Kevin attached a note to a perfume sample he sent me this week. “Angie: this smells like a skunk eating a donut!” it said. Without Kevin’s suggestion, I might have simply written the perfume off as a funky orange blossom. Now I’ll never be able to smell this fragrance without picturing Pepé Le Pew tucking into a cruller.
Then there was Robin’s review of L’Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tubéreuse. She cannily pointed out a Juicy Fruit note in the fragrance. When I read the review, I already had a bottle of the fragrance and already loved it. But from then on I’ve never been able to shake the association with foil-wrapped strips of gum.
I can mostly divorce the words “Coca Cola accord” from certain patchouli-inflected perfumes like Dana Tabu. I’ve managed to overlook “cat pee” references for grapefruit- or cassis-based fragrances. I’m also pretty good at separating civet and dirty musk from their frequent tags of dirty socks, genitalia, bad breath, and worse. (Just look up a few reviews of Serge Lutens Muscs Kublai Khan and see what I mean.) But some comparisons stick.
Sometimes the comparisons are positive, but they still affect how I view a fragrance. For instance, I’ve heard the violet-rose combination referred to as “face powder” enough times that it takes an effort for me to see beyond a vintage box of Coty powder when I sniff Frédéric Malle Lipstick Rose. Of course, that’s part of what Lipstick Rose plays on. And all of those fragrances labeled “beachy,” such as Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess and Bobbi Brown Beach, smell like Coppertone even before my nose reaches the bottle.
Fortunately, I'm slow enough in identifying notes that without a giveaway label to latch me onto an idea, I usually have at least a few minutes to enjoy the fragrance’s sensations before my story brain takes over. I just smelled Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Ligne Trapeze, a fragrance she made for the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition in Denver. It was familiar, yet sophisticated. Instead of scrambling to label its (very obvious and familiar) central note, I forced myself to relax and enjoy it. Before I knew it, “violet” drifted into my head, but without its candied associations. Nice.
What about you? Have you read any descriptions of fragrances or notes that changed how you view those perfumes for better or worse?
Do tell, which perfume smells like a skunk eating a doughnut? Because frankly, that makes me curious.
Kevin made me promise not to tell! He thought it might be mean, and I kind of agree. (But if we ever meet for a cup of coffee someday, I’ll tell all.)
I generally don’t pay too much attention to ad copies or other’s descriptions, but it’s always interesting and fun to hear different views. At a recent perfume gathering, we were sniffing a masked perfume sample and my daughter’s friend remarked out loud “It’s old lady scent!”, which got a fair bit of sideway glares and tut-tuts from older ladies (of my generation). The mystery fragrance was Angel. Hardly old lady, but to a 19 year old, I suppose it is. I doubt that the girl would have reacted differently even if she had read reviews or other people’s descriptions. I wear AG Songes, which my daughter describe as “granny scent”, but frankly, my dear, I don’t give a hoot.
I’ve heard the “old lady” comment so often that it doesn’t even register as a comment on the fragrance. Really, it just says that the person saying “old lady” doesn’t know a thing about perfume. Calling a perfume “old lady-ish” is like saying of a Jackson Pollock, “my kid could draw that.”
So true. OT: that reminds me on an incident that happened some years ago. A mother submitted a painting by her child as her own to the Royal Academy of the Arts and it was accepted and shown in the Summer Exhibition. The so called experts had no idea.
That’s crazy! It sounds like something someone should make into a documentary.
Except that I don’t want to smell like an “old lady”, and there are some fragrances that do just that on my skin. I may not be able to pinpoint just what gives it that aura, but I know that I do not care for it (nor does my husband). Sure, I may not “know” perfume, but I do know that what I smell in the bottle and what happens over time on my skin can be very “old lady” like.
You probably know lots about fragrance if you’re reading perfume blogs! Got to go with the fragrances that smell wonderful on you.
Same here. Word for word.
I have just recently heard the “old lady” phrase from a friend who went perfume shopping with me 🙂 and I thought, “uh-oh!”
I’ve found Stella to be a good “bridge” fragrance for people who call most perfume old lady-ish. A little Stella leads to dabbling in Jo Malone, and it’s down the rabbit hole from there…
Angela, thanks! Will have to do that next time. We’ve had some luck with Atelier colognes.
I can totally see the Ateliers being good bridge fragrances!
sometimes the term ‘old lady’ really does suit some of the fragrances out there, mainly pre-70s. it is like when something is old fashioned. there are certain notes and compositions that were popular and new when the ‘old ladies’ were ‘young ladies’ and it will forever be associated with that era long gone. regardless of how classic some are, there is no denying when in time the scent was created. i do try to use this term sparingly. if i find the scent decent, i would use ‘classic’ but if it is revolting, ‘old lady’ all the way.
it is funny because i love love love vintage fashion and style but generally detest scents pre-90s.
