Do you adore any awful perfume? Of course, if you like it the perfume isn't awful to you. But do you love any fragrances that are generally regarded as terrible? It’s confession time.
I don’t mean cheap fragrances. Coty Sand & Sable, Dana Tabu, and Revlon Jean Naté, regardless of their packaging, are all completely respectable in my mind. Heck, it’s even chic to have favorites from Walgreen’s. Some people — probably the same who loudly boast they had pigs in a (likely gluten-free) blanket last night or who seek out hipster-renovated trailer parks on vacation — give a fragrance a few extra points for being both old school and down-market. No, I mean perfume that the average perfumista crinkles her nose at.
I’ll admit mine: Lorenzo Villoresi Alamut. It has garnered the fewest comments of any review I've written, and I think it’s because readers have been too kind to tell me I’m out of my mind. Perfumes: the Guide describes Alamut as a “hideous oriental” (possibly the guide’s only use of “hideous”) and called it “a parody of a heavy-hitting oriental,” “dense as lead,” and hints that its use in warfare would be crueler than the weapons of mass destruction already employed.
And yet I love it. Is it dense? You bet! It’s an avalanche of animalic powder and wood with tuberose smashed in there somewhere. When I want something smotheringly warm, something that smells like a plump, powdered auntie swaddled in a moth-eaten fur coat serving me English muffins drowning in Gold ‘n Soft margarine — and it turns out I do feel that way from time to time — Alamut is where I turn.
Sure, Alamut and I fell out for about a year. I figured my taste must have finally matured, and I was panicked I wasn’t ever going to be able to unload my bottle. But last week I dug it out of the back of the perfume cabinet, spritzed myself down, and went to bed with a smile on my face. No apologies from me. Nope.
So, I’ve laid it out there. Time for you now. Is your taste reliably sound, or do you sneak your bottle of Disney Hannah Montana out from under the bed on hot August nights? Do you tell people you only bought that bottle of Nicki Minaj Pink Friday because it’s so tacky, but secretly you can’t get enough? Have you decanted your Prince Matchabelli Sexiest Musk into an old Shalimar bottle so a visiting perfume lover wouldn’t raise her eyebrows? Speak up!
Note: top image is Prise d'Alamût via Wikimedia.
I don’t know if it qualifies as it got 3 stars in The Guide, but most people seem to hate it; Cococabana by Parfums de Nicolaï. I love it especially in winter. It’s thick and sweet and glorious indeed.
I’ll admit it’s not one of her best, but still.
Fly that Cococabana flag proud! And really, three stars moves it out of “awful” category in my opinion.
Cococabana is one of my favorite summer fragrances, even though it doesn’t get much love!
Maybe it will now!
I like coco cabana as well and wish I could find a bottle….
Is it still in production? Good luck finding one!
No, it has been discontinued for a while. I don’t know where bottles are still available.
That’s too bad! It sounds like it has a few fans.
Great topic! I confess to loving a number of big, loud mainstream creations that lots of perfumistas claim to hate – Calvin Klein Obsession (and no, I didn’t wear it back in the day, but I found 10 years ago that I really like it); Gucci Rush; Angel. To my nose these all have the charm of an unabashed exuberance, and on the occasional dreary day they are just the thing.
Rush and Angel have strong perfumista cred, I think. But Obsession? That one wins the prize for awful! Welcome to the club!
A great after-lunch laugh! Thank you as always Angela. My perfume loves that seem to garner between little and no respect from bloggers and perfumistas are the newer Guerlains: Samsara, Jardins de Bagatelle and Mahora (now Mayotte). They do have some fans, but more detractors, and enjoy nothing like the love and respect that the classic Guerlains do. Oh well.. more for me! 🙂
You get my vote for jardins de Bagatelle. My first perfume crush. To young to wear it at the time, but it really made me dream…
Do you wear it now??
I have not found the courage to wear it yet. I smelled it on the blotter and I found it still smelled great. It is a time-capsule smell for me, and I am not sure I am ready to appropriate it… It’s a convoluted reasoning, I know…. 😉
Jardins de Bagatelle may not get a lot of love, but it doesn’t seem to bring out the some ire Champs d’Elysees does, at least.
Ha! I like Champs d’Elysees! Definitely reviled, though, by most.
I think it’s fine, but I don’t love it. I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t been discontinued, to tell the truth.
I really like Champs! It is, though, one of those that turns on me 80% of the time and by five I am rushing home to wash the remnants off. But the first few hours are blissful always. I don’t get why people revile it so! The plastickey goodness, mmm! I do wish my box wasn’t the new Barbie pink one.
Sounds like true love!
Love Jardins! I think it’s lovely, have worn it, and have gotten compliments!
I’m also with you on Jardins De Bagatelle. Love it.
lol! JdB lovers unite!!
You go!
I first smelled JdB about four months ago and found it really pretty!
It *is* really pretty! If any other line released it, people would probably have loved it.
Yea Mals! We don’t seem to overlap much. But I can see you liking it when I think about it.
I have been shocked at how much some people seem to loathe Mahora! I always liked it, even if it doesn’t suit me. And the bottle is gorgeous!
I know – it is such a lush evening-gown tropical.
Perfect description.
I agree! The first time I wore it was in 2007 when Aretha Franklin sang at a T’Bred Breeders dinner. That was a magical night and Mahora will always remind me of it.
That’s wonderful. What a great memory.
I haven’t smelled JdB in ages so I’ve no idea how I’d react to it now but I used to like it and even owned a bottle in the past.
I’m beginning to think Jardins doesn’t deserve the “awful” badge.
I love all 3 of the Guerlains Rapple mentioned, though I warmed to Samsara only after it stopped being so ubiquitous and I could learn to appreciate it on its own terms (and not everybody else’s).
I also love Champs Elysees (at least in its initial late ’90s incarnation)….
I like Samsara, too, although I understand why some people don’t. It’s an assertive and distinctive fragrance.
I love Jardin de Bagatelle so much I wore it for my wedding day, which for me was important. I probably spent more time choosing my fragrance than my hair or nails, etc. I had a date planned with a best friend to the Perfume House in Portland that didn’t work out, and we rescheduled, but it was unexpectedly closed. So, I ended up taking my now husband, and I’m so glad I did! I fell in love with the L’Artisan Parfumer Seville a L’aube, but we both knew it wasn’t right for the wedding. Jardin de Bagatelle is full of roses, which I don’t normally love, but this time it was just perfect. Plus, it’s a great reminder for us of the City of Roses that we love, since we are now living in Germany. It’s heavy, but we both love it.
Great story! Thanks for sharing with us, Kari.
What a wonderful story! The Perfume House is where I first smelled Jardins de Bagatelle, too.
I Looove Samsara! I am alone I feel on that one…. but I really do. Perhaps its that I was not conscious of perfume when it was popular so it was a brand new discovery for me when I found it. Ive been collecting vintages for years, they are a great example of vintage real sandalwood.
I like Samsara a lot, and I have a feeling it has even more ardent fans. You’re not alone!
Another vote for Champs Elysees! I get compliments on it, too.
I was a fan of the universally reviled Mahora. I say was, because I did finally get a glimpse of what everyone was complaining about and have been afraid to wear it since. Maybe I’ll put some on today just for the hell of it.
I bought unsniffed a Mahora mini off ebay and thought it was glorious for about six hours. After which I COULD NOT GET IT OFF ME FAST ENOUGH. There was a drastic turn into “chemical mess,” at least on me, in the drydown. I still don’t know what it was.
So, maybe it’s the drydown people hate. I don’t get it!
Me neither. I get a very soft and lovely sandalwood/vanilla drydown.
I haven’t worn Mahora for more than a brief sampling, but I liked it, even if it isn’t exactly my favorite style of perfume. What is it that everyone detests so much about it?
Haha! JINX, dear Rapp!
Wear it fearlessly, Alyssa! 😉
Cabotine by Parfums Gres. Luca Turin called it a “nasty floral” with a “monstrously powerful fruity not that should have been banned by the Geneva Convention.” I love it. It’s a huge green floral that I love to smell on my clothes for days after.
I love Cabotine too. A friend of mine has always worn it–a gorgeous, whip-smart blonde who brings laughter and loveliness wherever she goes–and it makes me feel lighter whenever I catch a whiff of it on someone passing by. It’s a wonderful scent. Ignore the critics.
Wonderful description!
What is it about perfume and war crimes in the Guide? Well, Cabotine and Alamut will both be banned, I guess.
Cabotine lover here too – yep that “nasty floral”. I have to say that really cracked me up when I first got The Guide and looked up old favorites of mine: Calyx was vindication – a masterpiece! Cabotine, umm not so much. Uh-oh, one measly star and a truly vicious critique! Can’t win ’em all I guess! LOL Anyway, I have kind of moved on from Cabotine, but do ocassionally still wear it – and with pride when I do! 😉
Excellent!
Thanks for bringing up this “awful” subject 🙂 : It will be fun to read about everyone’s guilty pleasures…
Mine – don’t know if these perfume qualify as awful, but I seem the only perfumista to wear and love the first, and the second is usually belittled in favor of “grander” compositions:
1- Montale intense Tiaré – I long comments, blog posts, forum posts, on this one: why nobody mentions it, ever?
2- Kai (ok, it’s not Shalimar, but the oil smells really great to me!!)
Kai is nice!! I felt snarky about it, myself, because it seems very similar to a perfume oil I bought at a local craft fair some years ago, something like 5ml for $6. Kai is priced enormously higher, and I just can’t bring myself to pay Kai prices for a craft-fair type fragrance.
But it does smell good. I think there is genuine tuberose essence in there.
Yet another reason for me to try Kai again.
I admit to loathing Kai. I just got a sample of it in the mail, though, and I’m going to dab it on after lunch and give it a second try. Who knows? Maybe it’s my kind of awful.
*raises hand* I adore Montale Intense Tiare! I might like it even more than the vintage CSP Tiare I tracked down. As soon as it makes a reappearance on 99Perfume, I’m going to snap up a bottle since I can’t bring myself to pay full price for what amounts to a glorified beach scent, even if it is the most beautiful beach scent I’ve ever tried. 😉
“Most beautiful beach scent” is high praise! I’ll have to try this one.
I am so glad I found a Montale IT lover!! It’s just the two of us at the moment, it apperas! And I agree: the best beach scent ever. I just wish I could tweak the opening a bit, but IT it’s really a favorite of mine. That drydown!
Hey Girls, count me in as well! IT is my ‘legally blonde scent’. I love it, men love it, it’s deliriously good to drown in it… I believe IT is one of the loveliest exaggerations in the perfume world. It’s just so… overdone!:) I get lots of compliments on it too.
How nice to see it being loved here and there:).
“Legally blonde scent”–that’s really good!
I like Kai, too! I have the perfume oil, and I love to wear it in the summer!
All the Kai lovers are coming out of the closet!
yes, here is another one 🙂
Me toooo! I love Kai!
Nope, can’t say I like any ‘awful perfume’ yet. I am pretty picky! Haven’t tried that one from LV, though, tuberose is awful to me, lol. I heard that’s a good house though.
And I just have to say…Dana is awful, Walgreen’s awful, Coty, awful! Imo.
