda Beth too – we both loved Caron’s Parfum Sacre so much.)
That old Miss Balmain is glorious. I had a little mini of it and used it dry. MMMMMMMM
Nice choice Flora,
Portia xx
My favorite buys this year were Rosa Sur Reuse, Desarmant, Freschiiissimo, Indigo Vanilla and my great ebay find of a partial bottle of Hartnell White Shoulders with its original box for $38
Hey Hey thegoddessrena,
Rosa sur Reuse!! By SOIVOHLE! One of my all time faves, great shopping.
Portia xx
I did get a bottle of Parfum Sacre off of Ebay for a steal this year, but I think my favorite find was Al-Rehab perfume oils – so fun to play with and inexpensive! Favorite combo so far is choco musk layered over nebras for a chocolate musky rose that is just delicious – oh and like 10 dollars total for both 🙂
Hi thecindyb,
Parfum Sacre, so freaking good.
Still haven hit the Al-Rehabs but maybe 2016?
Portia xx
this was the year i went bananas over classic green chypres. of those givenchy III parfum is one of my favorites. and i managed to score a 15ml bottle for $67. rose fragrances are still my mainstay, and of those, my vintage magie noire huile & l’arte di gucci EDT are my most precious buys of the year (~25ml $120 & 92ml for $138, respectively). i managed to get partials of diaghilev & fetish homme extrait – both at half the price they’d go for retail, but i’m still too embarrassed to admit how much i spent on them (oh, my god, i think i just threw up a little looking at my records!!!! EEEEE!). and then on the flipside, a fragrance i wear every week (which is saying a lot because i am a very fickle fragrance ‘ho) is clinique’s aromatics elixir. i bought a tub of the body cream, which is DIVINE & worth every penny of the $35 i spent on it.
MMMMMMM sandipants! There are some amazing scents right there. Good shopping love.
Portia xx
for me, it is Guerlain Metallica…I didn’t know originally but the friend who sold me, told me he is putting all the funds he got from me (I purchased some other lovely stuff, too such as Guet Apens and vintage Lutens etc. and must say he gave me heck of a deal on all and ample time to gather funds) towards college savings account for an immigrant African young boy he has been mentoring…the boy and his father doesn’t know my friend has opened a secret college savings account for him, it will be a surprise gift later
WOW Fazal,
That’s a really cool story.
Portia xx
I bought a bottle of AG L’Ile Au The in April, and I loved wearing it all spring and summer.
Hey amcorbett2,
Another great choice. I was going to buy this for my partner Jin for Christmas because he took us to Jeju Island last year. I forgot all about it. It’s a lovely fragrance, nice shopping.
Portia xx
Linda was a very loving person. There had been a discussion about Passover on the old Perfume of Life board. My boyfriend had invited me to his parent’s home for dinner. I offered to bring something.
Knowing that I am Japanese with a Shinto-to-Cathlolic conversion mother and was totally clueless, Linda shared her charoset recipe with me. And helped with my nervousness: Do women wear a head covering? (No.), Should I study to recite special prayers? (No.) Etc, etc. We had a good laugh over some of my questions.
There were other late night bull sessions. She was sweet and good-natured. Very knowledgeable about perfume and vintage Levi’s bluejeans. I was so happy we became reacquainted on Facebook. One of her last posts she asked about me.
My best buy of 2015 was Guerlain Habit Rouge 6.8 oz / 200 ml spray from Jet.com. With discount for first-time shopper, free shipping, etc., $25USD!
Great Linda story, Thanks Vetiveronica,
$25 for 200ml Habit Rouge!! O M F G! Amazing.
Portia xx
Séville à l’Aube – had been coveting it and finally gave in. Totally beautiful!
Hi ElizabethC,
Séville à l’Aube is one of my faves. You just helped me pick my SOTD! I will wear Séville à l’Aube too.
Portia xxx
Hi, Portia!
