Today, I'd love to hear from readers on any of the following subjects:
Any new topics or features you'd like to see covered on Now Smell This?
Any general complaints? Feel free to kvetch.
Suggested topics for the weekly lazy polls.
Ideas for how to run the giveaways. The giveaways, which I started in order to get rid of bottles we're sent to review, currently seem to make many readers angry: by the time they find out about the giveaway, it's already over. I designed them the way I did — selecting a winner from the first 15-20 comments — because I don't want to add another labor-intensive feature, and leaving a giveaway open for 24 hours just generates too many entries to deal with. But I'm open to other suggestions, if you have any! Otherwise, I think I'm just going to go back to my old method: sending bottles into my husband's office for anybody there that wants them. I'm tired of reading the hate mail.
And an FYI: as soon as the Prix Eau Faux is finished (and today is the last day to enter!) we'll be advertising for new contributors to cover perfume books and home fragrance.
And one more FYI: if you see a typo or other mistake, we'd be hugely grateful if you'd report it! You can leave a comment or send me an email, whichever is easiest. Special thanks go out to Bela, who is very nearly our unofficial copy editor.
Note: image is Square du Souvenir by doegox at flickr; some rights reserved.
Update: a very huge thank you to everyone who took the time to offer suggestions! We have lots of constructive ideas, and although you all know I work at a snail's pace, you've given me lots to think about as we move forward.
I just wanted to say how surprised I am by the “hate mail” you stated you have been receiving re: the giveaways. How awful! How sad that you are giving us the wonderful opportunity to receive something beautiful and free (!) and that people are ungrateful. Please continue holding these generous giveaways and toss the ingrates away from site 🙂
Sorry, I’m decided — I’m not going to do them any more until we come up with a new way. It really does piss people off!
I’m surprised it pisses people off so much. I normally miss the drawings but that is just the way it goes, and normally I wouldn’t want every bottle you have to give away. I can totally see why it’s a nuisance for you. It’s not like you’d ever have enough bottles for the hundreds of readers on NST anyway. In my experiences in a public service job, people just like free stuff and sometimes they can be a bit crude about it even if they do win and are disappointed.
Well, perhaps when NSTr’s register, we can get assigned a random number, and then you can just draw from the random number pool each time you have something to give away. And that random number can only be used once per year to give everyone else a chance to win. You can contact that person via email to tell them they’ve just won X, if they decide they don’t want X, then you can just pick another number, etc. etc.
Or you could simply announce that on such and such a date at this time a drawing is going to happen. Then people who can will sit eagerly awaiting their chance to get their response in.
Ann, interesting idea. Will have to think about how I would administer that.
I want to second that suggestion… I paid for a “premium” membership to another group (not perfume related at all) and part of the benefit of that level of membership is that I’m automatically entered into every drawing they have (for books and whatnot). It was one of the big selling points for me in paying the extra $ for the membership. Perhaps that’s one way to go…. we could opt in for a small yearly or quarterly fee, then every time there’s something to give away, just put all of the paid members’ names in a virtual hat and draw one out.
I’m always late to the giveways (and frankly didn’t pipe up about anything until yesterday and now I can’t stop posting!), but I’d never send you hate mail about it. How rude! It’s a generous and kind thing you’ve been doing, and although I’m envious, I’m not about to lambaste you just because I wasn’t in the right place at the right time. That’s on me. I never ceased to be amazed by the sense of entitlement that some people possess. Where does it come from?! Good luck settling on a more agreeable solution.
Cheers,
Sandy
Thanks Sandy. I don’t think I want to do paid memberships, but maybe we can find some other way to get a pool of registered users.
Hi Robin,
Totally understand not wanting to run a paid site, but was thinking that maybe if we all chipped in a few bucks (via Paypal or something) we could use that money to do splits. Jeez, I’m just making more work for you, aren’t I? I’m sorry! Hey, you’re in PA, I’m in PA. I’ll be your go-fer. : )
All my best,
Sandy
Robin, sorry the giveaways are not working for you, I had thought it very generous, and can’t undertstand the kvetching. Why not sell the bottles fon the Evil Bay, and create your own vintage extrait fund? I and I’m sure many others would not grudge you that!
No, if they’re sent for review, I can’t profit from them! I can give them away to anyone, but I can’t keep them or sell them.
Nothing original here, Robin…just I’m sorry to hear about the nastygrams. What a world. I like your site just fine; it’s such a cozy little spot with great people and hosts! Keep up the good work!
Thanks Suzanne!
Hey, I am sorry to hear that. Robin, you and the others do a good job. It is always a pleasure to read the blog.
No complaints, no suggestions, just kudos and gratitude. I think you and all the contributors at NST do a truly phenomenal job, and all on your own time, unpaid. That anyone has the nerve to complain about such a wonderful, FREE resource or the manner of conducting a FREE giveaway just saddens me. In the entire blogosphere, this is the only one I read with any regularity…so thank you.
Oh…and to those who complain they don’t find out about the giveaway until it’s over, I wonder if they are unaware they can subscribe to the blog via RSS feed?
Oh, I think that’s just the problem: they read about it in their feed reader or email, and it’s already over. If I had an easy way to keep them out of the RSS feed, it might actually take care of the problem, but I don’t have an easy way and don’t want to undertake another programming project to do it.
I can ask my resident nerd if he knows of an easy method. It’s too bad the people complaining didn’t bother to tell you what they thought *would* be fair. It should be the First General Law of Complaining… you must suggest an alternative to whatever you’re grumbling about.
Just FYI, there is a way in WordPress to keep some categories from your RSS feed, but again — trying to simplify here, not make things more complicated. I already have too many plugins!
Ditto that!!
Thanks Boojum!
Everything Boo said times 2.
Make that a 3.
People feel that strongly about missing a giveaway? Sheeh, get a life. 😛
I recently started devoting Fridays to “sample grab bag” day. I stick my hand into one of my sample buckets and wear whatever it is I select sight unseen. Makes for a more interesting day. 🙂 I’d like to see a weekly poll so people can discuss what sample they picked and how they feel about it.
Oh, that’s an interesting idea! Thanks.
Dolly is a GENIUS!!
I do this on Wednesdays! Helps me get through my oodles of samples. Great idea for a weekly poll! FYI – my grabbed sample today was Amouage Dia. 🙂
OMG!! Dia is amazing!! Are you loving it? It’s kind of a BIG fragrance……now I have to have a dab…..
Thanks to you, Daisy!!!! 🙂 Yes, it’s a beautiful scent!
OH! did I send that one? am I good or WHAT? 😉
that is a great idea the “Hump Day Grab Bag Poll” !
What did you pull from the bag and what do you think of it?
I love it! I’m going to do it too….goodness knows I have plenty of samples lying around….
I would…but it couldn’t be a work day for me!
I’m with you – it would scare me to death to sample something on a work day the way my skin holds on to scent. I might asphyxiate myself by noon!
Yep – Saturday’s my day to be daring!
(rubbing hands together) Eeeeeexcellent!
but your grab bag has nothing but TUBEROSE in it…..j/k 😉
And… ROSE! And…. GREEN STUFF!
Lovin’ GREEN STUFF right now!
ok ok I almost take back the tuberose comment…almost…..;-)
ooo! I’m going to try that! Great idea!
Get a life indeed. I can’t imagine anyone who’d find fault in the way the giveaways were done. Missed it? Too bad. Try again next time. If missing a giveaway is enough to ruin your day, you’ve got issues – issues that aren’t likely to be resolved here!
Robin, allow me to say: “You’re fabulous, darlin’.” Thank you for creating this forum for us on the ‘interwebs’….. personally, I wouldn’t change a darned thing!
That’s sweet, thanks!
Ditto!
Cool idea Dollydagger!
That sounds like so much fun! I guess I know what I’ll be doing this Friday.
Just to echo everyone else -Great idea. I have an untouched little poly bag of treasure, which I really should dig into.
I am also thinking of the sort of wine tasting events they have on TV – you go to the supermarket and buy what they will be tasting and see if you can relate to what the TV peeps are saying and develop your palate. We could perhaps set a day when we can all try the same fragrance? Or a house or a perfumer ?
Oh, love that idea!
Oooh! Love that one! Of course, we’d have to have a week or more notice so we can all hop over to PC or wherever and get some samples…but then, we’d drain supplies, now wouldn’t we. Hmmm…I suppose whoever already has the scent can comment, the rest of us can decide (based on comments) whether or not we’d want to try it for ourselves…still a great idea either way.
That’s a great idea!
Gosh, I’m such a frequent commenter and reader that there’s not much I’d change. LOVE the site very much the way it is, but also open to new features (I’m not one to get bent out of shape when something “new” is added). Some general comments:
1. I know you are especially spread thin, R, but I’m sad on the weekdays when there’s no perfume review or major essay. I know that in addition to Kevin’s and Angela’s posts, you always do at least one review yourself and two if you can… but when your 2nd weekday review goes missing, it’s a bummer. But hey, you do so much for us that I’ll live without it if need be!
2. The idea of a chocolate (or maybe food or tea?) post once every 4-6 weeks sounded grand. Everyone had fun on that last post. I know that’s “mission creep” but still.
3. I’ve wondered why the Perfume Shopping essays are never open to comments. Maybe because the guest shopper is anonymous and can’t reply to comments? Maybe so people wouldn’t trash the store or the staff? I love the effort to always have the writer reply to comments, but in a case like that, I wouldn’t mind if it were just open to comments with no replies expected.
4. I think it is so sad that you get hatemail about giveaways! I notice that you’ve varied the time of day and days that you post, so that many get an opportunity to throw their name in at least once in awhile. It would be a shame to see it end.
Thanks again for all you do. 🙂
Joe, part of it is just that there is so much more news than there used to be. It’s really hard some weeks to pull off two reviews! Maybe what we need is another reviewer — I’ll think about that.
I promise I will do another chocolate post! But yeah, every 6 weeks is hard to imagine, LOL…
The shopping posts are meant to build a sort of directory, and yeah, I guess I didn’t want to deal with SA complaints, etc, that aren’t really relevant (you know how that is: one day there’s a nasty SA, but another day there might not be). Also, originally had the idea that we might cover lots of cities and would not want to have a bunch of guest shoppers who were forced to answer comments. Can you give me an idea: what kinds of comments would you hope to see on those posts, that is, how would it help?
And last: we are SO lucky, we get virtually no unpleasant mail, ever, on any other topic, and as I always say, we have the nicest readers anywhere. So I still count myself blessed! The giveaways just aren’t working out.
Robin – I see people are jumping on the chocolate/tea/food post idea and just thinking out loud here – if it would be too much for you to add something else to write on a regular basis, what about running it like a Lazy Poll? One month it could be chocolate (maybe even a particular brand/type) and another time it could be teas. Just let us children entertain ourselves by discussing the subject at hand.
LOL! That could work, thanks.
I’m a little late here, but I just want to say I think Rappleyea’s suggestion is brilliant. Lazy polls are always fun and educating and predefined subjects often make them even more so. Also want to say that I love the site and haven’t thought about wanting to change anything. I hope you find a solution that works for the giveaways.
Thanks Helle!
OH, seconding #2! Although…that last chocolate post got me looking around, and I’m sure I’ve gained a few pounds as a result.
Thirding the chocalate/tea posts suggestion!
I really hope the giveaways don’t stop. I think the way they are run is very fair. I know the time frame is short, but that’s life. Sorry you’ve gotten hate mail, Robin. 🙁 That makes me sad.
My only request would be some sort of feature where we could know when someone replies to your own comment. Not that I don’t want to read anyone else’s posts (because I do!), but when we have those 500+ posts days I just want to find any thread I’m already involved in. But this is a really, really small quibble. And it might just be me, in which case, ignore me.