As a huge fan of older Coty formulas, I have to complain about the dreadful turn the company has taken since the 1980s. Hardly any of them are worth smelling now, IMO.
If you get a chance to smell some older ones, try. They were made of quality stuff, back in the day.
True. After a whiff of vintage Emeraude or L’Origan, say, it’s hard not to get a little resentful.
Be brave! Plunge into the awful and see what you think!
That’s easy: Penhaligon’s Bluebell! Everyone agrees that it’s terrible, repellent, hideous, more Windex than meadow flowers. But I. Like. It. I love its cool metallic sheen and its spicy bite. Then again, I also like pigs in a blanket. What can I say, sometimes it’s boring being highbrow!
Don’t like Bluebell but I’ll second pigs in a blanket.
I’m with Lys.
Oh, I like pigs in a blanket, too. It’s when people eat them *ironically* that it irritates me.
I read somewhere that Kate Moss wears Bluebell, so you’re in good company!
I also really like Bluebell. I don’t get the Windex reference.
I suspect it’s an individual skin issue. I was expecting to love Bluebell, put it on my wrist and adored the first five minutes. Then my eyes got bigger and bigger as it got more and more screechy and nerve-grating. Truly awful on me, but nice on a friend.
I sampled Bluebell awhile back and liked it (on my wanna bottle list) .I got iceberg salad in the topnotes and Chanel Coco lite for the rest.
Nice sampling notes!
I also love Bluebell for its hyacinth/clove/ginger, or whatever else it’s got in it. It was the most unusual scent I had ever encountered up till then, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Eventually acquired a 100ml splash bottle – among my early, Early niche acquisitions….
You and Kate Moss!
Pink Sugar and Princess are regulars in my rotation. 🙂
I’d wear Walgreens before Princess, lol..my least fave of all! But glad you like it!
I really like Princess, too. I can’t wear it all the time, but get a craving for it now and then. I really like Rock Princess and Flower Princess as well, and think Midnight Princess or whatever it was sounds really good, too. This coming from the proud owner of Midnight Fantasy. 😀
Oh my gosh. You know all the Princess flankers!
I wasn’t going to get a replacement when this one ran out, but my husband likes it, so… I dunno… LOL
Yes! That’s exactly what I’m talking about.
I’m a sucker for sweet fluffy stuff. 🙂
Princess isn’t that bad actually. I had a sample and it was okay.
So, mediocre but not awful.
I’m even worse, I wear one of the Pink Sugar flankers — “Pink Sugar Sensual”!!
I have PS Sensual too! But I don’t like it as much as PS. Heh. What does that say about me? LOL
Damn I forgot about this one and you reminded me I like *another* “bad” fragrance… I love Pink Sugar. And I havent even got to post my big awful one yet….
Total impulse buy last summer – I got a PS imitation – Gale Hayman Beverly Hills Delicious Cotton Candy.
that. was. a mistake.
I guess if you’re going to do Pink Sugar, you’ve got to do it right!
Hahahahaha! Yes!
I have a shameful soft spot for J.Lo’s Glow. I know! Don’t look at me! I’m hideous! But when I want to feel clean and uncomplicated, it’s just the ticket. It’s unfashionable, out of date, over-familiar, and not very sophisticated, but every now and then, when I’m feeling cranky and tired and just plain alienated from the world, it can make me feel like a normal girl. I like that perfume–even an inexpensive celebrity perfume–can have such cheerfully transformative power.
J-lo has the scent of plastic doll heads to me? Like the smell of a Barbie doll head? Which is interesting, not something I’d wear but I thought it was pretty interesting it smelled like doll heads to me.
I’ve heard the doll-head scent associated with heliotrope, but I’m not sure there’s much heliotrope in Glow. Must be something else.
Hey, I thought Glow actually got some decent reviews!
Luca Turin likes it!
Robin gave it a solid review, too.
I must confess I like some awful stuff. Cabotine Gold is like Coco lite in my mind, or nose I guess. I’ll even admit that I really like a celebrity scent, Jessica Simpson Fancy Nights. It’s a poor girls Shalimar. I also like Diane by Diane Von Furstenburg which I don’t think did well with the critics. Oh, and I’ve confessed this one once before but it’s fitting here as well. I wear Dot by Marc Jacobs sometimes. Oh the horror!
Oh, now now, is Dot really so bad?! I can’t totally recall what it smells like but I thought Dot complaints (as with much of that line) are just that it favors likability over sophistication or complexity. Is that really shameful enough to qualify?? 😉
(I will concede that Fancy Nights by Jessica Simpson sounds amazing!! What a name–who comes up with these things?!)
It really is a pretty hilarious name. “Fancy” is kind of a funny word all on its own.
SO true. Adding “fancy” makes anything pretty awesome.
Isn’t there a song about a girl named Fancy??
Rapple — some teenybopper type covered “Fancy” on a long-ago season of American Idol. The only reason I remember this is because it was so deeply bizarre.
Reba Mcintire had a song called Fancy.
Dot smells good on the tester like a cup of Del Monte fruit cocktail but on skin it’s a mess.
The grapes in those fruit cups were always so danged stringy. Yuck.
Aha, yes I was assuming it just was young and a little boring. That indeed sounds…worse.
It is a fruity mess.
I stood in line once next to a woman who smelled fabulous. She was wearing Fancy Nights! I think it’s the branding that scares people off.
Portia’s review of it on Australian Perfume Junkies was what sent me off on a mission to find it. I didn’t want a JS scent but I love the stuff.
It’s nice to have a secret perfume love that flies below the radar.
I think Fancy Nights is epic.
Your quote should be posted on the bottle!
This comment is epic. The next perfume I buy is gonna be Fancy Nights.
Wear it with pride!
I find Philosophy’s Grace scents to be comforting and comfortable, pretty and undemanding. They’re not reviled or anything – many people like them – but not what you’d expect from someone who’s rocking the new Chanel 1932 today…
Are you loving Chanel 1932?
I do like it, quite a lot, but it fades very quickly on me. The drydown is lovely, but I’d prefer it to hang around a while longer. It might be the dry Texas winter weather – I’ll have to try it again in spring.
Awful perfumes, maybe La Petite Robe Noire Modele No.2? See, that’s the full name and that’s one reason it’s bad. When I first tried it I found it confused – um, galbanum and candied iris with a meek little leather note undetectable except on fabric? Then I really started to be charmed by the toxic-sweet iced iris with the green baby galbanum fractionate up top. Then it was discontinued and I needed to protect it! Full bottle acquired. So sweet, so cute, so helpless, I didn’t want to lose my tiny little frosted iris.
LPRN2 makes Flowerbomb seem like a voluptuous, sober floral.
Now that’s a plain brilliant review. It makes me want to run out and test it! Toxic iris indeed!
Okay, I’m going to have to try that.
“Toxic sweet iced iris” sounds like what he did in Iris Ganache, which I love, btw.
I love the Clean line, especially the original. I always spritz some on when I shop at Ulta. And another vote for Pink Sugar though I’m not sure that is generally reviled (?). Every time I put it on I think it’s going to smell better than it does. Yet something compels me to keep coming back…..!
That was a very brave confession! Thank you!
Confessing to liking any of the Cleans is very brave, indeed. More power to you!
Oh, who knew there was so much bravery to be had in confessing affection for Clean!? In that case, let me add my name: I forget which one, but there is one of those I like as well–maybe Warm Cotton? Or T-Shirt? As you can tell I don’t own a bottle but I will often give it a resniff when I’m in Sephora, and I have actually thought of see if a bit of it could be had for cheap on the auction site….
Hate the original, but there is one Clean I love – Outdoor Fresh, in the green bottle.
I wonder how many brands of “clean” they can put out?
Ha! I’ve never smelled it, but the name alone would put me off. It sounds like a brand of cat litter. . .
You’re so right!
True confession time but not truly awful, I also like and own DKNY Delicious Candy Apples Sweet Caramel. For when I’m feeling ultra-sophisticated.
Well, if Prada Candy can fly, so can the DKNY number.
Hmmm. All right. One of my favorite ‘go to’ fragrances when I want something fun and sexy (in my mind anyway) is Body Fantasies Vampire. It’s a mix of chocolate, berries and violet and I absolutely love it. It retails for around $18 for an ounce of fleeting edp, but I’ve already burned through a bottle and plan on buying another. I am also unapologetic for my love of all things Angel and Pink Sugar. Oh, and some of the Versace perfumes are awesome, too. I loved Blond, in fact, because it reminds me so much of Sand and Sable, a teen years favorite of mine when a friend gave her bottle to me and said I could keep it. Methinks she had alterior motives besides just being generous. 🙂
I have Blonde in parfum, and it’s quite the tuberose bomb.
I’ve heard good reviews of that one.
I have a bottle of one of those fantasies body sprays around somewhere, and I remember being surprised at how much I liked it! I’m going to have to dig it out and put it near the bath.
Blonde is my guilty secret. Bought it for the gorgeous bottle, but I also love what is inside!
It sounds like you’re in good company!
Hanae Mori 😡 Perfume blogs and reviewers seem to hate it, but I love love loooveeee wearing it. Was my signature for years and I find it familiar and comforting and delicious 🙂
I get it–sort of like Chopard Casmir to me. A thick, sweet, warm blanket.
Oh, I love Hanae Mori! I feel a little silly wearing it myself, probably because it seems almost edible, so I only sneak some from my daughter when I’m not going anywhere. I do love it on her.
That’s the ideal–having someone around you who smells wonderful in something you love, but not as much on yourself.
I went through one and a half large bottles of Hanae Mori in two years, which (unfortunately) betrays the fact that I did not spritz in moderation. I wish I could go back in time and apologize to everyone in my three-hour grad seminars.
I don’t wear HM anymore, but I still think it’s a well-done scent.
And clearly well loved.
Hanae Mori is sweet and wonderful.
I love Hanae Mori too, no shame.
I also like Magical Moon 🙂
Hey, I bought a jug of Michel Germain’s “sexual” because a woman on the Long Island Railroad told me to. I don’t love it, but it is shameful.
Oh yes. The fateful roving critic on the Long Island Railroad. Beware!
I’ll confess a fondness for Flowerbomb. What can I say? I think it smells good. I own a bottle, too! I don’t think the world hates Flowerbomb, but I’m pretty sure perfumistas do– and I know Luca Turin does. Oh well.
I think you’re right–Flowerbomb is massively popular yet often reviled by perfumistas. You must have cracked the popular code–good work!
I like and own Flowerbomb, but did buy it shortly before my true descent into the rabbit hole. I still wear it, though.
You’re so good not to abandon your old loves.
I own a bottle of Hiris and I think many of us are familiar with The Guide review of it *snigger* Granted, it doesn’t make me swoon with mad love but I find that it serves a purpose for certain occasions and so gets worn regularly.
But lots of people love Hiris!
Ok, so I have not gotten around to reading the notorious review, so can someone fill me on what The Guide found so objectionable about Hiris?! I had heard tell it got trashed in The Guide but on sniffing, it’s very hard to understand what about it could be polarizing…
On me the iris turns to dirty hair, but the guide says that it’s “faintly sour.”