A little over a week ago I visited my tiny town’s half-dead mall. While walking past the Rue 21 (store dedicated to cheap clothes for not-very-sophisticated teens that also carries jewelry, the cheapest of store-branded perfumes and colognes, and a smidgen of eyeshadows and nail polishes that come fron decent brands), I spotted a couple of girls sniffing bottles. These girls were somewhere between 13 and 17 years of age. I unfortunately missed the exact moment of sniffage and the bottle shape/color (I think it might have been round and blue?), but one scent made the taller of the two exclaim “It smells like an old lady!” and then subject her friend to it, who concurred. I’ve smelled the Rue 21 scents, and they tend to be trainwrecks of fruity-floralness (for the girls) and aquatics or Axe-like scents (for the lads), so I have to wonder WHAT was in that particular scent that made the two think old lady. I think we may have reached the point where even fruity-florals are now “old lady” scents! Which begs the question, if even teenage-intended scents are now too old lady for the teens, and teens are pretty much the target market for scents… what now?
NP
I wonder if the fragrances had an aldehydic top to them? That might have prompted the “old lady” comment. But honestly, sometimes I think people see nearly all perfume as old ladyish!
Ohhhhhh, I have the same Juicy Fruit problem with Prescriptives Calyx. There I was, skipping along, having a good time pretending to be the golden-skinned, blonde-ponytailed, tennis-playing girl Calyx always made me feel (whereas in real life, I am pale, dark haired and bookish). And then some balloon-popping noodge came along and brightly pointed out that I smelled exactly like Juicy Fruit. Result: queasy paranoia and frantic wrist-scrubbing.
I hope that person is proud of themselves. I hope that person steps on lego.
I’ve heard the Chinese curse “May you have a long and ‘interesting’ life,” but the lego curse is truly awful!
Hahaha! The Lego curse is serious as they come. Followed closely by Barbie shoes/accessories
That’s funny! (Or not funny. A Barbie shoe in heel? Ouch!)
I once picked up a tube of Clean Provence shower gel on clearance for $3 despite recalling that its review in Perfumes: The Guide described it as smelling like “wet concrete.” I don’t know if I would have drawn that conclusion otherwise, but it absolutely smells like showering in the rain on a hot sidewalk!
Hey, maybe that’s a good thing! One of the smells I love most is the smell of hot sidewalk after a rain.
Me too! I love that smell.
It smells so clean and dirty at the same time–it’s nice.
Does ad copies influence me? Yes, and no! When I first read the ad copy for Annick Goutal Nuit Etoille I got mesmerized. The description sounded so appealing that it made me crave for a sample. Then I was lucky to find a niche perfume boutique in my university town, and luckily, they carried it. So I ordered a sample and found it not exactly what was said in it’s press materials. But who cares, I found it beautiful to have a full bottle now. That was probably the only time I wanted to try something so much because of the ad.
I usually trust my nose and care if I like it or not, no matter the ad copy.
Lucasai: What does Nuit Etoille smell like? I love most of the AG line and I’ve yet to smell this one. Please make as many suggestions as you like!! 😉
Hi Ann!
On my skin it starts with a minty accord that has a really cooling effect (sometimes gives me a goosebumps). I wish I could sense the initial citrus aroma, but I can’t really. The mint covers it all on my skin. After some time it get’s warmer, more balmy, starts to smell like crushed pine needles, a little bit green and resinous. After few hours is the part I like the most – Nuit Etoilee smells then like a campfire. I mean the warm, slightly woody aroma of a night air. It really smells like a night campfire in the forest.
That sounds really nice. I’m going to have to try it soon.
Oh Thanks! I am hit or miss with smoke accords, but it definitely sounds test worthy. Thank you so much for your review!
Glad I could help! Just please note – it smells like an air around the campfire, but there’s no really a smoky aroma in it, at least I don’t get it.
Ooh sounds lovely. It’s going on my list of ‘fumes to sample, thanks lucasai!
Hi, Lucas! I’m late, so not sure if you will see this, but wanted to say that I really like Nuit Etoilee too. Please don’t think me strange, but it reminded me of AG’s Noel – the candle and home fragrance spray that comes out for Christmas. I guess that must be the pine needle aspect in both. It’s made me think that I would rather like to be wearing this in the build-up to Christmas (much like wearing Clinique’s Wrappings, which shares some characteristics with NE).
That candle was one of the parfum1 deals of the century last year. I hope they run it again this year.
A lot of ad copy is so homogenous that it doesn’t sway me. I mean, how many fragrances out there really evoke the “sexy but independent woman who knows what she wants and how to get it”? Too many.
But once in a while something really is tempting! I always like to smell whatever Annick Goutal puts out.