Excited about the idea of looking for new contributors! I need more distractions from my day job, and will definitely want to apply, if that’s an option.
Thanks for all you do, Robin! This site saves my life on a daily basis! It’s such a huge escape for me.
Don’t be sad! As I said above, we have the nicest readers anywhere, and this is just one small blot so to speak.
I know there are relatively easy ways for me to set up a system that will email a reader when there is a new comment on an article, and that is on my list of things to do (although admittedly it’s taken me over a year to get to it). Not sure if those will do what you want (tell you if you have a reply) but I’ll check.
Of course, anyone can apply!
I would LOVE to read a Miss Kitty post! I’d just make sure not to be drinking anything so as to not snort all over my keyboard!
Agree… I kind of like systems that let you know when there’s a reply (like PP). Not that I don’t rescan the whole thread again many times anyway. Or yeah, maybe an optional email every time there’s a new comment? Would be crazy, but no more of a time suck than rescrolling through the thread.
I’ll have to ask March how they do that! We’re using the same software. But noticed that I don’t get those emails from them lately, although I used to.
I have no idea what happened, and haven’t been able to replicate it since, but I did once stumble across the site in such a way that it showed me what had been added since my last visit… but it also looked like it was in some kind of edit mode. I didn’t know if that was how it looks to you, or some bizarre freak occurrence, or what, but now I wish I’d captured a screen shot.
Now wait — you mean here, or at Perfume Posse??
Here! It was truly bizarre, and I was going to mention it, but I thought maybe it was a new feature you were working on and accidentally launched briefly during testing.
My, how very strange. Do tell me if it ever happens again!
Will do…I was really quite excited about it, LOL!
You know, something like that happened ONCE when I was using a mobile device that was really SLOW loading the site. I could see numbers next to each comment instead of the gravatars — obviously I was seeing some kind of “unmasked” version before all the web settings and stuff had loaded. I couldn’t do anything, just view it… like I was seeing the screen redraw in slow-mo, if you get me.
I just use the “find on this page” feature to get right to my posts to see if there have been any replies. But most of the time I scan the whole thing anyway. That is what keeps it fun and spontaneous to reply to different conversations.
I hate to admit how much time I spend scrolling through the whole thing to see what someone said about this or that! But it would be nice to be alerted when someone has responded to my comment…I have had a couple times when someone’s asked me something and I just didn’t get back and see for days….meanwhile they think I’m ignoring the question….
Oh goodness, I doubt that! I always assume a person didn’t come back to see my comment/question when there is no response. Of course, then I worry that they will come back later and answer, and I won’t remember to go back and look. LOL!
exactly! 😀
I agree – I love the scrolling! And I’ve pretty much memorized everyone’s colors and/or gravatars. I promise that I really do have a life -lol!
LOL —hey , it messes with my head when someone changes their gravataar—-if you’re scrolling fast looking for someone, I just see the pictures….
Heh, in that case: I’ll promise not to change my avatar any more!
LOL —hey it really threw me for a day! I had to remember to associate the new picture with Zeezee….and now Scentred has changed and that threw me too! Egad , the stress of it all….I may need to go eat some chocolate…..
If that can be done, that would be way cool to get notified of a response to a comment.
You do know that if you hit F3, it will open a “find” feature and you can just type your own user name (or anyone else’s for that matter) in, right? Then you just keep hitting next until you find the right post and can read any answers to your post. Not quite as neat as being emailed when you get a reply, but it works in a pinch. I use it frequently when threads get really long.
all bow down to the Great and Benevolent Computer Goddess Cynthia —you are AMAZING!
Yay for shortcuts! Knew about the feature, didn’t know F3. 🙂 When these open polls keep going for more than just the one day, I put the date in so at least I’m only looking at the current day’s comments. Still takes awhile, but it’s handy.
Ooh… even better, I hadn’t thought of doing the date. Of course, that won’t help with the ones that hit 500 comments in one day – but it will help to only find the stuff posted on day two.
Since I’m not very computer savvy, thanks for mentioning the F3 option – probably most of you knew that, but I sure didn’t!
Ooooh! Didn’t know this! Thanks!
I think it’s actually a good idea to stop the giveaways. I admit I get cranky too that by the time I see them they’re always over, and it makes me feel not “in” the NST crowd, like I’m not wanted here, plus the added kick in the pants that there’s never a way I’d ever know quick enough to participate. (Not enough to send you hate email, my goodness, some people, but I don’t think the current system is a good system.) Maybe save them up for one labor-intensive giveaway a month or a year? Or let someone else run it? A guest poster who wouldn’t mind?
I get sad when there are no NST posts on the weekends when I have time to read!, but that’s usually when I go back and read the open polls and all the wonderful comments.
No real complaints or suggestions, but feedback: do people really care when yet another new scent is coming out? I’m finding myself ignoring the “New from Blah: 8 more scents with the same names as the last niche line that came out”, and just saving my eyeballs for the actual reviews. I do like the shopping news posts, too!
Thanks for being honest about the giveaways, I appreciate it! You’re not alone — it makes lots of people cranky 🙂
Hopefully the 2 new contributors will help with weekend posts.
Hey, I’ve got lots of time on the weekends… 😉 (hint, hint.)
LOL!!
Love to read Miss Kitty on the weekends!! 🙂
Miss Kitty would be an awesome contributor!
Lemonprint, I agree with you. I work every day and log on NST when and if I have a free moment. Most of the time I also miss the giveaways, but it is what it is. It is so horrible that anyone would send hate mail because they missed a giveaway, but almost nothing surprises me about people anymore. I also would enjoy more reviews, etc. on the weekends as Sundays seem to be the only day I can leisurely read the posts and could comment. However, I think everyone on NST does a great job and I am so greatful that we have this blog to enjoy. It is one of the few things on the web that I check almost every day.
Looks like lots of people want more weekend content. Thanks!
Hi Robin! Sorry I’m so late to chime in. I’m another who would love more weekend content, simply because that’s when I have more time. Maybe the lazy polls could sometimes be on Saturday?
I’m not sure what to say about the giveaways. I think they’re fun, but it’s upsetting that you get negative mail about them. The only idea I can think of is to do a puzzle/guessing game, where you give some hints (making it hard!) and letting each person who wants to enter make one guess, and one guess only. But that could end up being more work for you.
Thanks, as always, for running such a friendly and fragrant site. 🙂
Thanks Haunani!
Robin – Please don’t stop the giveaways – they’re fun and exciting when I happen to catch one, rare as it may be. However, I’d like to piggyback on a piece of lemonprint’s idea:
Why don’t you designate a “Giveaway Day” whenever you have amassed a few bottles and provide a 24hr window of opportunity to enter? This way you won’t have to do multiple administration and more members can participate. If you REALLY want to be helpful, you can set a specific day of the month say – 1st Friday, or just announce the day before the event so those who may not “tune in” on a daily basis may be forewarned.
Anyway – Just some ideas. I admit to being frustrated sometimes when i miss an opportunity to win a coveted item, but then again – my husband’s motto is TANSTAAFL*! so, oh well! If I really wanted to try something, there are plenty of outlets for sampling at reasonable costs.
(*There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch)
I just read below about all the criteria checking for entries. So 24 hrs is too long – how about 12 hrs? and how about you run it on a quarterly basis and provide the winners on the same day the following week? You usually have rules about how you can’t have won anything in the last several months, so this will automatically qualify everyone on one of the eligibility criteria.
Just a thought!
Thanks Operafan — am writing down all the suggestions (and already have quite a list!) and will think about setting aside a day. Might work.
I am sorry you are getting hate mail! Especially when you are doing something so nice.
I love discussions of notes and scent families–the nerdier the better. I would be great to get the NST take on those subjects. (I recently referred to your orange blossom posts, Robin, when I was looking for a ob scent.)
I would lie you to bring back something like the old “he said, she said” posts and get two or more contributors talking about a scent or a group of scents. It wouldn’t need to be in the he said, she said style–it could be over consecutive days. And blind testing! That would be wonderful.
It might make a mess of the comments, but commenters could suggest a note or family and everyone could respond with their fave gourmand, comfort, or green scent, etc.
I like he said she said too!
Great suggestions, thanks Monkeytoe!
We did, once, do a poll on favorite scents for particular notes. Will see if I can find a link.
Found it!! Biggest response ever, I think:
https://nstperfume.com/2009/07/23/lazy-thursday-poll-favorites/
I remember that – it was a blast! 🙂
That was a GREAT one and it went on all weekend! Maybe an annual event to take in new releases?
Oh – that WAS fun!
I’ll second/triple the HS-SS, but can also be a “group discussion” type of collaboration which the Posse sometimes do. Granted that requires more coordination, but it allows us an instant window to different opinions.
I was thinking the same thing as I was scrolling through the comments so I second this idea!
Quite often I love a fragrance but have no idea what otherswith the same notes etc are out there and might be worth trying.
I think the first rule about giveaways should be that you are *forever* ineligible to win if you send hate mail. I don’t have any issue with how you run them (just think it’s very nifty and fun that you bother!), but since you said you really did want a new way…can you explain the process a bit? You said that leaving a giveaway open for 24 hours generates too many entries to deal with — could you just use a random number generator based on the number of comments, or is that too simple/not how you go about it?
Weekly poll topic suggestions:
1. Fragrance pairings/layering — what do you love to layer? Especially fragrances outside the same family (i.e., not different concentrations of the same fragrance, which I do plenty of, but those are natural pairings).
2. Images that embody particular fragrances — have no idea how this would be implemented other than posting links to external images (can’t post them in comments), so it’s probably not practical…but I do love the idea of knowing how people “see” scents.
We already do leave a random number generator. If you leave it open 24 hours, you get over 300 comments, minimum, possibly much more if it’s a popular product. No matter how you pick, you have to at least look at those comments: make sure everyone who entered is eligible, make sure nobody entered twice, make sure none of those entries were really questions or comments to someone else, etc. So it isn’t a matter of how you do it, it’s time consuming no matter what.
My criteria is simple: it must be quick! I don’t mean it as a complaint (really!) but I already spend more time running NST than I ought to.
That answers my question — I didn’t know what was involved in terms of entry-checking. If you were willing to let go of eligibility requirements and not worry about “chatter” (i.e., just generate another random number until an original “entry” comment is selected), I was thinking that would eliminate the difference between 3 and 300 comments…but it *doesn’t* solve the issue of having to check for multiple entries. No good.
I like the other suggestions of giving notice of when a giveaway will be held. That’s a nice and simple response to the “I didn’t know until it was over” complaints.
But see, if you don’t worry about chatter, someone will send hate mail saying that you picked the wrong comment because of some other comment that wasn’t an entry so it threw the numbering off. (Ack, hope that made sense to anyone but me)
My experience is that nothing makes me angry like free stuff they didn’t get.
I think it’s pretty much a guarantee that no matter HOW you run the giveaways, somebody’s gonna bitch 😀
Oh, and great poll topics, thanks!
I am sorry that you are getting hate mail re: the giveaways…It must be a drag to do so much work and to try to “spread the wealth” of perfume samples, so to speak, and then get slammed for it.
Well, while I will miss the giveways, their absence will in no way diminish how much I love NST.
Aw, thanks!
This site makes my day! I often miss the giveaways since I don’t log on until I have reason to “reward” myself for a job well-done (or an extra minute in the day, whichever comes first), but that doesn’t mean i don’t enjoy the idea that someone’s having a good day! There’s certainly nothing I dislike about this site (once it let me log on – i was cut off for a bit there), but I’d love to see us add a “this is what I’m wearing and why” feature. Sharing a great new scent – or kvetching about one that’s not working – is something I need you guys for – my nearest and dearest are NOT perfumistas!
Do you mean like place for everyone to announce their scent of the day?
Yes, something like that!