Oh fascinating. Okay fair enough, that does sound bad. Funny how for some perfume, the impression it makes on different noses can vary so wildly–I’ve only smelled it the once, but I thought it was very beautiful, and perhaps the worst thing one could say about it was that it might be a little muted or unexciting.
I wonder if there’s underlying science about what molecules can be experienced in such dramatically different fashions, a la cilantro.
Hiris is really popular, despite how it played on my skin. I know Robin likes it a lot. I bet your cilantro comparison is right on, though. Some notes may simply not jive with some people’s receptors (how’s that for science?).
Turin says that Hiris is about Giacobetti’s “usual manner”. Well, if he doesn’t like the “manner” — sad for him.
“sad” and “horrible” are just two of the words that are used 😀 I agree with the sad….or, perhaps, rather melancholy part but I don’t find it unpleasant. I find that it works well for occasions when I want something discreet/restrained and people seem to react to it quite well.
Melancholy and discreet could both be recommendations for a perfume, really.
Precisely! I trust LT’s nose and agree with him more often than not but I just don’t find this one as offensive as he seems to.
Ha yes agree with you both that melancholia in a perfume seems like something of an artistic achievement!
Now I want to go smell it again. I would def have agreed it’s restrained, but I don’t know that I could say what about it might strike people as more gloomy than other fragrances that are similarly beautiful but subdued.
Still thinking about what shameful secrets I can confess but in the meantime I am DYING laughing about pigs in a gluten-free blanket. Guilty as charged.
Hormone-free, organically pastured pigs in that gluten-free blanket?
Slaughtered by the woman from This American Life who teaches humane butchering classes in Portland, Oregon 😉
And then prayed over by buddhist monks.
Ahh,,,,, Kashrut law is based, in large part, on the idea that if one is to eat meat, one must slaughter the animal in the most humane way possible.
So if you want humanely slaughtered “pigs” (actually garlicky mini beef hot dogs) in a blanket, they are available from a national hot kosher hot dog brand.
Give me a moment to take out my soap-box…
a) Jewish law states that an animal must be in ‘good’ physical condition when slaughtered. In practical terms that means an animal cannot be stunned before it is slaughtered: it must be fully conscious.
b) Also, it is often stated that the ritual way of slaughtering the animal – cutting a specific vein in the throat – renders it immediately unconscious by cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain. From what I can gather though, this is just untrue. The animal is conscious and death is not at all instantaneous.
c) Though there are rulings about the way the animal is killed (and it is not at all clear that this way does minimize suffering) there is no law about the way the animal should be treated up to that point. Meat that is kosher is derived from the same diabolical factory conditions as any other meat.
Off soap-box: I hope I haven’t offended anyone; it is an issue I feel strongly about.
Thanks to you both for this info. The meat industry is high on my list of things about which I really have no good excuse for having failed to inform myself. An important thing.
VEGAN, gluten-free, organic, non-GMO pigs in a blanket.
I wonder if “pigs” is prejudicial? Maybe we should label them “porcine mammals” instead.
LOL!
Angela, you’ve clearly lived in Portland ENTIRELY too long! 😀
And I believe that’s “porcine Americans,” if you please!
Cracking up. You guys.
LOL!
I would eat that!
I’ve got one! Everyone I’ve read complains about Aftelier’s Cacao. So, of course, I couldn’t resist a sample. It smells like orange scented chocolate on me – you know, like those foil wrapped slices you break open around Christmas. Not something I want to smell like often, but I liked it. Most reviewers described it as Cacao without the o.
Orange and chocolate are delicious together! I like the Aftelier Saffron-Chocolate body oil, too.
Yes, perfume and edible treats! LOVE orange and chocolate!
It’s a tasty combo!
i like jennfier aniston edt. it’s not cool to like it, it’s been panned by everyone, but dammit to heck, it smells nice and clean and not screechy or chemical.
i do not like pigs in a blanket.
one i do hate but everyone else loooooves is guerlain cuir beluga. smells like metallic amber to me.
Didn’t the Jennifer Aniston get some good reviews? Or maybe she has more than one fragrance? It’s impossible to keep track of all these celebrity releases! (And you’re blessed not to feel compelled to shell out for the Guerlain.)
It’s fairly well done, that Jennifer Aniston, but I think it suffers from a lack of natural florals. It’s not awful, but to me it smells inexpensive.
But not “cheap”? (Isn’t it interesting how “inexpensive” and “cheap” essentially mean the same thing yet carry such different connotations?”
i also like Jennifer Aniston’s perfume.We are having a fairly warm summer and it is nice to wear in the heat.
The perfume,that seems to be disliked by most, but I really like it-and I am having a problem admitting to it- is Chanel Coco Noir.
I’m not a huge fan, admittedly, but I bet Coco Noir is flying off the shelves.
It’s funny, I can’t think of a generally-reviled scent that I really enjoy. (There are plenty of popular ones I hate. PLENTY.)
Oh, you know – a lot of people really hate Liz Taylor’s White Diamonds, and while I understand why they do, i rather like it, especially in parfum. WD, along with Youth Dew, which I really despise, is one of the two I most commonly smell wafting among the grocery store aisle. You follow the trail and it invariably ends within a five-foot radius of a carefully-dressed-and-coiffed older lady. I know, I know, I’m profiling… and it’s entirely likely that the woman wearing either one of those big-sillagey things is so accustomed to it that she doesn’t realize she’s put on enough to cause distress in people three aisles away. It’s always the nicely turned out ladies, too, which suggests that adding perfume is part of their daily routine. I love *that* part anyway, even if I really cannot stand the Youth Dew.
That’s so funny–perfume profiling. I love it! I’m a fan of White Diamonds, too. But I also like Youth Dew.
Mals86
How can’t you like Youth Dew? :D. I love it. For me Youth Dew is not the smell of an old granny of a perfume for mothers.
For me Youth Dew is like I am going back to the 1600 and I am in Constantinople. Wandering in the old Big Bazaar, smelling the spices and the flowers and the pure perfume oils the merchants are selling. I smell in YD the smell of a city full with different cultures. I imagine then, being in the court of the Ottoman sultan wearing a silken velvet kaftan and I sprayed YD. I smell the middle-eastern empires.
Maybe thats why loving perfume is so beautifull. Every person loves the same perfume in a different way. Maybe I changed your mind about Youth Dew 😀
I love your romantic view of Youth Dew! I certainly don’t see it the same, now.
FSM, Youth Dew was one of my first perfume loves, and it still is. Your description is perfect – Estee Lauder herself would approve!
And probably adopt it as marketing copy!
Thank you all for your lovely comments 😀 . I really love heavy ambery oriental scents. Maybe because I am raised by it. My parent are from Turkey but I was born and raised in the Netherlands. My father always uses pure attar oils. And my mother loves pure rose oils.
I always have and always will have Estee Lauder Youth Dew, Coco by Chanel, Opium by YSL and Cinnabar by Estee Lauder. For me they are the moist oriental ambery mysteriously mainstream perfumes, easily to get your hands on them. For me they smell everyday different, for me there notes are blended in one. So you smell an truly one scent.
Again thanks for the lovely comments 😀
You’re welcome!
I don’t like White Diamonds but I do really like White Diamonds Brilliant. But I have to admit my not liking White Diamonds may be more because of psychological influences than the actual scent. We were married about two years and he came home from a long-haul with a bottle of it wrapped for Christmas. I opened it and said “oh. gee. thanks.” wondering why on earth he bought THIS for me…and he insisted I told him I loved it and I wanted it. (I had not ever even smelled it before that and absolutely did not tell him any such thing…) So—apparently SOMEONE else told him that. hmmmm. Not me.
I admit as much as I like White Diamonds, I’d be kind of disappointed if my honey wrapped it for me as a gift. With so much other fabulous perfume out there–White Diamonds? Really?
Huh. And I was thinking of confessing to Youth Dew. I don’t adore it, but there are times when I want that familiar excess!
But no one could call Youth Dew awful!
I dunno–I’d bet it would get a lot of votes for “granny perfume,” which I’m fairly certain isn’t a compliment!
Oh pshaw! (Yet I know what you mean.) Somewhere below is a gorgeous description of Youth Dew, comparing wearing it to walking in a bazaar.
Dior Midnight Poison. Are they even making this anymore? I don’t know. But Iove it. It just seems to work well on me. And I love the bottle and the TV ad, too.
You’re not alone, I love this one too :O
That’s a good one! And a good bottle, too. I’ll have to check out Sephora to see if it’s still in production.
Midnight Poison is an absolute gem. I love to wear it in late summer as the nights are getting longer and cooler and the mornings get that hint of crispness at dawn. I didn’t know it was so unpopular but if it’s on the verge of being discontinued, I’m definitely getting a backup bottle.
I don’t think it qualifies as “awful.” It’s too nice.
I’ll admit to loving Amarige, although reading Turin’s review of it for the first time made me blush. I haven’t worn it in while, since it did actually get complaints from family members. But I still clandestinely enjoy it for myself.
Amarige has tons of fans! Wear it proudly.
Yes! I have a mini of Amarige and dab some on now and again. It’s big and kind of awful, but I dig it.
You beat me to it! I don’t own it, but after reading the very same review I went on a mission to sample it. And I am telling you, those One Star People are just wimps. Wimps!
I like it. It kinda reminds me of the scent of Puffs tissues.
Funny! Puffs smell kind of nice.
I have a couple of the special harvest versions that I really adore, although admittedly I usually wear them at home. They are a bit more exuberant than I usually am! 😉
But still clearly well loved, if comments here are any indication.
Yes. Here it is, I too am a fan of the “Dont wear it near people who are eating food, having sex, or otherwise trying to enjoy life” fragrance! Love it! And I smelled it on this woman leaving the post office the other day and it smelled amazing. Don’t care if I am a big puffy gardenia tuberose mess, i love this one! HOw is Fracas so adored and this one so hated?
I had no idea Amarige had so many fans! I’m glad, though.
I still have such a soft spot for Amarige. It was my signature scent in the early 90s, and i still steal some spritzes whenever I pass through duty-free. Debating whether I want to own it again, though.
Maybe just a mini?
I don’t know if this counts, but I love Bond No. 9 West Side. I’ve noticed it doesn’t get a lot of love among perfumistas, but I get compliments almost every time I wear it!
I’ve actually considered buying a bottle of West Side, even though I’m not a big Bond No. 9 fan. It’s a nice one.
I love Dolce & Gabbana, original red cap. Very strong, very distinct. It’s a bludger, for sure. It was the first perfume my husband bought me, while we were dating, because he wore D & G men’s. I loved it then, and we both still love it.
I also like Lady Stetson, Jovan Musk, and Lalique – all maligned by many. Add Burberry London (Turin calls it “Cav Spit”), Taylor Swift’s Wonderstruck (original purple bottle), Gualtier’s Fragile, and Chanel’s Gardenia to the list, and I’ll hand over my perfumista creds!
I like that Jovan Musk!
Jovan Musk is one of the very few that has gotten me spontaneous compliments from strangers, and I love it. I do feel I need a new bottle, mine is almost ten years old and starting to… ripen. I’ll keep it around, for sure! But maybe wear a fresher bottle out of the house. I recently got their White Musk too – nice and clean and blahblah, but nothing to the original!
