Take two perfumes: both are made by luxury perfume houses, they smell very similar, and they come packaged in equally attractive bottles. One costs $75, and the other, which is discontinued, costs twice that. Which one will I buy? Assuming that my budget is up to it, chances are I'll go for the discontinued scent. What is that all about?
There's something about a discontinued perfume that makes me crazy to smell it and maybe own it, even if I never would have bought the scent were it still in production. Thanks to this illogical urge, I have enough discontinued perfume that had I saved my money instead I could have replaced my living room windows. I have bottles that I can't swap away (hello vanilla fruit of Lagerfeld Sun Moon Stars), bottles that I like well enough but wouldn't have bought otherwise (that means you, "smoking in a cafe with roses and a spicy plum tart" Guerlain Parure), and bottles that I adore (witness my lifetime supply of vintage Miss Dior, the skanky variety). And, of course, there are all the bottles I can only dream of: Lanvin Scandal, vintage Guerlain Mitsouko parfum, Dior Dior, and the old Diorama.
I think it's human nature to focus on the rare and the fleeting and to want to hang on to the things that pass away. For instance, I'm nostalgic for the time when people didn't have cell phones and so had to be on time and couldn't blather at the supermarket, or when dressing gowns and real breakfasts were popular, or when TV sets didn't have remote controls. I'm sorry that I can barely remember what my first love felt like or what my grandmother smelled like — and I wish I could taste her blackberry pie, too.
On the other hand, the world continues to change, and new, good things come to us. New music, novels, and wine come every year. No, I won't be able to taste the champagne James Bond pulls from the refrigerator in Goldfinger, but he hasn't had any of the St. Innocent pinot noir I've had, either. Yes, Edmond Roudnitska and Germaine Cellier are done now, but Jean Claude Ellena, Christopher Sheldrake, Bertrand Duchaufour and Olivia Giacobetti (and so many more wonderful noses) will continue to make new perfume. Real oakmoss and Mysore sandalwood might be hard to find, but the fragrance industry will develop new compounds with interesting scents.
Once, during a down time in my life, a friend told me, "I hope you remember to look forward." What good advice, even when times aren't so bad. When I can get a sample, I do want to smell discontinued and vintage fragrances. Who wouldn't? But it's o.k., too, that some fragrances disappear. After all, we still have the Osmothèque.
I have lamented on this site and others that I would really love to have a bottle of Cher's discontinued Uninhibited. It was a fragrance way ahead of its time, and mine, unfortunately. I've seen bottles of it on ebay and other e-fragrance sites, for ridiculous prices, too. Fear of it being counterfeit or spoiled keeps me from ever purchasing any. But what I wouldn't give for a bottle of it…
Hey, maybe you could get to know Cher personally! She's sure to have a backstock of bottles. Plus, she'd be a hoot as a friend. I bet she has a sunken living room with a gothic fireplace. Maybe she'd invite you over for dinner, and afterwards you could go in her dressing room and spray yourselves with Uninhibited as you try on her Bob Mackie gowns!
OH MY GOD! SUN MOON STARS!!!!!!!!!!! One of my ALL time favorites!!!! One of the most interesting, intriguing, mysterious scents! It's a very alluring scent even without being labeled as “discontinued”. You can buy bottles for so cheep (I haven't even read the whole article yet, I just saw my sun moon stars and just had to post this comment in my excitement LOL). Sun Moon Stars is not something that everyone will appreciate and wear, but in my opinion it's a masterpiece, at some point it reminds me of coca cola and cheesecake (as weird as it sounds this is such an interesing perfume), it reminds me of spaceships and the moon (it gets slightly “metallic” a note similar to the one used in Hiris) ohhh I LOVE IT.
Holy smokes! I had no idea I was sitting on such a masterpiece. Still, I'd rather drink my cola and eat my cheesecake, so if you're interested in a bottle you'll find it up for swap on MUA.
By the way, I love your description of “spaceships and the moon”.
You've really struck a chord with all of us, Angela. When you mentioned Diorama, I had to laugh; I JUST had the chance to try a sample of this, and it was utter, instant LUST, and of course, I have very little chance of owning more than this precious milileter of mine. Why oh why is it always the way???
