Even though I've finally finished my years (and years) of higher education, I still think of autumn as a season of "back to school" anticipation, complete with new books, new shoes, and new friendships — as well as the renewal of older friendships. Angela's recent post describing her fragrance collection as a group of friends made me smile and made me look at my own fall fragrance line-up in a similar way.
Les Parfums de Rosine Poussière de Rose was one of my first "niche" perfume purchases, and it's still one of my closest fragrance "companions." I actually wear it from fall through spring, because it always feels right. It reminds me of rose potpourri in a cedar box; very nostalgic. We're two of a kind.
Rochas Tocade is another longtime acquaintance, a rose-and-vanilla floriental that I bring back into rotation every autumn. It can feel a bit overdressed sometimes, and it's definitely not shy, but I always know I can rely on it to boost my confidence for a night out.
Ormonde Jane Ta’if is a more recent arrival to my perfume wardrobe, but it may be here for the long haul. I've finished off more than one sample vial of Ta'if — a seamlessly constructed composition of dark, dry rose with wisps of saffon and hints of dates, pepper, and resin — and, having passed through this "courtship" phase, I'm ready to commit to a full bottle.
Lalique Perles de Lalique entered my fragrance circle through an "introduction." The inimitable Karl at Aedes de Venustas suggested it to me, knowing my tastes, and he was right: it's a peppery-woody rose that never overwhelms. It also has a tailored, practical edge, so it's a good work-day scent.
Sonoma Scent Studio Lieu de Rêves tempers its sweet heliotrope heart with notes of cedar and vetiver. It's comforting but not marshmallowy; if it were a person, you could confide in it, knowing that you'd receive consolation but also some sound advice.
Calvin Klein Euphoria is a syrupy "fruitchouli" scent, it's a "grand-child" of Angel, it's a mainstream best-seller, and I've been wearing it every fall since it was released. Sometimes I just want a casual, berried-amber scent for hanging out and doing errands on a breezy Saturday afternoon.
Lolita Lempicka is a fragrance that holds many memories for me. It's also like some old friend that I don't see very often, but whenever I do get together with her, I realize that neither of us has changed much and we still have a lot to talk about. Lolita and I tend to "reunite" in the autumn, since I prefer to reserve anise and vanilla for cooler weather.
L’Artisan Parfumeur Poivre Piquant appeals to my love of eccentrics — not flamboyant, extroverted eccentrics, but the quietly quirky ones with dry senses of humor. I crave a little bit of spice in the fall, and this mix of white pepper, honey, and creamy musk is offbeat but still refined.
Etat Libre d’Orange Like This is the new girl in class who has such smarts and style that she would be intimidating if she weren't so approachable. It's everything I like in an autumn scent, because it's warm and cozy but still distinctive, spicy-sweet, and long-lasting.
Chanel No. 5 Eau de Parfum never really drops out of my circle of fragrance "friends," but I tend to reserve it for special occasions — why? I should "visit" it more often. I love most formulations of No. 5, but the Eau de Parfum has a rich Bourbon vanilla basenote that feels especially appropriate for the first autumn chill.
Which fragrances will be spending time with you this fall? Feel free to name a few in the comments. And check out the other Top 10 lists at at Bois de Jasmin, Grain de Musc, Perfume Posse, Perfume Smellin’ Things.
Note: image is Emile Friant, The Lovers (Autumn Evening), via Wikimedia Commons.
Oh boy! It’s Top Ten time! I’ve got a lot more perfume than I did last fall. I’d like to say I’ve been experimenting but… a sample of SSS Tabac Aurea has stopped me in my tracks! Yum.
Isn’t Tabac Aurea just gorgeous? Do you have a spray sample? Because I find it even more beautiful when sprayed…
Dabbing now. Soon to be spraying!–can’t wait, thanks. I need a FB of this.
I think SSS has quite a few autumn-worthy fragrances! I really like Voile de Violette, too. Hm… I should have had a woody violet on that list!
Jess, VdV is a favorite of mine too, that and Opal.
I also adore LdR!
Laurie is so good!
LOVE Tabac Aurea.
yes! One of Laurie’s finest creations IMO.
If you like it dabbed —you’re going to LOVE it sprayed!
Laurie has a great touch with woody-smoky notes!
Ooh – there are lots of fall worthy SSS scents! My favs are Tabac Aurea (I’m a dabber), Femme Jolie and Rose Musc, which is my absolute favorite from her line. The Rose Musc has this amazing labdanum base that lasts forever on my skin. YUM!!!
Hi Ann!
Isn’t Femme Jolie wonderful? Just love that scent. And it’s perfect for summer to fall, and fall weather. I love to spritz it before bedtime…
Yes, Femme Jolie really is an all around the year scent – I find it a very transparent oriental. It is like wearing a big hug.
Wonderful indeed, my favourite SSS so far. It;s spring where I am and I wore it yesterday.
I’m a Tabac Aurea dabber, too. Only because I’ve just scored a tiny sample of this lovely fragrance, and I’m in heaven. My current top ten fall favorites are, in random order:
Tabac Aurea
M. Micallef Gaiac (LOVE)
Dzing! (need a FB ASAP)
PG Cuir d’Iris
Cuir de Russie
FM L’eau d’Hiver–I bought a FB of this last year…..SO worth it!
Vetiver Tonka (Hermessence)
SSS Incense Pure
Silver Musk (Nasomatto)–this smells very fall and cosy to my nose
L’air du desert marocain
I heart the autumn season and all of the little rituals that go along with it. Reading lots of ghostly tales in celebration of Halloween this weekend. Woot!
LOVE Perles de Lalique for fall! Nice list, lots of those have gone in and out of my fragrance wardrobe for awhile….this year’s top ten for fall:
Hermessence Ambre Narguile
Chanel Coco
Balmain Ambre Gris
Bond No 9 Andy Warhol Lexington Ave
Jean D’Albret Ecusson
SL Daim Blonde
Chanel Sycomore
L’Artisan Al Oudh
agggh! computer started lagging so I only put 8.
9. Shiseido Feminite du Bois
10. Tom Ford White Patchouli
Audrey, Daim Blond is lovely… and FdB is a new classic, of course!
I might have known your list would have some lovely roses on it, Jessica! Poussiere is really lovely, and I prefer it to Feminite du Bois. Ta’if is nice, too, and you know I get on well with That Slut Tocade… (must get her out of the cabinet, it’s finally getting cool enough).
What else I’m wearing:
Tabac Aurea (of course!)
Champagne de Bois
Smell Bent One
Le Temps d’une Fete
Mariella Burani
Cuir de Lancome
Shalimar Light
Alahine, just a bit for sleeping in
All my violet samples.
oo! I was jsut looking at Alahine online today! I need to find a sample of this….
Oh, I’ll send you one! Email me.
Mals, do you like the Soivohle violets? Liz does some interesting creative things with violet.
Violets & Rainwater is really nice. It took several wearings to get anything out of it other than “sweet purple violet,” but now I really like the earthy-woody drydown… I’m finding that not many violet soliflores actually HAVE drydowns.
ooooo Alahine…haven’t had that out in a while….I plan to wear it during the first snow of the season…not that I won’t occasionally wear it before then too but it really calls for some snow I think.
I have that “Christmas” association with it, but I love to do a teeny spritz on the inner elbow just before going to bed. Um, to sleep.
Funny how things are to different noses – Alahine just (elegantly) screams summertime to me. It is just soo sunny. It has so much heat. It would indeed be good on a cold day… to make me think of sunshine and jasmine!
Someday I will shock you all, and write a list that does not include roses in any shape or form! 😉
Tocade is waaay too bold for summer, but on a chilly night, it makes a perfect scent “accessory”.
If you don’t list at least some roses, we’ll know the aliens are impersonating you.
I also find Tocade too rich for warm weather.
I igot my Smell Bent samples yesterday – can’t wait to try them out this weekend!
You have to report back!!
I need to try PdN Le Temps d’une Fete, love to wear it in the hot summer, curious about it in the fall.
I love LTdF too – it seems more floral to me in the spring, more woodsy-grassy in the fall.
LOVE Fall and Fall fragrances!
– Like This – my new best friend!
– Coromandel – my oldest best friend!
– PdN Tonka Vanille
– Bois de Iles
– Havana Vanille
– Neil Morris Burnt Amber
– Amber Precieux
– Sycomore
– Soivohle Oakmoss
– DG The One
As soon as Bois de Iles is available in the smaller bottle…. 🙂
Oy! I should have included Havana Vanille!
Nice list btw 🙂
Oh, nice list! Very warm and cozy. Glad to see other Like This fans!
and initially i really did NOT like “Like This…” but ended up loving it so much after a few tries! now it is a def. go-to for me!
I love Tonka Vanille – but I love it better in the winter.
Nice to see a Neil Morris on your list! This house doesn’t seem to get much love around here, even though it’s got some truly wonderful scents. I like Burnt Amber, too, and the dirrrty Gotham isn’t bad, either. A must for fans of leather.
I’ve only smelled two Neil Morris fragrances – I can’t remember off the top of my head their names. One was a “desert” fragrance, and I thought it was really good. I should revisit my sample.
I think Prowl is pretty amazing…some of his are total hit or miss for me, but others are easy to like!
and I’m learning to LOVE his “Afire”
Yes, Afire, love it! The “oops, I think the orange syrup just got burnt” scent:)
Two of my favorite fragrances, Hologram and Dark Earth, are by Neil Morris. His range is amazing, and I think everyone will find at least one that is right for them. Thanks for the reminder – Hologram is one that I love in the fall.
I’m wondering if you can tell me where I can test NM Dark Earth. I’ve heard good things, but have no idea where it’s sold in the US (Los Angeles)…Many thanks!
KRL, Neil Morris sell generous samples of all his fragrances from his website.
