Can this group of shameless enablers help each other not buy perfume? Let's find out.
Name a perfume you've been itching to buy but don't need, and tell us why you think it might not really be a good use of your money. Maybe everyone will talk you out of it.
Note: image is Crater Lake [cropped] by aspearing at flickr; some rights reserved.
This is brilliant. But I tried to buy a perfume I didn’t need this week and the cashier at TJ Maxx stopped me. I tried to do a blind buy ( I know, I know, bad habit) of Love, Diane. Why? Because it was less than $15 dollars and I’m a sucker for a sale. So I got to the register and she tried to ring it up and could not get the price. She called the manager over and the manager said the register is saying ” recall item” so we can’t sell this to you. They had no idea what the recall was but they were not letting me have that stupid perfume either. 🙁
There’s another perfume I’m thinking about but we can discuss that one a bit later.
Fantastic, now you have $15 to put towards something you actually want!
…and know you’ll love!
Hahaha, yes! Did you ever read much Calvin Trillin? At one point he described (what he claimed to be) his wife’s theory of spending on luxuries as “Alice’s Law of Compensatory Cash Flow”, namely: “Money not spent on a luxury one considered even briefly is the equivalent of windfall income and should be spent accordingly.” Sounds about right to me!
(Oh–so much for not being an enabler!)
Sounds right to me too. 😉
I love Calvin Trillin, and his writing about Alice is so wonderful. Even I miss Alice.
Oh, me too. When his long New Yorker elegy for her came out–the one that became About Alice–I read it on a plane and wept from the first paragraph through the rest of the flight. The man next to me (whom I didn’t know!) looked so worried–I had to fight off the urge to read the entirety aloud to him so he would understand!
I remember that piece too. I never did get the book, but I should. I’m always happy when he has a piece in the New Yorker, esp. the food articles.
As I recall, the book wasn’t all that different from the essay (the book is quite slim and the essay was already so long–which, kudos to the NYer for giving it that much space). But I do like having it on my shelf; at least once a year or so I pull it out looking for this or that passage. So touching.
(Ha, between this and After My Own Heart today, I’m totally blowing my cover as a no-longer-very-secret romantic.)
But I’m missing out on the excitement of the unknown. Or the horror of the scrubber. Maybe you’re right….
Given how much perfume you already have it seems unlikely that you want a new bottle of perfume that you feel neutral about. You have so many things that are so much better, right?
Then, what are the chances that it is something you would like enough to buy if you smelled it? For me, its at most 10%. Out of 10 samples I might fall in love with one.
And, even if you like it ‘enough’; doesn’t it feel better to put the money towards something you CRAVE; something you will even replace once empty…
You’re right. Merlin, how difficult is it to mail things to you? I think I have a sample of something you may want.
Hi Poodle, it seems you would have to fill out a custom’s form. I don’t know how extensive it is since I don’t fill anything in when sending to the US. Apparently you need to send it as ‘cosmetic samples’ – that’s what you write, or tick, on the form. My e-mail is merlynn(dot)edelstein(@)gmail(dot)com. I’ll e-mail you also the names of some samples I would like to re-home. But the list is not very long!
Oh, and thank you for the offer, of course!
Haha ok I finally have something non-enabling to say! Given the extent of your perfume knowledge, I suspect the odds are very low that a designer perfume that’s totally unknown to you is a good one. Not impossible, of course, but more than likely, if Love, Diane (DVF, I take it?) were a gem, you’d have heard buzz about it, no? So I feel like you can be pretty confident TJMaxx saved you from a scrubber. Good work!!
Agree, can only add that I was surprised by the big dose of dept. store clean patchouli in the base of Diane, didn’t see that emphasized in reviews but depending on how you feel about neo-choulis, there’s that.
I know. It’s not like I desperately wanted it. It was a sale. I’ll survive. And there are plenty of things I do really want.
I do VERY much relate to the appeal of a sale. Abyss has a smart comment below about why it’s not a good enough reason… but, but, but!
The issue to me is the recall thing! WTF?!
It was so weird and I can not find out why it was recalled.
Sephora has had Diane at half price since forever so maybe discontinuation and a manufacturer’s recall of the remaining stock so they can handle the resale themselves?
Exact same thing happened to me two weeks ago.
Cashier, manager, nobody knew why it was recalled. Odd.
Even weirder is that in a magazine I was just reading it is featured as a great valentines scent.
Ok, the scent I’m itching to buy is A la Nuit by Serge Lutens. I have searched high and low for a good jasmine and Serge just hit the nail on the head with this. He has a way with soliflores, imho. The reason I probably don’t need this is scent is because I already own Un Lys. They both dry down to very similar scents (vanilla), but I really want a very feminine Jasmine!
Ugh I am failing at the stated objective but I think this scents are more than sufficiently different, as in, one I love and the other doesn’t work for me at all. So I feel like they are reasonable purchases if you like both…
On the other hand! If we are truly trying to be practical today, I suppose you could order a small decant first and see if you actually go through it or if it goes largely untouched because you’re wearing Lys on the occasions where you might wear A la nuit.
Maybe you’ve already done that though, in which case, I’m back to being an enabler!
Oh, A La Nuit — that is hard. You are taunting us — the best I can do is go with CH and get a decant, & see if you really find them so much the same.
Do you already own any feminine jasmines?
No, I don’t. It’s the only one I’ve found that I like but I’m wondering how many white florals are too many? 🙂
Now that’s a subject for a whole other thread. There can never be too many green chypres and florals for me. 😉
We must be scent twins, at least insofar as the green chypres are concerned.
It’s sure looking that way! It breaks my heart what the current regulations have done to Green chypres/florals. I’m interested to hear your take on Mito when, or if, you try it.
BTW I also like your taste in vintage leathers. 😀
It’s hard to talk someone out of SL A La Nuit, because it is a great jasmine. On the other hand, I don’t think particularly feminine, if that’s what you want. I’d suggest doing more research and sampling first.
Yeah, that struck me as well–since it’s a top-flight jasmine, it’s not like one risks coming across a better-crafted one and regretting dollars spent on a middling one.
Meanwhile, that’s interesting about femininity or lack thereof! I only sort of remember it because jasmine’s not much my thing; what about it did you find not particularly feminine? (Or is there a different one that you do find feminine? E.g. I do like Ineke’s Poet’s Jasmine, whereas neither A la nuit nor Estee Lauder’s Jasmine White Moss work for me. Now I’m wondering if femininity is a point of difference among these…)
C.H., femininity is certainly in the eye (or nose) of the beholder, but, to me, A La Nuit is a very hard-hitting jasmine, straightforward, indolic, with no frippery, not at all glammed up. Not that it needs to be, I think it’s great. Jasmine jasmine, as LT puts it. Nonetheless, something like J’Adore L’Absolu or Organza and any number of other perfumes that rely on the allure of jasmine without being soliflores are might count as more feminine.
But I was really reaching for any pretext to disenable – I’d usually advise anyone considering A La Nuit to go for it!
Ah interesting–agree about subjectivity of femininity but I haven’t tried either of the latter two, will def have to make a point of it. Thanks!
I own Un Lys and don’t find it similar to A La Nuit. HOWEVER I could advise that A La Nuit is strongly one-note (jasmine top to bottom) and I found it cloying after a number of days of wearing it since it’s just that one thing ALL THE TIME. Decant!
I could add that I got this as a gift – my first Serge and I had to give it away. And, I didn’t give it away soon enough either – I still have an aversion to strong jasmine notes…
Sometimes, jasmine smells like mothballs…just sayin’
In any case, Perfume Posse just started the February Perfume Fairygodmother thread and you may be able to get this as a freebie.
As much as I love being ‘enabled’ I really do like the idea of this. There are many people in my daily life who are all too willing to discourage me from buying more perfume. They don’t even need to say anything, they can merely give me a ‘look’! There are two problems with this: the one is that ‘the look’ tends to make me feel bad about my profligate ways and feeling bad makes it harder for me to resist buying. I’v read research that shows that ones willpower DECREASES when one feels bad. The other reason it doesn’t work is that none of these people have a really profound appreciation of perfume in the first place. Since they don’t understand its worth, and cant see the value of having more than one or two bottles of perfume in the first place I don’t fully respect their views anyway…
Great points, Merlin! It is really very much harder to effectively dissuade than to encourage. With respect to dieting, I’ve read that it is not effective to tell someone (including oneself) not to do (eat) something. It’s better to substitute something more constructive, like eating baby carrots instead of potato chips to satisfy a craving for something crunchy, or Robin’s suggestion above to try a decant instead. The other alternative is to have a list of distractions, such as taking a shower, reading a favorite book or going for a walk, in order to simply to distract oneself.
Eva, some ‘willpower tips’ are quite helpful!
As well as distraction, another thing that works is to focus on how proud you will be with yourself for not buying it, rather than how bad or ashamed you will eventually feel if you do buy it. Simply focusing on the good feeling is meant to boost willpower.
I think this is so true–honestly I see it also when I teach, that students who feel like they are making progress are more motivated to keep improving than students who feel really bad about how they are doing. Focusing on achievements goes such a long way.
Love this comment Merlin, thank you!
So true! Especially because honestly I sort of view even my choices not to buy a bottle as part of the overall mission (haha, only sort of kidding): it’s part of a strategy about how best to spend perfume dollars, not to try to avoid perfume spending altogether. So if someone thinks money shouldn’t be spent on perfume, period, that kind of voids the relevance of their advice, I think.