You know, it's a bit like men, I think. I always ache for the Ones Who Got Away, even if they weren't, objectively speaking, all that fantastic. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, they say, but I think that when it comes to love, fragrances and other matters of the heart, the opposite is true. Hmmm. Will we always long for what we can't have?
Great idea for a column Ang.
That's timely – I just bought a bottle of Black Cashmere from an Ebay shop, which wouldn't ordinarily be FBW to me, though it is interesting, and I do quite like it in winter…but, I thought: “Wow, it's historic, better snap it up!” It is only costing c£30 including postage from the US to the UK, so that didn't seem excessive. And if it does later, there's always the swap board on MUA!
So true! Something we can't have, or something that is gone, starts to take on value beyond what it's really worth. On the other hand, so many good things–including perfume–are yet to come.
I had a little heartbreak about Black Cashmere, too. I'm not crazy about it–I mean, it's nice and cozy, but if I never wore it again I'd be o.k.–but I started to regret giving away the decant I had. The only reason I had any pangs at all was because it was discontinued.
Having been the lucky (truly) winner of a smidgeon of Jacques Fath's Iris Gris on a Perfume Posse drawing, I can certainly feel your pain. Iris Gris is the most divine scent this nose has ever encountered and I vacillate between being thrilled to have known it at all and distraught over never being able to wear it.
And btw, I'm also a fan of Sun Moon Stars…albeit a second-hand fan. A friend I used to attend professional luncheons with a few years back always wore this and it so became her. There IS something metallic about it, even something astral.. It comes across to the secondhand sniffer as chillled (the metallic aspect) and somehow not quite of this moment, which is how I'd expect a heavenly body to smell. 🙂
Thanks for the reminder, Angela. So many good things ARE yet to come, and that helps us get over the hearbreak of those men/fragrances we can't have again. Luv you! – Robin
Cher used to have her own catalog back in the late 80's, lots of velvet, iron, very dark & gothic. I think it was called Cathedral?I loved her stuff, and of course, I couldn't afford it either. 🙂
Great article Angela, and it's so true. I get a bit unnerved when I hear of a fragrance being discontinued. It's not only the scent I love, but the memories associated with it and rememberences of a time when life was a bit slower.
One whiff and I'm instantly transported back the memory of person and place. (and sometimes, bad 80's mall-hair!) 🙂
Liz
ps-loved Sun, Moon & Stars, both bottle and juice.
Sounds satisfyingly Cher-like,
Just call me Pollyanna.
Iris Gris! I haven't ever smelled it. I'm sure it would kill me to smell it and know that it's out of reach…still, it sounds wonderful.
I guess I'm going to have to go back and smell Sun Moon Stars again. I can't say it blew me away the first time, though.
So true about the memories associated with a fragrance being so hard to lose, too!
Sun Moon Stars is a lot more popular than I'd imagined! Must revisit!
Yeah, Angela Sun Moon Stars is not what I imagined it to be before I actually had a chance to try it personally. I was expecting something oriental, ambery You know something like maybe Euphoria by Calvin Klein? It turned out to be different, weird, metallic and sweet. Sometimes it smelled cheaper, or like something so yestarday, “so 94”. Then as I was wearing it more and more, this beautiful, mysterious scent surrounded me and everywhere I would go. I have times when it reminds me of… toothpaste, as weird as it sounds it doesn't bother me at all. Because it's a toothpaste that I will wash my teeth with, after eating a deliscious cheesecake with raisins on top of it. Then I'll see a few spaceships and a couple of alliens. Then I would go and tell my friends about it as we'd be sipping on coca cola in my back yard… LOL. One more thing about this perfume: the lasting power is 10 out of 10. Also as time goes by it Sun Moon Stars changes, blooms on my skin, dries down beautifully – men LOVE it. This scent is fascinating and will always be valued by me.
Wow! This perfume is a whole science fiction novella in a bottle!
Thanks for the description.
LOL, I love your description of this fragrance. I never smelled it, but am familiar with the bottle because I used to work for the US sales office of the French glass works that made it (Saint Gobain, if memory serves and it was a semi-automatic bottle). Always thought the bottle was cool.
A “semi-automatic” bottle! That sounds dangerous, like you should take it to a shooting range and practice a little.