I mean “sells”.
http://www.neilmorrisfragrances.com/
I have several Neil Morrises that I have been testing. I really am drawn to Rumi, which is about as head shop as possible. But it makes me feel all spiritual. lol
mmmmm Fall scents are my favorites! Can my list be a top 20?
okay, okay….some of the first ones to come to mind are
1. Ambre Narguile –coziest of the cozy! might have to be the SOTD
2. Champagne de Bois –you all were expecting this one!
3. Delrae Bois de Paradis
4+ Lyric, Epic, Memoir, Jub.25
5+ OJ Woman, Tolu
6+ SL Arabie, Rousse
7+ PG Felanilla, Un Crime Exotique, Coze
8. Solange Cosmic
9. Fendi Theorema
10. Molinard Iles d’Or
umm, yeah….so there’s the first “10” that come to mind….can I sneak back later with another top 10 ? I love cold weather fragrances…..OMG I can’t believe I left out 31 Rue Cambon !
Daisy, just curious when you get the Amouage, do you sample both men and woman before deciding on a FB? I tried Memoir briefly on paper, and the woman version was too heavy on incense (even reminded me of Avignon) but the man’s was divine.
Ha! I got very little incense out of Memoir woman! well, let me rephrase…I can smell incense STICKS…but not any burning incense. And I do get a fruit syrup note for a little while.
I do try to sniff all the Amouages before I get too rabid over finding an FB….but mostly the men’s don’t work on me at all. Dia man is the best of the lot….Gold men is okay, Lyric man is screechy, Memoir man got an acetone note, Epic man has too much atheletic tape accord (where’s Joe, he loves it when I bring up bandaids and tape in perfume! ) ….I do try to be fair and sample the men’s but I end up drooling all over the womens.
Daisy, Iles d’Or is one of my favorite Molinards, too. And I remember when Hermes released Ambre Nargile and we all went crazy for it. It’s just right for fall!
Daisy – Where’s URC?
I just put on a small dab of URC yesterday to warm me up.
erp. What is URC…
Andy Tauer’s Une Rose Chypre – one of Daisy’s (countless) faves….
Sorry Elise – I shouldn’t abbreviate so much – pure laziness on my part – it’s not very friendly. Une Rose Chypree.
I know!!! I NEED my list to be Top 20 !!! I only got thru one cabinet with the first list! And I cheated on that list already!!!
SDV just called me sobbing! 🙁
that SDV is ALWAYS complaining! ” I’m not close enough to the front, I’m not getting worn enough. Why do I have to stand between Rose d’Homme and Natori?–they’re not EVEN Guerlains!! **huff** I’m NOT on the list????? WAHHHHHHHH! ” perfume diva…..
Oh Daisy, you crack me up! And with that pricetag, it can’t get too much wear!
au contraire! I am not a perfume-saver. I wear whatever I want when I want—spendy or cheap thrill, I don’t care. Every day is a special occasion and should be treated as such 🙂
As it should be, Daisy!!
She also mentioned something about your being unfaithful with some young, hot chic named Shalimar….
heheheheh actually I may be splitting that hot young thing but I’m not cheating….not keeping anything but an empty bottle!
Really??? Didn’t it work for you after all??
nope , not a bit! So of course I’m splitting 3 bottles and have offered to try to get a 4th….I do love to host. 🙂
Hehehehee – your index finger is going to have to be registered as a deadly weapon!
SDV needs to wait for full-on winter. If you don’t see it on my winter list, you know there’s something wrong (or right… I guess if I can find that many I love even more, it’s not a bad thing…).
I agree, Boo. I wore it one day last week and the temps got into the 70’s and it was *almost* too intense.
Daisy if you love PG Coze than I need to try that asap!
I also want/need Felanilla.
Meow.
Everything else you mentioned I heart too<3<3
hey, I can stick samples in with your Shalimar OV & LM APV….of course you know Coze and Felanilla are going to suck you right into the Land of the Lemmings. 😉
Wow! I thought Coze might be WAY too patch-y for you! You will become a patch ho… resistance is futile! 😀
Noooooo! the patch will never take me alive!!!!
Actually—I don’t get much patch at all in Coze….mostly just woods. Maybe I should go have a sniff….but I’m sort of covered already from todays commentary —little spritzes here and there. wait…there’s still a knee available…..hmmm maybe it’s the patch that my nose is interpreting as heat in the woodbox.
I’ve got 8 samples from SSS that I’ve been spending a lot of time with this week, and have been heavily rotating Traverse de Bosphore as well!
I had never tried any of the SSS perfumes before my little box set arrived, and I’ve already determined to buy at least one full-bottle (Rose Musc), and at least two others are serious contenders!
(Champagne de Bois & Winter Woods)
And thank you for sharing your samples of Ambre Noir and Jour Ensoleille with me! I tested them both yesterday and now I’m thinking I might have to get some of that JE…. and then I accidentally sprayed some SL Rousse in the same spot later on in the evening and holy cow—that made it even better….yes, I was awash in sillage last night.
Goodness Daisy – You’ve never tried JE? Wish you had told me sooner. So do you find any affinity La Haie Fleurie there? Different scents to be sure, Laurie’s signature is unmistakable but the “feel” is quite similar for me.
La Haie Fleurie is is pretty much straight up tuberose…but in the JE I get some added sunny, almost musty, warm hay…like AnnS mentions. But yes, I agree there’s a strong affinity there.
Jour Ensoleille is really a tremendous chypre style fragrance. It is so dry – I get tons of warm hay and tuberose from it. It is so well blended it’s hard for me to pick apart. It is a real sillage monster too – just a dab for me. If someone just stumbed upon it, they’d think it was a classic from the 30s or 40s.
Yes! 30s and 40s indeed. None of this fruit salad stuff of today. But like you I find JE huge. I have a purse spray and have taken to unscrewing the sprayer and using that as a dauber. It’s funny because on her website Laurie calls it a ‘gentle’ chypre.
I do the same – I’ve not run out of my sample yet b/c it is so rich. Just a dab lasts for many hours and has amazing sillage!
but of course—-I knew you would love Champagne de Bois!!! 🙂
You know Daisy, the only reason it’s not firmly on my “to buy” list is that I’m actually afraid that I wouldn’t be able to function—what with my wrist glued to my face!
I’m a little bit in awe of Laurie.
haha you’ll be fine—you’ll learn to do things with one hand…. 😉
Just dab it on your upper lip.
Ahahahaha!
😉
HA!
embarrassing confession: I have done this–or at least something similar (the tip of my nose). And probably will again.
My name is Danielle. I am a perfumaholic.
Dee, I’m a recent convert to SSS myself! Rose Musc is one I still need to sample. I love Femme Jolie in cold weather. Winter Woods has been great to wear to bed on cool nights. And, then, as mentioned above, Tabac Aurea is my new heart throb, FBW. Laurie is a genius.
Dee, I’ve been hooked on my sample of Traversee du Bosphore, and I bet it will make my personal “top ten for fall 2011” list. Really lovely stuff.
I love it too! It’s so odd but great. Thank you Daisy dear for that one!
Ha! always happy to buy multiple bottles and spread the joy around 🙂
I love a lot of perfumes, but have just a couple that are more “signature” types… TdB is near the top of that list; it only took one spritz!
Dee, my suggested strategy would be – Winter Woods now for the warming cedar, and CdB in the spring, for the cooling sandalwood and just in time for summer.
Opera Fan – I’m with you on CdB in the spring/summer. I wore it all summer in our 90 + degree heat and it was wonderful!
This is good advice; make it Rose Musc *and* Winter Woods, then Champagne de Bois, and we have a deal! 😉
And let me recommend her very romantic and gorgeous Cameo for spring/summer wear. Not to enable or anything… 😉
Good for you for finally getting into SSS! Rose Musc is my fav – it’s just gorgeous!
Ann: I’m a total rose ho, and yet this one took me by surprise. I wasn’t prepared for this kind of perfection!
I am rose ho too and this one is indeed, perfect!
SSS gets so much love here so I went to have a nosey around their website only to discover that they’ll ship samples internationally. Very tempted by Tabac Aurea and Champagne de Bois now, gah!
No affiliation – but you can get bottles of her boutique lines from indiescents.com if Laurie’s on-line shop is still closed for FB purchasing. They carry Tabac, Incense, Woods, and R.Musc, and they also do Int’l shipping. It’s owned by the Luckyscent folks so you can expect good customer svc.
Great info. I didn’t know about that website so big thanks… I think 😀
Oooh, very good to know. Thanks for sharing this info!
Rose Musc is probably my favorite SSS, too. Dee, we seem to like a lot of the same fragrances!
Ooh! I’ve been lemming a scent-twin 😉
Well, I keep seeing things we like in common, so you’ve got me for one!
I’ve just received my own set of samples from SSS, having never tested them before, and I’ve been having so much fun playing with them. I am totally smitten. I feel like a full bottle is definitely in my future….but which to choose? I’ve fallen for the delicate charms of Tabac Aurea and Winter Woods and the Egyptian musk oil, but after perusing the comments here, I feel as though I should sample more (i.e. Rose Musc, Femme Jolie, Fireside Intense, Sienna Musk) before pulling the trigger. The pricing is pretty fabulous, though, so maybe I can splurge on a few small bottles? 🙂
Love having an autumn top 10, but can’t quite get my poor brain to list my own picks with the exception of (like you) Ormonde Jayne’s Ta’if which I have been wearing all week, and Samsara (the old edp). They are snuggly and glamorous at the same time.
Tidying up my collection, I felt quite horrified by the numbers of bottles that I now own; there are far too many which I don’t wear/like, and I was aghast at how much money I have wasted. Then I had an epiphany – this is not just a heap of bottles, I actually own a LIBRARY of perfume. This means that I don’t have to wear them all – I can just pop into my library upstairs to have a sniff when I want to do some “research” or recollect a certain scent. So, no money has been wasted after all. Think I’ll go there now to see what I would choose for my other eight ….
A library is such a wonderful way of looking at your collection!
I completely agree!
Trying all those scents has been an education for your nose, so just think of the cost of those bottles as tuition. I have similar thoughts myself, BTW, when I survey the bottles I no longer use or enjoy, and it does seem like a waste. I just remind myself of all the other things I have spent money on over the year–clothes that I got tired of or “outgrew”, books I will never read again, music I don’t listen to anymore–and the perfume expenses don’t seem so unreasonable. If they really bother you, you can always swap, sell, or give them away.
LOVE the old Samsara edp, and have been wearing it too! Great choice.
I love fall, and this year it’s especially appreciated, after a brutally hot and humid summer.
Jessica, thanks to you, I am wearing and loving “Like This” – the perfect autumn fragrance.