I like the original best, too. I think it beats the Coty musks, as well.
You have some very not-awful perfumes in your list, in my opinion. I love the old D&G, too, and Jovan Musk for Women and Stetson are terrific.
Last Saturday one of my patients smelled wonderful. She told me she was wearing Lady Stetson and I should head over to Walmart and buy some!
Lady Stetson is not bad at all! A nice aldehydic floral.
Tania Sanchez praises it in The Guide. In fact, she inspired me to a blind buy of it, which was unfortunate, as it turned out, because I don’t like it. She compared it to Chanel no22 – well, maybe, but it lacks everything I love about no22.
I hope you found the bottle a good home. At least it wasn’t wildly expensive.
Lady Stetson has gotten me many compliments believe it or not. Love it.
I believe it!
Poodle, if you’d like another bottle of it, just contact me on MUA, same name as here.
Hi what a great lovely topic to read peoples secret 😀
Don’t worry. I don’t like Obesession, I love it. I use the woman version and the man version. For me it is the best Calvin Klein perfume in the world. Ooh that cinnamon in the Obsession for Men and the dark ambery feeling that I get from the original Obsession for Woman. I love them. I use each year 7 bottles of them 😀
Hurray for your confession! It’s liberating, somehow, to have something so awful be so, so wonderful.
Hi Everyone
Love Obsession too! I have also worn Obsession night! 😀
Thanks Angela for this great topic.
You’re welcome!
Nice topic! I own and enjoy Midnight Fantasy and G of the Sea (adore). Do people like Gaultier MaDame? It kind of came and went but I love it and call it an “unapologetic synthetic”. Perfumistas don’t seem to have much to say about Costamor Sugarwood, but I find it to be sweet in a very deep and beguiling way. And, of course, many iterations of Angel, plus the original Poison.
I wonder if sugary scents get the perfumista kibosh more than others?
I am really shocked that there are no FM Perfumes Listed!!!
Quite upsetting 🙁
All you need to do that is to make a really awful perfume and get a perfumista to love it…
I enjoy Estée Lauder Spellbound, it was my first big girl perfume. It made me sad when I discovered The Guide and saw that it got no love. I also really love Dior Midnight Poison which if I remember correctly Luca Turin said that you would have to be brain dead to enjoy.
I forgot to mention, Liz Claiborne in the bright triangle bottles. It’s always at TJ Maxx and I think it’s wonderful.
This is such an entertaining topic!
I don’t think I’ve ever smelled the Liz Claiborne, although I can definitely picture the bottles.
I love Liz Claiborne! It was the first perfume given to me by a boy. I was in ninth grade, he was a junior. It was soooo yummy! Oh no…off to discount sites I go….. Ps- I liked Realities too – the one in the square bottle that has since been reformulated and the bottle changed.
I can remember, as a tween, having a bottle of FAKE Liz Claiborne. Oh, the humanity!
Wow–a dupe of an awful. That’s really something!
I’ve seen Realities but never smelled it. Not much of an alluring name.
I loved Loved LOVED Realities! Wore it for years as my signature scent. Then one day I stopped loving it and stopped wearing it altogether. Eventually, I figured out that they had reformulated it and that’s why I stopped wearing it. Back then, I just thought my tastes had suddenly changed.
Spellbound! (I almost typed “Smellbound” by mistake.) I like that one, too. I have a mini around somewhere, I’m sure. I’ll have to dig it out.
I like *small voice* Givenchy Very Irresistible for Men. As far as disappointing LT/TS goes, I also used to like Champs d’Elysees, Vivienne Westwood Boudoir and Le Labo Ambrette 9, but I haven’t dared to wear any of the three of them since 2007.
Boudoir was fabulous! Not worthy of the “awful” badge at all. As for Very Irresistible, well….
Budoir for me!
I Know its offensive to some level and slutty , yes, possibly its even the reason I first fell for it.. as I get older the need for offensive sexvamp scents has cooled off, and that evil review doesnt help me to wear it more often lol! But Im always gonna keep some around, and occasionally on a very “Femme” day douse myself in it.
Mahora instantly came to mind in My last Ava Luxe try outs, the Tuberose diabolique comes quite close, it has that same warmth and sweetness but doesnt strike me to have that ” oily” feature. Still one to dab lightly though.
You like the femme fatale perfumes!
I will occasionally be in the mood for “Barbie-goes-to-the-Mall” and pull out my EA Sunflowers. And even though I read one review that named “ass” as being a top note-I have been known to spritz myself with Paris Hilton for Women. But even though my husband was Head of Security for EA for a few years and we had the opportunity to purchase charity boxes for $25 (with well over $500 worth of stuff inside) I have to admit I gave most of it away. To anyone who would take it.
I love the idea of being head of security for Elizabeth Arden. Oh, I know the job is probably very complicated and involves all kinds of high-tech security, but of course I picture a tough guard taking some elderly lady’s poodle out while she gets a facial.
Oh, this has me laughing, Angela!
Well, I’ve heard it called all sorts of rather horrible things since I wrote it a glowing review. But I’ll stick with my guns for Lalique Le Parfum.
There is something that I crazily admire about the sheer bad pun that is Womanity.
But I save special status for reformulated Cabochard – which is universally decried as the devil’s own work. Okay, it’s not the wonder that the earlier version was (I own some vintage) but it’s not the skeletal horror that some make out… and for the price.
Is it okay to like Cacharel’s Anais Anais and Eden. Because I do rather.
May we throuw some gentlemen’s fragrances into the ring?
Yours ever
The PerfumedDandy
Definitely throw in gentlemen’s fragrances!
The reformulated Cabochard is only sad if you know the original. True. And Anais and Eden are nice! I’m not sure why Lalique drew such ire. Maybe it’s not wildly original, but it’s pretty.
Well quite on Cabochard – but judge it by its contemporaries and not its elders and betters and it’s still quite something,
It’s been nicknamed my cowboy perfume when I wear it!!
On the gentleman’s side, is it wring to like Aramis still?
And is Platinum Egoiste really as awful as all that…?
Finally, what about YSL Jazz – pre reformulation, it raises a smile if nothing else….
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
Aramis is genius! I can’t answer for the others, though, since I haven’t tried them.
Womanity grew on me and now I love it. I’m beginning to think my perfumista card might be revoked if I keep admitting these things.
I admit I’ve only tried Womanity twice, and it didn’t bowl me over. Maybe I need to be more persistent.
Love Womanity, and proud of it! I got the big bottle, too. Gorgeous scent, and one of my favorite bottles!
Me too! And I clearly remember questioning the whole thing at first sniff, unto the point of disliking.. So weird! Now its more like a shamefull indulgence 🙂 Its so much, intense and savory. Gluttony comes to mind!
I adore D&G Light Blue (runs and hides). It’s the olfactive equivalent of jumping into a pool of cold water to me. I feel slightly better that Victoria at BDJ doesn’t hate it though.
I also like Chanel Coco Mademoiselle and The Body Shop’s White Musk…The former is just a pretty scent to me and the latter is very easy to wear on a casual day.
I love seeing other people’s “awful” favorites! 😀
Me too for Light Blue. Smells like sour milk on my skin, and I’m not sure the tenor of it is as much what I’d like to project these days as I did when it came out (more than a decade ago, agh!), but sprayed on paper, there’s still something that appeals to me.
I don’t think anyone thinks Coco Mlle is terrible, tho! (…am I misinformed about this? At worst I thought it was more in the category of, not everyone’s style, rather than outrightly bad.)
I think Coco Mlle has earned a lot of praise, actually.
Coco Mlle is really gorgeous on my sister. On me, and on most of the people I smell wearing it, not so much.
Those are all respectable choices! (O.K., maybe not Light Blue.) But none of them rise to the level of my beloved Alamut. You still have too much class, I guess….
You guys, I don’t hate Versace Bright Crystal. (Fear not, if you haven’t smelled it; the name pretty much tells you what you need to know.) I wouldn’t spend money on it, and I’m not sure I’d even wear it if I had a free bottle (combo of mortification and the happy existence of more substantial pleasures), but… of all the cheaply-made, watered-down, indistinct fruity-florals, this is the one that’s won my heart! Basically what it has going for it is smelling a lot less chemical than such things usually do. Otherwise, I won’t argue that it’s terrible 🙂
Now there’s a glowing recommendation!
Just waiting for the call from Versace to start writing ad copy. Any day now!
Ooh, I concur with Bright Crystal! This is weird, bur I wear it to work on days I know I need the boost of a bright, chipper scent but don’t want to risk tainting actual favorite “bright” scents with associations of a crappy work day. (Favorite happy scents for me include Ineke’s Evening Edged in Gold, Seville a Laube, & Fleurs d’Oranger).
Ha wow that is amazing–I couldn’t have enunciated it but that’s just exactly the role I see Bright Crystal filling!
That is a highly sophisticated perfumista technique, Squirrely! I’m going to have to noodle that over for a while.
There is definitely a need for perfumes that can play such a role! Good thinking, Squirrely.
Aquolina Pink Sugar – people love it on me too! They breathe in deeply and tell me I smell exactly like a strawberry and lemon frosting cupcake.
Oh, and – horror of horrors – Charlie by Revlon 🙂
Excellent choices! Both horrifying (to me) and clearly delicious on you!
Some time, maybe a year ago or so?, when I was talking with my dad about perfumes, he suggested that I look into Charlie. He said he had a girlfriend who used to wear it (assuming that was in the 80’s?), and he had a soft-spot for it. I admit, I haven’t gone out of my way to seek it out!
I have a lot of bad memories associated with Charlie. In my mind, you are entirely too vivacious for it, but I guess it has found an audience.
Oh, is it a quieter scent? That doesn’t seem like it would fit my dad’s sort of lady, either! (Although, I really can be shy–honest!)
I don’t know if it’s quieter, but to me it’s flatter.
OK – I confess – I do wear Lady Gaga Fame and CK One Shock — loving both of them.
A brave confession! Wear them with pride.
This is awesome – I love confessionals!
I never read anything at all about Mackie, which I can only assume is a Bad Thing, but I love it, and I apply it liberally (sorry, co-workers!) I also really like Givenchy Hot Couture (which I think is loud and fruity and vanilla-y enough to be shameful) – it’s not quite love, but on certain days it’s just perfect.
I forgot all about Mackie! Hasn’t that one been discontinued for a while?
Great post! Mine has got to be Cartier Must. Luca Turin dissed the dickens out of it in “The Guide,” calling it cheap Russian chocolate, or some such thing. Personally, I think he smelled the current version, which I have to agree isn’t great, but not horrific either. Whereas I am smitten with the vintage editions: Must parfum and EDT, Must II EDT and Must II EDP.
Oops — make that Must de Cartier.
Here here. Must both male (now discontinued) and female (now reformulated) are /were fine fragrances.
I’ll throw out Cinnabar too as a neglected classic.
Shoved under the counter like old contraband even by its makers this is an admirable and restrained oriental – yet people still by the modern Opium everywhere.
Life’s just not fair.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
Cinnabar is neglected, but it’s far from awful! It’s time for Cinnabar to make a come back.
I agree with you–I like Must, too.