You’re absolutely right. There are so many women fragrances that go “I’m sexy and I know it” kind of path.
But Annick Goutal really does an excellent job. I know Eau d’Hadrien and Nuit Etoilee for the moment, planning to buy samples of other creations from her house.
Over the weekend I dropped and broke a decant of L’Heure Exquise. It’s so beautiful! Another great Goutal.
Bet your house smelled fantastic for a week, though!
It still smells really good, even in the room next door where I’m writing this. I think I must have tracked some in with my slippers.
As time has passed these few years I have grown to love Goutals more and more. Her aesthetic is so outstanding – consistently AG embraces the aromas of nature like no one else. And IMHO, I think for the most part, AG does not bow to the market. Goutal goes her own way, and I really respect that. I think I have about 9 of them, and I love them all. Heure Exquise was the first Goutal I fell in love with, and was my gateway to greens and iris, so it’s very special to me. I’m sorry to hear that your decant broke!!!
The broken decant just means I’ll have to buy myself a whole bottle eventually!
I have a friend whose opinion is amazingly suggestive. If he says something smells like apple juice or mango pickles or blueberry muffins or or burning hair or an Aveda face cream – BAM! That’s all I’m ever able to get. I can’t decide whether it’s a curse or not. Because I really like mango pickles.
Some people seem to have that talent. I don’t know if it’s the authority in their voice or how on the mark they usually are. And anything that smells like mango pickles is a must smell for sure!
As a person who used to be in PR and marketing, I know how powerful suggestion can be. It’s hypnotic for sure. Because I know how it works, I am not easily distracted by it. Perhaps your friend is giving subconscious suggestions without realising he is, but watch him closely next time!
He sounds like he could have a lucrative career in marketing if he had the chance!
Angela: There are a few fragrances that had comments that I try to ignore, or thought were hilariously accurate. 1. a very nice poster on NST said many years ago that No 5 smells like urinal cakes. I try and ignore this as I thankfully have little experience with urinal cakes, and I think No 5 is great stuff. 2. That Ralph Lauren Notorious had/has (is this still around?) a Campari note, which I didn’t get a sense of. I love bitter Campari and Prosecco, yummers! And 3. that I believe either Daisy or Joe said loooong ago that PG Cuir Venenum smells like grape juice and band aids, which I think is spot on and very funny.
Someone once told me that peaty Scotch tastes like bandaids, so of course now I think of a medicine cabinet whenever I sip Scotch. (Thankfully, it hasn’t hindered my Scotch-drinking abilities.) I love that description of Cuir Venenum!
Few things would impede my Scotch drinking urges either – Ha!
Who knows? Maybe the peat-band aid comment will actually increase my band aid use!
I have always thought that scotch smells like Band-Aids. I really can’t get past it!
So, does it make Scotch less attractive or band aids more attractive?
Both! Band-Aids don’t smell like scotch anymore, so it makes me nostalgic …
After I read your comment, I went to the medicine chest and dug out a band aid–and you’re right! No band aid smell! When did it disappear?
Oh Ann, I remember that Cuir Venenum post. Didn’t they really get going back and forth with it? I seem to remember that the thread really degenerated. lol!
How come I’m not surprised? (said with a smile.)
They did – very funny stuff indeed.
Yes, I’ve had these unfortunate labels come into my uncritical ears and stick to a degree that they make an effect for my discriminating nose 😉
One of the last one — sadly — was with Love and Tears by Killian. Someone said that it was “smelling like soap” and I could not bring myself to smell jasmine bush any more. It was jasmine soap. A week rest and return to it did not help. Another couple of weeks and bringing it back to San Fran where I loved it did not help. I think I’ll stay away from it for longer. It is not that I mind soap, I just could not stand my initial very much outside impression of fresh scent of a jasmine on a warm day transfer into a very much inside experience of using a soap in the bathroom.
I always wonder to what degree a power of suggestion influences our sense of smell. It seems like there’s at least as much of brain in it than a nose.
Ugh! Soap is a deal breaker for me. So sorry that happened to one of your favorites!
I know, right?!
I won’t inflict curses on a person who did it.
But the question remains and persists: what if I never heard it? Would I have been blissfully unaware? Or would it hit me after upgrading from a decant to a FB? Inquiring minds want to know!
I hear you! Has my view of Nuit de Tubereuse been changed forever because of Juicy Fruit?
Good point, W. You very well may have “discovered” it with a FB. I think subsequent disappointment with a FB is fairly common amongst perfumistas.
Oh no! Once I smell soap, I tend to smell soap for a long time…
Glad it’s not just me!
I’ll always be grateful for the identification of the ‘Tampex fresh accord’ – I actually yelled in agreement when I first read it, lol!