Thanks to Angela, I am also wearing and loving DelRae “Mythique”, although I’m still looking for that perfect pair of leather chiffon underpants …
Terre d’ Hermes
Serge Lutens “Chergui” – like a pouch of cherry pipe tobacco with a touch of hay. Smells fabulous on clothes the next day!
SL “Chene” – mah cleevige, iz a bonfyre!!
L’Artisan “Dzonghka” and “Dzing”
They just smell so good in the colder air!
“Mah cleevige iz a bonfyre!”
Have you gotten a sniff of Smell Bent One? It smells very like Dzing! to me, without the fur/dung notes… of course, I realize that those animalic notes really thrill some people, and there’s nothing wrong with that…
I’m just getting ready to order up the SB One and halloween specials. I am intrigued now that you mention how much you like One…. They are fun!
I was happy for fall to arrive, too! Chergui: always a winner. I like sniffing Dzongkha very much, although it’s not “me” on my skin.
Love Chergui, love Chene. And I’ve heard that they layer beautifully together, but I haven’t tried it yet.
This fall I’ll likely go through the samples I’ve accumulated… It’s so much fun to sample that I can’t see myself wearing any scent for more than three days straight.
However, I have recently fallen in love with Pro Fumum’s Patchouly. It smells like dirt, sacks of over-ripe potatoes and incense. On skin it’s the color of dry henna, and so oily and thick that it can stain clothes if sprayed sloppily.
It’s dirty, obnoxious and loud, and it may irritate my fellow commuters on the morning bus, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Kind of what I’m like with men 😛
It’s expensive and only comes in 100 ml. But it is really beautiful, and it does seem perfect for autumn. I can always layer on days when I don’t have the guts to wear it alone. Can someone tell me it’s called a “long-term investment?” 😉
Absolutely —-It’s a long term investment!
Everyone needs to have at least one ridiculously expensive bottle to love….compare the price not only to how much you’re going to love having it but also to the amount of time you’d have WASTED longing for it if you didn’t buy it. (and now you know why I have so many bottles….I’m the Queen of Rationalization) 😉
Right. I could spend a bit more time with the other patchouli scents that I’ve sampled before deciding on this particular one, but that would make me chicken… Also, decants are what people get when they have too many bottles already, which I don’t 😉
Thank goodness for decants!
I second that!
uh…(in a sheepish voice)…how many bottles are ‘too many’?
“too many” is when you can’t possibly jam one more bottle into your chosen storage unit…..and/or when your Spouse has forbidden the purchase of any more storage units….grumble….. 😉
pssst! don’t forget you have a basement…..
Well, I also imagine if many bottles ever become “too many” for me, that some will cease to be “perfume” and become instead “reference scents”, room sprays, linen deodorizers, moth repellents, possible re-gifts and, hmmm, aromatherapy products 😉
(poking head up…) Too many? (Oh dear….running from room to room……….checking ……..checking…..) IS there such a thing? (sigh of relief!) I still have room. I can still see the back of the cabinets. I’m good, not too many ………….um, yet. Thank goodness as I still have much to find out and re-store, so to speak.
I think you should just get it. It’s possible to over-sample when you’re exploring a note. I’ve done it in the past, and you can start thinking, but what if there’s something else out there that I’ll like better, and end up getting nothing! That happened to me exploring oud scents. I ended up having to put them away for later – I got so confused! Should have just sprung for the Red Aoud, which was what immediately appealed to me.
Yes, first instincts are usually right. We should trust our intuition more, anyways.
Plus I think I should get this before next month’s workshop, when we’ll be exploring the incense note and I’ll find another half dozen FB must-haves… Hopefully they’ll do a citrus or jasmine workshop or something else I’m not wild about soon to give me a rest before the holiday shopping season 😛
AHi Daisy,
greed, but what if one has 5 or 6 terribly expensive scents??
Silly me, I know I”m asking the WRONG person, oh great queen of the enablers. 🙂
you say that like you think I have no resistence or somethi…..oh wait you’re right….I have no resistence. Resistence is highly overrated!
SO true! 🙂
I have been daring and wearing with complete abandon Reminiscence Elixir Patchouli. It is not as “dirty” as traditional patchouli but has touch of classiness with the same smell that us patchouli lovers appreciate so much. Also, for a different perspective, try patchouli sandalwood oil form patchouli garden. Another winter fave that clings to your sweaters and smells wonderful.
I’ll have to look into that online, thanks – there’s a good chance I’ll like it. My local perfume shop hosted this patchouli workshop recently where we got to sample a wide array of perfumes with the patchouli note dominating. I found I liked nearly all of them, and loved several. There were just a couple like Etro and Lorenzo Villoresi that seemed too spicy or dry somehow to wear.
Dominika, message me on MUA (deeHowe); I have a sample of Reminiscence Elixir Patchouli that I’ll send to you… it came with something I bought, and I hate patch!
Dee, thanks so much but I’m over in Eastern Europe… I’d hate to have you go through the hassle of shipping internationally, but thanks anyways 🙂
Dominika, sometimes I wonder what my fellow commuters are thinking too. 😉
Cost per wear, my dear. Cost per wear. 🙂
What a beautiful post this morning.. I just ordered Caron Tabac Blond from TPC. I am anxiously awaiting what I believe to be a new love. But the beginning of fall always brings me to obsession. Only a small amount (or even the lotion alone) is a good start. I have also recently fallen in love with Opium and a recent vintage store purchase of Replique. Even in spring/summer these are the smells I crave but so not to offend with the heaviness of their scent, I go with original Prada lotion with a dab of Narcisco Rodriquez. Oh I could go on…
Michelle, Tabac Blond is stunning. I’m more of a Bellodgia / N’aimez Que Moi / Farnesiana lady, personally, but I love Tabac Blond on my friends.
Bois des Iles
Cuir de Russie – SOTD
VCA Bois d’Iris
DK Chaos
Fem du Bois
Champagne de Bois
OJ Woman
Etro Shaal Nur
Coromandel- spritzed on the weekend and have been dreaming of acquiring some
Ah, Shaal Nur! Need to track down my old sample of that one…
Don’t walk – run! It’s a rose at heart, but so much more. I adore it.
Coromandel is fantastic. One of these days I’m going to try and pick up a bottle. I think they are out now in the smaller size??? I have to make myself wait until I finish my decant…..
love that so many love OJ Woman! My fav!
Wearing it today!
you smell fantastic!!!
In my colder weather wardrobe right now are:
Satellite – Padparadscha
CdG – Incense Jaisalmer
PdE – Wazamba
Frapin – 1270
Im considering buying a bottle of something boozy to add to this. I suppose right now its between EdI Bois D’Ombrie and SL Chypre Rouge. Any other suggestions?
I thought that Frapin was supposed to be boozy… am I thinking of something else?
Well i dont know , but its not boozy on me. Its more gourmand, with a touch of green from the vine flower note.
It’s def boozy on me! Sugary cognac, to be exact.
yes! that’s exactly what I get from Frapin 1270 !
Rictor, Those CdG incenses are great for fall and winter, aren’t they? I should own more CdG scents. Every time I try them, I really admire them.
I’m kind of a newbie, but SL Arabie seemed a nice sort of boozy to me.
Definitely! That, and Chergui.
Lubin Idole!
Oh, and I missed you had Bois d’Ombrie as a possibility… love love love that one, and probably would like it better on a guy than Idole. Both are fantastic, though.
Boo beat me to it: Lubin Idole. Boozy and tending toward the masculine side.
Ambre Russe is pretty boozy.
I love Chypre Rouge — great choice!
Yay Fall! I love the season and the fragrances – definitely my time of year. My top ten:
1. SSS Wood Violet
2. Shalimar (always)
3. DK Chaos
4. Lubin Idole
5. Emeraude
6. Jo Malone Amber&Lavender
7. AromaSanctum Fire of Isis
8. Hove Creole Days
9. L’Heure Bleu
10. Elixir de Merveilles
Happy Fall!
Oh, how could I forget CB’s Burninh Leaves and Gathering Apples. New England in a bottle – fab to smell home here in Olde England!
Emeraude!
Mals, I discovered Emeraude !!!
I LOVED it, it’s warm, fuzzy and thick with powdery spices.
I feel like I’m in a time warp when I wear it, like I should be in a cocktail dress with furs and a cigarette dangling from my ruby red mouth.
I only have the teensiest bit left that beloved Miss Kitty gave me, it’s giving me anxiety cause I want more of this.
Why must I fall for vtg?!!! 🙁
‘Cause they don’t make ’em like they used too! 😉
CURSES!!!!!!!!!!! 😛
Tamara – at least vintage Emeraude is relatively easy to come by.
It is! Tamara, you might get along very well with the parfum de toilette – that’s my favorite concentration of old Emeraude, and it’s fairly easy to find/not too expensive.
Emeraude is lovely in the fall-I’d forgotten about that one. Mals, currently wearing one of your faves today, Gucci L’Arte di Gucci.. 🙂
SmokeyToes you smell delicious!
Thanks Tamara! Lots of wrist-sniffing going on today. 🙂
I need a little sunshine, it’s drizzly outside. Gucci is perfect.
FragrantWitch, Shalimar really goes without saying, doesn’t it? Soooo beautiful. And hooray for SSS Wood Violet!
Hi everyone!
Fall is my favorite season of the year.
Currently, I am enjoying these fragrances….
Parfums DelRae Bois de Paradis
Songes EdT & EdP
Roberto Cavalli ORO
OJ Orris Noir
Honore des Pres Vamp A NY
Guerlain Spiriteuse Double Vanille
Have a great day and HAPPY FALL to you all! ♥
~Dawn
Happy Fall to you, too, Dawnkana! Songes is a beauty, isn’t it? I also love Annick Goutal’s Heure Exquise EDP for fall. Should have included it… maybe I need to do a Top 15!
You could have cheated like Daisy did…
😉
shhhhhh! no one noticed! besides I wouldn’t have to cheat if it wasn’t for the Fascist NST 10 Only Rule…..
My collection is heavily weighted for cold weather. But I live in MICHIGAN where we freeze off our nether regions for 6 months out of the year, and just shiver a lot for the rest….except for August; it’s hot in August.
“Fascist NST 10 Only Rule”
I must learn to swallow whatever I’m drinking before reading comments. Sigh.