Amarige and Mahora. If it’s a big honkin’ tuberose or tropical floral and isn’t too terribly fruity, I’m probably going to love it. (Though, really, I don’t think Mahora is *that* loud.) And when I was 10, my fondest ambition in life was to own a bottle of Obsession. I still think I’d rather enjoy it.
Also, thanks to Angela’s recent review, there will be a bit of Paco Rabanne La Nuit in my next sample order.
Paco Rabanne’s La Nuit is a work of genius and I will hear not a word against it.
Was it ever really intended for women though. I have it on good authority it was been commandeered by males from the off.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
I think La Nuit would be terrific on a man.
And there are so many gargantuous white florals to love! Enjoy that La Nuit.
The rose is rather romantic to though overlooked in the overall somewhat fantastically fecal animalics of the composition.
Your Ever in La Nuit
The Perfumed Dandy.
I’m not sure if this applies elsewhere as I’m not clear on general availability, but Yardley’s April Violets.
Yum. Smells like powdery purple sweets of my childhood dusted with springtime.
Yes please.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
I’ve never smelled it, but what a charming name!
I smelled this at Kohls recently. Nice. The dusting powder kinda smelled like foot powder though, imo.
The soaps are the best part of the deal, though the body lotions are fragrant though not thick enough. The Lily of the Valley – which is in the April Violets too – shines on its own. They are a great cheaper-than-though house. Long may they reign.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
I meant TJ Maxx. Oops. They have Yardley stuff.
My mother’s signature scent for most of her life. I don’t wear it but keep a bottle in memory of her and spritz my hankies with it sometimes. I don’t think it counts as an awful perfume: violet lovers have always treated it with the respect it deserves. 🙂
That’s a nice image–the hankie spritzed with violets, that is.
AMARIGE — LOUD and so wonderful
CK OBSESSION — gorgeous!
Bond No. 9 Broadway Nite — another loud gorgeous one
Cabotine by Gres — love it
Guerlain Insolence in edp — grape-y, raspberry, violets in Las Vegas
Cacharel Loulou — wearing this today!
Cabotine and Amarige are getting lots of love today. I don’t think we can call them awful. I adore Lou Lou!
I mentioned Cabotine above in a comment to someone’s post. But I wore it a lot years ago and hardly do these days, so I was trying to think of a current fragrance that I seem to be alone in appreciating. I was having a hard time, when it dawned on me! DKNY Delicious Night. Love it! (But I loathe the dumb bottle.) I can’t tolerate any of the other Delicious fragrances, but I find Night to be rather addictive. (Really fun poll Angela!)
Perfect! I admit I’ve steered clear of the DKNY Delicious fragrances out of sheer prejudice, but now I’ve got to try them.
Fun fact, there’s 35 of them.
For crying out loud. I take that back–I’ll do a random sampling of 3 of them. Maybe.
Do original Be Delicious, Red Delicious and Delicious Night. Avoid Fresh Blossom and the DKNY Hearts Various International Cities series.
Thanks for the advice!
Speaking of Prince Matchabelli, I recently acquired a bottle of Luna Mystique and I love it. Also, whenever I want my teenage daughter to stay away, all I have to do is to put on my “Lust” solid by LUSH, and she won’t come near me. Works like garlic to a vampire.
I haven’t heard of Luna Mystique! I’ll have to check it out.
SL’s Musc Kublai Khan – one part of my brain is saying “This STINKS!” and the other part is saying “Oh yeah”. But I don’t ever wear it out of the house for fear of sideways looks and pursed lips.
Also Tea Rose, the ultimate Rose Bomb. Love it, I could take a bath in it.
Now I’m wondering how they would smell if layered …
Ooh.. I bet MKK and Tea Rose would be nice together. I like a good dirty rose. 😀
Oh, do try it!
Sometimes MKK can smell really warm and cuddly. I don’t think it counts as awful at all.
I like Taylor Swift Wonderstruck, JS Fancy and Fancy nights, Chanel Gardenia, Champs Elysees, and…(drums, please) Calvin Klein cKIn2U.
Wow! That’s quite a menu. I love how the CK almost reads like a vanity license plate.
Another Pink Sugar wearer here (not too often, and only one spritz–a little goes a long way). Also a fan of Dolce and Gabbana The One and Gucci Guilty Extreme. My older son loves Hanae Mori on me. I haven’t worn it in awhile because now it the top notes seem too sweet. Can any HM lovers comment on EDT (which I have) vs parfum?
I’m surprised at the number of closet Pink Sugar wearers!
Oh and I once wore Youth Dew-Amber Nude to a particularly long funeral service. I must have had too much on, because I was itching to run out of there to get some fresh air.
Oh, but that’s a nice one. I can see where it might be overwhelming, though.
As my niece says when she passes gas…”I stunk myself up!”
Kids are hysterical.
Perhaps a little off the wall. But insofar as everything by Caron (apart from Tabas Blind, En Avion and Nuit de Noel) seems to get a quite dismissive and derisory consideration these days, Montaigne is my favourite of the less favoured.
A wonderful almost detergent orange gives way to orange blossom and then to a deeply complex floral amiguity.
Scrumptious.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
Yes to Montaigne! I’m a very late convert to it having received a sample in the swap here last summer. I fell hard and ended up with a bottle in another swap. I love the stuff.
Montaigne is a really pretty orange blossom, I agree! For Carons, I also like Nocturnes, and I know I’m one of the few.
For Carons that don’t exactly get a lot of love, I embrace my Narcisse Noir which has been compared to adhesive bandages and rotting flowers. But I still love it and even enjoy the shockingly inexpensive edt version, too.
Oh, I am a gigantic Narcisse Noir fan! Sure, there’s some bandaids going on, but it’s such a dark, romantic vintage classic.
I have already admitted to liking-and wearing Coco Noir and Jennifer Aniston – my other dirty little secrets are Flowerbomb, Rihanna Reb’l Fleur and Rebelle, Tom Ford Black Orchid and Voile De Fleur, Lady Gaga Fame and Juliette has a Gun Lady Vengance. Oh dear!
Lots of those are great fragrances! I’d jump on a bottle of Voile de Fleur if I saw it.
I know everyone hates it and thinks its bland, but I love Lutens L’eau. Magnolia. mint in a quite soft whisper. Subtle is not boring.
And I also like Womanity. (which by the way, layers beautifully with rose scents). Despite the awful name, I thought that was a respected release.
Your description of L’eau is wonderful! I admit I didn’t give it a fair try. I love fragrances with a hint of mint, though.
I always check in Walmart on the off chance that there will be a stray bottle of DVF Tatiana. It’s so cloying and so chemical, but it takes me back to my 20’s!
Is that one still in production? I wore it back in the day, too!
I’ve been lucky with finding vintage parfum minis on the ‘bay. Loved Tatiana back in the day, and was forbidden to take it home from college because my mother couldn’t stand it.
A mini of parfum is sometimes the perfect quantity, too.
Blogs don’t seem to comment on Jessica McClintock—ever. It is probably my favourite perfume of all time, along with a few others. I recently bought her new one called Brilliance, which is an old lady lilac and LOTV but it is reasonably half-decent on a non-gray 62 year old. I wear Nautica My Voyage when I go to the doctor or dentist so as not to offend but to get away with wearing a fragrance. I really like G of the Sea, if only it were an extract so that it would last. Spellbound and Cinnabar are also good along with Boudoir. I find it strange that I like them when I am so not an oriental category enthusiast. I lke Coty’s Ghost Myst. Like RavynG, I can’t stand White Diamonds but really like Brilliant WD, Sparkling WD and Diamonds & Sapphires.
Oh, I LOVE Jessica McClintock! I don’t wear it, because it doesn’t smell good on me, but my mother wears it so so so well.
I seem to recall trying one of hers that was blue and it was pretty nice on me.
I have a friend who wears Jessica McClintock and it’s fabulous on her! I gave her a sample of Diorissimo, but I think she actually smells nicer in the McClintock.
Hmmmm, has anyone mentioned Toujours Moi? (sp?) My aunt brought some home many moons ago when she came home from Viet Nam (she was a nurse during the war) and my 8 year old self loved it. My 49 year old self still slaps some on now and then!
My mother used to wear that one! I wish I could have smelled it back when it was first released. I have a feeling reformulations haven’t been kind.
Was that the one with the unicorn in the ad or on the box? If so, that was fabulous. When I was a kid I wanted a bottle of it in the worst way.
I think it was! A unicorn, man. Or was that Heaven Sent?
Yes! Toujours Moi was the unicorn! I have a little vintage bottle of it. So pretty and sweet. Heaven Scent was angels or cupids or something. I loved both of them back in the 80’s. My mom would let me get a little bottle of one or the other at Christmas when I was a kid. And yes, they’re both pretty much crap now. So sad.
But the unicorn! Genius. Why don’t we have any perfumes with unicorns on them now?
I had a big bottle of Heaven Sent in the ’80s. I think it was a present from my uncle. I don’t even remember what I smelled like anymore. I haven’t seen it in years, though I admit I haven’t looked for it. Is it still around?
Good question. I don’t specifically remember seeing it on my drugstore runs, but I may simply have overlooked it.
My mom wore Toujour Moi, so pretty and powdery. She also wore Heaven Sent, I think one of them has the unicorn on the box. Both I remember as light blue.
They were popular in their day.
Oh my gosh, I like it and I didn’t even know there was a unicorn bottle I could be searching for!! This changes everything.
I know! The unicorn really takes it up a notch for me.
Okay… here goes: I actually kinda like Givenchy’s Dahlia Noir.
And I wanna try Fancy Nights, too! So there…
No judgement here! Get out there and try some Fancy Nights, too.
Love this. Givenchy owes you a debt of gratitude for the support; maybe they could step up their fragrance game, as a way of showing their appreciation! (I’m just extra irked by terrible perfume that comes from the company that made the Breakfast at Tiffany’s little black dress! There is no excuse for bad taste chez Givenchy!!)
They also made the marvelous original L’Interdit and Givenchy III. They just need to try a bit harder.
I never wear it any more (we’re talking decades), but still love my now-very-ancient bottle of Jontue.
My mother used to wear that one, too. I remember liking it, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it smells like now.
I am loving the you-go-girl/guy spirit of this thread, as I am a big believer in the “like what you like” philosophy in all things in life. I am just a baby ‘fume head, but find myself very drawn to “caveman” scents, the kind that knock you over your head and drag you back to their sweetly-scented cave! I love Angel, Baiser du Dragon, Flowerbomb. I also find myself very drawn to big orientals like Opium and Cinnabar! I smelled Spellbound and thought it was great, even though I remember reading a review of it somewhere that said something about an 80’s hooker. What can I say, subtle is sometimes overrated! Also, I also really like Volupte by Oscar de La Renta. So sue me.
Hey, no one here is going to sue you, you’re safe!
I heard–although haven’t checked on it–that Baiser du Dragon isn’t being offered by Cartier distributors any more. So, if you love it, you might want to stock up, or at least check in with Cartier to make sure they’re keeping it in production.
Thanks, Angela! Maybe I’ll be able to find it as a discounter! Although, it seems like their perfume shelves have been filled with nothing but celebrity perfumes as of late! Although, I guess the whole point of this post is that those are not, necessarily, without merit, huh? Note to self.