I don’t doubt that willpower decreases when you feel bad; how many times have I bought something I didn’t really need when I was feeling down in order to try to cheer myself up?
Oh, so true, 50 Roses. It used to be that retail therapy was fairly easy to control; after all, you had to actually take a shower, get dressed, and find your way to the store before you could buy anything. Online retail therapy has none of those barriers, and the clever online marketers have managed to convince my brain that a confirmation email is just as good at instant gratification as actually having the object in hand. 😉
I go full hog on filling up my carts online with oodles of stuff – then I just never check out. Silly, maybe, but it does help the itch in some odd way!
I do that too. Just did it last night, actually – Parfum1 emailed me a 20% off code, and I was trying to find something I really wanted, but the only thing they had that was even remotely stirring my “want it” was a bottle of something I already have.
It does happen to be something of a signature, even with all the other bottles I own, and it’s rarely on sale – but I HAVE A 50ML bottle. I don’t need another! I popped it into my cart, pondered for awhile, and then sighed and closed the tab. Not feeling any regret about it now.
Mals! Email it to meeeeeee, pretty please! No one has talked me out of the Santal Majascule yet! 😉
I’ve been eyeing a bottle of Annick Goutal Eau de Camille for spring. I don’t really need it as I have two sparkly colognes for spring/summer already – Eau d’Hadrien and Colonia… but it’s such a pretty scent. Please talk me out of it!
Sorry, I can’t really help as I don’t know these frags well enough!
Does Eau de Camille have a good shelf life? I keep my collection of AG low because some of the early ones really don’t, although maybe that’s mostly Petite Cherie.
LOL the Goutals at my Anthropologie are consistently spoiled. Must be good for sales.
Oh great call Robin, I hadn’t thought of that one!
Ouch, I wish this thread had come up a couple of weeks ago (when the Jan sales were on). I spent a rather large sum on Musc Nomade – which I like but do not really need – and Robin’s comment may have made the difference. Or not.
If it makes you feel better given that you already bought it, I have not heard that about any of the newer scents.
Ooooh, and ANOTHER scent I’m really itching to buy, C for Women by Clive Christian. I love white florals and C is a beauty, but the price!!!!
Sorry, I meant the comment below as a reply to you!
sorry – I’m totally confused – I meant it as a reply to your post on A la Nuit!
Lila, don’t but that C for Woman. This price is insane. When you have time go out and search for some other one. I’m sure there’s at least one that would smell at least as good as C or even better and it will allow you to save few (hundret) bucks.
Given that you have been searching high and low for something you seem to have found, this is a hard one. I guess I would also vote for a decant, supposing you have already tried them side by side a few times…
Perfect topic, Robin. I am so guilty of this at this very moment. The perfume I’m wanting, ridiculous as it may be considering how much and long I’d have to save for it is Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs pure perfume. I’ve tried the edp, adore it, and would be very happy with a bottle. But there’s that terrible, raging perfumista huddled in the corner, ranting and raving about how if the edp is phenominal, what must the extrait be like? While I’ve bound, gagged and stuffed her in a closet far back in the covetous area of my mind, I can still hear her kicking and thrashing about in there. 😉
I don’t even know where to find a sample of the pure perfume to compare to the edp, and the price for the pure perfume is really high. But it is also 100ml of the stuff, which would probably last me a lifetime and this fragrance is just one of the prettiest and best takes on orange blossom I’ve smelled in ages… See? There I go again with the justifications. lol
There are other perfume purchases I feel I’d like to get just as much for availability reasons i.e. a back-up of Iris Ganache, a bottle of the LE Saville l’Aube (both of which could be had with still plenty left over for the cost of the Houbigant), but every time I wear my Houbigant sample, those two just drift out of my mind on a cloud of spicy orange blossom bliss.
Someone please talk me down!
You definitely have to try to find a way to sample the extrait before you consider buying it. Extraits are often significantly different and, in particular, closer to the skin and less radiant, so it might not produce that orange blossom cloud effect that you love in the EdP.
Please do try to get of sample of the extrait before you even think about a FB. As noz mentioned, the extrait and the EdP often smell markedly different, and you may not even like the extrait. Who wants to be stuck with an unwanted $600 bottle? Perfume guild increases exponentially with the price of the unloved bottle. Granted, you could likely swap or split it away, as there are no doubt many others who are interested in it but don’t want 100 ml, but even that would involve a lot of trouble to do the decanting, labeling, packaging, and shipping, not to mention the expense of the shipping costs. It would be much better not to have bought it and save yourself all the trouble.
What Roses just said! Don’t get ‘stuck’ with something you may not love – that can be much more depressing.
I tried Maison Margielas Untitled last week, if only on a scent strip, and thought “this is very nice!”. The problem is that it’s very, very similar in style to Voyage D’Hermes, which I already own as well as Angeliques sous la Pluie of wich I own a decant…
Please help me resist 🙂
I bet you have samples of other things that you haven’t tried yet, or at least other perfumes on your “to try” list. You’ll be sorry if you buy the MMU and later try one of these other things and like it better, and that’s bound to happen.
It sounds like you’re in a good position to resist. Def you would want to try on skin first, right? Not that one couldn’t love something so much as to be worth buying to spray solely on a scarf, but if you already have two similar bottles, it seems like it’s worth giving a really thorough testing before you take the plunge.
Oh, just re-read and see that your Angeliques is a decant! Even better! I say, hold off ’til you finish that decant. Then it will be totally reasonable 🙂
It may depend on the size of your collection, but for me, ‘very nice’ is not a good enough reason to add a bottle.
Excellent point.
Hello everyone. Having a good weekend? I hope you do!
I haven’t been itching to buy a perfume I really don’t need. I decided that I will wait with new perfume purchase until my birthday. It’s in late February (24th of it) so I will wait and buy it when it’s March already.
The only thing I’m considering is buying a lovely lavender perfume. I finally got rid of my hated Pour un Homme de Caron! I thought Eau de Gloire will fill my spot for lavender but after having it for a while I realized that it’s more a tobacco seat. I need a lavender perfume. I’m thinking about Laboratorio Olfattivo Noblige – bursting citrus and lavender.
SotD is Mon Nom Est Rouge by Majda Bekkali.
Lucas, I don’t think we have Laboratorio Olfattivo in the US yet. What other perfume line is it similar to?
For lavender my top choice is Jicky but that’s hardly a soliflore.
We have some Laboratorio Olfattivo in Poland but not the whole line-up. Noblige is actually not available here but I got a sample of it during last Perfume Posse swapmania and I really like it so I would eventually buy it from First in Fragrance.
Hard to say what is this brand similar to. It’s Italian so I bet there are some similarites to other Italian brands.
I like Jicky, but not enough to have a bottle.
Ooh, have you tried C&S Oxford & Cambridge? That’s a great lavender, imo.
Hi Abyss, yes, I tried it but I find it too simple.
Hi Lucasai! Tom Fords Private Blend Collection has some absoutely beautiful scents and one is Lavender. I believe it’s called Lavender Palm. I haven’t sampled it, but like I said, the others I’ve tried in the line are wonderful! Worth checking out.
I have no access to TF Private Blend line in Poland but I managed to try few of them, Lavender Palm too. Now when I compare it to Noblige I realzie I like Noblige better and it’s price is much better.
The most beautiful lavender perfume I have smelled is Andy Tauer’s
Reverie au jardin. And I say this without being at all a fan of his other perfumes.
I like that one too, it’s pretty unusual.
I am thinking of getting Chopard Casmir. It will be a blind buy (13 pounds).
If I buy it and like it, I will be saving 50 pounds by not getting SL bois de vanille (which I love but my husband hates and he rarely hates my perfumes, so in this case I will probably defer to his tastes). It sounds so good, Victoria (BdJ) likes it and she’s my almost scent twin (except on certain musks that I get ill with and she does not), and I don’t have a good vanilla scent.
Then again I have a drawer full of perfume – and am probably moving countries in 2 years to a place where heavy orientals will make me gag.
It’s only 13 pounds?
Ooo, I like the cheap blind buy, I really do, but I bought this one blind and it was a total scrubber. Chemical sweet, cheap, screechy, not at all what I expected it to be from reading the reviews. If you *must* have it, try to get a sample first!
I had the same reaction to it – strong chemical smell, a complete scrubber. Fumemad, save the 13 pounds and buy something you know you’ll love.
Yikes, that is what I feared. I get headaches from plastic notes. Backing away from the cliff, hee hee. Thanks.
I love Un Bois Vanille, but my bottle, which is maybe three years old, is unwearable now- the scent smells unbearably of plastic after ten minutes or so. If that helps influence your decision at all!
Hmm, i was waffling on ubv as well bec i loved my samp of it, but i have sampled, bought and regretted. Sampling is nt always foolproof. Sigh
My bottle of SL’s Un Bois Vanille is at least 5 years old and still beautiful.
I used to love Casmir but I believe it’s been reformulated and I think it is sweeter than it used to be. I never found it all that heavy. The price is good but if you are blind buying, you might still end up with a perfume you hate.
True. 😀 Some still rattling in my drawer!
Sorry about the arrogance of my previous posts. I’m very new to this and think I’m about to lose my innocence by reading your responses to this question. I don’t feel that I have the experience level to actually get talked out of buying a perfume. I’m a bit in awe of you who have gotten that far!