That’s an excellent example! Yes, the tampax fresh accord. Eternal.
I have thought a few scents had the tampax accord. It’s a deal breaker.
For me, too. Heck, it’s even a deal breaker with actual tampax at this point.
Same here. I’m old enough to remember when ‘fresh’ and ‘sport’ meant big on the greens!
I’m ready for those days to come back, at least smell-wise.
Great post, Angela, and uncanny as before reading this I had just emailed someone and said “people will smell what you tell them to smell”.
I’m going to give credit where credit is due on this one. Our beloved Daisy, who loves Guerlain like I do, once said to me that she didn’t like Jicky as it smelled like bad breath! Well… I still love Jicky, but I do have to force myself past that association when I first put it on!
It’s that danged civet! It smells like dead squirrel to me, but yes. Mouchoir de Monsieur smells like that to me, too.
I need to smell MdM (yeah, like I “need” another hole in my head!).
I know the feeling!
Well, Daisy said the same thing about Shalimar (not surprisingly due to the direct lineage). I’ve been giggling over the memory of that quote ever since!
It must be the civet–yep, plenty of bad breath and dead squirrel to go around. (But so beautiful!)
I *do* giggle every time I put Jicky on! 😀
That’s nice, really!
Excuse me Rappleyea, I recently tried Jicky at the Grulian counter after reading all about it ! It was incredably sour !!! I got lots of lavender , but it had this putrid sour smell that made me scrub it off immediately, I think the tester had turned ? I want to give it another try but don’t want to revisit that unpleasantness , your opinion ?
I’ll let Rapp reply, but I bet it was the civet. If you’re sensitive to it, it will smell like something rotted.
Thanks for chiming in , oh dear 🙁 I didn’t want to dis respect the fragrance but it was more of a baby vomit sourness. Very unpleasant , I really clung to my nostrils after I had washed it off ! How can this smell be the famous Jicky ?!? Im really hoping it was a bad tester !
Great article Angela , such a spot on take of the joys of fragrances and people’s interpretation .
Oh dear… how awful! I have to agree with Angela, it probably *was* the civet, although lavender can read “sour” on some people’s skin. It might have been the perfect storm of notes that just don’t work for you. 🙁
I also meant to comment on the idea of a bad tester – while it could be possible, I doubt it. I purposely seek out older bottles of Jicky, and have never found one that has turned. The Guerlains seem to hold their age extremely well.
There we go ! Thank you very much ladies for your expert opinions , it seems jicky and I won’t be Friends after all!
I’d seek out another tester to be sure. Those fragrance counters are lighted and those lights can heat up those cabinets. I think they cook some of the more delicate scents quite frankly. Just a thought.
I was walking down the street happily smelling the sillage of the Vamp a NY I was wearing, thinking maybe I love this, maybe I need a whole bottle of this, and it’s all natural, too, and I have that gift certificate from Anthropologie to spend, when my husband, who usually loves my perfume, said in horror, “What are you wearing, CANDY?” And that was the end of that. (There seems to be a theme here with tuberose, doesn’t there?)
Maybe if he’d specified a really nice candy–say a nice bon bon–it could have ended differently…
Something like that happened to me. I don’t remember what fragrance it was anymore, but I thought it was fantastic. It was a change for me as I rarely wear sweetish or vanilla fragrances. And my husband told me I smelled like pancakes. Pancakes??!! That was the end of it for me. It blew the wind right out of my sails.
I’m getting so hungry right now. Pancakes sound delicious.
Every time my husband wears AG Sables, I think of pancakes–the immortelle smells just like maple syrup to me–but I like maple syrup and pancakes, so that is just fine with me.
I bet Goutal could have made a mint by selling the fragrance to IHOP.
This has happened to me a few times. I really liked Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune until someone pointed out that it smells like armpits. Which it actually kind of does.
Also Bois Farine. I was doing just fine with that until I heard it described as “peanut butter.” Again, it’s not untrue; I just hadn’t made that connection. But once the connection is made, it’s hard to break.
Oh man. Arm pits is truly a deal breaker. Peanut butter isn’t really want you want to be spritzing all over, either.
That’s so funny about Bois Farine!! I have the same reaction to it. It smells more specifically to me like those little sesame candy things or homemade granola. I hadn’t tested it in a few years, and dug it out of my pergatory bin just the other day with some other L’APs and Lutens. And nothing has changed – it smells like something they’d feed my daughter at day care. I have a terrible time with fragrances that hover in the foody category.
The “soap” references do color my enjoyment of certain perfumes, but I can generally overcome them. However, I’ve read several blog comments about the “root beer” accord in Opium. I still wear it frequently, but my enjoyment is hampered by the effort to overcome that association.