I remember Sun Moon Stars, I bought my mom a bottle for her Birthday or X-Mas I can't remember. I don't know that I loved it, it was sort of take it or leave it. I too feel panic kick in when I discover something has been discontinued or can't be found in the US, then I go on a rampage looking for it. I am saving my bottle of Une Fleur de Chanel for fear it may be gone forever and I won't have any left! I did the same with Black Cashmere and Island Hawaii (although that one is back). I am waiting for someone to go overseas so they can get me a bottle of Escale a Portofino by Christian Dior!
I know the feeling exactly. Even scents that I wouldn't normally buy I end up tempted to buy just because they're discontinued! I have to tell myself over and over that other fabulous scents are on their way, and that nothing is constant except change….
Still, especially those wonderful old vintage scents are so hard to resist.
I get nervous when it's time to clean out the back store room, because we have boxes and shelves of discontinued (some are LE) testers. I hate to see a 'last' of anything go, but we are able to purchase them, with the proceeds going to the United Way. I stock up on discontinued fragrances, even if I don't personally care for them… I can't really explain why, I just like knowing I have something that is hard to find. 🙂
Okay, so it IS a drag when your fave is “disc”, as we say in the business. But imagine how many perfumes there would be to choose from if none were ever discontinued! People always bemoan the fact that their favourite lipstick is gone but because it's a fashion item and there are only so many combinations of molecules possible, the colours eventually come back into style.
Same with perfume. The fashion for them comes and goes in waves too. However, I do realize that some are never perfectly replicated because the sources of ingredients vary over the decades and new noses are brought in to tweak old formulas.
The Sun, Moon & Stars bottle is interesting but reminds me of Worth's original Je Reviens white bottle and the blue of Dans La Nuit.
For about two months I was crazily addicted to the hunt for discontined, the rare, the vintage. And yes, Angela, you certainly helped me along the way! I added about 12 lovely vintage bottles to my collection, including a most coveted bottle of Uninhibited Parfum and the lovely and htf Le Galion Snob parfum. My thirst was at least partially quenched, but over my obsession? Well, traded one for another perhaps! Now I am hunting for the perfect Arabian fragrances. It never ends, thank goodness!
Believe me, I know that feeling. And I'm so jealous you have access to all that perfume!
That's exactly what I tell myself when I get too bothered about missing out on a discontinued perfume. There will always be something good coming down the pike.
I love the old Worth Je Reviens bottle with the stars on it. So beautiful.
Only two months? That's practically saint-like, in my book. I have a tiny bottle of Le Galion Sortilege that I like, but I've never tried Snob.
I never thought about Arabian fragrances. You mean the oils?
Oh my golly! I used to have a bottle of Sun Moon Stars *years* ago! I wonder what I'd think of it now…
Great piece! I feel like our talk about DKNY Fuel for Men was so timely now!
My friend bought me Uninhibited once thinking it would be perfect for me because it was, well, CHER!, fer cryin' out loud, and she was one of my icons for years (along with Ann-Margret and Emma Peel) but boy did that stuff STINK!!! I had to take it back. Wonder what I would think of it now?
Oh no! Are you sorry now? I've heard it had a hit of vanilla in it, but that's all I know about it.
I'll bring by the Sun Moon Stars and you can tell me exactly what you'd think of it now…
I frankly had not even remembered about it until this conversation! My tastes have always been fairly sophisticated, so I have a feeling if it stank then it would stink now. My friend and I were both very disappointed but I couldn't keep it even for sentimental reasons. I think he replaced it with Paloma Picasso, which has always smelled like rubber to me but I liked it. Not so much now – I replaced that rubber with Bulgari Black.
I try not to think too much about things I can't have, although I have gone on some interesting quests. It took me a while to find Habanita. I'm on the prowl for Miami Glow, but won't be sad if I don't find any that's reasonable. I'm a little sad about Black Cashmere but I have a bottle that will last a while.
There is so much to explore in the perfume world I can't get too wound up about unobtainables, you know?
Okay, you guys, I had to break down and sift through my decants to find the Sun Moon Stars that my darling niecelette sent me a little while ago.
Mmmm. . .Coca cola and cheesecake? Dunno 'bout that, necessarily, to my nose anyhoo, but it IS a fascinating brew of sweet, strange, and strangely compelling chemicals.