I don’t remember any arrogant posts…you would have to remind us, ha!
Thanks Merlin. That I called Seville L’aube a scrubber is now embarrassing the hell out of me.
Aw! Why should it – if something doesn’t work on you, it just doesn’t. There’s a gazillion of perfumes to choose from, just consider it one less to obsess over! 😉
Aw thanks.
One perfumista’s scrubber is another perfumista’s Holy Grail, and both opinions are legitimate. I don’t hate Seville au l’Aube, but neither do I love it. Perfume is intensely personal and subjective. I have often hated things that so many others were praising to the skies. Yes, it does make me wonder what all the fuss is about, and I wish I could smell what everyone else is smelling so I could understand it, but that doesn’t mean that my impression of it is any less valid.
One persons love is anothers scrubber. We all understand that. Mitsouko, which everyone adores, is not a friend of mine. If we all loved the same stuff it would be pretty boring and create unpleasant shortages of certain scents anyway.
Just want to join the chorus to say–of the Guerlains I’ve tried, I’ve scrubbed more than I’ve kept on! A part of me still hopes one day I’ll learn to appreciate them, but when I could be wearing perfume I enjoy, I don’t really see why I should try to force it with ones I don’t. YOLO, etc.!
Hey, so I actually didn’t notice anything untoward about your tone but just want to say I totally relate to the difficulty of this. It’s hard when mastering something new and the language of how to speak about it, since at the beginning (to draw on Donald Rumsfeld-via-Argo!) we don’t know what we don’t know! It reminds me of being an undergraduate and that similar trying on what it feels like to know some things and speak about them (while in the same room with at least one person who is making a career of being expert on those things!), a process that is not always elegant! I am hoping that trying my best not to overreach, notwithstanding inevitable screw-ups, is good enough. My perception is that luckily this crowd is enormously forgiving!
Hi C.H.,
Thanks for your post. You described exactly how I feel about this. It’s like being at a party of older, more experienced people where everyone knows eachother’s secrets and bad behaviour and is having a jolly good time with it all.
Yeah, I think perfume can feel that way even more than most topics. Since there’s so little conversation about it in the mainstream, being new to it means being a lot more new than one would be for other topics. If we were talking about film, even people who aren’t committed cinephiles have almost always seen some movies, discussed them with friends, read some reviews, maybe even watched a few “making-of” DVD extras. By contrast–and I speak from experience!–it’s very possible to get well into adulthood without ever having had even one conversation about perfume!
On the plus side, I find people who are serious about perfume to be MUCH more welcoming than film snobs 😉 (Not to say I don’t have a lot of affection for the latter, nevertheless.)
SO welcoming. I’m kind of blown away right now by all of the super supportive comments that have come up. And I loved your point that since people don’t normally talk about perfume it’s an even “newer” feeling than with other things. I feel like I’m really outsiderish, and that explains why. But oddly, I’m not getting that at all from the response posts. Everything is just so friendly here.
Agree, it’s kind of the best, I think 🙂
I may have to take a raincheck on this poll, no lemmings brutally attacking me (at least not this week). Maybe Velvet Gardenia, that’s a tiny lemming but with great tenacity. Talk me out of Velvet Gardenia by giving me some surrogates or by telling me all the terrible things I would find about it were I to own it.
Dang. I suspected it would be dangerous coming here. I had no hankerings for anything new, but now I would also like to see why it would be a bad idea to own Velvet Gardenia. 🙁
NO! I don’t want to be such a bad enabler that my un-enabling post is enabling you.
There had to at least be one ‘contrarian’ enabled by attempts to dis-enable!
I can’t say much that’s helpful about the fragrance (not knowing it well) but do you really want to contribute to Tom Ford’s coffers – especially by way of his luxe line. I know nothing at all about him; and yet I STILL dislike his persona.
That’s not a bad point, I think I’ve used that reason before not to buy a Tom Ford.
Alright, so this isn’t really something I want to be talked out of, because, 1, the perfume made me cry, 2, I have the $25 coupon from the sample set, AND 3, my birthday’s next month so it will be extremely easy to farm this out as a present for someone to “give” to me (so basically it is like the most valid perfume purchase I can conceive of?) but the next perfume I’ll probably buy is Ineke’s After My Own Heart. My only hesitation is that, though I obviously find it very moving, it’s not something I want to wear all the time; I actually have plenty of the sample left. Am I going to feel guilty staring at the somewhat neglected full bottle, and/or sad if I barely make a dent in it before it turns?
(Oh, reason #4 to buy: also, I’d like to support indie perfumers.)
No way am I talking you out of this. After My Own Heart is beautiful and the price is reasonable, especially with your coupon. Enjoy your lovely perfume!
I can’t talk you out of it either. I can see some in my future too. And those Ineke bottles are pretty so I’d feel no guilt looking at it.
Me too, maybe we can all split one at some point – I don’t *need* the bottle.
Oh, this is very encouraging. Ok cool, I am going to get it and with any luck, at the next NST swap I’ll be able to farm parts of it out to good homes!
Incorrigible girl, what part of ‘at some point’ didn’t you understand? Sorry, I can’t resist teasing you, you just sound so cute about it! 😀
Hahaha, now really, what did you expect?! I’ve got a coupon burning a hole in my pocket and then I hear muttering about how perhaps I’d get some help making use of a bottle–how long did you imagine I’d hold out?! There’s only so much temptation a girl can withstand!! 😉
Yay! You’re going to get it! I won’t be surprised if you keep most of it for yourself, but if you do put some in a swap, I’ll be hoping we can make a deal.
Hah. Well, obviously I understand temptation all too well since I’m interested in this split! It’s just really pathetic how quickly I caved, especially since I was verbal about what a great idea this topic was. I even moaned about my stash of unwanted bottles – Robin should slap some sense back into me, lol! 😀
We will figure something out for sure–I’m pretty sure perfume law states that enablers are entitled to a finder’s fee, no? 🙂
Haha yay, thank you both! Clearly I obviously did want to be encouraged on this one…
(Oh lord, sorry for the abuse of adjectives. The excitement, it overwhelmed my brain for a second.)
Adverbs. Oy.
How about you buy it and then split a part of the bottle, or offer some decants at NST Swapmeet or Perfume Posse Swapmania?
this goes to C.H.
Good idea Lucas. Splits are always a good idea to ease the guilty feeling.
Poodle, nowadays I split everything I buy.
So smart. Seems like I should really giving swapping a try, because having people to split with would def make this easier!
Oh, that is a good idea, thank you Luca and Poodle. I’m a bit nervous because I’ve never swapped before but maybe this will be a good way to give it try, since I do want the bottle but definitely wouldn’t use the whole thing. Low stakes.
Please talk me out of buying Mona di Orio’s Vanille. Is there a less expensive alternative that I should try first?
there are some similarities with Laboratorio Olfattivo Alambar, and it’s quite affordable.
Thanks Lucasai- I’ll definitely look for that one.
Good luck. Hope you’ll find it close to Vanille. Alambar is initially mostly amber and cinnamon but once vanilla comes out it’s quite close to it.
OMG, Lucas, you’ve just enabled a lemming! I’m unfamiliar with the Laboratorio scents, but your description of Alambar made me go to their site and now I’m lusting after samples of four of their scents!
I can get three of them as samples from First in Fragrance, but not Rosamunda. Any idea where I can get a sample of that? I live in Holland.
Jonette, we have Rosamunda here! There was a split and my Mum ordered 5mls, if she doesn’t like it I can make you a 1ml sample from it. In case she likes it I might add Rosamunda to my next samples order at Galilu (http://galilu.pl) and send it to you.
Ok, Lucas, I’m writing to you privately.
I was afraid to try Vanille because I thought that I wouldn’t be able to resist it (and at such a high price, I couldn’t afford to!), but while I think it is really well done, it’s hardly unique. How about L’Artisan Havana Vanille?
On my skin Vanille is quite different from Vanille Absolutement. But, I scored a bottle of Vanille Absolutement during L’Artisan’s sale in January so that really should be a reason to not buy another vanilla-centric perfume. Should be…
There are soooo many vanillas out there, I’m sure if you look you can find one that fills the void for much less money. I’ve never smelled this particular on that you crave but someone on here must have a recommendation for you.
Okay. I think I sounded pretty convincing there, didn’t I?
A for effort? 😉
By the way, Robin, I love the photo accompanying this post. Totally makes me laugh.
It fits 🙂
I think there’s a fiscal cliff joke in here somewhere, too 🙂
I don’t know – it’s looks so exhilarating – just makes me want to jump!
I need talking out of Serge Lutens Santal Majascule. It’s sooo gorgeous, I love the chocolate and roses. And no, I do not own the similar Jeux de Peau. Alternatives? (100% Love had too much raspberry for me.)
IDK, first harvest of Australian sandalwood Mysore plantation this year. So maybe future sandalwood indies and niches will blow the current ones out of the water? A fail attempt on my part to dis-enable you!
Oh man, I’m useless here because even if you had Jeux de Peau, I actually find it completely different from Santale Majascule (as with Lila’s question about Un Lys and A la nuit above, one I love and the other I can’t do at all), so this seems very legit to me. And further I’m such a believer in saving for the best version of something rather than sinking money into an only-ok version, so I’m at a loss for cheaper alternatives to propose… Ermmm… Yeah I really don’t know. Swap for some? So that you can have some but your net quantity of perfume stays the same?