I think it’s absolutely the height of bad manners for anyone to send an unpleasant note about the giveaways. and I can’t even imagine how awful that must make you feel.
Here is an idea — Do you have some sort of list of registered commenters? Make the print fairly good sized….print out the list…cut out the names/emails so each one is on a slip of paper and fold them in half —toss them all in a plastic butter tub with a lid, snap on the lid and give it a shake. Now you’re ready —-let’s say you have 3 bottles that you’re done reviewing and they’re taking up valuable space—-grab your “NST regulars” tub and have your son close his eyes, reach in and grab 3 slips of paper. There’s your winners —-post on the blog : DING DING DING! we have 3 lucky winners of fragrance! list the username asking them to respond with shipping info. If they don’t want the fragrance that they’ve been awarded (does this EVER happen?) then you can draw a substitute winner. Those names go in the trash can so you won’t duplicate ……occasionally you may want to add the names of new signer-uppers. Anyhow, it’s something to think about. 🙂
But there are about 6000 registered users!!
HOLY MOLY —-ummmm yeah, that’s a lot…..ok, nevermind…..
That’s one big@**ed butter-tub!
butter bathtub! lol
now that’s just kinky! But probably good for your skin…
yeah, I was thinking a few hundred…..not THOUSANDS Maybe setting a day a week ahead of time….like:
“let it be known that Monday the 20th at 9:30 am you may submit a comment to win a free bottle blah blah blah…”
then everyone has been forewarned –and you can still pick from the first 20-30 commenters AND it’d be filled in about 2 minutes flat!
Of course, I hate to say it, but if people are going to complain about how it’s done now, they’ll complain about this too. It’s just that instead of “I didn’t know it was coming,” you’d get “I was there and I tried, but I only have dial-up…some people have high-speed connections at work. It’s not fair!” And I wonder if it wouldn’t crash the site, having that many people trying to post at once…
sigh, yes you are right…..it could crash it….and the fact is that complainers complain…that’s what they do.
Maybe you could stop people complaining by posting notice of the competition and rules a day or 2 before you open the comments.
You can tell people what time they should be logging on to enter. That way people have notice and it’s up to them to be diligent if they want the freebee.
That’s an idea that might work, thanks!
I was disappointed that by the time I received the daily email the giveaway was over, but never angry (and would never have the audacity to complain). I realized that if I really wanted to have a shot then I better be on the site earlier than when you send the email (which is not at all difficult since you send it at the same time everyday). Sadly I realized this just a few weeks ago so I never did get to enter, but really, oh well!!
My best suggestion is for you to just send all the bottles you don’t want to me and it will be our secret. 🙂
While were here — I posted on last Friday’s poll that I was looking for shopping suggestions for my upcoming honeymoon, then was not able to get back to the site in a timely manner to properly thank everybody. I got some great tips as well as congratulatory and best wishes messages on my wedding that were incredibly nice. –So thank you to everybody that responded. I hope to go back there a post a few replies later today or tomorrow.
LOL!! That’s the easiest giveaway suggestion yet.
Absolute best wishes for your honeymoon!
in that case…..coincidentally; Lucy’s shipping address just happens to be identical to MINE…. I know, what an odd thing…but just go with it.
😉
LOL there we go…send ’em all to Daisy. They’ll end up split into 100 1-ml vials and included as free extras in all her splits and sample swaps anyway…voila! Problem solved. Everyone gets a piece. 😀
LOL –you know me too well! 😀
Ain’t it the truth Boo!
Lucy and Daisy – you two are cracking me up! 😀
Evil emails just chap my hide! Honestly, who has nothing better to do than rant about missing a giveaway? I see NST giveaways in my feed all the time and I think I have missed every one. I don’t read NST for the giveaways, but I think it’s lovely that you share the bounty.
I agree with Chasa, a random number generator would be nearly painless.That is, If you have the heart to continue the giveaways. I’ll still be hear without them. NST feeds my habit 🙂
That’s what we’re here for: keep the habit fed. Thanks!
NST is my fav reading to do these days – better than magazines, better company than most places, intelligent writing. I love all the writers, reviews, etc. I suppose I would only want more reviews and less posts on the new releases. I totally appreciate you don’t have enough reviewers and there are way too many launches. Hey, everyone everywhere is short staffed these days and you can only do what you can do. Keep the quality and the rest will come eventually. It is not possible to be all things to all people, you just have to decide the few things you really want to do and do them well.
I know from my own job in the public when I start to feel like the life is being sucked out of me by trying to do too much for all the people, I realize it is better to draw back and focus on core essentials. Sometimes adding more (more features, more staff) is not always the answer. Maybe you need less — cut out some of those new release posts and get back to the other things you love. It is your blog after all, so why not only post releases that you and the rest of the reviewers would actually like. It is a curator move. It’s not like in the ad-age we won’t see other new release info other places.
Ann, I’ve thought about that, but you know, that’s the primary reason I started NST: I found it so annoying that there was no one place I could find out about new releases. It would be hard for me to let that go, even though really we don’t get ALL of them either.
Well then you are doing a very good job bringing all the new releases to us – prix eau faux worthy or not!!!
Hi Robin! I am relatively new to NST, but I really love the format and I think you have a great team of writers.
Requests? I would like to see more he said/she said columns, as monkeytoe mentioned previously. It’s great to get more than one perspective when possible.
Also, I just want to state that I like the giveaways set up as is. I like the instant gratification of it all, and the small sample size makes me feel like I actually have a chance at winning a perfume. I think it’s absurd and offensive that anyone would hassle you on this, as you are sacrificing your time and energy to do something generous for us. We should all be appreciative to have the opportunity.
Keep up the good work. NST is my favorite blog!
Love the he/she reaction if you mean adding husbands & mates to the equation. I’ve been wondering too about which frags work for getting a relationship marriage onto another level if ya know what I mean.
You know — that was exactly what I thought, that people would like the small sample size because the chance of winning was greater. Didn’t work out that way!
Ok—now that I’ve cluttered up your blog with my giveaway ideas….I have more to say ( begin dozing off now…)
1. ) I adore NST and it’s the only blog I visit every darn day! I think you all do a wonderful job and now I really can’t imagine my life without a good dose of NST daily.
2.) I agree with Chasa –haters should be excluded from giveaways.
3.) the other day I told a friend that Champagne de Bois was one of my “Desert Island” fragrances….and she immediately asked what my other 4 to go to the deserted island would be….I’m still debating. I think it would be fun to occasionally do a “your top 5 for ***fill in the blank*** fragrances” …. I know we’ve done this sort of open thread before , but there’s new posters, new fragrances and heaven knows we change our minds often enough.
4.) and speaking of open threads….I love it when you leave us to our own devices with an open thread on Friday or Saturday—gets me through the weekend. Especially when the droning of sport event X on TV is starting to drive me out of my noggin.
Love your “Top 5” idea Daisy!
I agree with #4. It give me something to do on Saturday’s when my husband is at work and the toddler is watching cartoons.
Also, I use Saturdays to catch up on all the weekly posts that I don’t always have time to read. Some week days I actually do have to work, and some days I can pretend I am working while reading NST and typing. 🙂
Ditto #4…I love open threads for the weekend!
#3 is a good idea. And I forget what everyone said the last time, anyway, so it’s all new information to me all over again. Plus, I’m a sucker for Top 5 (or 10, etc) lists. Must be from watching David Letterman as a child.
I know, same here.
Daisy, you’ve crawled inside my head and expressed my sentiments exactly:
1. ) Ditto. LUV NST. Read it compulsively
2.) Yes, ban the haters
3.) do a “your top 5 for ***fill in the blank*** fragrances” ….Love these too.
4.) Agree, open threads can go in all kinds of interesting directions.
Two other suggestions are:
* More features on a particular note, reviewing the range of its expression (eg. jasmine, iris, sandalwood, orange blossom, civet, ambergris…)
* Perfume for Day Wear – how to get our fix during the day without being fired or boring
Great poll idea. Now please tell me some topics for the Top 5s! You mustn’t leave any of the thinking to me, LOL…
you gotta have:
1.) top five fragrances that’d go to the deserted island with you
2.) top five frags. for the workplace
3.) top 5 for date night
4.) top 5 “pick me up, I’m having a bad day” fragrances
5.) top 5 power fragrances
6.) top 5 cuddle me fragrances
7.) top 5 you’d put in a time capsule for future generations
8.) top 5 fragrances that you’d send to someone you hate beyond all reason.
9.) top 5 fragrances you’d buy as soon as your lottery winnings show up.
and finally:
10.) top 5 fragrances that the perfume industry should apologize for.
anyone else? anyone? Bueller?
Top 5 perfumes you don’t admit you own
or how about a “match the celebrity to the fragrance they should REALLY wear” poll
…oh I know what some of you would say…tsk tsk
Daisy, love the above list! I have found myself needing “fragrances to wear to the zoo” and “fragrances to wear to a home improvement store” LOL. It’s funny how my mind starts to work with all the options.
Maybe top five (or whatever number) that you love that don’t seem to get much love on the blogs/forums.
yes! the unsung perfume loves….
Daisy, what a fun list! Also, the comment about what to wear to the zoo! Maybe what NOT to wear to the zoo?!
Answers to #8 ASAP please! A post like that would be hilarious, Daisy!
number 1 on everyone’s list : Secretions Gagnifique !
#2 —-something Paris Hilton!
“Top 5” gets awfully long for me. As it is, we list five when you ask us to list only one or two. LOL. If you ask for Top 5, each comment will be looooong because some of us (ahem) will stretch it and say “I couldn’t cull any from my list of ten… here they are…”
I prefer “Top Scents for X”.
Top 5 Scents That Make Me Invincible
Top 5 Scents for a Lazy Saturday
Top 5 Scents for Kickin’ Butt and Takin’ Names
Other Open Thread Ideas:
Lost Loves – fragrances you once loved but can no longer find
Back in the Day (first scents, 80s loves)
Scents Only I Could Love (but not my significant other/mother/kids/co-workers)
Scents I Admire But Can’t Love (It’s Not You, It’s Me)
Top 5 Office Scents That Aren’t a Sellout
Great list Scentred!
Oh, now I want to see allllll of these. Titled exactly like that.
I also enjoy the open threads on the weekend!
I have learned so much here in the past few months and this is my ‘go to’ site for info on ‘fumes i have not heard of yet (which is many…)
I also feel lonely on Sat/Sunday w/o NST! Maybe guest bloggers could have their reviews posted on those days?
Love the site!
Another vote for weekends, thanks!
New Topics or Features:
How about articles? I mean for example an article about all the current in production “exclusive” lines from major houses… let’s say I already know Hermes is doing it and Van Cleef too.. but I love Armani and the armani privés are unknown to me (this is purely theoretical, but anyway hehehee) and then well… in the vein of something that I already love about NST… the part I and part II of these articles (like you do with limited ed bottles in the span of a whole year) ….
Another thing… I know this is not original, but as a result of working with an overachiever/attention to detail-freak boss over the last couple of years, I’ve come to love lists.. like “10 tubereuses that’ll make you swoon” or “The top 5 green frags that do not smell like freshly cut lawn” or “top 5 fragrances for him(or her) that will make you irresistible” (well… I know it’s gimmicky, but print media has been doing this for years 🙂 )
Also once every xx months you could do the “10 most visited posts, 10 most commented posts” , etc.
On the kvetching… no luck, I am grateful that this site exists, that the staff that operates is exists, and that it is such a fine outlet for my madness 🙂
About the giveaways… I understand the frustration but c’mon.. hate mail? My suggestion is:make a list with the users with excel.. US and non US.. once a month, pick a number (or several according to how many things are to be given away) and select the winner/s.