Root beer isn’t quite as glamorous as the spicy, sensual aura Opium is supposed to have! It sounds more like a Hello Kitty fragrance, maybe.
I think that Douce Amère smells like rot beer that died and went to heaven. The association doesn’t bother me a t all.
I love that description! “Root beer that died and went to heaven.” Terrific.
Back when I was still doing such things on the regular, I blind-bought a bottle of Jacomo for Her. I can’t remember what inspired me to seek out that particular perfume, but anyway, it was $20 and the reviews I’d read made me think I’d like it … which I did, until I read another review somewhere that mentioned a plastic-doll-skin note. Now that’s all I can smell, and the bottle has been relegated to the back of the cabinet.
Something similar happened with a plastic note in Tokyo Milk Dead Sexy, but luckily I only had a sample of that!
Tuberose often smells like that to me, or like a rubber balloon. Not especially what you want in your perfume.
Heliotrope and mimosa (sometimes) do that for me, too.
Interesting — I don’t wear a lot of heliotrope- or mimosa-heavy scents, so I can’t remember having reacted that way to those notes. And Rapple’s comment made me realize that even though I find plasticky notes off-putting, rubber is strangely appealing (especially the burnt rubber in Bvlgari Black!).
I love Bulgari Black’s rubber, too. And Dzing’s.
Oh no! Sometimes heliotrope gets called “doll head,” and I get that.
It’s such an oddly evocative, spot-on description — when I was a kid, I had a bunch of dolls that smelled that way (well, at first).
I wonder if dolls today smell the same? (In other words, I wonder if I inhaled a lot of cancerous doll off-gassing back in the day.)
Well, just today my horse shoer, a very, very manly fellow, featured in Wranglers ads back in the day, smelled me when I came to visit him while he was shoeing my horse, Duke. He came unglued at my scent, and later crawled into my pickup to get another whiff. He said it smelled like “a vagina the size of the Grand Canyon.” Goodness. The perfume: MFK’s Cologne Pour le Soir, NOT the Absolue, which I also own. I could clear out Cheyenne Frontier Days with that one. Imagine the legions of men I could control wearing that battle axe in my pheromonal arsenal. Personally, I like to think of it as the smell of a Cirque du Soleil trick rider after an hour of rounds on a dapple grey circus horse. “Cavalia” is my nickname for both of MFK’s genius works. Or, possibly, it smells of an Indian maiden after a couple matinee performances of the Paris Buffalo Bill Wild West Show.
Wow! What a description! Plus, you must have unusually clear and open lines of communication with your horseshoer. You’re right–Absolue pour le Soir would probably evoke an entire bordello of canyon-sized hoohas.
I love your other descriptions, too. They’re terrific.
LOL at “an entire bordello of canyon-sized hoohas.” I love it.
A guy at work actually asked me the other day if hooha is one word or two. I wasn’t sure (maybe it’s even hyphenated?). He does sex ed, so maybe it was part of his curriculum. Or not. Anyway, it was one of the strangest questions I’ve been asked at work!
This comment belongs in the NST Comment Hall of Fame! 😀
I second the motion!
Third!
It’s been seconded and thirded–I guess that means it’s in the Hall of Fame for sure!
I will double that with spades! I was laughing so hard, my husband wanted to know what, and I made him read the comment. He blushed! It was very funny. I can only imagine what it would be like to have someone say your perfume smells like a vagina!!! Ha.
It certainly does call a–um–“special” image to mind!
Laughing so hard I’m crying and totally need to get a sample of that stuff. LOL!
Are you sure? Steer clear of horse shoers!
I’m never near horses and after that description I may never wear the stuff but I know I’d laugh like a fool every time I picked up the vial. Its the next morning and I’m still cracking up over it.
That’s great!
Mough, I almost didn’t read any of the comments on this post for fear of ruining yet another perfectly good perfume, but I’m so glad I didn’t miss yours, LOL!
And now you’ll never smell those FK fragrances without thinking of a certain national monument…
LOL – I need to get some FK and head out West!
Wow, I had no idea the ripple I’d cause. I’m so happy to have brought such joy to the forum. And to my farrier. I had to physically shove him out of my truck after he said “All I know. Is that that…stuff, makes me want to have sex. NOW.” He got the boot then. I sometimes dab his sweating forehead with peppermint moist toilettes while shoeing, so, yes, we have a unique relationship. Because of the time investment of holding several horses for the shoer, a lot of personal information is shared. Horseshoers know all. He bends over a lot, of course, and his belt on the back of his leather chaps says “Just Say No to Crack.”
Yes, you definitely raised a stir! Thank you.
I love the saying on the farrier’s belt. My dad’s a horseshoer, too, you know. I should see to having a belt like that made for him.