Favourite purchase of the year? That’s not an easy question for me because I’m not a colector, only a perfume lover.
Currently, I have 17 bottles (but manny decants and lots of samples) and love to wear all of them and move them all. This year, I bought: Eau des Missions, SL La Fille de Berlin, Le Parfum de Therese, Chanel N°5 Eau Premiére (original), Gucci Rush, L’ Artisan LaChasse aux Papillons and MFK Absolue pour le Soir. And I love all!
Hey Inês,
17 bottles is more than most, you are a collector! What a sensationally diverse group you have, really beautifully curated collection. You smell great every day.
Portia xx
I bought Linda’s beautiful gold bottle of Parfum Sacre. Jay told me it was her favorite fragrance, and while I didn’t know her, I hope somewhere she’s happy that I’m cherishing her perfume and smelling divine. The perfume I bought this year that I’ve probably reached for the most is Angelique Noire. It’s true love.
Hey AmyK,
I saw that bottle during the sale and was very tempted. Lucky you. Wafting someone’s frag is knowing them, in a small way. I wonder if she hears all our happy wishes?
Angelique Noire is lovely, great choice.
Portia xx
I finally purchased “Like This” and I found The Different Company De Bachmakov at a good price. My cheap thrill is
Roberto Cavalli Oro. A good year!
Hi there TomateFarcie,
Great to see you.
Like This + Cool Kids frag.
I have an Oro around here somewhere, yes very wearable, and that funny bottle!
Portia xxx
$51 for a perfume lot with Dior Dune, Estee Lauder Sensuous Noir, and Shalimar EDT.
Woo Hoo Sublimisomnium, That is the deal of the year by far. How freaking lucky are you?
Were they all favourites already or was it a surprise pack?
Portia xx
I scored a bottle of Nishane Vjola from Twisted Lily in Brooklyn. On my last trip to New York I sampled it and I fell in love. Such a beautiful floral with notes of violet. To my delight and surprise the perfume came in a beautiful box the way I remember the perfume boxes my mother had.
Hi there Shirley Munoz,
Nishane Vjola? I’m intrigued. Never heard of it. Off I go to find out……
How great is Twisted Lily? Love that store. they’re so friendly and knowledgeable. Ah May Zing.
Portia xxx
My most recent best bargain was from e-bay a couple months ago. Grabbed a 4.5 ounce bottle of vintage Bal in PdT. The box itself was opened but the bottle itself was still sealed. Got it for $80.When those large bottles of vintage Bal come up, I have a hard time trying to wrap my mind around the asking price of $400 or more. Another decent deal was an 8 ounce bottle of vintage Mitsouko. The bottle is the teardrop and I am trying to get it open because the stopper is stuck.
Hey eldarwen22,
Is that Mitsouko the watch face bottle? Round with a pointygold cap? Or is it the one that looks like a caricature fat man with a tiny satin ribbed crystal head? I had a fat man bottle that was stuck and I gave it some downward pressure into the bottle while trying to slowly turn it, it came loose after a while.
How much do I love Vintage BaV!!! just scored a 15ml vintage parfum. SWOON! It wasn’t cheap but it was worth it.
Portia xx
It’s not the watch bottle. It’s what they call a teardrop bottle with the dolphin label, so no screw top, just a dabber. Eventually, I’ll get the dabber loose.
Righto Eldarwen22: Flacon Goutte 1923-2001. That’s the bottle I call the fat man. Yes, try pushing pressure and a slow turn. Not too much pressure, just enough to dislodge the frag juice that’s dried it in place.
Portia xxx
I purchased some fun things this year. A dear friend went to France and I had her buy me a small bottle of Chanel No. 5 parfum in Paris. Yes, I could have bought that here in Colorado, but I wanted the bottle to be from Paris. I also bought Molinard Creme 24, a lovely lemon-scented hand cream. I’m sure there were other purchases as well, but my best buy was JHAG Miss Charming. I just love this light fruity rose that smells just right on so many occasions. I love wearing fragrance, but I prefer it to be subtle – I’d rather respray than have everyone in the area knowing I’m wearing fragrance and I’m able to wear this one lightly. I didn’t think I was a rose fan, but I guess I am!