They should be trusting and grateful! If anyone answers back after you announce the “new policy” answer in Miranda Priestly’s fashion… “No, no… I WASNT asking… that’s it!” 🙂
About the Lazy polls.. well I love to read stories about how a perfume affected people.. cute stories or terrible stories… but knowing the impact fragrance has in people lives makes an interesting read IMHO.
and those are my 2 cents… I hope that it is useful and please forgive the lenght of this post.
I’d like the top 5 green fragrances that DO smell like freshly mowed lawn! 😀
Me too. (The list does not include Gap Grass. Sadly.)
Well. For me Gap Grass (the original at least) was very close… also herba fresca from the aqua allegoria line from guerlain…
After that I am lost… In the mid 90’s I guess someone discovered the molecule that smells like freshly cut lawn and they overdid it (the same as the marine-ozone calone and the green-tea molecule… overdone to death) to the point you got the smell even in the washing machine detergent (I swear I smelled a limited edition “Skip” washing machine powder that smelled like I’eau d’issey around 1998!)
I like the greens that smell more like greens.. like Givenchy’s greenergy (now discontinued or hard to get) and Eau de Campagne by sysley. Other green one I like is Eau de Givenchy.. check out Robin’s review here.. https://nstperfume.com/2005/03/04/eau-de-givenchy-fragrance-review/
kaos, have you tried Diptyque L’Ombre dans L’Eau? I love that in the summer! Your favs sound great, too.
Have you tried the vintage? I tried the new version and didn’t get what the fuss was about at all. Then someone kindly sent me a generous sample of the vintage and…it’s freshly mowed lawn. Period.
Boojum, yes I have tried the vintage and I agree.. it was closer to freshly mowed lawn than what it is today…
Knoz: I was about to buy it last year but they didnt have a tester and I didnt want to buy unsniffed… will look for it next time I am in the states (only place I might travel to this year that has it)
Great article ideas, thanks P!
Kaos – I really love your Lazy Poll idea!
Love this blog, Robin. One of the highlights of my day – reading the posts. Does this mean I need to get a life??? Ha ha. 😉 Seriously, though, NST is my go-to site whenever I want to find out about a certain scent, or learn more about a perfumer, or find online shopping deals, etc. The search tool is invaluable!
Something I’d love to see – highlight different cities and list the shops that carry perfume. I travel a lot, and knowing where to find perfume shops, or shops that carry certain fragrance lines would be awesome. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a map of France or Italy with a star on every perfumery? I suppose Google could do it for me (or does another blog exist that does this?)…but lists of shops with short descriptions and addresses would be awesome. I know the guest shopper does something similar…but I’d love to see categorizations by destination rather than one shop at a time.
Thanks Karin, that’s a great idea!
I’m also horrified at the manners of people complaining about missing out on stuff that Robin is so generously giving away — AND shipping — for free. That said, I do agree that there should be a better way of doing giveaways that doesn’t drive you crazy; I like Ann’s suggestion of assigning everyone a number or Daisy’s of just printing out all our names — you could keep them in the same big bowl all year and throw out each slip that wins to keep them out of future drawings.
I’d also like comments on the shopping reviews, and a lazy poll every week! But most of all I just want this blog to remain as fun, fabulous, and hassle-free as possible for everyone, especially Robin.
Thanks!
Can I ask why you’d want comments on the shopping articles — are you looking for other opinions on whether the store is worth visiting, or…?
I assume if it’s being written about it’s worth visiting, but there’s such a wealth of information from the commenters here that I’m sure people would have great tips to add. However, I do see your point about not wanting a bitch-fest about snooty SAs.
Yeah, I understand why it’s easier to NOT have comments on the shopping articles.
Nothing I’d want to see/learn from the comments especially… it’s just the tendency to want to be “chatty”… as if there’s not enough opportunity for that. I’ve just found myself wanting to make a comment once or twice, or ask a question about the shop or line (to the general readership), but I can’t remember what it was related to right now.
Thanks to both of you. I will think about it. I really did want to avoid getting complaint-type comments, esp. since you know, how can we answer those? Every store is going to have a few unhappy customers.
Some people just suck. It is beyond rude for anyone to send hate mail about your generous giveaways. My solution: Don’t address the method of the drawings, but rather the sucky people directly. Any time you receive an e-mail b*tching about missing a drawing, forward said e-mail to Daisy, Joe, Boo, Ann, Miss Kitty, Mals (any of the regular readers, really), or me. We’ll be happy to “take care of them” for you! 🙂
Seriously, you do a great job, and I appreciate all your efforts. My day truly isn’t complete without stopping by NST!
a perfume smack-down?? LOL
TONIGHT, IT’S A STEEL-CAGE GRUDGE MATCH: WINO VS. THE HATAHS!!! We could webcast it. It would be awesome.
I’d like to see Daisy and Joe do a good cop, bad cop.
I call Bad Cop!
Wondering which one I’d be. Hmm. Or we could switch off. LOL
It’s kind of hilarious to think about extreme measures: any complainer gets his or her email printed verbatim on the blog. Then again, people have had the audacity to be nasty in the actual giveaway threads themselves, so I guess even public shaming is no longer a threat — like people who do god knows what in public and don’t get the hint even when there are a hundred pairs of horrified eyes looking at them.
yeah yeah yeah, a perfume smack-down that includes profuse spritzing of Secretions Magnifique…don’t worry, Daisy, you can wear a hazmat suit! 🙂
a hazmat suit won’t mess up my hair will it?
LOL!
Will have to look at review of this Secretions stuff to find out what you’re talking about, though to me it sounds a bit on the revolting side. It is conjuring up odd images in my head.
just be sure to have soap and water close by…..ack!
Trust me, however revolting it sounds to you, it is actually ten times worse! Nasty!
I recently was told that I can be very intimidating when I want to be, so sure, send them my way! 😉
were you wearing that catwoman suit at the time? …just asking…
Hee! You guys are cracking me up!
LOL — the perfume hit squad! You guys crack me up.
oh! we totally need t-shirts!!!
Robin’s Perfume Hit Squad
….or Robin’s Perfume Etiquette Enforcers
I would totally wear that T-shirt! We could be like Cartman on South Park: “We are the Perfume Enforcers! You will respect our authori-tah!” 😀
LOL – to everything said here!!! Hey, I’m a nice gal, but I have been known to be bad-ass when need be. I want one of those tee shirts!
😉
Oh my goodness Wino – you bring up Cartman and you have me ROTFL! See Robin – you have an army at your defense and you didn’t even know it!
I’m working on a complicated project right now but I keep sneaking over to read the comments. Y’all are cracking me up! Thanks for the levity.
I now have this vision of your bedazzled hit squad tshirt, lol!
rhinestone embellishments are pretty much a must I think.
**Runs to find bedazzler**
Oh, stop! Stop! I’m laughing so hard my husband actually GOT OUT OF HIS RECLINER to find out what was going on.
NO! Quickly: minimize the screen—outworlders must not know!!!!
oh wait wait! I want to bedazzle my hazmat suit too!
Do you wear the heavily stone encrusted enabler’s pin on the INside or the OUTside of the hazmat suit?
You know that works out to “Robin’s PEE.”
LOL! You guys are nuts. Really.
Well that’ll add a certain amount of INTIMIDATION to the threat of our deployment…… “careful!, or Robin’s PEE will come for you!” or “look out! it’s Robin’s PEE !!! ” uh-huh , a force to be reckoned with.
I’m nearly in tears, I’m laughing so hard!
I’ve never met Daisy, but now I have this indelible image in my head of a fabulous-smelling woman in a hazmat suit bedazzled with “Robin’s PEE.” Funniest. Sh*t. Ever.
added benefit: I’d never get crowded on a bus! 😉
Is that better or worse than being Robin’s Perfume Malcontent Squashers! then our t-shirts could say :
“Robin’s PMS” now that could be intimidating!
HA!
Time for a real, live complaint: when did SAs decide that it was just fine to be uttterly ignorant about the goods they’re selling? It used to be they’d be at least mildly apologetic and say, “I usually work in hardware” or “Today’s my first day”, but now it’s, “What, you expect me to know the store’s stock??”
The one good thing I can say about the SAs at perfume counters is that they can’t say, “If we have it, it’s over there”, vaguely waving a hand.
Otherwise, it’s spring and a long weekend is almost upon us, so no complaints there…
Aw, that’s too bad 🙁
Hate Mail? Oh for goodness sake! Some folks are just so rude and ungrateful! I think you run this blog just fine. Interesting topics, friendly, and you really seem to go out of your way to answer everyones comments and questions. One small suggestion if I may, you know how you have the Perfume Houses page set up where you click on a letter, maybe the Perfume Reviews page you could set up like that as well. You have to scroll down the whole page the way it is set up at the moment. That’s not really a complaint though. 🙂
Carlos, that’s a great suggestion. That page annoys me too, and don’t know why I didn’t think of that.
Hate mails? That’s a bummer. If they are too nasty, maybe you just ought to block them from the site.
I love NST and it’s one of the few sites I check everyday. I even check it on my phone if I can’t get my hands on a pc! Im learning a lot of stuff from the articles, reviews and the comments of the NSTers. Though I still can’t say “Ah that’s the tuberose / vanilla / iris” when sniffing perfumes! =p
I agree with one of the posters above – maybe we can have a sort of “Notification” feed/link (like in FB perhaps?) when someone replies to our comments.
Poll suggestion: (Not sure If already done though) – What would you save if all perfumes were to be banned/abolished/banished except for one?
NST rocks! =)
Shelley, I’m the last person on earth who isn’t on Facebook — so explain how that works? Would an email do the trick, or you’re suggesting something else?
When you log in, there’s a sort of notice (er?) saying that: “You have 1 Notification” and when you click the link, it’ll give you a list of all the new activities related to you. E.g “Robin replied to your comment; etc”. FB users, did I explain that right?
Aha, gotcha. Will have to look into how we could do something like.
Hey Robin!
I don’t post very often – just thought I’d drop in to say I read this blog almost everyday (and the Posse too) and say a huge thanks to yourself and to all the contributors for your wonderful topics and stories.
I don’t always read all the comments, and I don’t come here for the freebies or giveaways. It’s just good to know I’m not alone, and I’m not totally crazy – so please keep on doing what you do, cos it feeds my soul a little.
Now, what would I like to see as a topic for a ‘lazy poll’? I’d love to hear about what got everyone started down the Perfumista Path, our earliest perfumed memories, weird & wonderful perfume associations, that kinda thing…
Great poll ideas, thanks Kizzers!
GREAT idea Kizzers!
(By the time I finish reading all the way to the end, I won’t possibly be able to come up with a new idea – lol!)
lovely idea! i’m pretty sure i’d read all 359 essays : )
Sometimes I imagine an “adopt a newbie” program that would help fascilitate getting rid of some of the tons of still worthwhile samples I have of fragrances I don’t really care for. And I’m not talking crappy stuff- but the fragrances I know now after many years of sniffing are just not me. All they are going to do is languish away in my box. My urge to create a sample library has passed and now I am ready to let go. And perhaps some of us old coots could help bring some newbies into the mix of conversation.
If I was in in the States, I would have been the 1st one to raise my hand and say “Adopt me! Adopt me!” =)
But that’s a great idea AnnS!
Ah, well, I am sure there are plenty of overstocked perfumistas wherever you are that might help! And trans-world adoptions are not impossible!
No they’re not. We’ve been know to ship “cosmetic samples” overseas. 😉
USED cosmetic samples! With NO COMMERCIAL VALUE! 😀
and yet so ewww-y sounding…..
I get only mainstream items here. =( But not a bad place to start right?
Adopt me! Adopt me! Are shipping fees so much of a killer? I wouldnt mind paying for the shipping fees if it’s not that much
No, the shipping fees aren’t the problem. It’s customs…there are lots of restrictions on sending perfume, mostly because it’s flammable.