How about this for our wonderful Michigan friends: what’s your favorite fragrance for shoveling snow. 😉
LOL!! Stetson —because I make the CEO shovel all the snow….I’m like a butterfly—I emerge in the spring …..
Yeah Heure Exquise! Ha, ha, yes you do need to do a top 20! Heure Exquise is my fav rose in the summer. Jessica – have you ever tried the Rosine d’Homme? It is my fav deep rich spicy rose.
Rose d’Homme is especially dark and rich —you know, Rosine really does have a rose for everyone!
RdH makes me think of Lyric Woman without the shimmery silver incense. Which reminds me that I need to get RdH on my to buy list as my decant is almost out….
Yay! Like This is my new fall friend–thanks to you. 🙂 Poussiere de Rose is so wonderful; haven’t smelled that one in awhile.
My six autumn favorites:
1. Dzing!
2. Tea for Two
3. Like This
4. Brandy
5. AG Sables
6. LV Piper Nigrum
I’m happy to share the Like This love! Tea for Two is wonderful… I’m not usually a tea person *or* a smoky person, but it’s just the right balance of the two.
Jess, everybody is going on and on about Like This! I have got to try it for myself soon, I wonder though do I NEED another lemming? aha
I’m thinking the same thing about Like This! Need/scared to try!
Does it help to know that I love it? 😉
No Boo – it doesn’t! 😉
LOL… I meant, does it help Rapple, my EST. 😉
Yes! Thank you. I’m going to pretend it’s not one of our overlaps!! Hey Boo – how do you feel about SL’s La Myrrh? I love myrrh and this one sounds excellent.
Tamara & Rapp – I just tested Like This! last night (from a nice sample swap with Joe). I was all prepared to not like it, when I couldn’t believe how much I did. It is so unusual and yet warm and spicy- almost gourmand but not really – almost a skin scent but not really – super unusual yet very classic and well blended. I think it would be tremendous on a man, but totally unisex. It was like a super thick cashmere shawl. I need to test it again – it wasn’t really a problem, but I think I detected just the barest hint of cigarette smoke or something like burnt coffee in the drydown. I’ll still enjoy wearing it, but I’m not sure about that drydown. I suppose I need to do some homework and look up the notes.
Darn it Ann! Why must you tempt me? It sounds awesome.
Well, Tamara, it’s definitely test worthy. This year is ending up the year of those least likely for me: I loved that L’AP Nuits de Tubereuse and now Like This! is really on my radar. Never say never for sure. I’m having some fun today re-reading all the reviews for Like This! to see how they compared to what I smelled. I also dosed on some AG Sables last night to compare uses of Immortelle… interesting and fun.
Ann, maybe I need to stop sending you samples. 😉
NOOOOooooo!!! I love having fragrance friends with such good taste! It helps me expand my horizon, er, I mean lemming list.
Ack! Ann – you need to write reviews. That is SO tempting.
LOL –well how do you feel about maple syrup? I am soooo jealous! everyone lurves Like This…..and all I got was a bucket of immortelle.
But I have found that I have Immortelle Amplifying Skin….I swear there’s immortelle in Amouage Memoir woman….thankfully it stays soft enough that it doesn’t take over and make me nauseous.
I actually truly dig Immortelle – I’ve almost bought AG Sables a number of times (although that one is King of Maple Syrup…) Hey, there have to be a few fragrances in the world that you don’t like!
…a few, I suppose…. 😉
Count me among the Poussiere de Rose fans. My bottle went off. 🙁 I’m thinking it may have been old merchandise, or something.
I’m also curious about Piper Nigrum. It sounds wonderful!
H – interesting comment about PdR being off. I got a sample of it last year that I thought smelled really awful – not any kind of dried roses or anything. It was an instantaneous scrubber to me. Maybe my sample was off?
Could be! I had an apparently fresh sample, and fell in love with the scent, but my bottle was disappointing from the beginning. I finally realized that it was old or off or something, and tossed it.
I think I am ready to commit to a bottle of Ta’if too! It is one of my all time cooler weather faves, but I have been wearing Eau Duelle for the past three days, which is an interesting turn of events…
Flittersniffer, I think Eau Duelle is really nicely done. Tam Dao is another good Diptyque for fall.
I don’t know why I haven’t already ordered a bottle of Ta’if. I gues it’s the actual ordering part that delays me. If I saw a bottle in any store in NYC, I’d take it home right away. I wish OJ would come to the States!
Never be nervous about ordering straight from Ormonde Jayne….they pack it up very carefully and it takes about 10 days….plus they send you a complimentary 2ml of your choice. And goodness knows bottles never turn up for sale around here!! Their distribution plan really could use some work!!! If they sold thru Lucky scent or Aedes I think their sales would go thru the roof.
I have been debating between Ta’if and Woman for two years now. I’m paralyzed by indecision. 🙂
That’s what the travel sprays are for…perfect for splitting/swapping.
I agree with Boo—-If you ordered travel sets of Ta’if and Woman you’d have no trouble at all finding adoptive homes for the extras!
Well, aren’t you two full of solutions? 🙂 Good ones, I admit. I think I’ll do just what you suggest!
Resistance is futile – especially when they gang up on you! 😉
oh, Rapple, like you would never DREAM of enabling anyone…..heaven forbid. *snort*
You are a band of enabler ganstas, I say! 😉
Oops, I meant gangstas.
Harrumph! Of course not! I merely make scentful “suggestions”.
🙂
And not to pile on or anything, but I’d be happy to take one of each of the travel sizes off your hands… 🙂
Will take note of that! 🙂
if you need one more pair of loving hands for one of each, count me in. Pleeease.
i am new here to posting because I am so intimidated by my “lack” of perfume knowledge. And in my parts, I am a known perfume nut! How on earth do you get to smell so many different fragrances? I need help!!
Hi, Michelle! There is no reason to be intimidated. 🙂
Speaking for myself, when I initially got immersed in fragrance mesage-boards and blogs and I wanted to try so many different things, I started spending a lot of time browsing in Sephora and department stores and beauty boutiques, and then ordering (or swapping) for samples of things that I couldn’t find in person.
Robin has written several excellent posts about trying fragrances… here are two:
https://nstperfume.com/2007/04/09/perfumista-tip-how-to-get-fragrance-samples-free-or-otherwise/
https://nstperfume.com/2008/02/13/perfumista-tip-how-to-swap-for-perfume/
Hope this helps!
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I love the idea of a notebook.. I am definitely going to start doing that. Plus, I am taking some time off from my normal job and just landed a holiday position at Sephora!! I will be in heaven 🙂 Notebook in hand and here I go. Thank you again.
Michelle, enjoy your scented adventures! Come back soon and keep us posted!
Michelle–a lot of it may depend on where you live. It seems to be easy for the people who live in NYC, LA, or some other major urban areas. Generally, the more upscale department stores (Neiman Marcus, Saks, etc) carry the niche lines and the niche entries in the mainstream lines (the Chanel Les Exclusives and the rarer Guerlain scents, for example) I have been a little stymied myself sometimes, as I live kind-of-near-to but not actually in a major metropolitan area (about 50 miles from Houston). Normally, I like not living in a huge city, but I do get a little envious of the easy access that many people here have to interesting perfume shopping (and interesting other things as well). The stores where I live sell only the major mainstream scents, which I find generally uninteresting. About once or twice a year I manage to get to the Galleria, where there is a decent selection to be found, but testing in-store has its limits. If I try to test more than 4 or 5 scents at a time on my skin, everything starts getting muddled. Consequently, I have been spending an inordinate amount of money ordering perfume samples. Lucky Scent is good for small samples of niche frags, and The Perfumed Court is good for samples of various sizes of almost anything. The Posh Peasant and Indie Scents also sell samples (although I have not yet ordered from either of them) and no doubt there are others I have not yet discovered. Many of the niche houses sell sample from there own websites as well. I recently ordered a number of samples from Sonoma Scent Studio, and can report that the customer service is fantastic–the samples were at my house three days after I placed the order.
Those are all great suggestions!
Welcome! And please don’t feel intimidated. We all have varying levels of experience, but have one thing in common – our love of all things scented! And you won’t meet a nicer group of perfumistas/perfumistos anywhere!
YUP. We ROCK. 😀
Welcome Michelle! Speak up, it’s so much funner and we love to talk of perfume for daysssssssssssssss. 😉
Yes, please don’t hesitate to post!! The more the merrier.
Hi Michelle – it is like a snowball – it starts with a small handful of samples that you get from the shops or malls nearby (or through purchases online) and then it just begins to roll.. and eventually it becomes an avalanche of samples, decants and bottles. And the size of your knowledge will grow with the size of your sampling. Take you time, enjoy yourself. Read all the reviews you can. I found it a lot of fun to keep my perfume notebook for a long while and record fragrances I smelled, notes in those fragrances, etc. Eventually you begin to learn and can smell yourself what’s going on. Never say never about any fragrance, and keep trying ones that you find challenging. You never know when the breakthrough is going to happen. Don’t spend too much on full bottles when you get started. Have lots of fun and use all the blogs you can!! Good luck!
Hi Michelle! I think I will feel new at this forever. There is always more to learn. You will love the exploration.
So true!
Good morning fellow fumies! Jessica, your list is wonderful!
It has been a forever fall here in Washington but very pleasant -even in the chill. And as the last embers of summer have lost their breath and disappeared I have been reveling in the following~
URC- C’mon peeps I have only been pining for this forever!
It is such sweet satisfaction to spray this-forget about dabbing this baby, I love it<3 If my looks don't kill yah, my sillage will! ha 😉
Also discovered Chanel 5 edp (thank U Miss Kitty<3) which I love to wear to bed after my bath. The soapy aldehyde's quickly smooth into the beautiful vanilla base you describe which is what I wake up too, just lovely!
Sneaky ass Amouage finally got to me with Memoir (w)
I am savoring my tiny decant and dreaming of a FB, I don't know what the hell I'm smelling but it just feels right.
I also love Epic (w) with it's creamy , dense insense.
vtg. Miss Dior is perfection. I've sang her praises many times on the boards but realizing I cannot hold onto her, how many good quality old bottles can I score? It's troublesome but I enjoy her fully nonetheless while I can. They don't make em' like her anymore..