Hi there Spring Pansy,
CHANEL No 5 from Paris! I’ll be shopping at the Rue Cambon store next month and fingers crossed will buy a Bois des Iles parfum. I’m going to sneak around to the stairs and imagine that Coco is sitting there like she did for the parades.
Miss Charming is so aptly named, I bet you wear it beautifully. Do you like any other JHaG scents?
Portia xx
I finally got my hands on a fb of the original Marni edp for a really reasonable price. Then I found an incredibly tiny mini parfum flacon of Ferre parfum for just $7 at an antique store. And, since good things come in threes, let me just mention the purse spray of vintage Diorissimo parfum. The top notes fade quickly, but what an amazing few minutes while they last.
Hey there DinaC,
I love that Marni EdP, what a lovely fragrance. Cool and hip. Even the bottle is a winner.
I too have some Diorissimo Parfum YUMMY!
We had a 100ml 1980s Diorissino EdT vaporisateur bottle loose its plunger yesterday and it fountained out and the propellant sent it sky high. We only managed to save 5ml but the rag we used smells AMAZING!!!!
Portia xx
Perfumes that remind you of a special person are bittersweet, aren’t they? My mother passed away in October and I was out in LA for 2 months while she was ill. I bought 2 perfumes when I was there: SHL 777 Rose de Petra and ELDO Rossy de Palma. Pretty much all I wore during that time. I love the scents themselves, but also they will remind me of those last 2 months of my mother’s life and the time we had together. It’s a bittersweet connection for me. My other recent acquisition is FM Le Parfum de Therese which went from too weird to sudden love and fascination.
Hey ElisaP,
Losing Mums is so hard. I would put those frags away for a year, then get them out and they can remind you how lucky you are to have had some goodbye time, and scents to remember.
PdT = FABULOUS! So glad you’re enjoying it. MMMMM
Portia xx
I rarely buy full bottles, much more likely to swap or buy decants, so I have to really love something to purchase. I bought a bottle of En Voyage Zelda last spring and I absolutely love it, it’s like a multi faceted emerald that sparkles from different angles every time I wear it.
Best bargain is a tiny bottle of vintage Dune parfum, half full, for two dollars at a house sale. It’s swoony.
O M G ! rosarita313, I bet that Dune is amazing. I have some Parfum de Toilette and it is heady stuff.
How lucky are you?
Portia xxx
Chanel 5 eau premiere. I got it for free at my local drugstore with points I have collected. That and some Korres body products. What a day!
WOO HOO! Love a freebee! You must have been totally chuffed.
I use quite a bit of the Korres range too bevfred, currently I have the Fig and Japanese rose shower gels and a Japanese Rose moisturiser. YUMMY! Which are your faves?
Portia xx
As soon as it was back in stock, I bought a full bottle of Tauer’s PHI Un Rose de Kandahar. As I continue to play around with scent, the Tobacco accord is one I keep circling back to. Right now I am spraying that Tauer with wanton abandon…I’m one of the few women at work, and the guys say they love the way it smells. I also went trolling thru the Internet of things, and found what may but the last bottle of Odori Tabacco. That’s another go-to for me. My husband loves that one. If anyone has any other tobacco fragrances they love….tell me about it. What a great accord! I did try Tom Ford tobacco vanilla…it was meh. Way too sweet for me, but my friend Frank adores it, so I gave him mine.
Hey LaDona,
I love a good tobacco accord but the one that smells the most like boozy old pipe tobacco to me is Ambre Russe by Parfum d’Empire. Love it. Have you tried that?
Portia xx
Oooh! I have not tried that! I’ll have to get a sample at Surrender to Chance….like, right this second!
HA! Do it. I think you’ll be blown away.
Portia xx