I remember visiting the fragrance counter at least three or four times a week when it first came out, more ambivalent than I'd ever been about a scent up until then and more ambivalent than I've ever been since. I can see why, sniffing it today, that's for sure! It's almost like it's trying to do what Gucci Rush was ultimately successful doing in that ice-cream-float and flowers way. Hey, maybe cheesecake isn't so far off the mark after all. . .
My biggest perfume regret? Buying a big bottle of DK 'Chaos' when I was far too young to appreciate it and *whispers* throwing half of it away cos I really didn't like it on me at the time.
Now, I get vague olfactory memories of it – especially when I spritz on Black Cashmere – and wish I'd hung on in there for a year or two!
*hangs head in shame*
What an odd coincidence – I just blogged about this sort of thing at Basenotes. People get crazy, don't they? Hundreds of dollars spent for a bottle of that oh-so-precious fume! And then there's the assumption that if it's some kind of rare discontinued thing from the '40s from a famous house, then it HAS to be good. Not everything dead and gone is worthy of being brought back!
My bottle of Black Cashmere has just arrived from California – a smooth black pebble, almost like a worry egg. I am glad I got it now – that is the “monastic contemplative, snuggly, wintery” side of my fragrance persona nicely catered for.
there are so many new scents…..i try to force myself to look forward only, which is not easy…….
*laments the end of L'Arte de Gucci*
sigh…..thanks for the article!
You've certainly hit a nerve, Angela! My confession is that I threw away a half bottle of Feu d'Issey. When I bought it I was fascinated with it, it was so strange but it got to the point when I didn't enjoy wearing it anymore. This was pre-obsession, pre any kind of knowledge/inkling that I would later be interested in it from a vaguely intellectual point of view. I just knew I wasn't going to wear it again. Then along came The Guide during the crest of my obsession and I realised I had something I should have kept and boy did I want it again. Notice the “did”. I went off to TPC (thank goodness for TPC!) and got myself a sample and when I received it I was so relieved. Not only was my memory of Feu pretty good but I still didn't want to wear it! A lesson learned.
What a great article, Angela! I am in the throes of an obsession with vintage and discontinued fragrances too. Nothing drives me into a frenzy like the words “vintage”, “discontinued”, “limited edition”, etc. I loved Djedi and Parure, and my latest obsessions to find are Hermès Doblis and vintage Diorling.
Oh, if only the Osmothèque had a gift shop. 🙂
What is funny to me is that I had totally forgotten I'd ever owned it until you mentioned it, and then that distinctive bottle whirled up through thr wisps of my mind instantly! And you know what? i have no idea what happened to it…
Being a perfumista now means I wish I had guarded my mother's perfume collection after she left much more closely. Alas, alack, I suspect she took the best of it with her and the rest my dad probably tossed. *sheads tiny tear for trashed perfumes*
That's a great attitude–not getting “would up about unobtainables”, that is.
I love a nice rubbery scent, too. Black is wonderful, and so is Dzing!.
I have this curse too. If they aren't discontinued when I bought them and fell in love with it, on a few months they get discontinued or hard to find. Black Cashmere, Nu edp, Rochas Absolu, Rocha Lui, M7, Organza Indecence, Gloria Cacharel, Kingdom, By Men., i love them all and it's so sad to see they disapear. One fragrance that I'm afraid that in 3 years get out of market is Dior Homme.
R, it definitely sounds like food comparisons are in order! Thanks for sniffing and telling.
Oh, I know! So many people think perfume is stinky, and that perfume over a year old must be “spoiled”, so they throw it all out! It's heartbreaking.
I wish I had saved smidges of everything I owned in the seventies: originals of most of the Guerlain perfumes, the Diors, Femme, Ivoire, Je Reviens extrait, Niki de St. Phalle, Ombre Rose, Lauren (yes, Lauren; it used to be gorgeous, all smoked violets, nothing like the synthetic, watery stuff that's out now). Back then, we had no idea that those formulations would ever be replaced. . .
Well, I'm adopting all Black Cashmere's abandoned. You can send it to me lol Love that smell, I'd have it on a 1L version if it was available.
Parure – you don't love it? Sigh – it is so wonderful and I would love to smell it in parfum strength. Definitely on my top 25 list, maybe even top 10.
Kim
Yes, Henrique! And, for me, Germaine Monteil's Bakir!!! The darkest, richest, smoothest, resinous incense in the universe. Boo HOO!!!!!!