OJ Woman and Tolu are swoon-worthy and I adore them both equally, amber, resins , spices galore. Heaven!
Lumiere Noire makes me feel like a diva and fantastic even when I'm shlumping in my mama sweats and Divine's L'Inspiratrice is a sweater scent that I could nuzzle all day.
Tamara, I liked the mid-1990s Miss Dior, but I’m sure it has changed a few times since then!
Hi Jess , I love the edp and edc but I was really talking about vtg Miss Dior parfum. THAT’s the best. 🙂
ahh Tamara…you’re in trouble….you’ve crossed into Amouage Ho Territory. It’s bad when our noses decide to yearn for the spendy stuff!
Daisy~ I KNOW 😛 I was into this niche thing a whole year before Amouage but now – whoaaaaah Nelly!
Memoir makes me happier than a pig in s***! 😀
And so does Epic, Lyric, Dia, Gold,Ubar,Jub 25……………………………….
Ouch! Yikes! You just named off a mortgage payment!
Do you know that there are Amouage “travel sets”–one each of men’s and women’s–each containing six 7.5 ml minis? The women’s is Gold, Dia, Jubilation 25, Ubar, Lyric, and Reflection. The men’s is Gold, Dia, Jub XXV, Silver, Lyric, and Reflection. They are still expensive ($280 for the set), but you essentially get six minis for the price of one 50 ml bottle. Not enabling or anything, just mentioning it…..
Perfect timing for a top 10 list – and nice picks Jessica! I just sampled Like This last night and was really intrigued by it’s weird sensuality. I don’t know if it will be FBW for me, but it is really interesting. I get a slight whiff of cigarette smoke in the drydown…
My 10 Fall list in no particular order of preference:
Mitsouko edp or extrait
Rose Barbare
Tabac Aurea
Rose Musc
Magie Noire
Parfum Sacre
Fifi Chachnil
Coco
Badgley Misckha
Mauboussin or the new Laura Mercier Ambre Passion Velvet (tie)
Too many good ones to pick!
Hi Ann! LM APV is something I just discovered and LOVE.
Tamara – I do really like that LM APV – and then I really began to love it. I will confess here that it is one of the very few fragrances I am actually liking to spray in my hair and on my clothes! (I double checked with hubby I’m not overapplying, and yeah! He likes it too, so perhaps that is one of the other reasons I’m going nuts over it. Normally he just tolerates my fragrances, lol.) I am just really enjoying my bottle. I almost wore it for one week straight, which is really unususal for me these days. The delicate fine spray is just wonderful. It is so spicy and warm and not too sweet. It’s become one of my favorite new releases.
Wow Ann that’s an endorsement if I ever heard one!
Spraying hair and sweaters is totally justifiable, we have to use it up to get more perfume right? 😉
I love to do that too<3
Justifying more is never a problem for me, ha!!
AnnS, Ah, Parfume Sacre! Another good Caron.
I think a few of you have mentioned Magie Noire. Need to check that one out…
Magie Noire is just great. Vintage is richer, but the current version is still good. I have both. Wearing Magie Noire is like sitting next to a warm fire.
I loved the reviews and the name of magie noire but I have way too much of a sweet tooth. At first I found the bitterness interesting. Then it started reminding me of schweden bitter, some hideous herbal mixture that is meant to be very good for you. And soon after I became queasy…
Oh no! That’s not good. Certainly Magie Noir is very dry. I like dry though. I can totally appreciate how bad that must have been if it smells like a health tonic to you! The good news is there are plenty of other great fragrances out there to love.
I know exactly what you mean! Quite a few of the older “orientals” have some odd herbal/cooking spice thing going on that makes me queasy.
Hey Ann – What’s your vint of Parfum Sacre? Guess I can ask Mals and a number of others the same question. How does the current version compare? is it still FBW?
Good morning Opera!
Well we have gone around and around on here about this a couple of times but as for me I prefer my vtg. versions the best, the edt and edp.
I have tried the current and it was a soapy, screechy mess on my skin, it made me turned off by Caron until I got a hold of the “good stuff” Splash bottle with ivory cap(edt) and cylinder bottle with black cap(edp) Some folks think they smell exactly the same-I do not agree at all! But that’s just IMHO. 😉
I can send you some of both Opera, I have quite a bit and then you can smell for yourself. Email me with your address doll!
Operafan – I have a large decant of the current edt and a bottle of the vintage edp. The current edt is more peppery, and thinner as you would expect in the difference of edt v. edt. The vintage edp is deeper, very rosey, more well blended, and the pepper is more subdued. It has more of a shimmer than the current and makes me think it must be the inspiration for Lyric for Women by Amouage. The drydown of both IMHO is nearly the same once you get there. Ironically, I enjoy layering the current edt and the vintage edp – sounds weird – but the vintage edp has all that great depth and is very compact, but the current edt has that bold pepper and an extended drydown that has more of that dry woody smell. They are both basically good, so I’d just look for the best deal on either and enjoy whatever you end up with!
Thanks for both of your inputs! And Tamara and I have cleared up our confusions. I’m looking forward to trying it with new perspectives.
You know, I’ve been wanting to try Fifi Chachnil, but that darned bottle just mortifies me. I think I’ve got bottle prejudice.
Dee – I totally solved that problem by getting a decant in a plain jane glass bottle. It helps me a lot too. I am nearly allergic to pink poofs and balboa fuzz. Too bad it doesn’t come in some sexy black bottle. But it goes along with the frilly undies of the Chachnil line. Someday when I get a FB of this, I’ll just transfer it into a regular bottle. Bulb atomizers are no good anyway.
…er, I mean boa fuzz….
I just had a vision of Stallone in a feather boa. ha!
Based on the notes, I think I’ll really like it… Thank kittens for MUA, right?
Dee—aren’t you on one of my splits? I’ll go retrieve my book…I can send you samples of Fifi edt & Edp.
I’m really glad I wasn’t eating or drinking anything–“Stallone in a feather boa” made me crack up!
I’m STILL loving my SL Bois de Violette. There’s just something about it that makes it perfect, perfect, perfect for this time of the year.
OJ Woman is also a 100% autumnal smell to me. I recently dug out my sample of Messe de Minuit which worked brilliantly with a backdrop of damp leaves and other typical autumn smells.
Otherwise I’ve been wearing Cuir de Russie, 31 Rue Cambon, Lyric, BdI and Jubilation although I consider these to be year round favourites. And I’m yet to break out the super-cosy winter lovelies like Ambre Narguile, Coromandel or Tobacco Vanille.
Oh and since I accepted March’s challenge the other day, I’m spending the next week wearing nothing but Bandit! 😀
Abyss, I can’t wear many Serge Lutens scents, but I do love Bois de Violette!
Yup, same here, Jessica!
Oh, I accepted too! From Halloween, I will be doing seven days of Czech & Speake #88. I am starting to feel a bit leery especially reading about all the lovely fall scents that I cannot smell during the challenge. Maybe I could spray my daughters???
I don’t think my cats would approve of being sprayed so I might have to just sniff the bottles 😀
Ha, I spray my daughter too! It backfired a couple of days ago leading to the appropriation of my decant of Musc Maori…its funny, I loved what I now know is musk when I was a teenager too.
What a great fall collection. Whoever gets to sit near you this fall is very lucky!
This fall, I’m loving:
Eau D’Italie’s Baume du Doge ( from a sample vial) — this has convinced me I need to try more incense frags!
Dune
Cabochard
Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail — the bottle’s all beachy, but the scent itself is warm, cozy, sweet, and full of wood smoke
Knowing
The new Crabtree & Evelyn Iris
Thalia, Would you believe I’ve never tried Dune? I remember when it used to be *everywhere*… and now I’ll need to seek it out.
I have what I think is an older bottle (I bought it used so I haven’t seen the box), and Dune is wonderful! Sort of sticky, warm, and resinous. I’ve heard the reformulation isn’t as good …
Sticky, warm, and resinous sounds *awesome*. I think I need to go find a tester…
my autumn scents are;
Alien and Angel by Thierry Mugler, I haven’t bought Angel yet
I’m thinking about Vivienne Westwood’s Naughty Alice, it’s not a particular season scent and though I like the start and the dry-down I’m still unsure about it halfway through.
and I can’t decide over D&G the one and the one gentleman
flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf, but that’s my signature so I wear that anyway 🙂
Owen, I haven’t tried Naughty Alice yet, but I’m curious about it!
oh do try it Jessica !
it’s better than boudoir and sin garden (liked sin garden, didn’t like boudoir)
there is hardly any quirkiness in this at all compared to the boudoirs. it’s a creamy, swirling cloud of dreaminess. and it lasts all day (which I always look for in a perfume), but it’s not too strong or overpowering.
I need to try it a few more times before I make my mind up, there is just something about it halfway thru that makes me feel uncomfortable, I hope it passes.
and the 30ml bottle is so cute 🙂 I’ll get that first, and if I still like it I’ll move onto the 75ml. I hope it makes it’s way to U.S soon 🙂
Me too, since I’m honor-bound to try anything referencing Alice in Wonderland. It’s my “other” collecting hobby (not counting books, movies and music, bc I more accumulate those than collect them, per se).
Owen!!! Hello! hey, I have some samples for you but have no address to send them to….so email me sometime. 🙂
ooh what are they ?
I’ll email you my adress 🙂 THANKYOU
ohright, they’re in my email box
I’ve replied 🙂
Off-topic (but not quite): Oh, how I love Emile Friant! Ever since I saw some of his paintings featured in a french film called “Il y a longtemps que je t’aime”. Show me another artist who can do light as he does!
Isn’t that a lovely painting? He’s new(ish) to me, but now I want to see more of his work.
Same happened to me after seeing this picture. I googled him as I found the hyperrealism of the picture as an idication that it could be a contemporary artist, but turns out to be that he was a little ahead of his time. 😉
oh yes, beautiful painting !!!!!
My top 5 (at least this week :-)) are:
Bois des Iles
Theorema
Van Cleef’s Automne Woody Notes
Chergui
l’Eau des Merveilleuses
Ooops, top 10 post should read the above plus:
Daim Blonde
Cuir de Russie
Iris Poudree
Acqua di Biella Kid Mohair
Stephanie de St Aignan Royal Palm
Patou’s Que Sais-Je (I know I went one over)
LTS, I love Iris Poudree… so elegant.