I *love* the Adopt a Newbie idea! That’s great! I feel like a lot of people do that inadvertently already (I know I felt like I had at least a few Perfume Fairy Godmothers), but it would be fun to have a system in place.
I have a certain fariy godmother! Wise Saint Daisy once wrote to me before hooking me up with some gorgeous Fifi Chachnil:
“Give a perfumista a sample and they sniff for a day, teach them to decant and they sniff forever.”
😉
This is a brilliant idea! And not just because I’m a newbie and need adopting. 🙂 Actually, I even have a few samples and things I’d like to pass on that aren’t to my taste (e.g. Rose de Nuit Mai). Maybe we could set up a seeking/sharing swap list or something like that?
Sandy
I think there is a swap board on MUA? But it always seems nice to have a mentor type thing going on.
Love this idea!
Ooh, I’d be willing to help enable – er, help a newbie! Wonder how we could facilitate that…
I don’t know… I think about that too. There has to be some way, even virtually, where we line up the newbies on one side of the room and the rest of us on the other side and then make contact….
ok…maybe on a poll day—-have only newbies “check in” one short comment only that says something like “my name is **username** and I’ve only been reading this blog for **x # of months** , I think I like rose scents and oud scares me….” then after a while us folks whats been around a coon’s age can pick a newbie to adopt and post a response to their comment, thereby adopting them for a “welcome to the Rabbit Hole” swap packet…just thinking and typing so it’s okay to say if this is stooopid.
maybe ‘swap packet’ is the wrong term—more like a welcome packet.
Daisy – Yes! I think that would be a great idea for a quarterly (?) poll! And really, besides the adoption, it could be any kind of newbie come out and post, ask questions, seek samples and/or advice, etc.
Oh fun! A fun way of “hazing”!
LOL Ann! When you said line the newbies up on the other side of the room…. for some reason my brain (tired I admit) finished the sentence with – “….and throw samples at them!”
I got kind of “dodge-ball” image as well ! DUCK!
D- you just made me snort all over my keyboard! Oh my god, how funny. Yes! Hysterical. Not what I had in mind, but makes me think of the girl-hazing scene from the movie Dazed and Confused.
What a sweet, charitable idea Ann!
Fabulous idea! Surely someone among us has the organizational skills to figure out how to impliment it.
Adopt me, Ann! 🙂
Vy. interesting idea. Will have to think about how we could administer that.
I think this is a fantastic idea!
I love this blog! Thank you so much for your hard work, Robin. I’d be very sad if I couldn’t come here anymore. I visit it many times throughout the day and I very much enjoy reading the perfume reviews and all of the comments.
The hate mail thing is obviously insane but I’m beyond being surprised at people as I work in a public library. With that said, coming here helps restore my faith in people as all of the writers and regular posters are so kind and generous!
My one suggestion is related to the adopt-a-newbie idea. Would it be possible to set up a NST swap board? That may be too much work but I thought I’d throw it out there.
Yeah, people have suggested a swap board, and several times I’ve said I would start something like…at least, swap-like open threads. Still have it on my to do list.
Swapping here would be so cool.
Well, I’ll be honest: I’m not a big fan of the current method of giveaways; it is frustrating on my part, especially ‘coz I’m on here every day. But I certainly would never complain to you about my missing it. It’s my fault, really. I could stay home all day and refresh every ten seconds waiting for a giveaway but it’s not worth that much to me. It’s your blog (and I can only imagine how much time it takes away from your life) so please, do whatever you feel comfortable with. I can’t blame you for wanting something easy. After all, I love pretty much everything else about this blog and certainly wouldn’t want you to give up, say, new fragrance updates, to organize a 400-person giveaway just so I could maybe win a bottle of perfume.
Offering suggestions feels kind of like when my friends in clubs used to ask me for fund raising ideas for their clubs: a lot of times, the ideas turn out to be rubbish.
For giveaways: Is there a way you could make a list of all the people who commented on one specific day and use that list? Other people saying all active members should be included is a little broad, I think and surely there’s some way to make it so that each person enters that list only once?
Everything else: I do like the old He Said, She Said posts and would welcome their return. In the same vein, I think it’d be fun if you could maybe publish some personal conversations between you and some other blogger/perfumista friends on a fragrance that’s being passed around. Things like that must be pretty fun. Or maybe you could even stage them, have a few people get on some messenger for 10 minutes and discuss one specific perfume that everyone’s trying/wearing. It might be a pain to organize but that would really be fun, to see you guys less edited. 😀
I’m sure I had more ideas but that’s all I can remember. @…@
I really do love NST! It’s definitely my favorite blog. Thank you.
All good ideas, thanks!
This makes me think… what about limiting the giveaways to a random drawing from the people who commented when you originally announced the release of whatever was being given away? Usually that would capture a group of people who show some interest in the particular fragrance? Hope this makes sense!
It makes my day to read NST, You’ll do a GREAT job, keep it up.
Yes, I also second that. I’m sorry to hear that anyone would complain about this fantastic blog. Sometimes I just sit and wonder how you manage it all.
Thank you both!
Hi Robin: This is a bit random, but I’m wondering what your favorite grapefruit scent is. I am thinking I need a grapefruit scent recently. I think I remember you liking the Hermes and hating Pomplelune. I have not tried either.
I’m not Robin, but the Hermes is nice, and also Nicolai Balle de Match. Good luck. Pamplelune is love/hate, so you should try it (and WAIT for the drydown on skin before making a verdict).
Joe is right, Balle de Match is high on my list. Also love the Hermes Pamplemousse. The Guerlain is absolutely worth trying — many people love it.
Both of Joe’s suggestions are great – actually, grapefruit scents are how he and I met. I’m one of those people who have almost all grapefruit scents (including the Guerlain) turn to cat pee on me – but those two are fabulous.
Ditto to what so many people have said already: hate mail = egregious and wrong; He said /She said = great idea; i love this blog, Robin, it truly is the only blog I read regularly and get excited about reading…Bravo on a job well done!! (For the record, I don’t have a problem with the way the giveaways have been run – and I’ve never won before and I’ve missed my fair share.)
I love Daisy’s idea about having open threads on Fridays or Saturdays because I also get lonely and miss NSTers over the weekend. 🙂 Maybe, as someone else mentioned, having a guest blogger administer the weekend open threads would take the pressure off you. You could even do an open call for guest blogging spots (like Monday Mail) in which people can propose the specific topic/poll that they would like to proctor.
I also want to echo Joe’s sentiments about wanting more reviews! I also get mildly disappointed on days when there are no reviews and no open threads/polls, etc.
But truly, I love everything about this place! YAY!
Yes, I would appreciate more weekend stuff too and I’m sure you could find any number of people willing to take some of the burden off you.
One more vote for Friday afternoon being when “Open Thread” is posted… we can entertain ourselves through the weekends (and put off our poor gardening, housecleaning, etc etc… as if we need another excuse). Those open threads are better than a house party, I have to say (and I’ll ask the requisite, “Does that mean *I* don’t have a life??”)
Maybe all the open threads should just be on the weekends then. Thanks guys.
I am a faithful reader of your blog, but have only posted one other time.
I am ‘smell challenged’. I am also undisciplined. What this means is that I often wear two perfumes together, and don’t have a clue if they are offending everyone within a 20 foot radius.
I would love to see a question one day asking which combinations your readers think work well together. For example, today I am sporting Sonoma Scent Studio’s Velvet Rose on the front of me, and Stella McCartney’s Rose Absolute on the back and part of my right side. I think it’s pretty great, but who knows what people passing by think?
I also like to mix Stella McCartney’s Stella with EL PC Tuberose Gardenia!!! Does it reek? I would love to know.
About the giveaways. It’s very generous of you to offer them. I second the idea of a random number for members, and a limit of one giveaway for each person.
I’m going to layer the Stella and the ELPCTG and check that out – sounds pretty! That will not be today though – today is all about CHANEL BdI.
I thought we’d done a layering poll, but I can’t find it so maybe we never did!
LOL! Robin, I think that might have been on the Posse.
No, just realized what I was thinking of — we did a layering article and asked for suggestions:
https://nstperfume.com/2007/12/06/perfumista-tip-on-perfume-layering/
So we could use an “update”.
I just want to join the choir of thanks, Robin you’re doing a super job, and most of us really appreciate it! Senders of hate mails are better off on gossip blogs, where they can unleash their hatred towards unsuspecting (and not caring) celebs..
As for improvements: I have already suggested extending shopping tips to other cities, but I don’t know in which way, maybe someone has a suggestion? I like checking out the more elusive niche perfume shops when visiting new towns. Another idea, since lately we’ve been reading preposterous ad copies, couldn’t we also have a contest with the real stuff? – this does not, of course, substitute the Prix Eau Faux, I’m really looking forward to the finalists 🙂
I am not kidding when I say that a prize for the best REAL ad copy would be hard to do: too much fodder, LOL…I’d never find judges to read it all! But will give more thought to expanding the store coverage.
You could simply have people nominate their favorites for the real ad copy. Of course, since that’s easier than writing your own, you might get noms from all 6k readers. Even that would be a lot of slogging.
I love NST! It’s expanded my world and made me respect other people who I’ve never met before. Robin you’ve been so gracious and I most especially appreciate how you detest politics and polemics from entering the discussion. I feel like this is a safe place to be oneself. As a very poor budding perfumista I loved winning a drawing and receiving a little package in the mail, (even though it was B&BW, it was still so special.) But I would say it’s not worth your time and energy to do drawings if it’s generally frustrating for people. I’m in Switzerland now, so the time zone this is certainly an issue for some people.
Thanks Kari, that’s so nice!
Ooh, I get to make random suggestions!!
I love it when there’s an open thread post over the weekend – big pajama party you can drop in on. Fun fun fun.
Guest posts – either reviews or articles submitted ahead of time and used to “plug a hole” in the daily postings, or cover your vacation break – would be fun. (I think Robin R offered to submit an article at one point – and I would love to read anything written by our Queen Enabler, for just a couple of examples.) Unless that would be more coordinating than you’re accustomed to…
Lazy day poll ideas: your most recent purchase, your Best Deal Ever, the fragrance that most reminds you of another person, your current top five loves…
I am sorry to not have any giveaway suggestions that aren’t cumbersome and Even More Work. I’m even more sorry that your generosity has occasioned hurt feelings, when I know that wasn’t your intention, and when this blog is such a happy place to hang out. Thanks so much for making it so.
I like the Best Deal Ever idea – I have one that makes my toes curl with happiness every time I think of how it turned out – and for some vintage Magie Noire too!
That could make for some great stories.
Oh, yes, more poll ideas: Best unsniffed purchase. Worst unsniffed purchase.
Worst scented memory? Weirdest scent-related thing that ever happened to you?
Thanks Mals, all great ideas!
Complaint: I’ve been prevented from posting three times over the last year, with my password suddenly and arbitrarily not accepted. I’m tired of having to register new passwords. Anyone else have this problem? Or is there an anti-rabbit bias to your server?
Happened to me too! Maybe a glitch on the server? *no idea*
LOL I haven’t had to change my password and I’m a bun-bun 😀
I am so sorry! I have had a handful of complaints, so I know it has happened to a few people, but so far as I know it isn’t widespread, and more to the point I have no idea why it happens. Please let me know if you have more problems.
That happened a few times to me, too – IIRC, just after the switcheroo to wordpress. To be honest, I do have an unfortunate tendency to forget my passwords, so I figured it was my fault. It hasn’t happened these 5-6 months though, so maybe it solved itself?
Hope so!
This blog has been a precious happy place ever since I discovered it. I not only prize it for the information that’s dispensed here, but the charming, fun, civilized atmosphere. Whether I log in or not, I have my coffee here most mornings. I think you do a wonderful job, and I was just astounded to read that you are getting hate mail. Very sorry to hear that.