I share your caution about celebrity fragrances, though. Some of them are worse than awful.
The name alone makes me want to love Baiser du Dragon. I tried it once and didn’t like but didn’t hate it – maybe I need to get some just because.
But if it’s not you….
But I am a dragon! – born in a year of the Dragon, that is. And I’m slowly warming up to patchouli-note scents, so I might like it better now than I did a few years ago. Couldn’t hurt to try it again, anyway.
I found a bottle of Volupte at a discounter the other day. Kicking myself for not getting it. And I just discovered Baiser du Dragon and adore it. Not sure what it is about that attracts the haters. 🙁
It has a lush patchouli in the drydown that reminds me of Coromandel. I’m not surprised you like it.
If I like a perfume but it has received negative reviews across the board I usually don’t buy it because I am afraid that I am missing something and that sooner or later I will see it and then have a wasted bottle of perfume.
Still, there are many ‘sweet’ perfumes that I have liked but probably not bought – Cartier Delices, Hanae Mori, DKNY (original green apple), Robe Noir, Sex Goddess (by tantric perfumes)
One I do have and wear is Divine Enfant by ELDO – I love the innocence of it…
Years before I went down the rabbit hole I smelled CK Euphoria and it literally made me euphoric. I finished the bottle but unfortunately it was only the top notes that were so good – then it all but disappeared. Now that I have smelled so much more even the top notes don’t have such an extreme effect on me.
I just tried a sample of Montale’s Mukhallat. For some reason i found it deep and boozy. Anyway, I’v read some reviews and now I can’t figure out what it was that my brain was interpreting as booze. Still – I have to profess my patently vulgar taste as from the first sniff I loved this (its only been about 20mins now). I really can’t explain why. I detest Pink Sugar and I don’t even like the Lutens’ rendition of Turkish delight. Though I like many sweet perfumes I find Ambre Narguille far too sweet…and…I can’t remove my nose from this. One reviewer said ‘red bull’ and it may be that (I love the taste of Red Bull). In fact it even smell a little like cherry cough syrup.
Sigh, so much for taste!
It sounds almost like cherry-almond or cherry-heliotrope. Do you like Traversee au Bosphore?
I find T.B. too sweet and too much like red apple! Go figure…
I know what you mean! I really do try to rely only on my own impressions of fragrances, but I’m easily swayed. If I had known what other people thought of Alamut before I decided I loved it, who knows if I would have a bottle now? As it is, I’m clearly just a little defensive about my Alamut love….
I like Womanity. Awful as the name is, I like the HR Giger bottle too.
I tried Obsession, but I just couldn’t get behind it.. smelled like sweet Play-Doh on me.
I just got something yesterday that I probably wouldn’t have if I had known what it was when I got it: Elizabeth Taylor Passion. I found a mini in an antique shop yesterday, and I bought it without knowing what it was. It was only $4. I was able to make out the tiny label on the bottom after I got it to my car. My first reaction was disappointment and wondering what I just did. But when I got home I tried a dab… and it’s nice. It’s old, so the juice is discolored and the top notes have gone a little off, but once you get through that bit, it’s actually pretty good stuff. It’s classified as an oriental but I think it’s more of a chypre. A little goes a long way, obviously.. this is an ’80s frag. I don’t know if I had even heard of Passion. I was only familiar with White Diamonds, though I don’t think I’ve actually tried it. I found a page for it on Makeup Alley, and it seems to be a love it or hate it kind of thing.
In other slightly embarrassing admissions, I also have a mini of EA Red Door. Also found in an antique shop. I don’t really wear it, but it’s actually not bad.
I’ve been so curious about Passion. That’s the one in the purple deco-fan bottle, right? I’ll have to smell it.
Yep, that’s the one! The mini is a clear deco fan bottle that had purple juice and a purple fan stopper cap. The juice in mine is a dark olive-ish green now, but it smells good. I’m wearing it today, as a matter of fact.
Should also mention.. I looked Passion up in my copy of The Guide last night, just out of curiosity, and it got a whopping one star. It was categorized as “fog horn”, and the review consisted of the following: “Z-17 in drag”. Of course my copy of The Guide is the 2008/2009 paperback edition, so I don’t know how if the formulation changed between the bottle I have (age unknown) and the time that was written.
Well, then it just may qualify as an awful perfume you love, so congratulations! I’m still curious about it, and I’m going to smell it soon.
Love this topic! I love the original D&G (red cap) Pour Femme, and Flowerbomb. Also Oscar de la Renta, Body Shop Juba oil, Beautiful, are things I still wear when the mood strikes. I like Champs Elysees as well. And,{ whispering…} Clinique Happy on a cheery spring day.
Oh, none of those are awful! Come back with something bad, then we’ll talk. Even the Happy isn’t too awful.
Body Shop Juba oil! Now that brings back some memories. I went through more than one round little bottle of that stuff. And more than one bottle of Happy too, so don’t feel guilty!
I Got one that I Love that I KNOW Most Perfume Cognoscenti turn their noses up at, Especially a few of the people on this Blog… Gucci Guilty Pour Homme… I LOVE This Fragrance and I fly My Gucci Guilty Flag Proud and High, although i am well aware How AWFUL most think it! ;0)
I haven’t smelled it! I vaguely remember the woman’s version–maybe a little clean patchouli?–but that’s it. I’m glad you’re wearing it with no apologies!
I know many can’t stand Secretions Magnifique but I love it. For many it’s a red-hot mess on skin, but on me it’s all woods, oud and leather. It practically purrs.
All I can say is, you must have magical skin. I believe it, though. It smells horrid on me.
Aah! I’m still traumatized from that one! AND… I stupidly put some of it on my boyfriend as a joke, and now he’ll never let me try perfume on him ever again. Drat.
I don’t blame him! I wouldn’t either.
I was hoping someone would say this one–I love hearing that it can be done!!
CH-My skin loves odd scents, another hard to wear frag is M/Mink. I know many think it’s strange but I love it!
Here goes! I really like that hot mess Couture, Couture by them Juicy people. Someone chased me down at the Mall to ask me what I was wearing! I think I was flattered and insulted. No one does that when I wear Yatagan. Or Youth Dew. Or Aromatic Elixir. Or Womanity. Or JPG Le Male. I think you get my drift!
Oooh! I do love Viva la Juicy and Couture Couture! I also really like the original Fancy by Jessica Simpson and have made it my goal to collect every Harajuku Lover that’s been released. 🙂 I also really like Vanilla Fields and Ciara, too, and Mr. Ab. Scent loves the latter on me. And here’s another shout out for Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose as well as both versions of CK Obsession. I love and wear them all. 🙂
Say it loud and say it proud!
I’ll admit to secretly lemming a bottle of Viva La Juicy! And I still love Obsession even though I rarely wear it anymore. I still have a bottle from the actual 1990s!
The Smithsonian is waiting for that one….
Vanilla fields!!! I loved that one! That was big when I was in junior high! I’m sure I had a bottle! Hey, does anybody Le Fleur? It’s ads looked like a Victorian valentine. Cherub butts and roses everywhere. I don’t really remember what it smelled like, but I know I liked it, at like, ten years of age.
I remember the ad, but that’s about it. You describe it well!
Hey, take it where you can get it! Juicy Couture got good reviews, if I remember right.
I LOVE Juicy Couture and Couture Couture which gets SOOOO MUCH HATE and i don’t even begin to Know why! It’s Really, Really Nice Smelling! For some people it must turn rancorous on them, but on me or my Mother it smells LUSCIOUS! and Juicy Started the Ball Practically ROLLING On all those Overtly Sugary Sweet Toothsome Perfumes that kinda coalesced at the same time with Miss Dior Cherie,,, But Juicy Couture is Still IMHO, Magnificently Well done and I Just SWOOOOOOOOONNNN Every Time i smell it! 🙂
I love the description of a perfume as “toothsome”!
Oh, thought of another one: I don’t love, but enjoy using my samples of TM Alien. Sunny buttery loud grapey jasmine. Nice. Particularly as a bedtime scent.
Alien is big on my skin, but I love smelling it, too.
Same. Can’t wear it regularly but there’s something I quite like…
Oh Lord, what a cool question;-)
So let’s started… I loooove Addict by Dior, of course the first version, it’s brilliant, period.
I can’t stop adoring Classique EDP by JPGaultier.
The second sniff of Womanity was falling in love, so it stayed with me.
I really liked Idylle, i know it wasn’t groundbreaking, but so cheerful.
I’m not even mentioning Insolence EDP cause it’s masterpiece of its time. Can’t get enough.
Regarding Chanel i always liked Chance, for me it’s so much better than Coco Mademoiselle.
And Glow by JLo is so cool for that price, i have an appetite for that one every know and then.
And Rush2, again, what did they want from that one? It’s tempting for me each time I test it.
None of those are awful! Sure, a few are maybe on the fence. Maybe. But it sounds like you’re rocking them!
Vivienne Westwood Libertine. I adore it, went on a wild goose chase years ago to find it, and get more compliments on it than anything else. But the VW scents seem to be get shot down pretty hard.
Also really dig vintage Avon scents–whatever I can get my hands on at estate sales. Bonus points if it’s something in an awesome novelty bottle. And they’re not super-vintage-y (mid to late 90’s?), but Avon’s Natori and Josie were both so preciously beautiful.
Oh, and (ducks head) I really liked David Yurman EDP for a long time. I got rid of my bottle a year or two ago, but I wore it a lot before I finally succumbed to shame.
The Libertine and Avon scents are cool in their own way, but David Yurman? Hmm. Fortunately your personal coolness makes up for it.
!!! I thought I would be the only one to mention David Yurman. I love it. I still don’t understand why nobody likes it or cares.
The other thing I don’t think is all that bad is Idole d’Armani. The drydown smells exactly like Iris Poudre, I swear.
I’ll reserve judgement on David Yurman since I haven’t smelled it in a while, but Idole d’Armani and I did not get along. It sounds like it does much better on you!
The topnote is gross. Say not to “pear.” But the drydown is kinda classic, gotta say. A nonperfumista friend gave me a bottle and I sometimes use it as a bathroom airspray.
I’ve worn L’Eau d’Issey (Issey Miyake) since ’92 and still find people complimenting the scent when I spritz it on once in a while. Still I realize that noses in the know don’t like it so much, and I don’t know if I even like it that much anymore, but it is a very familair scent to me and comforting to know that I have it in my arsenal. (ahh to the ’90’s).
Love reading everyone’s comments. 🙂
Love L’eau d’Issey, it was genre defining and still smells fresh and utterly pleasing to me (though I can’t wear if myself). I’m baffled by the haters on this one.
O.K., now that’s an interesting one. I think people detest L’Eau d’Issey because it is so danged of its time, so 1990s, that although it’s good, it’s a little like someone who insists on wearing Doc Martens and listening to Ten Thousand Maniacs. You just want to tell them to wake up, the 1990s are over. And yet, all told, it’s a nice fragrance.
Oooh, I could listen to 10000 Maniacs right now. . .
You’re scaring me!
Actually, I was confusing them with another band. So much for my memory!