I need to try more things from Patou.
Royal Palm is a great comfort scent… it reminds me of orange spice tea.
Isn’t it wonderful? And so obscure…..thanks to Haunani for the introductions 🙂
Oh! You are welcome. I actually finally got your decant ready this morning. You may actually get it soon (insert sheepish procrastinator’s grin). It’s a good one for fall, I think!
Hi all
Some of my Fall favorites are Chanel No 5, SSS Femme Jolie, Shiseido’s Feminite du Bois (extrait-it has a lovely plum/rose note) and my favorite-Gucci’s L’Arte di Gucci, stunning rose/chypre with great lasting power.
Ooooooo FdB extrait?! I bet that’s really cool! Is it heavier Smokey? (which I don’t mind BTW 🙂
Yes, do tell, SmokeyToes!
I love FdB it’s one of my faves…. It’s not heavier per say, to me the extrait is richer plum/jammy, with more rose notes and it feels less dry then the edp spray.
I seriously got lucky on evil bay one day, scored a 1/2 oz extrait in the original bottle. My perfume shopping fairy was watching over me that day.
FdB extrait is really nice, actually. I’m glad I was able to acquire some.
L’Arte di Gucci! I love that.
SOTD – SSS Vintage Rose, more of a winter fare but the temp in NJ just dropped 20+ degrees from yesterday so it felt right.
Don’t have a list – all depends on my mood and clothes and situation so too many possibilities. I enjoy reading everyone else’s lists though!
OperaFan, SSS Vintage Rose is such a nice woody-plummy rose, isn’t it?
Indeed – in fact, that same plum note in Wood Violet has gotten me to almost like violet scents!
I still have a baby collection (as in my collection is small and I’m new to the perfume world, not that I collect babies), but my favorite fall scents are:
Shalimar,
PdE Cuir Ottoman,
Amouage Epic Woman,
and CdG Avignon.
I can’t wait till it gets a little cooler just so I will feel comfortable wearing Musc Ravageur again.
I’d say for a newbie, you have some impressive perfumes!
2nd that! I like Musc Ravageur for fall/winter, too.
Evil Emma – I was going to say the same as those above – you got some good stuff for a small collection! That’s just as good, in my book, as having a large meh collection!
The CdG gets my vote!
Love Cuir Ottoman! One of my very favorite leathers.
ahhhhh….Epic woman….one of my favorites…
Nice list….and just what everyone has said, your collection may be small yet, but it’s definitely high quality! 🙂
Off the top of my head, so I’m sure I’m forgetting a few (and intentionally leaving a few for winter!):
Bois des Iles
OJ Woman
Zagorsk
Lyric
Like This
Mauboussin
Bandit
Cuir de Russie
Sands of Aqaba
Amarige Mimosa 2007
I knew I was forgetting something… Bois d’Ombrie and Sienne l’Hiver, not to mention Dzongkha and Timbuktu.
Lots of B Duchaufour! And a few leather-y scents. 😉
Oh I really like Timbuktu. Eventually I’m going to get a bottle of that. It is actually one of my favorite wintertime scents – you know how it is in like February or March when it’s so miserable, cold and dreary? It’s like a big ray of green sunshine that goes on and on and on. Now that I like Nuits de Tubereuse and Amaranthighs, I’m seeing a
pattern for liking Duchaufour’s fragrances – I need to do some more research on the others.
Ann, have you tried Jubilation XXV? To me, that is the _sine qua non_ of Duchaufour creations.
Well…. yes, I think the XXV sample I have is from you. 😉 It is enough in that incense territory that I kind of nearly cringe when I put it on, but hope springs eternal. I scrub it off and put it away for another day. I test it every once in a while with my other incense frags, like No 22, to see if eventually I’ll get it. I think incense is my Everest. One of these days…
Remind me, when we get around to swapping…I have enough to share (benefit of scent glue skin, I don’t need more than 10 ml of almost anything).
Woo-hoo! We are LONG overdue for another swap! I’ll just go around picking up decants of Timbuktu like little kittens and before I know it, I’ll have bunches of it.
Ann, there is no scent that puts a smile on my face the way Timbuktu does. (Well, Chamade comes close.) There is something about it that sweeps away petty worries and blue moods.
Yes, you are right – very sunny, happy, but not in a silly way. It is transformative. I love the drydown.
What is Sands of Aqaba??
Ditto this question. Been hearing about it lately, but know nothing!
I just hosted a split of it, and described it as “Amouage Lite”… upon which Daisy burst out in a cackling fit of laughter. Ok, so it isn’t really *that* light… but I find it less overwhelming than the Amouages I’ve tried.
What a shame I missed the split! Amouage Lite? Interesting….
what amazes me is that 7 of the items on your list made me say “ohh, ahhh” and yet our tastes are usually very different! Is this the end of civilization?? (:-O
J, I love these lists and look forward to reading all the comments later this evening.
Lolita Lempicka is a really well-done scent, as I recently discovered. I also really need to start wearing Like This more often — to me it is amazing ginger goodness.
My list would include (among *so* many):
– new #1 fave Penhaligon’s Zizonia (really love this; I’m evangelizing)
– Cuir Mauresque
– Bornéo 1834
– Lonestar Memories
– Traversee du Bosphore (also a huge love)
– Myrrhe Ardente
Joe – I just tested Like This! last night – I really like it!! Thanks for sharing. It is really unusual and interesting.
I need to spend more time w/TdB. It’s neither love nor hate at this point, and I’m not sure which way it will go on me. It certainly isn’t dull, at least.
I need to test this one… I am overdue testing some new stuff that’s come out recently…. I keep hearing good things about it.
Ann—Traversee du Bosphore? I can send you a sample…making a note right now….on the same note that says “Ann needs to try Liu” which came up while we were discussing the “mystery guerlain” …hmmm anything else I’m supposed to send? Do remind me…I’m in a swap/sample packing mode , there’s sample vials everywhere!
Well thank you – I’ll have to find something special to send to you.
Joe, Penhaligon’s has done a few good new things lately, hasn’t it? I need to try that Zizonia.
Hooray for Like This! I completely agree with Angela’s original review of it.
Joe, tell us more about Zizonia! Please?
I haven’t done a side by side, but I keep thinking of it as “Epic Woman Light”… it has that warm spicy feel, but there’s also quite a bit of citrus up top, and in the first few seconds it has a citronella vibe that almost reminds me of Off insect repellent. I know that doesn’t sound good, but it really only lasts a few seconds, and then there’s sort of an orange/geranium/spice/wood combination that’s absolutely addictive to me.
Listed notes: Orange, Bergamot, Coriander, Lavender, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Ginger, Geranium, Black Pepper, Cumin, Patchouli, Amber, Cedarwood, Vetiver, Sandalwood.
Love the notes list!
I agree! A great list of notes.
I’ve recently discovered Borneo and it’s so great — patch with cocoa or dark chocolate, but not too sweet or foody.
love myhrre ardente!!!
This fall I was mostly faithful to one scent, Chergui, because I was fostering a very tiny kitten and I didn’t want to confuse him. But I did occasionally ‘cheat’ with Tibetan Mountain Temple, Fireside Intense, Sacrebleu, Smell Bent’s LE from last year, Jackie O’Lantern, and Fleurs de Sel, which smells both chilly beachy and warm sweater to me. I also love incense scents in the fall, especially Avignon, Jaisalmer, and Dzonghka.
Sounds like quite a bit of cheating going on there, JIRISH! Don’t worry, kitty’s going to recognize you no matter what scent you put on. Her ears will pick out your voice as yours!
Well I just brought the kitten back to the shelter yesterday, so he won’t be picking up my scent or sound anytime soon! There’s a kitten-sized hole in my heart right now, but I know he’s at a great adoption center and he’s going to make someone extremely happy. I’ll just have to console myself with my perfumes, and of course my three permanent cats!
Hugs to you for being so good to our feline friends.
Jirish, ooh, nice one — Sacrebleu.
Ooh, Fleurs de Sel! Gotta wear that soon. And my Tibetan Mountain Temple body butter!
I still need to try that Jaisalmar… I think it’s the only one of the series I haven’t tried yet.
I tried the entire series, and Jaisalmer was the only one I did not like. For some reason, it made me think of the dentist’s office–not a good association for me, as I had a root canal earlier this year.
I don’t think I could ever wear it if I had that association! I have a real dentist-phobia in spite of having the loveliest, most patient and pain-free dentist around.
Last fall I wore Dirty Rose by DSW a lot. It was strong and bracing, and woke me up on dark mornings. This year though, I want something warm and comforting, so I’ll probably pull out my old Ysatis.
Dirty Rose is definitely bracing – I tested it and recall their is a rather intense rawhide accord? It really would do the trick first thing in the morning.
Nerd, I’m blanking on DSW and can only think of the discount shoe store… probably not what it means here!
I think DSH Perfumes.
Sorry. DSH. Midterm brain.
I would say I usually base my choice of what to wear based on my mood and not the season, but I do feel particularly drawn to CdG’s line in the fall: Red Carnation, Patchouli,etc. They seem to have a scent for whatever the reason or season. (Sorry, got a little corny there).
Dolly, I agree about CdG — you could compile an entire scent wardrobe from CdG. I wish they’d kept the Sweet Series, alas…
I agree. CdG well crafts their fragrances so there is almost something for anyone.
I love their Red Carnation—It’s seems to me to be the most “true” carnation scent without turning funereal.
Great list! I love that Lolita Lempicka is on there … I feel very similarly toward it, it’s like an old friend I met many years ago and don’t connect with all that much anymore but still have a lot in common with when I do.
My cat passed away last week and I have not worn any perfume since. I think I don’t want to ruin any of my fall favorites with such a sad association, so I’m waiting until the grief lessens some.
so sad Jill, let’ hope you cat is very happy now in cat heaven. i always hope one day i will see my dogs again. they gave some much love and happiness
Oh Jill, I’m sorry about your poor kitty sweety, I know your heart is hurting 🙁 I hope you can enjoy perfume again soon.