I’ll continue to be grateful that you enjoy doing this, realizing it must involve a huge commitment of your time. Thank you!
That’s so sweet, thanks!
Meanwhile thanks to all those who counseled me on good soliflore violet scents. Just got my PC delivery. Really liking Viioletta di Parm and Caron Violette Precieuse but my only complaint is that neither are very tenacious.
Violet can burn off pretty quickly – I don’t think it’s a very large molecule. Violetta di Parma lasts about three seconds on me. I really like Penhaligon’s, which lasts, oh, all of two hours!
NST is something I read everyday. I may not always have time to respond, but of all the blogs I do read this is my favorite place to learn and laugh and enjoy myself.
I’m hoping I don’t come off too ignorant, but are you referring to people emailing you personally with hate mail? I agree with everyone, very poor taste. Not sure how to solve the contest problem without involving yet more work for you. Maybe just initiate a NST rule that all drawings are only open for a certain slot of time. Period. And always on Tuesdays or whatever day you choose to have it on. People would then know it’s always that day, always that time.
I love the lazy day polls; I’ve got new movies to watch, good chocolate, and have learned so much about what perfumes I do and don’t like. Because of this blog my linen closet no longer holds towels-it’s growing into a secret garden. I appreciate your pioneer spirit–you followed your instinct years ago and brought us a unique forum where we can learn and share. It’s so much a part of my life and so important to me, knowing I’m part of an expanding group of people who feel the same way I do about perfume. Thank you very much for taking a leap of faith.
Oh, me too — I have found so many great chocolates/movies/books & all sorts of other things due to the comments here.
Thanks!
Hi Robin,
I love your blog and I find it is the one where the information is best organized.
I also like the way you organize giveaways: competing between 10/20 people is better than competing with 200… Those who complain should do their math. If you want to change this, personally I think the best way to win a prize is if you have to do something for it: this also narrows down the number of entries! For example, the perfume for the draw provides a theme for some kind of composition and you choose the one you like the most? Ok… Maybe this turns out to be a lot of work after all!!!
In “my wish” section: an alphabet for quick scrolling the perfume reviews page, tags like dunno “gardenia” that when clicked provide all your gardenia reviews to the avid reader?
As for polls, maybe you have already done it, but here are few random ideas:
1) the best perfume related movie scene/book passage/song lyric (/stands for and or)?
2) What was your greatest discovery/moment as a training perfumista?
3) Which was the worst?
4) Which nose (house) suits your tastes most AND why?
5) Choose one frangrance (one!) and tell us why is it so special!
In any case your blog is pretty much perfect as it is!!!
Thanks for all the great poll ideas!
I wish we had a tag system like that too. When we got tagging capability, we already had over 5000 articles posted, so tagging all of the old ones is a huge job. I’m working on it, but it’s slow and things like notes are probably never going to happen.
I’m sorry you received nasty mail because of the giveaways! I love everything about this site. Thanks to your hard work, I have learned so much about fragrance and met so many lovely individuals who are just as passionate (fanatical?) as I am! Thank you so much for adding a little joy and relaxation to my hectic life!
Thanks Kalynna!
I am fairly new here and love the content. I have learnt so much about fragrance that I choose what I purchase with more thought. i love the open polls and would suggest posing a question for everyone to respond to ie. If you had only $50 to spend what would you buy or when visiting the doctor what fragrance if all do you wear. Kind of silly but it would be fun and interesting at the same time.
As for the contests, being from Canada I certainly don’t expect that all the contests are open to us because of duties etc. Contests are fun but if the people running the contest are being antagonized maybe the simpliest thing is to stop them.
I love reading this blog and it is an escape to a wonderfully scented world when you have days of poopy diapers.
I remember those days well! Thanks.
I’m just going to add how much I love NST and how unhappy it makes me that some people would be so ignorant to send you hate mail! That boggles my mind. It looks like you’ve received a few feasible suggestions to keep the givaways going though, if you decide that it’s worth it. I’ve been unusually busy lately & that’s a good thing, but one of the negatives is not being able to participate here as much as I would like to! Thank you Robin, SO much for a wonderful community and providing essential [yep, totally 😉 ] information.
LOL…yep, totally! Thanks 🙂
Hi Robin,
I love NST and it’s the only blog I visit regularly. I also was cranky about missing every giveaway. I can’t access email at my job and am not home sometimes til late at night. I remember sending you an email asking you to consider a different way, but I hope it didn’t come across as hateful. You were kind enough to send an explanation of what worked for you and I thanked you for even creating the opportunity to make freebies available.
Everyone loves a giveaway, and I do like that with yours there is instant gratification as someone else said. However, should you chose to do away with them, I don’t blame you. They are not why I read your blog. I did like AnnS’s idea.
What I love about your NST:
The Monday Mail
The perfume reviews
The lazy polls as they are
The commenters-everyone is so fun and helpful.
Possible Suggestions:
1. Suggest that everyone test a specific perfume by a certain date. Perhaps give them a week to do so if it’s a common store perfume. Longer if it’s niche. Then in an article about the perfume, everyone could give their unofficial review-nothing fancy.
2. An article on what you, Robin think are the 2nd 100 perfumes a seasoned Perfumista should smell.
3. Can we change our avatar? I tried but could not.
Thanks!
Dixie, your suggestion #1 sounds fun! I’d love to partcipate.
Dixie, I’m sure your email was not hateful! And thanks for the great ideas.
You absolutely can change your avatar: just go to gravatar.com and assign a new picture. However, because NST caches content, and your browser also caches content, do not worry if you don’t see your new avatar right away. If you don’t see it within 24 hours, ask other people what THEY see.
I love the website as-is. It’s one of my favorite things to read every day, and I do check it several times a day. Also love that you always take the time to respond to almost each and every comment -I can’t imagine how much time that must take.
Echoing the he/she said ideas – it’s nice to have 2 perspectives on a fragrance. I have been bummed by not getting in on giveaways, especially since I am on the west coast and it seems many have been in the morning before I am even up! However, how anyone can complain about something FREE is beyond me. A notification a day or 2 in advance would be good, or maybe leaving it open for a few hours, not the whole day? I know Pioneer Woman does giveaways w/random # generators and she gets thousands of entries – I wonder how she deals with checking for duplicates? Can you put the commenter names in Excel and just sort them so you can quickly eyeball if there are duplicates? Good luck and thanks for doing what you do!
I’ll have to check out the Pioneer Woman site, thanks!
And I wonder how often there are duplicate entries? I would think you could just pick a random number, check to see if that person is in the US, and Ctrl+F to see if they entered more than once?
OH NO! Don’t send them to your husband’s office. Unless I can get a job there! Sorry to hear about the negativity. You work hard on this blog. You should get to make the giveaway rules. But is also generous of you to ask for suggestions.
I’m happy if anything finds a good, appreciative home, no matter whose it is…. but I must confess I’m having cold sweats thinking about Robin’s husband’s coworker’s auntie getting gifted with a bottle of By Kilian or Serge and using it to deodorize the mud room. ACK! (not that the giveaways are usually THAT high end, but you get the picture)
LOL…yeah, By Kilian & Serge do not send me bottles.
I’ve been addicted to this site since I discovered it about a year ago—so impressed with the reviews and all the work you put into it! I don’t really have any suggestions, but I’d just like to say how helpful I’ve found features like the lists of perfume houses and perfumers, glossary of perfume terms, and past reviews all organized in one place…. I know it must take a lot of work to keep all of that current, but it’s nice to know this is a reliable source for that kind of information, and I come here a lot just to look up stuff.
A couple of people commented above that they wouldn’t mind seeing fewer announcements of new perfume releases, but I often learn about things here that I wasn’t aware of and that I really want to try, so my vote would be to continue those.
Good, glad to hear someone else finds them useful, thanks!
I like them too…I just hate to say so (or to mention typos/errors, for that matter) because it’s that much more work for you. I pride myself on being as low-maintenance as possible. 🙂
Oh, PLEASE mention typos. If you only knew how upset they make me when I find them months later and nobody said a word!!
Ah, you too. I still blush furiously whenever I remember the time I used the word prosperity when I meant posterity. I know what each means, it was just one of those moments where my mouth was faster than my brain. Someone pointed it out and…yes, it still bothers me, 15 years later.
Robin! I have been working too hard to comment as much as I used to- but I still love this blog and try to pop on at least once a day 😉 I think you should do whatever the heck you want in regards to giveaways! I love them just how they are, but if people are snarkin about it then maybe you should just sell them on ebay and give the profits to charity! Or just pass it straight on to the Goodwill! Keep up the great work, my dear.
Lazy poll suggestion- what perfume instantly improves your mood? Perfume as a suit of armor? Tips on how to weed/prune your perfume garden…
You know Goodwill is actually not such a bad idea! And love the idea of “perfume as a suit of armor”.
I’m sorry to hear about the giveaway complaints, R. Sheesh, all I think is that it must be such a nuisance for you having to package up the bottle and slog to the post office, especially when it’s a bottle you never asked for nor wanted in the first place. What a headache for bloggers!
It’s always academic to me because I’m in the UK and the draw is usually limited to US dwellers – which I absolutely understand and have no complaint about. Having to pay for international postage and construct an inventive lie on the customs form is WAY too much to ask. In any case, years ago I used to apply enthusiastically for every free draw or quiz on the blogs and PoL, and I won so often I started to feel embarrassed, like I was some kind of perfume parasite. I don’t enter anything now.
I also miss NST at weekends, but I do understand you’ve got a life, and I think you’ve got to have a day off at least!. The he-said-she-said articles were fun, but must take a bit of co-ordination. I also like bunch-o-random-sample type quickie reviews.
One thing I used to like at PoL were the guess-the-perfume threads, where someone gave a few clues to the perfume and everyone got three guesses or whatever. However many answers there were, the winner was the first one to guess correctly. Would there be any way to incorporate that with a giveaway draw? Perhaps if posters sent in the initial question for you to post, and then monitored the responses? There can sometimes be hundreds of guesses before anyone gets it right, so there’s a bit of equality (although the time zones in the US must make it difficult).
No complaints from me. NST is the nicest place on the net!
Hey, that’s a great idea…guess the perfume. I like it. I wonder if people would still complain if it was over before they got a chance?
I feel the same – guilt about entering/winning (ha, I typed “sinning” at first) a US-based contest, thus saddling someone with extra postage on an already generous gesture.
On the give-aways: they’re meant to be care-free and relatively easy on you, Robin – so if the hate mail (so childish) is making it un-easy, you’ve every right to stop them. Sure, finding another way to organize them would be nice, but by no means a necessity. Please make your sanity your first priority here! It’s not worth stressing over.
Thanks Zeezee!
Nina, I didn’t see this before I posted a similar idea. I think it could work, if it doesn’t make too much work for Robin!
Well, colour me gob-smacked too! How saddening that people would send hate mail let alone because they miss a giveaway. I feel lucky every time there’s one that’s open to us non-US folks. I think that someone already made a similar suggestion but perhaps having a set time might the the easiest way to tackle this? Say every second Sat of the month at such and such time.
My only suggestion would be… keep up the good work 🙂 I love this blog and read it pretty much daily so, once again, big thanks to everyone who contributes!
Thanks Abyss!
Robin –
You’ve already gotten a ton of great suggestions for the contests and polls and I really don’t have any other ideas right now (of course I will at some random time when this is over), but I do want to say a huge thank you for this site and all you do. I love it! And I do enjoy the mix of information (new perfume releases, availability, etc.) with the reviews. You (and the rest of the NST writers) do a FANTASTIC job! And I want to echo so many others’ sentiments that the group here is the funniest, friendliest and most knowledgeable on the net.