So true. It's worth smelling, just for the history if nothing else, but in a lot of cases perfumes died for a reason.
I'll check out your post–I need to read more over at Basenotes.
L'Arte de Gucci may be discontinued, but at least it's still out there here and there. But it's so much easier to look for the discontinued scent you love rather than wade through the flood of new scents while trying to find one to love.
And that's so true about so many things that seem gone forever! For instance, how many times have we run into an ex on the street–an ex we may have sometimes lamented leaving–and then been so happy we don't have to deal with him anymore! Maybe it's the same with perfume sometimes.
I haven't smelled Doblis, either, and I'm looking forward to Djedi, but vintage Diorling is fabulous. Yes, some of the discontinued perfumes might be blown all out of proportion, but some of them are so, so great.
Yes, yes, yes….even the names are like poetry.
Oh, don't say that about Dior Homme! (Note to self: buy bottle soon.)
I hope the curse lifts soon, for both of our sakes.
K, Parure is really nice. It smells so grown up to me.
Remember, look forward! We should form some sort of grieving program for lost perfumes.
Well, then, I hope you end up with gallons of it!
Yes, it is a drag, but at least there are companies that re-create and warehouse your favorite discontinued lipsticks/eyeshadows (for a fee) if you send a sample. On some level, that's a relief….
I think my teo ones (100ml and 50ml) will last a good time. I'll try to buy at least one or two more of 50ml. With the amount of fragrances I have, they'll last 5-10 year i think
When I win the lottery, maybe I'll hire a team of perfumers, give them whatever materials they need (the sky's the limit!), and have them make some of the discontinued perfumes we all “need”.
It sounds like you're well on your way to a lifetime supply.
Angela, I hope the don't do such a horrible thing with DH. But it looks it didn't sell enough. One thing I find so weird was the distribution of DH Intense. So more easy to like it, but in months was gone. I had a chance to buy a bottle, it's a lovely creamy elegant gourmand, with a touch of iris in the opening, then developing to gourmand woody notes. Another one that in years will value gold.
Robin, don't say that 3 words: darkest, riches and incense. Now I'm curious to try it! rsrsrsrs I love dark, riche, incensy fragrances, like the ones launched by Comme des Garcons (also discontinued, grrrr).
Hi Henrique B,
What! CdG Incense Avignon discontinued? Is this true?
Henrique, don't tell me that Avignon, Kyoto, Zgorsk and Ouarzazate are no more????????? *sobs*
Ang, it's true with exes of the human AND perfume persuasion, I think!~
Brilliant observation, there, girl.
Thank you!
I definitely must try it. It sounds terrific.
SFLizbeth and Robin, I haven't heard that the CdG incense line is discontinued (or maybe if I did, I blocked it out). In any case, I sure hope not!
By Arabian fragrances, do you mean alcohol-free oils? I may have some leads in that dept… Be forewarned, they are pricey.
oh, oh (remembers le feu d'issey)
have you tried Aigner Black? some reviews say it is fresh but my opinion is, it turns to be a pretty dark, sweet, balmy oriental, perfect for autumn days or winters in cashmere:)
Exactly, they are like a long-adored friend.
I think it was “Liz Beth”….. :O
Yes, I've read this months ago on the basenotes forum, that the entire incense line was being discontinued. It looks like you don't find then more on the Comme des Garcons stores. But it's still available on luckyscent. Avignon is the only one that i've sniffed, and it's a unique gourgeous incense fragrance.
Don't tell me you threw away a bottle, too!
I haven't tried it, but it sure sounds nice by your description.
I'll stock up on black clothing.
Yes! Uncanny.
I was unaware Parure was discontinued. Ogilvy in Montreal had it when I was there about three weeks ago.
I dunno, I love Dior Homme and the intense really didn't do anything for me. The drydown of Cuir Beluga is a lot like DH Intense, I found.
Argggh! I haven't tried the other incense frags, just Avignon. It
is so unique and gorgeous!
Luckily, I have Frankencinse & myrrh essential oil, so I'm not too bad off.
It's still around here and there, but I think Guerlain has stopped making it.
The regular DH is pretty great.
Adam, I've heard that the Intense was close to Iris Ganache. Well, I fell that it has something on Intense that reminds me the Bois d'Armenie, the one that i have and love.