Be well. <3
My condolences on your loss, Jill. My heart still breaks when I think about my last 2 lost babies (cats – that is). I call them babies because they ARE like my very own. *Sigh*
So sorry about your kitty cat, I know how you must feel..for I lost my little chihuahua dog bout 3 months ago..sigh..I still miss Chino, my kids are still not ajusted to his absence..he was part of our family.
Sorry about Chino Adela 🙁
So sorry about your sweet kitty, Jill.
You guys are all so sweet, thanks! And my heart goes out to any of you who’ve lost animal friends as well.
Jill, I am sorry for your loss.
Aw, Jill, I’m sorry. That heartache is one of the worst, any time of the year.
Oh, Jill, that is such a hard thing. I’m so very sorry. I bet she was a lovely cat and had a happy life with you.
Oh, I am so sorry for your loss! My heart goes out to you, I know just how hard it can be.
Sorry about your cat, Jill. I was inconsolable when my beloved cat died years ago. Enjoy your memories.
so sorry about your sweet kitty! My kitties are my babies too so I’m going to sit here and sniffle on your behalf for a while.
Abstaining from perfume for a while is a good idea…things would be ruined forever. 🙁
Oh, Jill, I am so sorry. I’m a kitty person too, and I know losing one is one of the hardest things in the world. You’re in my thoughts.
I am so sorry to hear about your cat. I am new to the joys of cats and I would be lost without them. I do understand about associating smells with memories. I would do the same and lay low or you can even do a scented bath soap just to give you a pick me up.
Thanks everyone, your kind words mean a lot! I love that we have so many cat people here.
I’m so sorry about your kitty!!! When my last one passed, which about killed me, I anointed his body with an essential oil blend I have called Breath of Angels to send him on his way. Seemed appropriate somehow.
Be well and let yourself grieve as needed. I swear I cried as much for that cat as I did for my Dad, but I can’t feel bad about that – I lived and slept with that kitty for 13 years, every day.
My heart hurts for you.
Jill, I’m really sorry about your cat. We lost our most special one some months ago.
I hope the pain gets a little more bearable soon. But you’ll never stop missing your friend. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
I’ve sorted my perfumes into those she loved (No 5, Coco, Coco M., Allure, Angel, Addict 2) and those she didn’t acknowledge. It’s a lovely way to “keep her with me”.
Of course you can’t replace a cat. But another one can console you a little. They just make you love them.
Thanks again to all of you for your support — I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it and value each of your stories about your own special kitties. They really leave a void when they go. (And I do have another cat, who’s also missing my kitty who passed, so we are comforting each other!)
Hey Jill,
I’m way late in seeing this, I just wanted to send my condolences. I’m so sorry you lost your dear sweet kitty.
Sorry about the kitz, Jill. At least he was one loved cat during his/her life ( :
A couple of months ago i smelled YSL’s Cinema at a convention of some sort and really liked it. I didnt buy it because they only had a 90ml. It turned out afterwards that its not easily available. Again I have found it – but again only a 90ml, going for $80, and this time no tester. Having about 15FBs at the moment I cant decide whether or not to pass up…
I have half a bottle I got in a swap and I don’t care for it. I’d be more than happy to swap it – I’m jasouza9 on MUA.
Huh? is that a swap site somewhere? I live in S. Africa so not sure that would work. What do you think? My e mail is merlynn.edelstein@gmail.com
Sorry about being so off topic!
That’s ok! I remember liking Cinema, although it wasn’t quite what I expected. And then it got more difficult to find… a shame.
After carefully considering your answer to how many is too many, I may almost be ready to spring for it. Oh wait – my storage space is deeper, at the moment, than my bank account!
It is less than the others Im drooling over, Sa ma Jest La Rose, Charogne, Bandit, Filles en Anguill…etc etc etc
This may be OT, but today I got to enjoy one of my own favorite fall fragrances–not a perfume, but the scent of fresh-picked, ripe Meyer lemons from my backyard tree. They are just starting to turn yellow, and today I got to pick two of them. The scent is basically lemon, but somehow softer and richer than “regular” lemons, almost like an eau de cologne.
Fall has barely arrived here. Last night was rather chilly, but today it is back into the 80’s. On my list for fall are:
CdG Avignon
Attrape-Couer
Feminite du Bois
Ubar
Vol de Nuit
I have been wearing Bois de Violette and OJ Woman, which I find suitable year-round. The violet in BdV gives it a spring/summer association, and OJ Woman reminds me either of working in my garden (spring) or walking in a forest with the scent of leaves, pine needles, and warm, moist earth, an experience I associate with summer. I also have been testing out my samples from SSS, and am thinking I *need* a bottle of Champagne de Bois.
Meyer Lemons are always on-topic! 🙂
I like soft, powdery violet scents in the spring, and deeper, woodier violet scents in the fall and winter. The latest Balenciaga release is lovely and just barely missed making my list.
you are so lucky to have a Meyer Lemon tree! I’d be bristling with jealousy except there’s no way one could survive Michigan…so enjoy them extra for me!
Champagne de Bois is fantastic and yes, you do need a bottle …I think everyone needs a bottle! lol
I spent most of my early childhood in Michigan, so I know what you mean! I seem to remember going trick-or-treating in the snow at least once. Still, you get all that beautiful fall foliage color, and you can grow things like apples and cherries and blueberries that just need more cold weather than we get here.
If it smells – it’s on topic! I love Meyer lemons!!
Gres Cabaret
Rose de Nuit
M.Micallef Rose Aoud
Bvlgari Black
Sira de Indes
Vintage eau de Arpege
Norma Kamali Incense
Ooh, Gres Cabaret and Micallef Rose Aoud! Two rosy beauties!
Gres Cabaret! Ah, another good rose.
mmmm Rose Aoud is one of my favorite roses! All jammy and perfectly wrapped in a bit of soft leather….good stuff indeed.
Jammy is a great descriptor for that one!
Cabaret! And vintage Arpege! Yummy stuff.
Okay that is the second time Norma Kamali has been mentioned in the last few days – I never even knew she had scents! Need to do some research….
Shaal Nur
It’s very hard to limit to ten, but here goes…
Havana Vanille
TDC Bois d’Iris
Mauboussin
Genie des Bois
Ambre Precieux
Iris Taizo
Niki de Saint Phalle
Theorema
Stephen Jones
Not sure why Shaal Nur ended up at the top. I guess she’s establishing herself as my *favorite* fall favorite. 🙂
It *is* difficult! I’m a fan of Havana Vanille and the CdG Stephen Jones, too.
Oh, Haunani! I just got a decant of Iris Taizo, and I freaking love it. PG perfumes really make me happy 🙂
Yep! A favorite house for me, too. 🙂
That Stephen Jones is a freakmobile. I CANNOT figure it out. Worse, I can’t figure out whether I like it or not.
(Who wants to bet that I turn out to “need” it?)
Love Mauboussin, though. Have drained my mini.
Stephen Jones really IS an odd one. It’s even stranger that I, an aldehydes-phobe, should fall in love with it. For me, it’s about the quality of the violet smell. So what if those violets are radioactive? 😉
Musc Ravageur …warm cashmere leopard print sweater and Bois de Paradis…campfire with old thin flannel shirt and worn longjohns…
I have a sample of Musc Ravageur that I MUST get out and test…
Musc Ravageur… I need to roll out my sample and wear it again!
The next perfume on my wishlist is a bottle of Feminite du Bois for this fall. But if only the weather would catch up with the season and cool down…it’s been in the 80s here lately in Southern California. Until it cools down though, I’ll be wearing Kelly Caleche.
Kelly Caleche is so pretty!
2nd that! I like the Hermes scents of that “era.”
So are all you Cuir De Lancome fans talking about the current version or some vintage version? Because, well, now you’ve got me wanting to try it!
Well, it is (sadly) discontinued if I remember correctly, but the one I am totally digging is the La Collection one, from… 2007? Smells like the inside of your mom’s best leather purse, complete with scented hanky and lipstick and maybe a shredded cigarette at the bottom.
Wait, I’ll go grab a link: http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Lancome/Cuir-de-Lancome-La-Collection-Fragrances–3192.html
The Really Old Cuir was a big ol’ scary leathah like Bandit, apparently, and can only be found if you want to sell a firstborn or two. I’ve never smelled it, but Perfume-Smellin’ Things has a review of both versions.
Oops, hit Post too soon. You can still find the modern Cuir at the discounters for $30-35 for 50ml. GREAT deal. I need more before they start disappearing the way Shalimar Light did…
Why don’t I own a bottle of Shalimar Light?! Silly me.
I’ve been on and off here a couple of times today, and of course each time there are more and more great comments and lists to read, so I’m finally getting to the bottom to post my own list of current favorites:
Mitsouko – SOTD
Vol de Nuit
Samsara
(above three are all vintage)
Iris Ganache
Bois d’Armenie (I only recently discovered these two!)
Cuir de Russie
SSS Incense Pure
Great list!!! All good except I can’t seem to find any love for Samsara. I’m glad to see someone mention SSS Incense Pure —I’ve discovered that recently myself. Talk about a big, full-bodied, smooth cloud of incense….but not churchy incense…..the kind of incense they’d burn in some exotic eastern shop. Maybe that’s the difference—church incense is cold….lugubrious almost….but Incense pure is exotic, warm and succulent.
Vol de Nuit—vintage of course—lovely. but I noticed that SDV is missing?? hmmm? Is your SDV off pouting with my SDV?
Heheheheee – SDV is in time out! I brought her out last week, the temp climbed into the 70’s and she became a little obnoxious.
I NEED to send you some of my vintage Samsara. I don’t even know what possessed me to bid on the bottle as I didn’t like my sample from TPC! Why do we do this?!? But I love it – it’s missing that fakey violet note that my sample had, which I know is from the ionones used to replace the real sandalwood.
That’s Iris Ganache from the Van Cleef & Arpels line, right? I remember liking that one when I sniffed it in Bergdorf.
Iris Ganache is Guerlain from the L’Arte & La Matière series.
Aha! Yes. Too many series-within-series. But I like that one, too.
Joe’s right, Jessica. The VC & A iris is Bois d’Iris. I love, love, loved it until the drydown, which went very old lady, stale perfume musky on my skin.