Ari, I have two samples of Jeux de Peau if you want to try it. I did not however, find roses in it. Instead, Jeax most definitely had a bread note in it.
e-mail me at c grasher @ gmail . com
Colleen
Colleen, thank you so much, but I have already tried Jeux de Peau! It is maybe more interesting than Santal Majascule, but not as sensual, IMO.
I don’t think you should be talked out of Santal Majuscule! It is gorgeous. Unfortunately, I can’t carry it off too well. It tends to wear me rather than the other way around. I’m in awe of it though. It is so elegant, classy…sorry, I’m not helping here. 🙂
Can anyone talk me out of Vero Profumo Rubj? I hated it the first time I tried it but I did not scrub. A few weeks later I tried it again and still wasn’t sure but my husband loves it on me. I got unsolicited compliments from complete strangers as well. It is unlike anything I own and it’s more expensive than anything I own which is a problem. Hubby hates most of my perfumes and said he didn’t care about the price because I’d actually smell pretty once in a while and not like church. ( I like my incense) . It’s odd for me to get the green light from him for a pricey perfume so I almost want to seize the moment. What say you?
I say its very nice to have something that other people find attractive – and even better to have something your special other likes. That being said though, I do think you must like it yourself…
If you continue to feel uncertain about it (that is the smell – regardless of the price) then I would try to find something that both of you like with similar notes. And, hold on to the sample, because you may find that in some months you have fallen for it completely!
Just want to cosign this entirely. For me there’s a big difference between “I like this ok and partner loves it” and “I actually dislike this but partner loves.” The former could be fun (and don’t sweat the price unless it makes a real difference to your finances), but the latter I think is a lose-lose: either you wear it with misery, or you leave a very expensive bottle untouched, also misery-making. If it’s more the latter, Merlin’s idea to look for something with similar notes that you like better sounds right on to me.
I know the feeling. Just know that if you do end up buying it bec your husband likes it, it might end up being another bottle you look at guiltily. if he doesn’t mind wearing your perfumes though, it lessens the risk since you can fob it off him. 🙂
Hi Poodle–that’s such a hard one!! (But I’ll try…kinda) Pros are that bottle (the edp or the parfum…which are you thinking of, out of curiosity?) and the fact that decants aren’t that feasible (or common, at least so far as I’ve seen). I wonder, do you actually like the scent yet? I definitely understand the urge to buy a perfume your SO loves on you, even if you aren’t enamored of it yourself–I just did that with a PB of Un Bois Vanille. I guess the gamble is whether you’ll come to love it, if you buy a bottle, or whether it will become grating (since you weren’t over-the-moon in the first place). (Full disclosure: I have the opposite problem with Rubj EDP–I love it, though only on rare occasions, and my partner hates it, so I have my teensy sample that will last me just fine.) Good luck fighting the lemming! 🙂
I want Rubj too. The only thing stopping me is that it is winter now and It would be a summer scent for me. Plus I would have to starve my kids and they are in the middle of exams right now. Haven’t got the heart …………
I do like it now more than I did at first sniff. It is growing on me and I don’t think I’d be miserable wearing it or just wear it to make hubby happy. I already do that with ….Dot…..because he bought it for me while he was on a trip. So my thoughts on Rubj are, I think it’s growing on me and if it doesn’t grow on me enough I could swap out samples of it at some point. I do think I’m starting to get it though. It’s one of the more complex scents I’ve tried and was not what I expected it to be. I’ll finish the sample and see how I feel then I guess.
I say go for it! If your husband loves it and doesn’t care the price, why not?
Dear heart, seriously…..you surely do not want to disappoint your husband?? 😉
You will easily be able to swap that sucker out if you end up really not liking it. I say GO FOR IT!
Somehow I knew you’d say something like that. 😉
I’m actually feeling pretty content right now. I’d love to get some L’eau d’Hiver in the next couple of months (it’s just about the ultimate early spring scent for me) but I’ll only do that if I can get a decent deal and can comfortably afford it.
Anyway, here are some of my tips for being sensible.
1 – Do not buy unsniffed. Seriously, think back to all the times you’ve read descriptions and reviews, watched that lemming grow to the size of a blue whale only to be disappointed when you finally tried whatever perfume inspired such lust. Get a sample. Then, if you like it, see point 4.
2- Don’t buy something just because it’s a good deal and it’s quite nice. Put that money towards something you absolutely adore, it’ll bring you much more joy, promise.
3 – Similarly, don’t resort to shopping as therapy. Are you thinking of pressing that Checkout button because you are bored or because it’s been a while since your last purchase and you just want something new?
4- Do you still have some juice in that sample vial/decant? Use it up first and only then start thinking about a full bottle. Who knows, you might even change your mind in the meantime.
5- Do NOT buy unsniffed!
These are extremely prudent comments; the second suggestion especially is one I need to work on!
Wonderful advice! And Robin, such a great idea for a Saturday topic!
Thanks! I still have my moments but I’ve found that I’m much happier with my little collection now that I’m super, super, super picky about what FBs I splash out on.
I totally believe it. I’m trying to implement a similar rule with my wardrobe–it’s easy to fritter away money on shoes or a bag or whatever mostly because it’s an okay-ish item for a great price, but I’m so much happier if the only things in my closet are things I love. The rest is just clutter.
(Hm that makes me want to go weed some stuff from my closet!)
Totally emphasise with that! In fact I have gradually moved away from the hoarder mentality and now I’m an almost compulsive de-clutterer.
I not only completely overhauled my perfume collection, I’ve streamlined my make up bag, stopped looking for the next miracle beauty product and stockpiling cosmetics, got very fussy about the fit and quality of the clothes that I buy, etc. Now it’s fewer things but everything is just right, or at least, getting there. I suspect that many people have gone through a similar change in the mindset since over the recent years.
There are a few exceptions, of course – books are hard to resist (I went ahead and bought a George Sand book immediately after reading Kevin’s review because I haven’t read any of her books since I was a teen) and I’m okay with having hundreds of samples 😀
Abyss is my hero today.
Wow we are in a mindmeld! Yep, this year: went to some length to find the five best cosmetics to go in my makeup bag, chucked everything else; imposed hard and fast rules about fit of clothes and quality of fabric for all new purchases (no more $13 scarves in non-natural fibers! just don’t do it!); gradual but persistent stripping of the closet for anything that doesn’t live up to rules for new clothes.
And likewise, books and perfume samples are the main things that have escaped my purge! The books are kind of an issue–they do take up a massive amount of space, and moving them is a nightmare. But the samples are organized alpha by brand in cute little tea tins. They’re fine, they can stay 🙂
A fellow OCD de-clutterer here! Having sent bags of clothes to Goodwill, and boxes of books to used books stores and yard sales, I’ve started to list bottles on the auction site. More isn’t always better is it? Sometimes it’s just ‘more’.
Completely–sometimes more is worse, even. Lots of days I just take whatever shirt is at the top of the stack of clean laundry regardless of whether I even like/feel good in it, because it’d take too much time to fish through and figure out something I like. I think I will be WAY happer once all of those are gone and I’m left with a smaller pile of things I actually like.
Thanks for your wise words Abyss. I’ve been buying all sorts of things unsniffed, some of them I end up liking and some not. It’s so tempting to go on ebay and just look at the used perfume for great deals/cross reference the reviews of the perfumes online to see if it’s a well liked scent. I know it’s a totally ridiculous way of going about it,kind of the perfume equivalent to dumpster diving, but it’s so entertaining! If I don’t like something, it will just go back into the ebay vortex. I know this is terrible and needs to stop but it makes me really happy.
If you have the money for it, or can make most of your money back from selling it back into Ebay, and you’re enjoying it, honestly I don’t think this is the worst thing. Sometimes I think about what I pay for gas and parking to drive places just to spray at most one perfume on each wrist, and how I could probably get the samples for the same price or cheaper online, and get more than one trial out of them. But I enjoy doing it this way (I’ll take all the excuses I can get to get out of the house and work on the dissertation elsewhere for an afternoon), so if it costs a little extra, I don’t care.
(FWIW I do feel guilty about the gas and swear the next car will be a hybrid!)
Great list, Abyss! I’ll add another one if I may: if/when you *do* put something in your cart, give it a day before you actually purchase. Many, many times, I’ve found that by the next day I’m quite able to live without the supposed MUST buy and actually quite glad that I’ve saved the money.
Yes, yes and YES. It really does make a difference!
How are those cheeks btw – Have you stopped smiling yet? 😉
LOL! I stopped for a day or two, but we won again last night – on the road in an ugly game – so I’m grinning like a fool today!! 😀
Wow, how exciting for you all – Congratulations,again!
You’re going to have the most toned cheeks, ever. 😀
Reading the comments in this poll has persuaded me not to blind-buy Nicolai’s Le Temps d’une Fete — which I was seriously about to do, since I have a soon-to-expire 20-percent-off code for a site that carries it. So, the one-ounce bottle would only be $36.
I will be shocked if I don’t like LTduF, but stranger things have happened, and that could be $36 that I couldn’t put toward Une Fleur de Cassie (which I *know* I can’t live without). And, hey, this gives me an excuse to start putting together my next sample order from TPC or STC.