Mough, I just hope someone sends this link to FK – I’m sure HE knew exactly what he was doing in creating these scents – although he wouldn’t have expressed it in such memorable images, I’m sure! 🙂
I made a comparison earlier in the day about Thierry Mugler’s “Alien” fragrance. What it reminds me of is when I was a kid, the purple grape flavoured popsicle’s. It smells exactly like the popsicle tastes and the shape of the bottle looks exactly the same too. All that’s missing is the two sticks on the bottom of the bottle. I don’t love/hate the fragrance, but that’s all I can think of when I see it or smell it.
Now that you mention it, I can see it!
I own and wear Alien, it was a gift from my father, and thankfully I do not get an artificial grape note. Though, I can see how some people might. Alien does, at times, have a fizzy real to it.
Fizzy isn’t bad–in fact, it can be great, really. Grape soda, not so much. I’m glad it skews fizzy on your skin.
Me too! Alien is fizzy, creamy, and powdery on my skin…. all at the same time. It is the strangest thing, maybe that is why I enjoy it so much.
I love the fizzy-creamy combo.
Yep, I’ve always thought Alien smelled like grape soda.
That’s two votes for grape soda.
This old lady likes old lady scents. They seem more complete to me. A beginning, middle and end, like any good story. And depth! What creeps me out are the ones that smell like the bottom of an old lady’s purse. Hankies, metal compacts and tubes of lipstick far past their prime. Throw in the ink of old church bulletins and Playbills, and my throat starts to close. Yes, Je Reviens, I’m looking at you!
Aw! Have you tried the extrait, its pretty spicy and has a big ole hit of civet… or would that be even worse?
The vintage EdC is divine, too.
Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t specify I was talking about the vintage extrait – it’s much racier( to me) than the vintage edt/edc – it rather surprised me! I haven’t smelled any of the reformulations as of yet, so I can’t compare those.
I think the reformulations are surprisingly not so easy to find unless you really make a point of looking for them.
But Je Reviens! It’s so gorgeous–at least it used to be. I can’t speak for the new stuff.
Angela, after your review, I actually ordered a sample of the new extrait. It’s not bad at all, especially if one hadn’t worn an older version. Some of the depth and richness is missing, but that was to be expected. I remember some of the really old ads (late ’60’s) talking about using REAL wild narcissus! Now you know no fragrance of the 21st century uses that!
I’m glad to hear the new extrait isn’t bad! Have you tried the vintage EdC? If not, I’ll send you some.
No, I haven’t. My first experience with JR was in the mid-60’s when my uncle sent me a bottle of the extrait, and that’s all I ever wore. I thought that JR was one scent where the extrait and the edt were completely different fragrances. With that said, I’d love to try some of the cologne and I will send you what’s left (not much unfortunately) of the extrait.
I’ll send you an email this evening–I have to dash off to work right now.
I was testing a sample last week and when I came into the family room my hubby started sniffing around and said ” honey, I think Mel (the dog) may have rolled in something outside. Something smells funky in here”. I agreed it must be Mel and I took the dog into the bathroom while I scrubbed my wrist. Until that point I was liking what I was wearing but after that comment I had to agree with him. I stunk.
Ack! What was it? None of us need to smell like a dog that rolled in something.
I’m going to (for once) show restraint and not tell. I don’t have to though because someone else already mentioned it.
Hmm. I’m going to guess Jicky (much as I love it).
Christian Dior Hypnotic Poison smells like oatmeal and Play-Do to me. I know many people think it smells like root beer, too.
I also agree with everyone who mentioned soap as a deal breaker. But, even worse than a perfume smelling like soap, is when it smells like laundry detergent/fabric softener. Prime example, would be Chloe 2008.
I agree. Those clean musks aren’t very interesting to me at all.
They always smell like generic, grocery store deodorants to me. Not necessarily a “bad” smell, but I don’t want to smell like I’ve rubbed deodorant all over myself!
There are some odd deodorant fragrances out there now. I saw one featuring patchouli the other day, from a mainstream brand, too (can’t remember which one now.)
Ack. This is killing me right now. I was at Sephora last night (my poor hair!) and picked up a sample of KenzoAmour. It’s nice enough I suppose, but early this morning I had the though “this smells like clean towels” and now, all I can get is clean fluffy towels. Which sucks for two reasons, one, because it wanted to like it (I don’t even know why I wanted so badly to like it) and two, because it won’t freaking wear off!
And it’s irritating me! I don’t want to smell like fabric softener!
Clean towels! Well, at least it’s not a negative association. But not particularly sexy, either.
I’ve always picked up a distinctive hit of Dr. Pepper from the topnotes. It’s a weird one.
Who needs to smell like Dr. Pepper?
Oatmeal and play-doh! Like disaster at the day care center!
Haha…. tell me about it!