A little late in the game here, so I hope I don’t mention a bunch that have already been mentioned, but this is so fun! And I seem to adore a TON of much-reviled fragrances…just to name a few: Giorgio Red – has to be worn only in cold weather, but a few drops of the parfum (you can still find vintage minis here and there) are divine! I also adore the original Poison, Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion (someone mentioned above that this never gets much notice, but it was actually her first scent, and came out years before White Diamonds!), and Red Door by Elizabeth Arden. In general, I think the 80’s was actually a great decade for perfume, and I love a lot of what came out then! And oh – I really enjoy wearing a few drops of plain old patchouli oil from time to time 🙂
Kiki, I’m right there with you on the Poison. Not a huge spray of it, of course, but a little dab or two is delightful!
Oh Giorgio-my mother wore the original in the ’80s and I have such fond memories of this “power fragrance.”
I’m glad to hear a defender of those blockbuster ’80s fragrances! You go, girl.
Armani Code, the edp (as if that matters…”we’ve already established what you are. Now we’re just haggling over the price.). Aside from the vanilla, i can’t pick out a single individual note, nor is my husband particulary fond of it, yet my sample is almost drained and I occasionally find myself on eBay, looking for a deal.
Isn’t it funny? I wonder what it is that draws you to it. Clearly you need a bottle, though.
Go for it. I have a colleague who wears Armani Code beautifully. I love smelling it on her; gives me a lift every time.
Sisley’s Eau du Soir smells really nice on me and I wear it, altho LT called it “lamentable.” For me, it is a lovely chypre and the musk does not go bad as it reportedly does for some. I also occasionally wear JM White Tie and Tiara, a light floral that is never controversial.
I love Eau du Soir! I didn’t get the bad review, either.
I don’t think any of my personal fragrances would qualify as awful, although I like a few that are probably on a lot of people’s “meh” lists. But I CAN admit to liking certain generic *man* scents on certain men. My first serious boyfriend wore something blue–Polo Sport, maybe?–and even years later, I get of whiff of that blue “maleness in a bottle” and my heart skips a beat!
HAHAHA, I was just wondering if I had to confess that there are a whole bunch of totally generic dude scents that still turn my head. I was telling Robin a few weeks ago, actually Polo Sport is one of the few that is now a disappointment–same here, high school boyfriend wore it, so I went looking for it, and alas now it smells young and silly to me. But lots of the more current ones–Mont Blanc, Aqua di Gio, that kind of thing–a little whiff will def catch my attention. (I do find that the pleasingness diminishes with prolonged exposure. But for a moment…)
HAHAHA, I was just wondering if I had to confess that there are a whole bunch of totally generic dude scents that still turn my head. I was telling Robin a few weeks ago, actually Polo Sport is one of the few that is now a disappointment–same here, high school boyfriend wore it, so I went looking for it, and alas now it smells young and silly to me. But lots of the more current ones–Mont Blanc, Aqua di Gio, that kind of thing–a little whiff will def catch my attention. (I do find that the pleasingness diminishes with prolonged exposure. But for a moment…)
(Oops, sorry for double-post!)
I agree that it can be easily overdone, but there are those transportive moments, too! Happy to hear I’m not the only one.
I feel the same way about Dial soap!
Mmmm…Irish Spring!
Estee Super Cologne Spray! smells like a 70’s hooker or just pure sex. Don’t know how else to describe it…it knocks everything else on its a**. Love it still! Also I confess I used to layer Chanel #5 and Poison…a boy in one of my classes passed me a note telling me I smelled like a cloud of orangey marshmallow and he liked it. Oh the shame……
Wow, you are brave for that layering! Christian Dior and Coco Chanel duking it out on your skin….
Ok, Come on… SOMEONE Admit to LOVING the Original Mess of all Hot Messes,,, The First Formulation of Miss Dior Cherie???? I KNOW YOU ARE OUT THERE! and you LOVED That Confection of Sugary Caramel and Strawberry Preserves that would have sent a Diabetic into a Freaking Coma! But we all know it was AWFUL, but you love it anyway… Hands Up! 🙂
No one would admit to loving Miss Dior Cherie until she was secretly replaced by Natalie Portman’s Miss Dior. Now everyone fesses up!
Not you personally! But I think this “awful” perfume crush has now been legitimized and people that wouldn’t admit their love now can safely declare it in polite perfumista company.
I think people are simply having a hard time sorting out the Miss Diors at this point….
I’m sitting on my hands through this one (in fact, I’m wearing the original Miss Dior today) but it’s less about the sugar than it is about that weird faux chypre effect.
I LOVE confessions, and have a tiny litany of offenses: Halston, Halston I-12, Cabotine, and Jovan Musk, to name a phew! Thanks for the opportunity, and I await penance.
Your “phew” aren’t bad at all!
My wife bought me Cartier Pasha, and kind of likes it…
Is Pasha awful? It isn’t, is it?
Longtime reader finally delurking because I love this thread!
I’m 21 and confess to adoring 80’s sillage monsters, especially Obsession and Poison. I also love Paris and EL Beautiful. They all smell fabulous on me and I’m often complimented when I wear them; then again, that might be because I save them for winter and don’t over-apply. I also LOVE Youth Dew. I’ve never understood the “old lady” comments that this one gets because on me it’s a thick, warm, deliciously spicy fragrance. One spritz on a cold winter’s day is heavenly.
Other confessions: Bvlgari Blv Notte (love the boozy chocolate notes), Givenchy Ange ou Demon le Secret (literally the only fruity-floral in existence that I like), Vera Wang Bouquet (I know it gets no love from perfumistas but on me it’s a beautiful sparkling floral, slightly green and perfect for summer), Chopard Casmir (gorgeous rich amber) and all of the Bvlgari Omnia flankers. I also have a fondness for EL Pleasures Delight, although I can’t wear it anymore because it unfortunately reminds me of a period in my life that I’d rather forget. In the Trashy Celebrity Fragrance category there’s J-Lo’s Glow and Deseo plus the original Halle Berry fragrance. M by Mariah Carey wasn’t bad either.
Hey, you sure get around and smell a lot of things! That’s great. From your list, I’m guessing you’re friendly and have a big, warm personality.
Bouquet is by FAR Vera Wang’s BEST FRAGRANCE that house has ever Produced…. HANDS DOWN!
I think bouquet is the one that I liked, too!
Ok, here goes:
Xeryous Rouge
Thierry Mugler Amen
Chanel Allure Edition Blanche
I wish I knew the masculines better so I could comment intelligently. Isn’t the Allure a nice laundry scent, though?
The original Allure is nothing special… but this one is like, hmmm, have you tried O de Lancome? It’s O on steroids, turned lesbian and went to work at the lemon harvest. It’s strong but not in your face, it’s fresh but not necessarily summery.
Strangely, your description is really appealing!
How is Xeryus Rouge?
It is so good, it’s very linear, smells the same from beginning to end, it has lava and cactus. If you’ve smelled a cactus blood, the white thing, you’d recognized the note and the lava is like a hot stone note, imagine smelling a stone that has being under the sun all day then a Kumquat note, which smells lightly citrusy but sweet and the peper note that will tinkle your nose everytime you get it close to the fragrance… it’s all there is.
Oh hell no, it’s not a bad fragrance… very underrated and well performed for what it was intended.
There are a lot of older Avon scents I absolutely love: Soft Musk, Odyssey, Pavi Elle, and especially Night Magic – a slightly animalic musky incense.
I wore Malibu Musk when I was in grade 8 and I still keep an aerosol spray just for kicks.
Guide one-stars I love: Chance Eau Fraiche, Bond No9 Eau de Noho
I saw some Night Magic at a thrift store not long ago, and now I’m sorry I didn’t pick it up! All in all, it would be nice to get to know the Avons better.
Hi Angela,
I’m late to this thread because I’m currently in Hawaii.
But it’s work, so don’t envy me please!
Reading all the comments is going to be unlikely today.
Has anyone mentioned LouLou by Cacharel?
That stuff is still in fair distribution in the UK. So every time I’m in London, I try to go into a Boots pharmacy and spray some on a scent strip and my wrist. It is just horrendous! in a funny old lady way!
And yet when you revisit that strip a bit later, or when you experience just a hint of it on skin, it is truly gorgeous. Would make a true niche scent nowadays.
What do you think of it?
Eric
Eric, Luca Turin gave it 5 stars in The Guide, calling it “one of the greats.” He notes that the secret of this over the top sweet perfume is the addition of a “mysteriously raspy note” that makes you want to smell more, rather than push it away. I wish I had the original wonderful blue and scarlet perfume bottle.
I have a new and full 100 mL bottle of the EDP in the vintage Aladdin lamp non-spray bottle, exactly in the colors you describe.
Let me know if you’d like it.
I am willing to give it up for a bottle of Nombre Noir by Shiseido if you want (hahaaaaaaaa!)
Jealous of your bottle Eric.
I adore LouLou. I like the fragrance, the bottle, everything. It’s assertive, sure, but interesting and easy at the same time. In fact, I need to put in on my must buy list.
I agree with Luca about the genius of Jean Guichard in creating LouLou. But I don’t know if it can be wearable in the workplace nowadays (regardless of gender). An employee who dares to wear LouLou would probably be called and counseled by HR…Now that we became a “sterilized society” (sigh)
I know! Lucky for me, my office is still lax about that sort of thing, and I’m judicious about my perfume wearing so as not to push the envelope.
I wear LouLou to work and no one mentions it in a bad way so I must not be skunking anyone out. Then again, I work with someone whose worn the same pants every day for 3 months now with only occasional laundering so there are far worse odors in the air.
I’d be wearing LouLou, too–right under my nostrils!
Adore adore adore LouLou. And Casmir. I coul d bathe in it ( but don’t.)
I really love Kai. It just smells really great to me. I also love Fresh Index Pomegranate Anise, which one of the bloggers was criticizing the other day. I specifically like to wear it when I’m walking outdoors on a cold winter night. Also, several of the Calice Becker Kilians are among my all time top ten. A lot of people rag on the price, but there’s a wonderful travel set, and one can buy the refills separately. I find them perfectly balanced. But that’s fine: more for ME! 🙂
Those travel refills were a genius idea!
I have Kai, and I really like it, too. I can’t believe so many people hate it!
I don’t know what it is about Kai. Maybe the name? The packaging?
Maybe both?
My (not s secret anymore) awful perfume I love is Chanel Coco Noir. I don’t care that it is fruitchouli, it’s MY fruitchouli i a beautiful bottle. For the haters, turn your noses the other way please 🙂
You tell them! I love how you anoint Coco Noir *your* fruitchouli. Perfect.
I thought it was very good, don’t worry, I’ll appreciate when you pass by wearing it,
I like…*gulp*…Kim Kardashian. I will never own a bottle because I have issues with even the tiniest fraction of my money going into her pocket, but I thought it was a pretty good fragrance. I don’t need a bottle either, because I already own Fracas, which I have no doubt KK used as a model for both the bottle and juice. I actually recommended KK to my mother in law a couple of years ago when she was having a hard time finding her beloved Fracas. I know this thread is supposed to be about embracing “bad” juice, but I feel like I’ve just divulged one of my deepest, darkest secrets.