So, thanks, y’all!
This is crazy — I’ve been tempted to buy the same exact fragrance, unsniffed, for the same exact reason. You’ve inspired me to make a smarter choice. I am going to buy a dry body oil instead. It serves a dual purpose and usuallly the scent isn’t very strong but mostly, I love what they do for my skin.
That’s so funny. Which dry oil are you buying? They sound lovely, but I haven’t yet found one I really like.
Do you like Goutal’s Heure Exquise? If you do I’ll send you a bottle of the dry oil. It was a blind buy, LOL!
You don’t love your Heure Exquise dry oil? Sell it to meeeee!! I know at least four people who had wanted to split a bottle of it, and just as we purchased it, the company ran out. We’ve been looking for one since.
It’s malsnano86 at gmail, if you’d like to offload it. (If not, no big deal.)
Mals, I’m at the point of wondering if I’ll ever find a modern green floral that will hit the spot. I wasn’t getting my galbanum fix from this one at all, and not enough hyacinth either.
I’ll email you later, if that’s ok. Noone has to pay me for it, I’d be happy with some samples. And if you agree to take my Silences pdt for your backup stash, I’d be one happy camper! Wore the original in the early 80’s, and this newer one hates me. 😉
Repeat after me, everyone…Blind buying is a very BAD idea. Even if it’s on sale or ‘cheap’. BAD!
At least sample it first you two! I just *knew* I was going to love it from the notes, and it didn’t work for me at all.
Ditto. It’s nice but not a favorite the way I thought it would be.
Just found out about dry oil recently, which is really nice for the winter dryness. Bought a bottle of dry oil of Chasse aux Papillons at blind-buy central aka Winners for a big $30 and it’s pretty nice. Cheaper, and fainter, than the perfume would have been.
Those limited period discount things can be so difficult because part of your brain goes – don’t waste it! Don’t waste it! Well done on the discipline:)
I know, that kills me. It really is very good discipline–$36 is a good down payment on a Malle.
I’ve been looking at my collection and realizing how many bottles I have because they were only $20 or $30 and seemed like a good deal — but even if I enjoy those fragrances, which for I do for the most part, I’d much prefer to trade 5 or 6 of them for a bottle of something really stunning.
Way to go! LTduF is not really my style but, that aside, I think that Cassie is just a more unique fragrance. Plus, as you said, you already know that you love it.
Perhaps we should start a Saving for a Malle club. Marjorie might join us once she stopped pretending she’s never heard of that coffret 😀
Hahaha–but wouldn’t Marjorie be Saving for All the Malles?! 🙂
I shouldn’t talk though; I want to join your club but honestly don’t know if I could pick just one! Marjorie and I might need to have our own club.
Marjorie is out there somewhere humming loudly with her fingers in her ears. 🙂
Oooh, I will join! I could also use Portrait of a Lady and Carnal Flower (plus the CF hair milk).
I could use a set of travel sets which could be mixed and matched for sure!
Yeah, these are the kinds of ideas that keep flitting through my head…
HEY ALL OF YOU!!!!
How are you supposed to talk me off of the cliff with those sorts of comments?! 😛
I think my cliff is slightly muddy and at just enough of a grade that my slipping feet can’t quite stop from slowly sliding down into the ravine! Every once in a while, I get purchase with the aid of some small rock or shrub and think I’m saved, and then it gives way and I fall further down. If I can’t count on one of you throwing me a rope, I feel that coffret will be inevitable! 😀
Dying laughing. This must be what that Dixie Chicks song is about–“If I fall, you’re going down with me–going down with me, baby, if I fall!” Perfume purchasing. Definitely.
At least I’ll have good company as I fall!
He he. Of course, I would never advocate something as reckless as leaping straight off a cliff…rather a gentle abseil once you feel ready for it 😉
Ha! Reminds me of talks of glissading when I lived in the mountains. I always appreciated that there was a fancy word for falling in a semi-controlled way down a mountainside!
Hey, Abyss, I will join you in that Saving for a Malle club! Lately I’ve been longing for a bottle of Dans tes Bras, and it would make me crazy if I let it! It’s not my usual sort of thing at all, but I tried it again yesterday during a mini-sniffathon. 5 new fragrances and two hours later, it was still the only think I liked. For some reason, it always makes me feel comforted.
Not sure if this will feed the lemming or help contain it, but I find Dans Tes Bras to be a real chameleon. Sometimes it’s warm and comforting, and sometimes it’s downright dirty-smelling! It can be a bit too suggestive for regular wear IMO.
Ah, this is a very useful warning as I am also pining for it after only one test–and actually, pretty specifically because it was dirty but not overly so. Sounds like I should def try a few more times before I buy, because if some days it were a lot dirtier, that’d be too much for me.
Oh, thanks for the warning, Marjorie Rose! I’ve gone through a couple of samples and a decant already, so I’m not really new to it. Its very changeability is one reason why I like it so much – I have nothing else similar.. So the lemming remains. 🙂
I adore LTdF, but not everybody does.
A word of caution on sampling it: places where you’d be ordering a sample might have the older version, and I can state that to my nose, it has DEFINITELY been reworked in the past year. (Of course it happened in the short time frame in which I a) finished my small bottle and b) bought a large one.) It is much lighter now, and while it still smells *like* the original, it is thinner and more summery, more floral, with less oakmoss/woods/patchouli.
I don’t quite know how you’d know how old the sample bottle is, unless you ask.
Oh, that whole “the-tester/sample/decant-is-a-different-version-from-the-full-bottle” phenomenon drives me crazy. I got burned that way with Mitsouko. I had tried and liked it several times over the year but never bought it. I finally decided to take the plunge, tested it one last time in Nordstrom, still liked it, bought a bottle, got it home, and discovered it was completely different, and not to my taste at all.
Oh, that’s brutal. Thank you both for these cautionary tales, yikes, that’s good to know…
Mals, I think I remember that you’ve posted here about older LTduF samples being different from what’s in the new bottles. That’s good to know, especially because the older version sounds so much more appealing to me.
My dear Emily, noooo, please don’t do it blind! I expected to really love it because it sounded so perfect too – It did not happen. It’s ok and certainly not unpleasant, but I’m not bothering to even buy another decant.
I know blind buying is a terrible habit and I should be punished for it by having my vintage Cabochard turn to vinegar … but darn it, I like me a little gambling every now and then.
I do need to get it out of my head that since I like Chamade, I’ll love Le Temps d’une Fete. I know they were compared in The Guide, but the more I’ve read about them elsewhere, the less that seems to be true. (Mals’s blog has a very helpful compare/contrast of the two.)
Well, I can’t be hypocritical and say I don’t it too, sometimes. My particular weakness is vintage, so I guess I get my gambling fix with those. At least I know what they *should* smell like though, so I try to justify it that way – not that the end result is any better when it turns out to be a bust, lol!
I love vintage Chamade but haven’t tried the current version yet. I’ve been a bit slow because I’m loathe to be disappointed by it, it was just so gorgeous!
Lily – I don’t know if you’ll find this, but I saw this comment at lunch today and wanted to say that I have a bottle of vintage Chamade extrait and a new bottle (2009 – I think). At the risk of being blasphemous, I find very little difference in the two. IMHO, Chamade and L’Heure Bleue (although less medicinal) have survived relatively unscathed.
Ebay is my one-armed bandit! 🙂
Ineke Evening Edged In Gold for sure. Been wanting it forever!
Since this is my least favorite of the Ineke scents I could try to talk you out of it but I know you’ve wanted it forever and you will eventually cave in and buy it and be very happy with your purchase. What are you waiting for?
Do it. In college I dated an economist who had some great explanation about the maximal efficiency came from smoothing spending curves over a lifetime, i.e., rather than withhold now, and then in richer days buy a glut of stuff that’s more than we can really enjoy all at once, we should distribute purchases evenly throughout lifetime to get most enjoyment out of them.
I still don’t totally understand what all of the words in the above passage mean, but I think the point is that if there’s a perfume you know you love and could enjoy now, you should do it. For economics. 🙂
I need that one though, forgot to mention that LOL.
One I don’t need..Velvet Love D&G, though I like it a lot…may not be a good use of money cause I can buy 3 cheaper bottles for the price of D&G, lol.
Is that the carnation-y one? I love that… they’re all very pretty, but awfully spendy.
I just know this is off topic, but I need some advice. About a month ago I blindly bought a bottle of Scandal extract, with about 1/6 of the bottle remaining. The contents are dark brown. When the bottle arrived, I easily removed the ground glass stopper and a strong smel of alcohol emerged. Given the use or likely dehydration, the contents do not appear as viscous as I would expect. Question: how likely is it that the alcohol base would have survived the years? May I reasonably assume that the previous owner tampered with the contents?
My best guess is that is has been tampered with. It is possible that the person you bought it from is innocent, and in fact may have bought it from someone else who had tampered with it, didn’t like it, didn’t know enough about perfume to know why, and resold it. It is quite likely that is had gotten viscous from evaporation and that someone tried to add alcohol back to it.