I love reading everyone’s fall fragrance favorites! This is my favorite time of year, when heavy gourmands and spicy concoctions can be worn without killing those around me : )
I am currently trying to decide whether I want to purchase FB or large decants of Etat’s Like This or L’Artisan Tea for Two. Though neither caught my heart in the summer, now that it is cold I’ve been reaching for my samples so often I am almost out! My other fall fav so far have been my ‘signature’ Pacifica Tibetan Mountain Temple.
Speaking of which I don’t suppose any one had either of these they would like to trade for a large sample of CdG Carnation? I have about 5-6ml that I am not loving as much as I had hoped, and it needs a new home! I also <3 Shalimar and Mythique.
Halimeade, I can’t help you decide, sorry, because I think Like This and Tea for Two are both excellent. 😉
They are! I was ogling them both at Luckyscent, I was surprised by some of the negative comments for Tea for Two. Its so LIKABLE and easy to get along with, Burning houses? Tar? Gasoline? I was just blown away. Like This I can sort of understand, its so out there I could see it turning on folks.
Jessica, this is a great list and I’m so glad to see Poivre Piquant mentioned–it’s one of my favorites. I’ve also recently discovered OJ Ta’if and am really liking it. I’ve also been wearing Bois d’Armenie a lot lately now that it’s cooler.
Janice, I went through several L’Artisan sample vials of Poivre Piquant before I finally realized, “Yes, I love this and now I will buy a bottle.” It sort of crept up on me! A very sly fragrance.
I agree with both of you that Poivre Piquant is a subtle beauty. I won a bottle, and I’m so glad I have it!
Late to the party as always. I hate it when it gets so busy at work! Don’t they know I need to talk about perfume???
Before I list, I need to see if anyone has a bottle of Tann Rokka Aki – amber, patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver. I have a friend named Aki, so this caught my eye, and then the notes seriously caught my eye – LS doesn’t have samples!!! grrr. TPC does but they are spendy.
Okay, I guess I can pretty much list what I have worn lately – most of my perfumes are fall/winter. I have also been testing a zillion new samples so I am all befuddled.
Balkis
Rose 31
Coeur du Vetiver Sacre
Attrape Coeur
Vetiver pour Elle
Apres l’Ondee (if it’s warmish and raining)
Reverie au Jardin
Kenzo Amour Parfum
Bringing into the rotation soon:
Caron Poivre extrait
Coromandel (when I get some)
Deciding between a few Serges
Tama, I’m surprised that no one mentioned Le Labo Rose 31 before now! PdN Balkis is such a nice berry-gourmand rose. And I now resolve to wear my carefully-hoarded Apres L’Ondee edt on the next rainy day.
hi all, hi fall, nice to see you again 🙂
I’m not really faithul to last years’s fall scents, I rather use the new ones:
L’Heure Exquise
L’Heure Bleue
Mythique – I surely need an FB
Rose Ikebana
and some of my old buddies:
Sublime Balkiss
31 Rue Cambon
The Beautiful Mind Series Vol 1
Iris Silver Mist
have a great week-end all : )
Ami, that’s a beautiful, classic list! Ah, L’Heure Bleue…
yeah, I always thought I liked trendy stuff, but ever since I met this blog and you guys I learnt I’m more towards classic and I truly adore exploring more of these beauties
That’s some list! A few of those are on my sample list : )
I adore Mythique. I usually hate iris, but the buttery softness of the scent makes me love it so. I’ve had it down for decant/FB purchase for awhile, but just can’t make myself pull the trigger.
: ) from Santa I asked, begged and prayed for a L’Heure Bleue vintage, so I will need to buy Mythique for myself. where is that trigger?
What is this SSS everyone speaketh of?!? Tabac Aurea?!? I have never heard of this – been out of the loop, blog-wise, for most of the year. Must do some research as it sounds right up my street!
My Autumnal Favourites so far have been:
– Musc Ravageur
– Le Labo Patchouli 24 (this would be my number one right now – a perfect balance of burnt, charred, smoky opening tempered by soft vanilla sweetness.)
– Sienne L’Hiver (for cold, crisp, sunny days)
– Mona di Orio Musc
– No4 Musc Maori (for rainy, cold days)
– Ta’if for evenings out.
– I am SO planning a wee trip to L’Artisan to toss a coin between Timbuktu and Mechant Loup.
– I don’t hear Villoresi’s Alamut mentioned on blogs much, so I feel I must include this on my list…..the pure perfume oil is the richest, most satisfying and sumptuous thing on earth – and then one can spray the EdP on top for sillage. A truly amazing Oriental in my opinion, much overlooked and under-appreciated.
Blimunda – SSS is Sonoma Scent Studio, and references to “Laurie” here are Laurie Erickson, owner and perfumer of SSS. Her scents are a “must try” in my book – she’s an extremely talented, indie perfumer. Check out her website: sonomascentstudio.com.
I wish the Villoresi line weren’t so difficult to find in actual stores here in the US. Teint de Neige would be at the top of my personal winter-top-ten list!
Hey Blimunda: I think Villoresi Alamut & Dilmun are both underappreciated gems. I should get some decants.
I really like Fall… wouldn’t be possible to have a man-based thread?
I’d love it!
Thanks
Hi, FabLab! I’d love to hear your own Fall Top 10, if you have some man-ly favorites! 😉
And here’s a Fall list that our Kevin compiled a while back, for your reading pleasure:
https://nstperfume.com/2007/10/26/top-10-fall-fragrances-2007/
These fall fragrance posts are just in the nick of time – I guess I can stop moping about the impending doom of winter (COLD! DEAD! DARK! FOR MONTHS! ARRRGGHH!) and focus on all the best perfumes coming out of hibernation again. So many loves listed above, so many must tries, so many long nights!
Just to add something different, I’ll note that I especially enjoyed this week vintage Balenciaga Fleeting Moment parfum de toilette. Germaine Cellier does Chanel No. 5 – imagine as Perfume Shrine does a vintage Balenciaga lace dress with red-soled Laboutins. Also, DS & Durga’s My Indian Childhood. No curry in sight, rather the mouthwatering floral attar kewdra growing out of chocolaty earth (patchouli).
So, just as much as luxuriating in vintage Guerlains, Lanvins, ambers and incense again, I’ll enjoy just pulling open the perfume drawers and putting on something I haven’t tried for months because it was too hot and now one can wear anything and everything again. After the one-week challenge of course. 🙂
Noz, I need to get my hands on some of those DS & Durga scents. I wonder how their rose fragrance is…
I ordered directly from their cool website. Kicking myself for not ordering a sample of the rose at the same time – I’m curious about that one, too!
I’ve never even heard of Fleeting Moment, but what a wonderful analogy! Helg would be proud of you! Now I want to try it. Same for My Indian Childhood. My “to sample” list grew quite a lot this weekend.
My top ten for Fall:
Chanel Bois des Iles
Chanel Cuir de Russie
Chanel No. 5
Amouage Jubiliation 25
FM Noir Epices
CdG Kyoto
AT Un Rose Chypre
TDC Sublime Balkis
VCA Bois de Iris
Hermes Hiris
Hi, Filomena — autumn is the perfect season for iris!
iris rulez for sure. my very first note i fell in love with.
also, I bumped into a swiss organic line which has a facial set with rose and iris for sensitive skin, I use the moisturising cream and it is great!!!
http://www.farfalla-essentials.com/natural_cosmetics_ri.html
Morning all!
My top – (do I even have 10?) for fall
Bois des Iles
Attrape Coeur
31 Rue Cambon
Snow – Demeter
Rain – Demeter (maybe better for spring)
Rose Musc – SSS (actually trying to decide between this and Ta’if by JO) – do I have to choose?
Shalimar – both regular and Ode a la Vanille
Mythique – DelRae
Black – Bvlgari
Woah! Look at that – I actually DO have 10!
You did it! A nice mix of the traditional and the new! 🙂
My favorite fall perfumes I’ll be wearing are
Dzings, Un Rose Chypre
Mythique, Boise de Paradis, Amoureuse
Fifi Chachnil,
Vintage Magie Noire, Chanel no 5, Chanel CoCo
Shalimar, Mitsouko, Spiritueuse Double Vanille, Rose Barbare, L’Heure Bleue
FM Noir Epics, Un Rose
SSS- Champagne de Bois, Incense Pure
CdG Avignon-Thanks T. Love that stuff!!!
There are so many Dzing! fans among us!
oh very late to this post
here in hk is is just slightly chilly and i have been pulling out and loving my serges..fleur d’orange, borneo, cherugui. They are the only ones that do not inflame the skin allergies I have at the moment around my nose and chin! LOVE Chmapagne de bois.
Hope u all enjoy ur fall and all the yummy frangrances
Oh, sorry about your allergies, HKMom. Glad you can enjoy your Serge scents, at least!
for bright but cold autumn days: Virgin Island Water
For fall: Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum
Coromandel
Montale Red Aoud
Dioressence
Champs-Elysees (my Christmas perfume. My winter holidays spirit)
I have just fallen, and fallen hard for a perfume… I am now frightened by the implications of my burgeoning obsession — the hunts for bottles of vintage (late ’80s, early ’90s) on ebay… oh woe… But it seems the perfect scent for fall and winter. It is… Mitsouko. The first Guelain I have ever succumbed to…
My earliest forays into fragrance included Halston and Aromatics Elixir (just learned a couple of weeks ago that they were created by the same nose), and there are definitely similarities. But the Halston and AE are like fun, rough pizza wines compared to Mitsouko’s fine vintageof Gran Cru. I think I may have found “the one”. But, but, I need to find the recent vintages that still have the oakmoss…. (aargh!)
It feels like I have been struck by lightening…
As for other fall fragrances —
Rose Chypré
Paestum Rose
Theorema (my Christmas fragrance)
Maroc Pour Elle
(Fresh) Fig & Apricot
Voleur des Roses
Dzing!
Un Rose
Arpège (vintage)
I’m a perfume novice for sure, but so enjoy reading what more knowledgeable folks have to say on the subject. My fall scent this year is the original Burberry for Women. I’ve read various articles on NST and other perfume blogs that discuss “cashmere-like” fragrances, and am always surprised that none of them ever mention Burberry. Hey Robin, Jessica, Angela — if you’re listening, will one of you please review the original Burberry? I’m so curious to hear your thoughts!