Yeah. The only thing that makes me afraid of stocking it is to discover 3 years later that they've spoiled and I've waisted money 🙁
If you can snag some of the CdG Ouarzazate, it is AMAZING — the most feminine, sultry and smooth of all in the Incense series, IMO, with wenge and Kashmir wood, vanilla, incense and labdanum. Mmmmm.
Oh no! Darn it.
Perfume can last a long time, and I'll cross my fingers that yours does, too.
Sounds fabulous!
So I went to try my mini of Sun, Moon & Stars and you are right. It has great staying power. I definitely got the cola scent but couldn't detect the cheesecake. The fragrance reminds me of Spellbound and cloves. These two fragrances both have carnation.
Imagine, Angela, living in the twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties!!! Grabbing the nearest time machine and going back to the days when you could get all the Guerlains and Piguets and Carons and Diors as they smelled then, freshly bottled, with fabulous ingredients. And imagine how much they would have cost back then??? Pennies. relatively speaking. Maybe there's a heaven, and if so, it would look like that. . .
I'll have to try some tonight. (And I'm getting hungry for cheesecake!)
It's one of my most common fantasies!
'kay, I'll keep my eyes peeled for a good used time machine. Gosh, our money is going to go a LONG way back there!! I can hardly wait. . .
LOL well lets have a new competition – who can come up with more ideas of what Sun Moon Stars smells like? The winners will be rewarded with a slice of that cheesecake that I keep getting in the notes.
After all this talk, I tried Sun Moon Stars again, and you're right on! Cola and cheesecake it is!
Now I'm actually hungry for cheesecake so I might get some from a nearby grocery store, luckily my fridge is already full of cola. I was also thinking, maybe sun moon stars is also a “rocket” scent? Have You seen that weird stuff on youtube with diet coke & mentos? You can make a rocket out of it when you mix coke with mentos! Maybe that's what it's all about?
Can't comment on the mentos combo but I believe people use Coke as fertiliser in some countries.
I haven't seen the youtube thing either, but I have seen cola dissolve a blockage in a cat's feeding tube (recommendation by the vet). I'd rather smell cola than drink it, to tell the truth.
She would be a hoot as a friend! Can you imagine, hanging out with Cher? It would be awesome to walk into a bar with her and see everyone's reactions. What do you think she wears, fragrance-wise? I almost hope it's something really out of character, like a light and girlish floral.
One thing's for sure, I think you'd always know where you stand with her! She seems like a straight shooter.
I've heard that Cher likes the L'Artisan Vanilla, and that it influenced her own fragrance, Uninhibited. Wouldn't it be great to be friends with Cher? I just know we'd get along well…
I love that.
I do also know that you shouldn't give Coca Cola to a pig. A South African friend found a pig by the roadside suffering from heat exhaustion, lifted it into his pick up truck to drive it to the nearest farm it might have escaped from, and gave it the only fluid he had on board to drink, namely Coke. The pig died instantly.
Have picked up a 30ml bottle of Jo Malone Kohdo Night Dark Amber and Ginger Lily on Ebay at last, after numerous failed bids! That counts as discontinued I think as it appears to be sold out – in the UK anyway – and it was only a limited edition. Paid full retail price but happy to do so.
Congratulations!
I'll file that one away, just in case I stumble upon a thirsty pig…
HEY everyone! I have personally checked with luckyscent.com about jncense by CdG being discontinued, they have replied to me that it is still in production. Luckyscent.com contacted comme des garcons after reading my email, then they replied to me that it is absolutely not discontinued. Well just letting ya know, because I am so glad it is still in production!
Hurray! Thanks for checking up on this.
Yippee! Thanks for checking. 🙂
Awwww nooo! Poor piggy! RIP. It wasn't the person's fault though… that person was just trying to save poor piggy. Coke is bad but still people can't give it up.
So true, I will definitely go for the more restricted fragrance as well, whether it means vintage, discountinued and/or limited edition, I will get that over a readily available fragrance as well and if the price is prohibitive, I will save up to make sure I can buy it while still available.
It’s so funny–I’ve been writing these posts for so long that I completely forgot about about this one until your comment showed up in my inbox!
Yes, it’s crazy, the draw of the discontinued fragrance. Logically, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, and I should resist to save money and heartbreak when the perfume runs out, but it’s hard.