With your mention of “the years” and the ground glass stopper, I am assuming you are talking about vintage Lanvin Scandal, not the Roja Dove perfume of the same name. Bottles with glass stoppers do tend to allow quite a bit of evaporation over time, much more than screw caps or sprays, and it is the alcohol and the top notes, such as citrus, that evaporate the most. A vintage bottle will often be dark in color in part because the middle and base notes have been concentrated down. Of course, some vintage perfumes were simply dark in color anyway (Youth Dew, for example). If by any chance it smells like rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol), then that is a dead giveaway, as isopropyl alcohol is never used as a solvent for perfume because of its strong odor.
Thank you so much for your validation I hate to level accusations at someone who claims that the extrait was his/her grandmother’s, but I do believe the alcohol IS isopropyl. Drats!!
I would be cautious about making accusations; it is still possible that the seller is telling the truth. The seller’s grandmother may have been the one who put the rubbing alcohol in it, perhaps to dilute it back up after it had gotten too thick from evaporation. In any case, though, I would not buy form that seller again. Whether that person is dishonest or merely uninformed (not to be able to tell that the perfume was adulterated), it is not someone I would care to buy from.
Yeah, I really hate when that happens. Sadly, it’s hard to ever tell anything for certain when you’re buying vintage fragrances online. My ‘turned’ bottle of Jovan musk cologne from the 70’s stinks of alcohol(and little else), but it’s an intact spray bottle so no tampering. I think it happens to all of us who buy vintage at one time or other, and unless it’s promised to be pristine, I know I’m taking a chance.
Plenty of sellers offer returns, though. You can always ask!
This is my first experience like this, perhaps because I rarely purchase extracts. Like your Jovan–now that’s an evocative scent!–the bottles I buy are typically sealed. I’d just been lusting for Lanvin Scandal seemingly forever, and, what can I say?the price was finally affordable. Lessons learned. I’ll contact the seller, and await another opportunity to experience this “leather of all leathers.” My favorite contemporary leather is Bandit. Love it!.
Bandit’s quite the leather, indeed! That’s just such a shame about the Scandal, I feel similarly about Magie Noire. I want the extrait but it’s hard to find in the condition I want without paying with a body part.
The Jovan musk was great! I did the ‘sensible’ fume-addict thing – Went right back and bought the vintage oil in mint, unopened condition. Makes perfect sense, right? LOL.
Best of luck with your Scandal search! 😀
ONDA or mitto by Vero
ONDA or mitto by Vero I want it bad. Love Rubj soooooooo much.
I have been lusting after Habit Rouge l’extrait for the better part of the year. It is not available here, and Guerlain said they can ship me a 50 ml spray bottle for € 300 with an additional shipping cost of € 55. Or I could order 1/4 ml from Surrender to Chance for $6.99 plus shipping to Holland. So I’ve pretty much talked myself out of it, but the evil little perfumista devil sitting on my shoulder keeps whispering “You know you want it” and on really bad days “You’re worth it”. Someone tell me I’m already too poor, no sense in being even more poor AND stupid.
OK, I will tell you–no sense in being even more poor and stupid. Although I wouldn’t personally think you stupid for buying the HR, just impetuous. If you haven’t actually smelled the extrait, then by all means order the sample, and while you are at it, get a few more to justify the shipping costs. Extrait and EdP or EdT often smell very different, and it is not worth the chance of not liking a 355 euro bottle. If you really, really love the sample and are still lemming after a bottle after trying it, then you can think about it.
Thank you, 50 Roses!
Ooh, yeah $15 seems like a pretty reasonable amount to pay for due diligence research on a $450 investment (for those who feel reassured by statistics: it’s just 3% of the purchase price…)
The one thing I’d add is that if I were already paying shipping to Holland, I’d probably go ahead and get a little more from StC, 1/2 or even 1 ml, to have enough to test not just whether I like it but also how often I feel like wearing it. There are plenty of things I like or even LOVE, but find I don’t fish it out of the pile often enough even to use up the sample. I’d regret spending $450 on a fragrance that turned out to be in that category.
I just got a newsletter from STC and unfortunately they have to raise all of their European shipping rates because of U.S. postal raises.
Such a bummer, for all involved.
Oh DRAT!
Jonette, I fell into that Guerlain trap with their 180 Ans. Spent ridiculous money on it, and while I liked it, it *certainly* wasn’t worth it (I am NOT wealthy or even well-off anymore). I eventually traded it off for ‘fumes I like a lot better, but it was an awfully expensive lesson.
Trust me, unless you have enough spare cash that this kind of expense isn’t a big deal, then don’t do it; it won’t be worth it.
Thanks so much, Rappleyea. You’ve decided me. I’ll stick to the edp.
This may be the first time I’ve ever DIS – enabled! Do I give back one of the stones from my enabler’s pin???
But seriously, I’m glad I could help.
Jonette, 355 euros is a lot. I’m skeptical that the current reformulated version is worth it. You’ll want to carefully test this before making the leap. Also, you might find much inexpensive vintage on ebay or flea markets that’s even better that the current extrait.
Another off-topic question: so I ordered the set of Atelier samples, and they must be out of a number of their postcards, because four of the samples that arrived were hand-made/labeled. No problem there (although I was considering sending their sample set as a gift, so I am glad I know!), but! Two of the hand-labels had come off in the package, i.e., two of the samples arrived unmarked! The unattached labels were: Sous le toit de Paris and Mistral Patchouli. Wore the blank samples side by side yesterday, and I’m fairly certain about which one is Sous le toit, which means the other one must be Mistral, but man! It was not what I was expecting at. all. Even having read Robin’s review, it was so un-patchouli-like that I’m harboring doubts about my assessment.
Anyone have thoughts on this?
I’ve tried Mistal and the patch notes was there. It doesn’t smack you in the face, but it’s undeniable. I may be more sensitive than most to patch, tho. Come to think of it, it wasn’t until the 2nd test that I really “got” it. Try again, it should be easy to identify. Good luck
Ah, good to know! Thanks KRL, will do.
I have a sample of it and don’t feel the patchouli is very strong, it’s definitely not anything like, say, Borneo 1834 or Coramondel.
Thanks Calypso; yeah I think those style patchoulis are kind of what I had in mind (for a fragrance with patchouli in the name!!), and between the grapefruit and the patchouli fraction, I was kind of thrown.
Alas, Mistral Patchouli is indeed a “where’s the patchouli?” patchouli. It also has a strong grapefruit topnote, if that’s helpful.
Ah, thanks so much Ari–yeah that was exactly my experience. Tons of grapefruit, and then…?? Figured with grapefruit it probably had to be the one, not to mention, in retrospect it makes sense that Atelier’s take on patchouli is not gonna be Coromandel, but, when dealing with an unmarked sample (that HAS PATCH IN THE NAME!), it was hard to muster the conviction to say, “Oh definitely, that’s the patchouli scent!” Felt like Ashton Kutcher was gonna jump out from behind a bush and tell me I’d been punked 🙂 (Perfume-themed spin-off for Punk’d–I’d watch it! SJP host??)
Thanks so much for your two cents, def feeling more confident about my ID.
The one that’s a good grapefruit — that’s Mistral. They should have called it Mistral Grapefruit. I like it, but can totally see being disappointed because of the name.
Awesome. Thanks Robin. I’m feeling much reassured that I haven’t misidentified. Yeah the confusion was two-fold–both the naming for patchouli and also that the grapefruit was a lot sharper than I was expecting. I actually don’t care for grapefruit-the-food, but have largely enjoyed “grapefruit by way of (girly) perfume” like the Jo Malone or the recent Kiehl’s Aromatic Blend, so I think that’s what I was anticipating… but it was actually more like the real grapefruit than those are. So I was caught off-guard all around (although your review did warn that it might be too much grapefruit for some–I should have taken better note!)
Anyway, that happily solves that mystery. Now I have on Oolong Infini and am feeling much calmed 🙂
This topic is fantastic–and pre-emptively dis-enabling, at least for me. I was considering FBs of Tubereuse Criminelle and a tester of Gucci Rush (my first perfume purchase, back when it was first introduced), with a limited 20% off coupon…but reading all of these wonderful posts has been the tipping point from ‘I know I really shouldn’t, but…’ to ‘Nope, close saved windows, do not revisit until after the promotion has ended’ (when it would be just WASTING money to buy them 🙂 . So thanks, everyone. (It would’ve been doubly bad, as I’ve made a resolution to stick to a $50/month perfume budget, and I already blew Feb’s on a PB of Un Bois Vanille on ebay…)
I think a monthly perfume budget, based on one’s personal/family finances, is an excellent idea.
Haha yep that’s my number too, except that I’ve set my Mint budget to roll over month to month, and, erm, not since I started my perfume budget have I ever had a month where I even started with a full $50 to spend. Hahaha. Oh well. One can only imagine what might happen if I weren’t even trying to keep it to $50…
Thanks for this post as I want to buy a fourth fragrance but don’t know if it’s a must as I want other three. I want right now j’adore l’eau cologne floral, dior addict sensuall & gucci flora fraich. Sould I also buy victoria’s secret bombshell? or the other three are enough? thanks for help & keep in mind I’m always short in cash, I can’t afford to buy so many fragrances at once.
If you don’t know whether it is a must, then it isn’t. If you are short on cash, then you should stretch your perfume money as much as possible by only buying things you truly love.
I guess I’ll save my money to buy what I really want this time, specially fragrances unlike makeup, you can mix colors & deal but when it comes to fragrances, not anything would match my chemistry if I got the wrong scent 🙁
Yep, I agree. A bottle turns out to be really a lot of perfume to use even if you do love it, so especially when budgets are limited, I think it doesn’t make sense to commit to a whole bottle of something you’re less sure about. Better to save for something that you’re thrilled with.