Donna Karan Cashmere Mist is my go to scent when I want to feel cozy and comfortable without smelling foodie, my perfume equivalent of a hug. I think LT called it “wan and grey.” I also love Mahora. I think the word dreck or debacle was used in that review. It is so lush, tropical, and elegant.
This was a very fun thread. Thanks for another great article.
Have you tried Madonna’s fragrance? You might like that one–it’s a tuberose, too. I’d feel at least a little better about some of my money going to her. A little.
I have to confess, I asked my sister to get me Miss Dior Cherie (the original formulation) as a birthday present! I just love it!
You’ll have to let The Nose Knows (above) about that! He’d approve.
Here is my shameful perfume secret: I own, and appreciate, my very small bottle of Charlie, and–even worse–Paris Hilton Fairy Dust, the scent that prompted this very blog to ask its readers — for $45, you could do better, so what better thing will you buy instead? I paid $15 for it on a whim, and I still like it…but I tend to hide it in the back of my perfume closet.
Also, Angela, I have a decant of and still enjoy Alamut. So thanks — you’re the reason I have it.
Add Paris Hilton to Fairy Dust, and it sounds like a hot mess. But I admit I haven’t smelled it!
I’m glad to find someone else who likes Alamut!
Raising my hand here. I’ve posted numerous times to NST about my on-again, off-again relationship with Alamut over the past several years. I’m on my second bottle (couldn’t bear to throw away the empty first bottle — so pretty) and sometimes can’t stand it and then after a few months, I love it — briefly! When it smells good, it’s very, very good, and when I think it smells bad, it’s horrid.
That’s a terrific summary of Alamut.
I’m loving this topic! After perusing my perfume shelf and reading the previous comments, I’ve come to the alarming discovery that my tacky favorites are threatening to outnumber my respectable ones.
Besides the aforementioned Juicy Couture (which I maintain isn’t nearly bad enough to be labelled “awful”), Viva La Juicy (OK, so it’s a bit sweet. My sweet tooth needs love!), and the original Miss Dior Cherie (come on now, really? Far from bad, it’s more like a demented masterpiece!), my other awful perfume favorite is… Paco Rabanne Lady Million. Yes, the bottle is hilariously tacky, and the general consensus here is that the juice is even worse. But I love it!
And I love how enthusiastic you are about your perfume loves! You must crack yourself up every time you lift that Lady Million bottle. That’s worth it right there.
Oh yeah, definitely! And every time I spray it on, I snap my fingers to see if Matt Gordon will magically appear. 😛 So far, no luck – but any day now!
Creed Original Vetiver, LT gave it 1 star but I love it. It’s smooth, soft and green, very simple but lovely.
I bet you have lots of company with that one, too!
what a coincidence – for two days now I am wearing Dioressence, originally Guy Roberts masterpiece, then reformulated in a way that is regarded as a violation, a rape of said masterpiece, look it up via google if you will (also on nst btw, I quote ‘Dior, shame on you’: https://nstperfume.com/2008/01/30/christian-dior-dioressence-vintage-new-perfume-review/), and that is the version currently in my possession and I really love it. Never smelled the original, though…
I wrote that review! I say, don’t ever smell the original if you can help it now that you love the current version (although I’m not sure what the very latest version smells like). Dioressence is a masterpiece.
🙂 The version I have seems to be the worst desecration of them all. But as I do not know the original I remain in blissful ignorance – they should just have given it another name and all would have been well I think (and I DO want to smell the real deal sometimes, but right now my version is being offered as vintage on ebay… so were am I gonna find the Guy Robert one? o, the ways of the world…)
You just know that any fragrance whose “worst desecration” is that wonderful has great bones. I hope you stumble over some of the vintage when you least expect it!
I’m glad you mentioned Dior because its reformulations get a lot of hate. ‘Awful’ would be one of the milder’ descriptions for many of them. You can love your Red Door or your Jovan Musk but you can’t love a reformulated Dior.
However, I wear my 2007-era Diorissimo very happily but like you, have never smelled vintage (unless 2007 counts as vintage?!). My 2008 Miss Dior seems quite wearable to me although I do prefer vintage. I like my 2011 Diorella very much but admit to being disappointed with its poor tenacity. Dioressence: there I do have a definite preference for vintage. I would not lay down and die if I had to wear modern, but I would probably turn instead to other lush, winter-suitable classics I love, like Femme or 24 Faubourg.
That’s a good summary by me.
🙂 I used to wear Diorissimo in the eighties – my impression is that the current version is less tenacious and also maybe, has less of an afterlife (new things happening after the first half hour I mean) The Lily of the Valley, however, I still recognize.
Red Door, Pink Sugar, and Hanae Mori are frequently worn by me without shame.
Yes! Thank you.
love! 🙂
I like Alamut (said very quietly). But I also like Obsession so clearly I have no taste at all. Oh well.
You have company with Alamut with me!
Few people I know who’ve smelled this wish to do so again, but I love Providence’s Indolice. Yes, there is something sulfurous about the opening, and sure, there is a literalness about the indole and the mushroom, but I love it intensely! I finally was able to get a bottle. Secret pleasures, indeed.
And hey, Giorgia Red for men is terrifically sweaty!
I haven’t smelled many of the Providences. If you love it, though, wear it with pride!
I’m confessing! I love Jovan White Musk, Florida Water and Nikki Manaj’s Pink Friday! LOL I recently tried Juicy Couture La La and liked it for a minute!
Isn’t that Pink Friday bottle kind of scary?
Oh yes! It is my least favorite bottle ever! She could have done so much better!
We can say, she was very involved into the bottle design.
Although I am fascinated by the original Shalimar, both Eau de Shalimar and Shalimar Parfum Initial sits much more comfortable on my skin. Eau de Shalimar is my very own lemon-meringue-pie crumbs-powder scent.
Oh, but that’s a respectable fragrance! Eau de Shalimar is fabulous in warm weather, I think.
Eau de Shalimar doesn’t get much perfumista love (although the latest flanker mayhem perhaps has made it almost respectable ;)), but I agree, it’s a lovely summertime fragrance :).
And for the PI I love the powdery iris drydown.
Powdery iris is terrific, I agree. Now I have to try my SI sample again.
I love Bandit, Poison, and Youth Dew, all of which get a lot of hateration on the blogs. Also like the above-mentioned Champs-Elysees. Although I haven’t worn it in years, Cabotine used to be a signature fragrance.
But they’re classics! I don’t think they can be called awful, really. I mean, Bandit? It’s eternal.
This has been so much fun! For clarification, Juicy Couture’s, Couture Couture, is the much maligned grape kool aid perfume. What can I say? Grape Kool Aid is summertime memory from childhood. Remember how you would get a purple mustache and tongue from that stuff? So it follows, to wear that fragrance is evocative and comforting for many of us, it would seem.
Nice scent memory!
i really like Alamut too! I don’t think it’s awful. And I get loads of compliments when I wear it – which, admittedly is about once a year in the depths of winter…….
I get compliments on Alamut, too, and I rarely get compliments on perfume. But as you say, Alamut rarely leaves the house.
And lastly, I hope Ill still be allowed here after this one… I really like Burberry Body, I spritz it in combo with Lab On Fire, What We Do In Paris Is Secret, and its a great scent. I always get compliments on this combo but Ive always ascribed that to the fact that the average person’s nose is just confused perhaps.
Another one that i love that just gets Gutted here on this Blog…. I agree that Burberry Body is FAB! Love Love LOVE IT!
Another one that i love that just gets Gutted here on this Blog…. I agree that Burberry Body is FAB! Love Love LOVE IT!
You’re always allowed back! Especially after such delicious honesty!
And lastly, I hope Ill still be allowed here after this one… I really like Burberry Body, I spritz it in combo with Lab On Fire, What We Do In Paris Is Secret, and its a great scent. I always get compliments on this combo but Ive always ascribed that to the fact that the average person’s nose is just confused perhaps.
You were brave to try them together!
Well I guess I have confessed my love for Alamut way too many times way too many places – and Angela dear, You have just given me the excuse to do it again. I too, know what they say… Six years working on THIS? and so on. But… Just like when you mock the hot guy in the office all the time, and then secretly lurking to get a glimpse of his phenomenal butt – I keep on falling in love with my red bottle over and over – with the same colour of slight shame on my cheeks.
Being ashamed for loving something feels really romantic sometimes:). And I love that she gets a few likes here at least!:)
You’re a joy to read as always. Thank You!
What a hilarious comment! (And so true–all of it!)
Whomever Besmirched the Hallowed Name of Mahora Needs the Firing Squad sent STRAIGHT To their Door! MAHORA WAS GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!! Sublimely Beautiful and Just Lush And Creamy and Sexy and Voluptuous! It was like, Somewhat, Casmir by Chopard had went to a Really Good British Finishing School but still Kept The Sexiness that made here good girl bad in the first place! ;-D
I think you have good company here!
I forgot one, Peace, Love and Juicy Couture. No one seems to like it or mention it and I think it’s a great spring green floral scent.
I’m not sure I’ve smelled that one. (Watch, now it will turn out that I actually reviewed it and don’t remember.)
I don’t know if I should duck or not with this confession, but one of my first fragrance loves was my dad’s bottle of blue Aqua Velva aftershave. I would go into the bathroom and uncap it and sniff and swoon! I’ve discovered online that Aqua Velva is available nowadays in the US, but in several formulations and probably none of them remotely like what my dad wore in the 50’s-60’s. Sigh! I wonder what it was that spoke to me so strongly. Perhaps musk? That’s just a guess. If anyone can enlighten me…
Maybe it was those barrel-shaped baseball players who advertised it? me, I liked my grandpa’s bottle of Brut with that fabulous glued-on necklace.
“There’s something about an Aqua-Velva man!” I can still hear the jingle.
My contender for most expensive/overpriced guilty pleasure: Chance Eau Tendre. So boring, inoffensive, and forgettable… and yet I went through my sample in a heartbeat because it was just so darn unrelentingly pleasant. No FB, though.
There is definitely something to be said for inoffensive.
Oh this is hilarious. Too bad I don’t have time today to read all the comments and see what is hidden in those closets!
I have two kinds of guilty pleasure: Chance Eau Fraiche ( I am yet to see a good review) and loud 80ies flowery scents. There are well hidden bottles of Poison, Yvresse, Diva and so on in my wardrobe, and they only come out on special occasions. Oh, I also have a bottle of Arabie that I never ever wear, and i don’t think that anyone should 🙂 but I love to smell it because it smells like a wooden box where my grandmother kept dried fruit….
But … but … Yvresse is beautiful! It’s easily in my all-time top ten.
It truly is pretty.
Yvresse is one of my favorites too, but if I am not careful, people in the next compartment on the train start sniffing the air…
Yes! very very beautiful!
Those are good scents–even the Arabie (which I would wear)!
To me Arabie is an interesting scent, but not beautiful.
Axe Dark Temptation.
I win!
Even the name is awful! I admit that I haven’t smelled it (yet) though.
I love Marc Jacobs’s Honey. It’s overly floral and kind of childish, but I love it and the stupid bee bottle it comes in.
I love the sound of that one–both the fragrance AND the bottle!
It has fruit punch as a note. I mean, how does that not cheer you up every time you smell it?!
Also, it smells nothing like honey.