Though, I have smelled it on people, and it was lovely. Guess, it all boils down to body chemistry.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all.
This is a dangerous topic, and I almost didn’t read any of the comments to avoid ruining a favorite, but my collection escaped unscathed, and I’m glad I didn’t miss Mough’s comment!
A root beer comment in a review ruined a perfectly good if not terribly inspiring scent for me. I won’t say which one – I don’t want the blame for ruining it for someone else. It’s odd, though, because I actually like root beer. The grape association also ruins things for me, and I also usually find dominant anise notes too foody to enjoy. The comments about body notes usually don’t bother me, partly because the scents don’t smell that way to me to any great extent.
You’re so diplomatic! A truly considerate perfumista.
Apologies to those who like it… LUSH Tuca Tuca smells like mothballs.
I just had to get that out….
I haven’t smelled that one, but I have smelled moth balls…
I have a in-decent-condition, fairly new (from some time around 2006 or 2007, I believe) bottle of Jean Nate cologne (not the body splash, the actual cologne), as well as a purse-sized spray that’s a couple of years older. I actually enjoyed them both (it’s a scent I associate with my childhood and have enjoyed throughout my life) until I read several reviews in 2009 and 2010 complaining about a melted plastic or plastic note in it. The couple of times I’ve worn it since… oy, it’s all I smell, a little bit of powdery lemon and then BAM! Melting plastic. BAD melting plastic. I had to scrub both of the times I wore it bad melting plastic. My mom has skin that magically turns bad scents good and great scents AMAZING, so I think I may pass both bottles on to her…. This has been the only time a review (several reviews) have managed to sufficiently alter my perception of a scent, as I’m normally pretty good at not letting text or speech influence my perceptions.
NP
It totally has a melted plastic smell! I smell it, too, yet I still love Jean Nate. I simply dash it, chilled from the refrigerator, over my body in the thick of summer and bask in the refreshing trashiness of it all. Plus, the ambery drydown is nice.
Am I the only one who doesn’t mind a perfume smelling like soap? Mind you, I mean soap, not laundry detergent or fabric softener. I love a nicely scented bar of good quality soap, so that association is very positive for me. Plastic notes, however, are no-go. A great many of today’s mainstream scents have a plastic note, at least to my nose, that I find off-putting.
Some soapy fragrances, like Caron Nocturnes, I really like. Others just smell to me like soap and nothing else, so I figure, why not actually use soap instead?
I know what you mean about the plasticky smell of some fragrances, though. Not nice, especially considering that they can still cost plenty.
Once I would have agreed with Angela – why pay top dollar to smell like soap? But I’ve changed my mind recently. I have a mini of Caleche Soie de Parfum and agree with Robin in her NST review that it smells like expensive floral soap. Really fine soap is a lovely thing, and I have learned to enjoy Caleche SdeP, always as a bedtime fragrance.
I have not smelled Ivoire for a while but as I remember it, it has a pronounced soapy note, again very refined and beautiful. Now I think of it, I should wear Ivoire tomorrow. I don’t have a perfume scheduled in yet …
Adding – I should try Noturnes. I had an idea it is a bit dull, but if it’s a good soapy note, I will like it I think.
I think Nocturnes has been unfairly maligned over the years. I really like it!
Oh, you’re so right about Caleche SdP! Now I’ll have to revise my opinion…Plus there’s the story about Dioressence being inspired by a guest soap.
I don’t mind scents that have a little soap to them but if it smells like a blatant reproduction of laundry soap or fabric softeners I’m not buying. The Clean scents are a no go for me. I already use fabric softener. All set with that. I am totally okay with a scent that gets a little soapy, but like others have said, I too like the quality soap smell not the basic cheap soap if that makes sense.
That totally makes sense.
I don’t like soapy accords in my fragrance. Probably it’s a reaction to the possibility of smelling like my mother, whom I adore and get on well with, and who usually smells quite nice – she wears No. 5, Jovan Musk for Women, and AA Flora Nerolia. I love her. She smells just fine.
I just don’t want to smell LIKE her. Unfortunately, I get “soap” out of most orange blossom notes (seems that if there’s petitgrain with the OB, I’m fine).
I often find orange blossom soapy, too. Lots of soap companies must use it, I think, so it got that association for me somewhere along the way.
No, i like soapy scents as well, nice ones (will have to try the Caleche). Soap-making is also an art, and really great soap smells wonderful, so why not enjoy “soap” scents? As long as the soap in question isn’t Dial or something…
There seem to be lots of artisan soap makers these days. There’s one in my neighborhood who makes gorgeously scented soaps, too. Once I stood in her store and scanned her raw materials catalog. Fascinating.