A great quote from Shadow of the Wind:
“Someone once said that the moment you stop to think about whether you love someone, you’ve already stopped loving that person forever.”
I think it applies equally to perfume. 😉
My all time favourite book! I need to find it and read it again.
This is a fantastic discussion, but NOTHING is going to get between me and that Malle coffret!
😀
Oh No! I just discovered that Ava Luxe is active again. There goes my wallet!
I’m kinda pinning for Hilde Soliani Vecchi Rossesti. Had a 1ml sample and loved it. I feel I should sample it a bit more, but I usually get samples at Scent Bar, and this scent they don’t have in stock. It’s odd and interesting, but it’s not unusual for me to test something, become obsessed with it, buy it and soon after be “over” it.
Arg, I’m all too familiar with this pattern. The “no purchases ’til you finish the sample” rule has been pretty key for me, but yeah, sometimes going through 1ml still doesn’t mean I’d make a dent in 30, let alone 50 or 100. Mm. Yeah I don’t think I have any good solutions to this problem, just sympathy!
I’m sure we’re not alone in this “cycle.” Such an interesting fragrance…can’t stop thinking about it, but it’s $200…
I know. Robin’s crusade for smaller bottles is making more and more sense to me…
That’s the problem, isn’t it? Those little samples aren’t enough of a test. Try to find a good-sized decant that you can actually spray for a while.
I really should not be buying anything because I’ve had some major splurges recently–Two Ramon Monegals, one (small) Tom Ford, and one from Olfactive Studios. I love all the ones I have and have them in good daily wearing circulation. BUT, BUT, I keep liking to try new things. Visited Kuhl-Linscomb in Houston today, the mecca for niche lovers, and tried a bunch of Arquiste fragrances. I’d tried them before and thought “meh” but today I was completely gripped by Anima Dulcis, the dark dark chocolate-chili-cinnamon one. I am almost already forming a resolution to go back tomorrow to buy a bottle, but would I really do just as well buying a nice exotic chocolate bar?
It is almost never a mistake to buy chocolate, and a fancy bar definitely would be cheaper than a fancy bottle…
January was my worst.month.ever. As for Anima Dulcis, just think how many bars of exotic chocolate you can get versus a bottle of something you can possibly get via a swap!
Off topic, I know, but OMG Kuhl-Linscomb has Arquiste now??? (I’m form Houston originally, and my family still lives within spitting distance of K-H).
On topic — I’m living with a decant of Anima Dulcis (when I was in NYC an amazing Osswald SA gave me the whole line to try, or I would never have given it a second glance), and I find that on a good day it hits a spot that nothing else in my collection does, but I’m still fence-sitting myself.
Yes they have the whole line, and I feel the same way. I don’t have anything else that’s truly in the dark dark non-sweet chocolate vein.
For those who have carefully rationalized a purchase, do check out pennylaneperfumes – 25% off the entire store. The coupon code is 2013 (it is listed right on the website so it is not a secret).
P.S. I am not affiliated.
I couldn’t pass by that sale either. I was only a little bad, just one bottle, but I wanted more. To my credit I did not blind buy. I actually knew I would like the perfume because I did test it.
Ahhhhhhh!! Oh no, I might have to start all over… 🙂
(By which I mean, thank you VERY much, it is extremely kind of you to pass on this key piece of information!!)
Great LWP!!!!! I’m itching to blindbuy Kilian’s Amber Oud but I preffer to pay my occupational license fee and it’s nothing cheap. LOL.
I would not blind by a Killian. All the ones I’ve tried have just not lived up to the hype. I say sample first and coming from me that’s saying a lot. Perfume Posse is doing the fairy godmother thing again. Perhaps a kind soul will be able to send you a bit so you can make an informed decision.
Hahaha I’m the worst but: while I agree many Kilians don’t live up to the hype, isn’t Amber Oud one of the few that people do tend to find pretty special? I can’t say, oud is not my thing (I smelled them and preferred Rose Oud, the least oud-y), but my impression from others…
STILL! Sampling or wishing for decant is totally the wiser path. $5 of research on a $400 investment, seems like not even a question whether that’s worth it.
Oh, yes, sample those BKs. Sample sample sample.
I was surprised to like Amber Oud – so silky! – when I’m not either an amber fan nor an oud fan, but I do absolutely know I wouldn’t use up a whole bottle. I have a travel bottle of Sweet Redemption (had one of Beyond Love, but didn’t wear it much and took the opportunity to swap it), and some spray samples of Rose Oud, and I think that’s all I need from the line, given my usual scent consumption ratios.
Definitely sample this. I find all the By Killian’s to smell really synthetic. Apparently I’m hypernosmic to something in them. So just because they get a lot of praise doesn’t mean they will smell good to you!
Thank you all Poodle, C.H, mals86 and SuddenlyInexplicably. Here it’s easier to get a full bottle than a sample, mind that. Anyway I’m waiting for the bill to arrive here and it will be a stab, lol.
It seems that opinions are polarizing on this scent, but a well executed amber and oud scent is so appealing to me. A combo sounds perfect! And it’s a limited edition… 🙂
No blind buys of expensive perfumes, Moore!
Amber Oud is nice, I mean..no, it’s not! lol! I like that one. I would buy a sample first? You can go to Aedes.com and get 7 samples for 15 bucks I think. I did that, I got some Kilian and Malle. Blind buys can be disappointing, I don’t do them anymore.
…and you get a $5 credit for your purchase of any FB in-store (not sure if you can use the credit online).
I’m almost sure they don’t ship overseas.
Both Luckyscent and Surrender to Chance should have samples of this and both ship overseas. Definitely sample first!
Forgot to mention, I had a good blind buy..Hypnose Senses. I love honey and the other notes, I knew I would love it. But I would sample first! lol! Cause some I thought would love, just weren’t a lemming after all, found that in those samples I bought.
Greetings! I am late to the party as usual! I have the big 50th birthday looming on the horizon so I would like to treat myself to Guerlain Un Songe de Bois D’Ete. I ordered a sample from STC and loved it! Talk me down from a full bottle! I am very close to calling the Guerlain Boutique in Manhattan and seeing if they have it. I need an intervention!
Go with a decant first and *then* if you still love it, buy yourself either a late birthday present, a May Day present, or some other celebration of your choice. You may very well find that while you like it quite a lot, you don’t need a FB. Hope this helps.
So prudent. Especially if the birthday is still a few weeks away, get a decant, see how often you wear it, and if it passes muster, then you can go for the whole bottle nearer to the Big Day.
Sometimes it’s nice, anyway, to have a bottle and also a decant or large sample, to use the latter for travel.
I know the rules are not to enable, but I recently had one of those decade birthdays, and my recommendation is to resolve to do something purely for yourself at least once a decade. A FB seems like a small thing when viewed through the lens of ten years’ doing for others, which I suspect many of us do.
So now that I’ve enabled, please talk me out of Amouage Opus 1. Although I declined it as a decade birthday gift recently, so maybe there’s hope.
Gosh it’s hard to think of reasons to say no when everyone is considering such lovely fragrances! Let’s see, reasons not to: would you wear it regularly? Do you have anything else in that ballpark? Many other recent purchases?
C.H., I’ve gone through about 20 teeny samples from Luckyscent, so believe I’d really wear it. Nothing like it in the collection. But so expensive! Wish the smaller bottle was really a better deal.
DH gave me Daim Blond for Christmas, trying to distract myself with a totally different style. I do love the SL but the gremlin is digging in.
Oh wow–I don’t know if I am going to be able to help you resist! Finishing off two samples of something makes me feel like I’ve really done my due diligence!! I don’t know, it sounds like you’d definitely get SO much use out of it. $325 totally does feel eye-popping but people regularly drop that on a dress they wear three times; I think this will bring you a lot more joy.
Wait! Breaking news! I’ve never used this site so I can’t vouch for it (def not affiliated), but just a quick google reveals that Beauty Encounter has the 100ml for $45 off this week? And same page is offering 10% off for signing up for their mailing list–if you could combine those…
Mehbeh??
Haha sorry, dis-enabling fail.
If your hubby is trying to distract you, does that mean he doesn’t like it, and that you won’t actually get to wear it very often?
BeautyEncounter is great, though (no affiliation).
Ooh glad to hear someone’s had good experiences with them–poking around, it seemed like they had a lot of good deals, actually! Hm hm hm!
Are they good for niche (as in, their stock’s still fresh, stored properly)?
(BeautyEncounter, that is…)
I don’t NEED Serge Lutens’ Muscs Koublai Khan in the sense that I don’t need an mp3 or another belt or a really terrific banjo (but what’s money for, really?). The best help I’ve EVER found for this problem lies in a series of suggestions at the end of Geoffrey Miller’s “Spent” (which everyone who reads this site could probably benefit from and ultimately enjoy your fragrances EVEN MORE). These are plausible alternatives to buying brand-new goods for retail prices (and they make more sense in the context of the book):
1. Just don’t get it (do you really need its conspicuous display and feature functions? How much would it be worth to you to pay a friend to PREVENT you from buying an $8 bag of M&Ms that results in a $400 gym membership?).
2. Find the one you already own (seriously, we perfume people have a lot of things already deserving our fuller attention).