Thanks Rappleyea!
I’ll be boring and say that I have no suggestions OR complaints … love it the way it is! Thanks for the wonderful blog. 🙂
Thanks, we’ll take boring 🙂
Suggestion 1: ive mentioned this before, but it would be nice to have a private message system in place for readers to contact each other directly for swaps and splits and so forth, rather than have somebody leave a comment saying, oh im so-and-so on MUA.
Complaint 1: many readers need to realize this is a blog and any opinion should be able to be freely expressed, even if it is sarcastic, negative, or critical in some way. the whole “if you dont have anything nice to say dont say anything at all” mentality is ridiculous, and personal attacks ive sometimes noticed being made in response to some of these types of comments are frankly, childish.
Rictor: Love suggestion #1 and miss the old system where our registered email was visible upon clicking our name if we chose that option. Not sure if it’s possible with this system, though it’s possible to mouseover someone’s name and see a URL if they’ve chosen to include one. Maybe a workaround would be to put our email addy into “fake URL” format if we want it to be visible (e.g., “http://joe-at-emailserviceprovider.com”). That might work. I’m going to go try it now. Mouse over my name to see if it worked.
As for the complaint: My experience is that most readers here are generally very receptive to criticism or “negativity” about a product or whatever… but as with anything, it’s the TONE that makes a difference. And tone is difficult to convey in writing sometimes and can be misread. But without making the effort to be constructively critical –or at the least, just diplomatic and polite — comment threads just can devolve into the typical blog-comment flame war that I’m sure we’ve all experienced elsewhere. Again, just my 2 cents. I totally agree people should be free with their opinions. Just not “rude” (which is, again, subjective).
So yeah, it seems to work if you go change your profile settings and put an email-like bit of text in the URL field. But you need to keep http:// at the front and I don’t think it likes if you put the @ in there.
R: Can you PLEASE delete my other comments other than the original and this one?
Looks like Joe solved #1, duh, I never even thought of that!!
On your complaint, well, gosh. I do see lots of people making negative comments in a polite way without getting jumped on. Joe’s right there too, tone does matter online, sometimes a good deal. But sorry if you’ve been criticized for being honest.
@Rictor –I think thoughtful disagreements are always welcome on NST, as are playful disagreements– I’ve had lots of fun disagreeing with people here. However, I’ve always given thanks that the sarcasm and negativity that seem to reign so many other places on the web are scarce here, and must (respectfully!) disagree with you that preserving such a pleasant space is childish. In fact, I find sarcasm that I find, if not childish, then certainly adolescent. I do see how it might be a bit of an adjustment coming here from other sites where that tone is more common…
I totally agree, sweetlife – we are all here to share our love of perfume and the comments from the friendly, funny, knowledgeable, generous commenters are one of the things that make this blog so wonderful Of course we can disagree and should be able to be honest, but there is no reason not to be pleasant and civil in the comments. As Joe said, tone and intent are hard to convey online and even harder when you don’t know the people, so sarcastic and negative often come off as mean or snarky. And there is plenty of mean and snarky elsewhere on the web.
And I disagree Rictor that because this “is a blog and any opinion should be able to be freely expressed, even if it is sarcastic, negative, or critical in some way. ” The owner of the website has every right to moderate the comments any way they see fit. There is a comments policy on the “About” page here that seems perfectly reasonable and I hope that Robin exercises her right to delete comments that violate this policy.
It’s sort of astonishing how rarely I have to delete a comment (other than spam, but that is different). People here are generally very kind & well-behaved.
I have no comments whatsoever concerning this blog that isn’t positive. 😀
How nice!
I was also sorry to hear to got hate mail. I only just started posting on this blog (last week!) and also live in Sydney so was never in the running for a giveaway. I think NST is the best perfume blog and can’t think of anything too much to improve it. Maybe a private message system would be good as Rictor 07 suggested and if possible a listing of scents by major note eg gardenia, amber, vanilla etc although that is probably too much work!
I am very new to the world of perfume and love all the information on this site- discovering perfumes not easily available here, how to get samples, sharing opinions and so on. Keep up the good work- who knows maybe one day you’ll venture into the world of podcasting in order to share your thoughts and ideas! The Perfume Podcast- copyright that name!
I hate the sound of my voice, LOL…I will let someone else capture that domain name! But thanks.
I can’t believe the ingratitude of someone who would send you hate mail over a FREE giveaway. **shakes head incredulously** Completely uncalled for.
I’m loving many of the ideas for polls and am looking forward to a lot of lazy poll fun in the future!
We got some GREAT suggestions today.
I just thought of something I’d like to see on this blog- a pronounciation guide! I don’t speak French or Italian, just a little bit of German and sometimes have no idea how perfume names are meant to be pronounced. It would certainly be helpful to newbies like me.
I would be hopeless at such a thing! But do go here:
http://belabela.posterous.com/
What a useful link, thank you so much for that. But boy was I way off the mark with some of my pronounciations!
This place is truly one of the highlights of my day. Some days I don’t get here until late in the evening but always try to catch up. Such a wonderful online community. I’m sorry a few have created an uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding the giveaways.
If someone has already suggested this for the freebies, sorry for the repeat but I don’t have enough time to read all of the comments. Have you thought about announcing the giveaway 24 hours ahead? Something along the lines of “tomorrow at 10:00am we’re having a giveway” and then folks at least know it’s happening. Up to them at that point to visit or not visit. (This is assuming you can schedule posts ahead of time.)
Thank you for all you do!
Good idea, thanks!
The one thing I will say about the giveaway is that they seem slanted towards those on the East Coast- by the time this PST person wakes up in the morning, the giveaway is usually over; I would imagine this is one thing that generates the complaints. That being said, one day I did manage to not only enter but also win a giveaway, which rocked and very much made my week, so I would hate to see it disappear.
I did try to hold them at different hours, but yeah, probably most were mid-morning, my time, which was convenient for me.
. . .In which case I have the unfair advantage, hahaha, cos I’m on GMT, so I don’t even have to get up early to enter the draws. And another thing I was wondering about, who pays the shipping costs?
I do, or did.
Robin, I LOVE this beautiful blog and marvel at your generosity, wisdom, and grace as a host, moderator, and writer. I also adore the other reviewers and, of course, the wonderful commenters. I agree with others that I’ve learned a lot about many things in addition to perfume.
I guess my idea for a poll would be desert island nose – i.e., if you could only take perfumes created by one perfumer to your desert island, who would that be and why? I also think it would be fine to repeat classic poll questions every now and then, since everyone discovers new answers over time and new commenters appear.
I guess the one thing I’ve wished for is that when I’m hunting for reviews, I don’t want to also pull up articles that announced a new perfume but didn’t review it, or at least I’d like to be able to tell if it was a review or an announcement.
I’ve mentioned above that I also like the open threads on the weekend, since that’s when I have more time to log on.
I also love the links to great perfume adds – I’ll NEVER forget the Old Spice and Mandom ads and all the hilarious comments they generated! *excuses self to ROTFL for a while* And you all embed great links to all sorts of interesting things that I would never have discovered otherwise. HUGE thanks for NST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, gosh, I wish we had that too: a way to tell if a link was to a review or an announcement (I frequently can’t remember myself). No idea at all how we could accomplish that though.
Noz & Robin: Not sure I understand the question. Noz, can’t you just link here https://nstperfume.com/perfume-fragrance-reviews/ and either scroll or do a “find” for the perfume you’re looking for if you only want reviews?
Yeah, but let’s say you’re on a page for a perfumer or a perfume house. You can’t tell where a link to a perfume will take you — to an announcement or to a review. Seriously don’t think there’s anything to be done about that though.
Oh, I see. Well, one thing with the articles since the conversion, if you mouseover them, the whole URL is visible in the lower left corner of the browser (Internet Explorer, at least)… if it doesn’t end with the word “review”, then it’s not one. However, since most of your content has “archive” in the title (all content from before your conversion to WordPress), it’s only of limited utility.
Joe, yes — it will be YEARS before we’ve replaced all the old URLs in the links.
Joe, thanks for the ideas – not only in response to this but all your thoughts above!
FYI, I actually don’t get anything when I mouse over anything. I did finally get your url when I actually clicked on your name. I don’t know if that’s because I have a Mac and Safari, or something to do with my browser settings. I’m at the beginning of the learning curve with my laptop, so I’ll look into it someday at the Apple store.
Also, Robin, I realize there might not be a feasible response to this issue, and it’s not a big deal, just a thought. Also I forgot to mention that I really appreciate being able to pull up reviews by author. I am a relatively recent reader and have decided to work my way back through the archives author by author. This keeps me busy any time I have some free time and there are no new posts!
Oh good, glad that’s useful!
I like the idea of the open thread coming on Friday afternoon – that way it would trickle into the weekend and give us all lots to do and read while you took your break!
I often get home late, and I am late to the party, as usual. I I have missed all the giveways as well, but I can’t imagine anyone sending hate mail about it. Come to think about it, I didn’t know complaining was even an option 🙂 🙂
No kvetching here! This is one of the few blogs I read regularly, and it’s a lot of fun! I come here primarily to read the well-crafted, analytic reviews, which have often inspired me to find a new wonderful scent. I also enjoy the lazy polls. Everybody here has been generous with feedback and suggestions. I think the site is organized very well, and I hope to use its guide to shopping in Europe this summer!
If I had any suggestion about giveways, it would be to designate a specific day in the month, for example, that readers would know about. Thank you, Robin, for everything!
LOL — complaining is ALWAYS an option!
Jealous that you’re going shopping in Europe 🙂
Robin,
How about automating the contest process? Instead of creating more work for yourself, let a Contest Machine choose the winner.
http://contestmachine.com/
I think that sounds like a great option. 🙂
If it was free, it would be perfect!
Hey! I dug a little further: “We also offer a free plan: 2 contests/month, 100 entries/contest, customizable widgets, hosted page, and winner emails.” See Pricing page, fine print.
Well, wonder if 100 entries would be enough to make people happy…that could also fill up before somebody saw the contest in their RSS reader.
One last suggestion before I make lunches and head to bed…What if people mention a scent they really love and others could reply with suggested scents that are in a similar vein.
You could call it
If you love THIS, you might want to try THAT.
ScentRed: I love Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic
Daisy: If you love THAT, you might want to try Dior Escale a Portofino. It’s similar, but a little greener, less sweet and longer lasting.
Thanks, good idea! Make me a lunch too please.
I like this idea, too!
Robin–
Robin–Just want to say how much I love this blog and read it daily. I don’t comment often, as I feel I don’t know enough to be a voice of authority. I am truly saddened by the “hate mail” you receive about the giveaways. I really enjoy the reviews of new releases and the open thread discussions. Thanks for all of your hard work–it is very much appreciated!
skrzypce
Comment anyway! Heaven knows I have no clue what I’m talking about, and I still comment all the time. Probably too often, in fact. That’s the beauty of this place (well, one of many): opinions, whether educated or novice, are always welcome.
Gosh, ditto — do comment! We’re here for conversation, not authority.
I love this blog – I’m one of those crazy people who check it obsessively on the weekends to see if something new pops up, which is always fun. I can see why it would make more work for you, so the open polls on the weekends idea is great, as is the idea of guest bloggers.
Like several other people have said, I’m actually amazed that you get hate mail about giveaways. I really don’t know what’s wrong with people. Have I logged on, only to see that a giveaway has been closed? Of course I have – and momentarily thought to myself “bummer, wish I would have entered that one”. And then I went on with my day – because that’s what normal people do. I’d hate to see them go, but I think that you should do whatever makes your life easier. But if you’re going to give them to Goodwill – can it be the Goodwill in Katy, TX? (just kidding)
I like that the new launches are on the site – the only time that I don’t care for it is if there are several posted in one day and they push reviews and polls on to another page. But it’s not really a big deal.