I was testing out a sample of Tauer’s Zeta, and kinda liking it, when my boyfriend commented, whatever you have on is way too sweet. Wow, did that blow that one out the door for me. He did like and bought me Chanel #19 Poudre, which I do like, but I actually liked Eau Premier better. (I love both of them now, but neither lasts very long on me. I think I have scent eating skin) Does anyone know of any scents that are like Eau Premier or #19 Poudre, but not quite as expensive, as I have to use a lot of it because it just disappears on me.
I can’t think of anything right now, but I’ll think on it!
Just yesterday I was testing CArtier Le Treizieme Heure, and my son (the one with the good nose) walked by and said, “Hey, you smell like woodsmoke in the fall. No, you smell like smoked sausage! Yum!” And he was right. I really liked the scent, but if I decided to buy any, I’d have to get past the smoked sausage.
I do get root beer in a lot of myrrh scents. Fortunately, I love root beer. (I get root beer in Vamp a NY, for instance.)
And grape flavoring seems to come up a lot, but I recently read that both tuberose and jasmine contain a naturally-occurring chemical that is frequently added to grape-flavored items like candy and soda in the US, so if you’re getting “grape” out of a tuberose fragrance, that’s actually a good indication that the floral essence is natural.
WARNING: IF YOU”RE SQUEAMISH, DON’T READ THIS BIT:
The out-of-the-blue weirdie that just SLAYED me sprang up at me out of Manoumalia. I should probably not be graphic here… but it’s been discussed more than once at the Posse, and even part of that discussion showed up in Denyse’s book, so I’m going there. I said that it reminded me of the post-birth discharge called lochia, which has a sweet, milky, meaty sort of odor. Very distinctive. Somehow that got shifted over to the idea that I’d said “afterbirth,” and it stuck. Anyway, even though Manoumalia is beautiful, I could never unsmell what I’d smelled…
Oh no! Afterbirth? I’ve never smelled it, but it can’t be much better than smelling like a sausage. Your son sounds like a natural.
Isn’t it funny, though, how a scent can be just fine until it’s pegged to an object–an object you don’t really want to smell like?
Yes, it’s the mental image that kills you!
Remembered another one: Cuir de Russie smells to me like our cattle working pens: creosoted lumber, iodine, dried manure, dust, dewormer, rawhide and the cattle themselves. NOT what I want to smell like.
I think that sounds romantic, somehow! Besides, I really do love Cuir de Russie.
Mals ,I know what you mean!
I remember that comment and you writing about in yer blog.
That is a crazy scent association but it fits.
That smell along with sterile hospital is not my cuppuh. Ick. 😉
I don’t blame you. I’ve never smelled it, but it sure doesn’t sound appetizing.
I haven’t seen you here in ages! I hope the spring is treating you well (at least the few days of it left).
I was discussing perfume with my mother-in-law several years ago, and she told me that she used to love Chanel No. 5 until she worked her way through college at a local hospital, and the smell of formaldehyde in the morgue reminded her so much of the aldehydes in Chanel No. 5 that she could never stomach it again. I never particularly liked No. 5 anyway, but now all I can smell is formaldehyde too.
No. 5 = morgue? Not a great association, but I bet a great crime novel could be worked out of it!
Ok I’ve got 2
1) The original Alfred Sung for women: I think it smells wonderfully jasmin-like in some people.. but in others the description I once read describing “warm used baby diapers” is dead on.
2) This once comes from me…. For the original Dolce&Gabanna pour homme…. You know bracken, fern… when the fern is sprouting new growths it has like this spiral of new fern at the end of each branch-leave (ferns are difficult for me to describe, even in my native spanish) anyway if you crush this sprouts, the utterly astringent smell, quite VERY distinctive of ferns I get… Is the note on Dolce Gabanna for men.
Fern is kind of nice! I know the scent you mean–sometimes I eat sauteed fiddleheads, and it leaves that sort of acrid, coated (but still good) taste in the mouth. As for warm baby diapers, well, that’s all I need to hear…
Comments I’ve heard:
Ange ou Demon EDP smells like root beer.
Obsession smells like candy.
Oscar de la Renta smells terrible.
Conclusion: I should not wear these fragrances.
I wonder what kind of candy people are eating to get “candy” from Obsession? I bet you’ve heard everything, though, with your background.
Yes, those of us in retail could write a book, I’m sure. I agree with the comments of others that I posted above. AOD does smell like root beer. Obsession is sickly sweet. And Oscar does smell terrible on me. What’s realy mystifying is when people sniff a blotter and say, “Oh, no, it’s too sweet,” when there’s absolutely nohting in it that could be. Then there’s the male fragrance demo who is often asked what’s in a juice and he doesn’t know/remember so he makes something up. The customer sniffs the blotter and says, “Oh, yes, I can definitely smell that (whatever) in it!”