3. Borrow one from a friend, relative neighbor (thanks, perfume community: this one really works, and I for one happily share weekly).
4. Rent it (OK, maybe doesn’t apply here)
5. Buy it used (saves some money, but kind of defeats the purpose of not buying at all).
6. Buy it in generic, replica, or trickle-down form (actually can work occasionally, but not for works of art like MKK).
7. Make it yourself (not perfume, sorry!).
8. Commission it from a local artisan (terrific narrative value eventually, but up-front cost kills).
9. Wait three years before buying new technologies (this really could work w/ perfume, providing they have not changed the formula).
10. Ask to get it as a gift (wishlists; why not? Also would help with the postponement aspect).
11. Acknowledge the display premium built into most products (and here’s where it becomes a value judgment for the individual. I would love to buy the MKK. On the other hand, what it says about me as a person is that I could find nothing more creative, kind, or conscientious to do with the $123 difference between buying a full bottle of MKK or just getting a $7 sample to covet).
Just some thoughts from a terrific book!
I love the consciousness expressed in your last line:
“On the other hand, what it says about me as a person is that I could find nothing more creative, kind, or conscientious to do with the $123 difference…”
Creative, kind, or conscientious… I doubt many/any perfume purchases could pass that test. Thank you for your wise words.
Oops! This is in response to Jbordeau, above.
I found a collector’s bottle of Opium extrait – original edition of course. I actually do not intend to wear it, just want it for the memories. Should I buy it? 🙂
Interesting! What kinds of memories?
(Haha just realized this question could sound unduly personal! I just mean, are these memories in the vein of, “Oh remember back in the day when everyone was wearing this?” or is it special to you for a more specific reason?)
Opium is a great, iconic, unforgettable fragrance. Since the fragrance industry seems hell-bent on destroying the very concept behind what they do, it’s a way of protesting, I guess.
Also, my mom used to wear it during an important phase of my life. She would rather be remembered for her Chanel No. 5 but for me Opium shaped forever the way I look at fragrance.
Did I answer your question? Don’t understand what difference my personal reason could make to a complete stranger, on the other hand it’s not a secret. 🙂
Ohh, yeah I am a big fan of a sentimental reason! I personally don’t have the cash to make purchases purely on principle if I’m not actually going to wear it, but anything that reminds someone of their mom, I’m for it! So that’s why I was wondering about the specifics of the motivation. I vote yes for the purchase!
Opium is great!
How is the price? Are you buying specifically a first edition because of the collectability of it? Because that edition has a unique bottle design? Reason I ask is because a lot of the reformulation of Opium happened in the 2000s, my impression is that self-imposed eugenol restrictions happened mostly around 2005 and thereafter. Someone else here likely knows more abt this and about the specific case for Opium.
Maybe a vintage as late as 1990s may be more available and more affordable and still evoke the same sillage as the original. Depends on how exact you need your juice to be and obviously depends if the collectible bottle in question costs significantly more for its original edition status.
I’m not a vintage hound so maybe my advice is naive, but that’s how I’d approach it.
Okay, I have one. I’ve been wanting a bottle of Guerlain Sous le Vent for the longest time. Love the perfume, love the bottle, something about the two together brings out the Gollum in me. Reasons why I don’t need it: 1. I don’t wear it very often because I’m afraid of using up my decant(s). 2. ridiculously expensive. 3. I think that bottle isn’t a spray.
But…….if I had a bottle, I wouldn’t be afraid to wear it and I can afford it, just haven’t convinced myself that I should. So, help!
That sounds like the best possible kind of purchase–a really high quality perfume, that has proven it can sustain your attention, and is within your budget? That’s ideal. Way better than five cheaper things you only like okay.
Ahem … I thought we were supposed to dissuade each other from buying … LOL that won’t happen 😀
Hehe, what can I say… maybe a “no” has more credibility when you know the person would say yes if it’s really really reasonable? Integrity and whatnot 😉
Can’t help you, the same problems – not wearing what I had so I wouldn’t use it up and worrying about the bottle not being a spray – led me to not one but two purchases of a Guerlain AND a nice spray bottle to decant it into.
I would enable this purchase. YOU ARE APPROVED.
Do make sure your decant is of the current version if that’s the one you’re thinking about buying.
Ya’ll aren’t really helping!! LOL!
That’s a good point about versions that I hadn’t thought of. I actually have 3 decants, all from different sources. One of them came from The Perfumed Court a couple of years ago, so I’m fairly certain it is the reissue. I remember seeing Patty post something about having gotten in her bottle of the new version.
I’ll probably still hold off buying the perfume for some unknown occasion. I’ve thought about it this long, so obviously something is holding me back. Probably the thought of spending over $300 on a bottle of perfume. I love my perfumes but that’s a line I haven’t crossed yet.
I had a similar situation a couple of years ago, except it was Vega rather than Sous le Vent (same bottle, only the label is different. It is one of the most beautiful bottles I have seen!). I had nursed the decant because I didn’t want to use it up and be without that beautiful perfume. I was hesitant to spend that much money on a bottle that wasn’t even extrait, and I am afraid of applying such an expensive perfume from a splash bottle (what if I drop it and spill a hundred dollars or so worth of perfume?) I resolved the dilemma by redeeming some credit card reward points for a Neiman Marcus gift card which covered most of the cost, so I only spent about $80 out of pocket. I figured that gift cards don’t count, as it is “free” money. I decanted into a spray vial, and that is what I use to apply it.
I want Prada Amber. I get compliments eveytime I wear it. I can’t justify buying another bottle when I have over 70. I have hundreds of decants so I’m having a hard time justifying a decant.
I’m almost out of my Portrait of a Lady decant and am pinning for more. I would trade a large portion of my collection for that one. I would buy that in a heartbeat if I had the money! Help!
I’m not hearing you say that YOU love the Prada Amber, am I? Just that other people like it on you? If you love it yourself, maybe you could save $5-10 a month until you can get it on sale at Parfum1 or somewhere. If it’s just that people notice it and you like that experience, I’d try to balance it against how much pleasure something else – say your PoaL – gives you and practice saying, “I don’t need it.”
I think the PoaL is a separate case. True love is worth saving for. (I’m saving for a bottle of Iris Poudre, myself, and turning down a 20% discount at Parfum1 right now, because they don’t have anything I really really really really want to spend my birthday money on.)
This is excellent advice; passing on things to save for LOVE is a skill I certainly know I need to practice! I am not sure I would be able to do it here, just because I have to admit I would also really like to have a perfume that was such a crowd-pleaser! BUT, especially if you wouldn’t mind thinning your collection, maybe you could get one or both via swap? Maybe you could literally trade a chunk of your collection for the Portrait of a Lady! Even if you only get the Prada Amber, then maybe you could take the cash you might have spent on that, put it in a jar, and then start adding, as Mals suggests, five or ten buck a month ’til you can pay for PoaL?
I’ve been itching to by the extrait of Jubilation 25. It really is a very beautiful perfume. I’m afraid if i buy it, i won’t use it very often since it’s very expensive and i need to hoard it instead of using it. I know! very convoluted rationalization.
I love Jubilation 25! But, let’s see: do you already have the EDP? If so, that’s pretty potent stuff already. So I’m sure you don’t need the extrait.
i don’t have the edp. i only have a vial sample of it through scentbar and it’s running very low! i heard the extrait is much deeper and rounder. swoon!!!! lol
Why don’t you indulge in the body lotion, and see if that will stave off the lemming for the extrait? That’s what I did, and so far, it has helped hold off the desire for the extrait. ( I share your pain, BTW; but I have blown through half my 100ml bottle of the edp in less than 6 months!)
tell me more about the extrait. i haven’t smelled it but i heard it’s very beautiful. how is it different from the edp?
I only had a sample of the extrait and it is even better than the edp. Richer. If I’d had a choice when I bought the edp, I’d have held out for the extrait, but then, I really like rich heavy scents!
I’d go for the extrait if I were you and don’t worry about hoarding it. Life is for living. Every damn day is special and should be celebrated! I wear my Jub all the time, even to garden in.
I’m having a very extravagant perfume month, but I don’t want anyone to try to stop me! In honour of my 32nd birthday next weekend, I’ve ordered 32 samples from Surrender to Chance, of all kinds of things I’ve been dying to try. I’m also buying a full bottle of Cartier L’Heure Fougoueuse! I’m completely in love with it, and since even a decant is crazy expensive, I figured I might as well go all the way. Plus, my best friend also loves it, and her birthday is a week after mine, so I’ll be decanting some for her birthday gift! PLUS, I consider this month as the one year anniversary of my entry into this wonderful perfume world. So, I feel like I have an extra reason to celebrate with perfume! AND, I haven’t bought a full bottle of anything since August. As you can see, I’ve already completely rationalized these purchases, so there’s no way I could be talked out of it now! haha
Now I just need to hold back from buying anything else until at least mid-year. I think I’ll manage. After a flurry of buying in the first half of last year (when I initially fell down the rabbit hole), I’ve gotten pretty good about stretching my budget by focusing on samples and decants, and not impulse-buying full bottles. I’m going to try to limit myself to 2 or 3 for the whole year.
That all sounds awesome. Happy birthday!
Well done and happy birthday! Playing with your samples will be fun and it’s a great way to figure out what you really like.
Thanks! I’m pretty excited!