Mostly, I’m just grateful that this place exists – both for the wonderful reviews and information and for the fabulous commenters and the friends I’ve made here.
Thanks Cynthia! And of course I’ll use your Goodwill, LOL…
I love NST, it’s one of the few blogs I visit regularly. I was sorry to hear about the hate mail. I appreciate the blog and am thankful for how generous you are to make freebies available. If you chose to do away with them, I don’t blame you. Now, to your questions.
Any new topics or features you’d like to see featured? I’m happy with everything on here, just like it is. Perhaps more on tea and chocolate?? But, maybe inspiring my chocolate addiction is not a good thing!
Any general complaints? nope, NST is great.
Suggested topics for the weekly lazy polls. I like the movie/corresponding scent ideas, like what scent would some of the Harry Potter characters wear? Or the Anne of Green Gables poll. A suggestion for new threads would be note topics, like centering around a particular genre or perfume note like leather, rose, chypres, etc….
-Ideas for how to run the giveaways. I like AnnS’s idea. And I like that you have varied the draw times for those of us on the West Coast…. thanks!
What I love about NST: The Monday Mail, perfume reviews, the lazy polls (as they are), and of course, the bloggers-everyone is so fun and nice.
Thanks Smokeytoes! I can see that we need to hire a chocolate consultant 😉
I also love NST. I work in a stressful profession where few people have any interest in fragrance. Checking in with NST is like a mini holiday for me. I don’t care about contests — I care about content and this blog provides content that is intelligent, informative and fun.
Well Said 🙂 thank u.
How nice, thanks Rigana!
Ditto for me, too.
Just wanted to add to the hate hatemail sentiments. I think this site is great. Thanks robin!
Seconding the movies poll – perhaps extend it to books? I’m sure there’s a whole lot of Austen fans, say? (i found the discussion on sade hilarious).Though probably not as many dr. Who fans.
I really like the idea of if you like this…sort of a Monday mail for those who fall between total newbie and experts.
Once again, thanks for running a wonderful site. 🙂
Sorry, meant to say that the movies/books poll might be difficult to execute cause there might not be a lot of people liking or knowing the same movies and books. The jump from austen to dr.who only made sense in my mind, otherwise, in the earlier post. 🙂
We did do 1 Austen poll:
https://nstperfume.com/2008/05/16/lazy-friday-poll-what-would-lizzy-bennet-wear/
Really late, as usual (my excuse is that I live in the UK), but just felt I had to chip in and say how appalled I am that you get hate mail. I can not understand some people! The mere fact that this is such a wonderful (free) site which constantly provides a wealth of information on my favourite subject, and then makes me laugh at all the witty comments, is reward enough – nobody really “needs” giveaways, that’s just a wonderful bonus. Don’t let the detractors get you down – carry on as usual (and I can say this objecfively because I doubt I would ever be on time to beneifit from a prize!) and be assured that I and your devoted fan-base will love you any way! Happy Easter and thank you!
Happy Easter to you too Jillie!
Has anyone suggested a poll on people’s worst scrubber experiences? That would be fun, as long as we keep it light-hearted. Sensuous is pretty bad on me. Kenzo Flower is awful in the MIDDLE but lovely at the beginning, and acceptable at the tail end.
But I have no gripes. I love the blog and check it daily. Funny how the lure of free stuff brings out the worst in some people. Get a life.
I meant to add that I don’t mind the new many fragrance announcements because I always assume that someone will find something in them, perhaps a perfume to love that they would not have known about otherwise. It’s also a good reference for the fragrance nerds (not that we have many of THOSE among us I’m sure!).
Good, thanks!
Hi, any suggestions for a good summer perfume with vanilla note (dry down).
Thank u.
Guerlain AA Vanille & Ylang which you can still find here and there on the internet. Very pretty and soft.
First of all: I simply love this blog, the reviews are smart, witty and humble without arrogantly slashing scents. Plus the reviews and features come out regularly and reliably and cover so much, I feel you put in enormeous work and it shows. In short, Thank you!
Just because you have asked for suggestions, my thoughts:
– For a new perfumista, the extent of knowledge and refined taste of the frequent commenting readers can be a bit daunting. Hence I second the idea of “Top 5 Perfumes that you don’t admit owning” as well as “Top 5 cheap thrills”
– I also would love to read on “most negative reactions from your environment” and “most positive reactions from those around you” that readers have experienced when wearing specific perfumes (did they make people swoon, calm down, make rude comments? – had the latter once when sampling a classic oriental without caution before going into an enclosed space – my fault).
– Another lazy poll thread “perfumes that don’t suit you and you don’t know why”. I recently bought and shortly thereafter gave away a perfume that should have been right up my alley. I can’t stand it on myself though. Am still perplexed about it, can’t really nail down the problem I have with it and was wondering whether this has ever happened to anyone else?
– Call me noisy, but I would be interested to read more about the people behind the reviews or see a few pictures:)
– Lastly, this might not be the right place for it but not sure where else to voice it: I found the MUA Top 25 votes extremely helpful and understand that different bloggers and/or MUA members were asked to vote once a year. I assume collecting the votes was probably too much work but am wondering whether we could get that started again if a few geeks like me would help?
Great poll ideas, thanks!!
I ran the MUA Top 25 for 2 years, and have to say, sorry — WAY too much work! Somebody ought to do it, but not me, LOL…
I’ve thought about the giveaway issue further. There is a lot of fascinating research indicating that resentment of perceived unfairness is innate – even studies of animal behavior have found this. So it is very natural for readers to be upset if they perceive the giveaways to be unfair. That, of course, is absolutely NO excuse for sending impolite e-mails to Robin! It is, though, another reason to try to find a feasible way to do the giveaways that is widely perceived as fair, if possible.
I totally agree that any new approach cannot be very time-consuming for you, Robin. Based on how much time it takes me to read through a thread like this one, let alone to compose just one or two comments, I can tell the time you invest in this blog is HUGE! NST is such a wonderful gathering place for this amazing community of perfume lovers, and you’ve done us a huge favor in creating it. I very much want you to continue to enjoy it, too!
I really do enjoy it — very much! But yes, have to continue to find ways to cut back on the time drain, which is considerable. Let’s just say that my house is not exactly sparkling clean, LOL…
For a poll suggestion, I would love to know what people think is a good perfume for church (or similar Sunday morning activity.) I can never seem to hit on the perfect thing- clean, pretty, perhaps even prim, with not too much sillage, but enough to keep me alert if i start to drift.
As for the giveaways, I can’t help but feel that it’s better for someone else to get a free treat than for no one at all to get a freebie, but I think my grade schooler would beg to differ.
My grade schooler would beg to differ too, LOL….
Awwwww, I can’t believe you get hate mail! (Really, some people haven’t anything better to worry about.) It’s a lovely idea to have a giveaway at any time, and if it’s at random hours, that just adds to the excitement methinks. Keep them coming.
Thanks cassieflower 🙂
First of all, I would just like to say it is so obvious this blog is a labor of love. The quality just shines. And as I’ve said before, I very much appreciate the way it is organized. It’s very easy for me to use as an ongoing resource.
I, too, would like to see more reviews. So if it works for you, do take on more guest reviewers.
Some ideas for topics:
1) How to train your nose
2) How to go on a sniffing expedition
As for the contests, perhaps you could have other, newer blogs host them, the way Andy Tauer does at Christmas. All you would have to do is provide the link the their site, let the other blogger hold the contest, then you send the perfume bottle to the selected person.
(I’d be interested in writing book reviews, but I guess that will come later.)
Meanwhile, thanks for all the fun!
Ooh… how to train your nose would be really interesting. I usually pull up a few reviews and read the review (if there is one) in The Guide while I’m testing a new scent to see if I can pick out the notes. That doesn’t mean that I’m necessarily any better at picking them out on my own though. I do think that it’s educational to look at the reviews and comments though – especially when someone says “oh, such and such is a great rose scent” and I didn’t even know that it had rose in it.
A “how to” on sniffing expeditions would also be interesting – I just kind of wing it when I go.
Great ideas, though not sure *I* know how to train your nose!
I couldn’t come up with anything yesterday, but now I’ve had a night to think about this…
Robin, I would love to see you keep the bottles and use them as a teaching tool in an annual NST perfume workshop similar to the one I can’t afford to go to in London this summer. Yes, it’s lofty, but something to think about. Please? Please? Pretty Please?
If you still decide to give them away…a few times a year my mom and I round up our extra cosmetics (usually Clinique bonus items, etc.) and take them to the local nursing home where they add them to the Bingo prize box. If the bottle is really big or expensive you could send decants. Of course, these bottles are yours to do with as you please. I just thought I’d through that out there as a possibility.
For newbies, I would like to have a little more information on how to identify notes. I know scent is very subjective and this can be difficult, but fragrances are so complex that it’s difficult to know what I’m smelling. Maybe even a suggestion of soliflores to check out for learning purposes?? Thank you for the pronounciation link. I am especially terrible with french names and this will be helpful.
I agree that the weekends are slow, but I often find myself overwhelmed by what goes on during the week. More reviews would be nice, but I’d be happy if the amount of content stayed the same but was spread out through seven days instead of five. Also, what about doing all the new releases on one day of the week, just to keep them organized? There are so many…
Okay, those are enough suggestions out of me.
I love being part of this blog and will continue no matter what changes you make. My favorite part about it is that you, Angela, and Kevin put so much effort into responding to each of our posts. It can be difficult to chime in on a discussion of seasoned veterans and you make all of us feel included and valued. I know it takes a lot of extra time to do that, but I hope it never changes.
Lots of great ideas, thanks Lucy!
This blog is the closest to perfection that I could ever imagine. The writers, the commenters and above all the blogmistress, have the best senses of humour, the most intelligence, and grasp of English, making reading this blog one of the greatest pleasures of my life. Have you ever considered using all the info gathered in this blog to write a book, or several, Robin? Thanks so much for fixing the glitch I was experiencing in logging on, like the others above.
I would like to read more about why the bottles are shaped the way they are, not just opinions about them.
It’s time that persons who sell perfume chimed in on their experiences, good and bad, so that perfume customers could understand what they go through to make a sale. Certainly if SA’s deserve slagging, be my guest, but there ARE wonderful ones out there.
I really am not interested in a book….blogging has accustomed me to instant gratification, LOL.
Agree, there are wonderful SAs out there, absolutely.
Hi Robin and Everyone,
At the risk of beating this topic to death, I had a few more thoughts to throw into the pile:
1. On the topic of experienced perfumistas (olfactors being a more gender non-specific term?) taking newbies under their wings, how about calling either the program and/or the more knowledgeable person “ParfuMentor” or “PerfuMentor”?
2. In terms of suggestions for the blog/site, how about an acronym dictionary. Apologies if this exists already and I just haven’t yet found it. I’ve figured out EdP and EdT, but MUA has me stumped. I know there are other acronyms I could use some help with.
3. In terms of future discussion threads, I’d like to know what deoderants people wear and do they change up their deoderants depending on the scent they’re going to wear that day? This probably sounds like a weird thing to want to know. What I’m getting at is that most deoderants have a really strong smell and often compete with fragrance. I’d like to know how this community deals with that.
I think that’s all I wanted to add. Thanks again for making this such a warm and welcoming community!
All my best,
Sandy
OK, I kinda feel like a tool now. I did some more digging around the site and found a lot of what I was looking for. You’ve already got a list of acronyms and terms out there and I figured out that MUA is Makeup Alley. In an earlier post I’d suggested swaps, but just figured out that’s what MUA (and other sites) are all about. Sorry for the redundancy.
You found the lexicon, good! Occurs to me that MUA isn’t there, and it ought to be.