If you have a spare moment, do tell us what fragrance you're wearing. If you have two spare moments, tell us about how many new fragrances you probably try every week?
I'm wearing Annick Goutal Ninféo Mio on one arm, and testing a bunch of stuff on the other.
Reminder: this Friday, August 8, we're doing citrus — wear your favorite citrus fragrance. The following Friday, August 15, wear something by Guerlain.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2014, where I'll try to always have the next six or seven weeks mapped out in advance.
Note: top image is Fig leaf [cropped] by geishaboy500 at flickr; some rights reserved.
My SOTD is Elie Saab Intense. Now that I discovered Surrender To Chance and Olfactiv, I can honestly say that I at least try 2 – 4 new fragrances each week. I also get several samples from sales associates when I buy fragrances at Neimans. They are really very generous with their samples. I stick to my regular scents during the week when I am working, but use the weekends to try a new one. Surrender To Chance is highly addictive, so I have to be careful. It seems like I have orders coming every week.
Happy “hump” Day to everyone!
The decanters are very addictive! How are you liking Olfactiv?
I just stareted in July, so I have only received 3 samples. I liked 2 out of the 3, but wasn’t worthy of buying a FB. I should be getting this months samples today. It is 3 of the new Jeffrey Dame fragrances. I am excited about getting those in. I like the fact that if you decide to purchase a bottle, they refund your subscription for that month ( minus $18 ) on a bottle.
SOTD is Kai, and that leads me right into your question… this is the first try from a new sample, and the first new-to-me perfume I’ve tested this week. I would say I do 2-6 tests a week, mostly in the evenings. I tend to go on sample buying binges and test them more slowly. Also, my commute goes through a mall with a Sephora and Nordstrom, so I stop about twice a month for sniffs and new samples… maybe more if I’m feeling stressed out a lot at work, because the sniffing helps me get in a better mood before I go home.
Do you like the Kai?
Very much! Much pricier white florals will sometimes flop into vanilla sugar or plain white musk after an hour, but this is still floral and not too sweet almost halfway through the day. Very tempting, especially at its price point.
Thanks for sharing you experience with Kai. I’m waiting for a sample to come in the mail . . . looking forward to trying it soon!
SOTD is HiM (Hanae Mori). I had earlier applied a little Ambre Fetiche (Annick Goutal), and decided it was too much for today, but after showering and applying the HM, the combination is delicious.
Love it when I find a lucky layering combo!
Guerlain’s Eau de Fleur de Cedrat. I go through a bottle of it every summer (straight from the fridge); it’s definitely my favorite of the Guerlain eaux. Ephemeral but truly lovely stuff.
Haven’t tried this scent from Guerlain. What are the notes?
It’s mostly cedrat, or citron (that big funny looking citrus with the inch thick rind), lemon, bergamot and some vague, indistinct florals. Perhaps touches of orange blossom or neroli. Seems to be composed entirely of top notes but that certainly doesn’t detract from its beauty. Do try it if you come across a tester anywhere. If you enjoy citrus scents at all, you’ll swoon.
Thanks, sayitisntso. I’ll have to order a decant before summer is over.
I’m still an Eau de Guerlain girl, but do appreciate the others.
I have never sniffed that one…it seemed to be missing in action at the Guerlain shop last time I’ve visited. Cologne Imperial (which I like but don’t love) was there but no Eau de Guerlain. No tester. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
Oh, shame! It had lots of oakmoss, so have been wondering if it would get axed.
Persolaise just published a great interview with Thierry Wasser where he mentions that they have figured out a way to make new oakmoss smell a lot like old oakmoss by supplementing with other materials, and they were able to revive Mitsouko to something like its former glory this way.
That’s great news about Mitsouko, I read something similar on Bois de Jasmin. I’ll have to work harder on using up my several-years-old bottle so that I can justify buying a new one!
Me too, my favourite cologne, Cédrat is very nice as well though.
Today Seville a l’Aube in an attempt to break my summer addiction to Nuit de Tubereuse. It’s not a dramatic break because they share a kinship. Baby steps
One day at a time…
Or one Duchaufour at a time.
My SOTD is Santa Maria Novella Eva. It is going to be hot all day, and I would rather imagine myself in Italy, instead of at the office!
Oh, I love Eva! You smell great.
Thanks, Robin! I love your reviews!
Dior Homme as I wanted something soothing. I will wear Ninfeo Mio again soon. It’s become my favourite fig.
Ninfeo Mio is my favorite fig as well, and also a type of “eau de cologne” of sorts that I think is really wearable all year round.
Yes, it’s a great crisp scent and much more tenacious (without being brash) than a real cologne.
SOTD is Cuir de Lancome. I was testing out some samples last night. I also tend to acquire a lot of samples at once and then slowly go through them. Last night I tested La Colonia by Oliver and Co. It is green, fresh, and citrus – which I normally love. However, La Colonia is very strong and I just wasn’t in the mood, so I had to wash it off. I so wasn’t in the mood that it overwhelmed me enough that I didn’t want any green or citrus today. Cuir de Lancome is perfect for me today. I think that it is very understated and elegant, and works for any occasion
Cuir de Lancome has become one of my favorites. Understated and elegant is a great way to describe it.
Love CdL. The only time I was ever sorry I’d put it on was for a spring choral concert where the weather got hot, the AC wasn’t working (eep), the windows wouldn’t open (double eep), and we the choir members were jam-packed under some hot lights (trust me, you didn’t want to smell that).
I still love it. I just don’t wear it in the heat anymore.
If your AC is functional, you’re probably fine.
Yeah, this past month has been pretty mild for summer in the mid-atlantic. It is only about 70 F today! In August!! I haven’t tried CdL in the normal heat and humidity of August …
No. 5 EDT. I just felt like I needed extra backbone today.
And I am dreaming on putting on some edp when I get home.
Definitely comforting.
SOTM was Givenchy Extravagence d’Amarige. Pity about the name I’m sure it deterred so many from trying it! It’s a soft citrus green floral and was lovely on my morning walk, and was the first time I’ve worn it proper.
SOTD/E is Iris Nobile edp with body products. AdP make delicious body products! I have the shower cream and body oil.
I go through phases of testing depending on mood, weather, time and motivation. I have many untested samples and many that want re-testing.
Is Ninfeo Mio a new testing for you Robin?
Btw nervously looking forward to the signature scent challenge. Must choose wisely!
I feel the same way about the signature scent challenge– it is going to have to take me through work, a late night bus trip, a mini memorial in the morning, a party, another late night bus trip and school without my going home from Friday morning to Sunday night. It will probably end up being Milk of Flowers
I’m contemplating either Lyric, Roma Imperiale or Songes. I like them all enough to wear a lot, but I’m worried about O.D.ing and ruining my experience of them. Alternatively, if I pick a ‘like lots but don’t adore’, 4 days might just kill me! Lol
Oops and I sent before I added a good luck for your 4 days there! That does look a challenge, as there’s no way in a normal perfumista experience that the same perfume would be worn for all that…
No, I’ve already reviewed it
Wearing CdG Carnation today. Finishing up testing around 30 samples in the past couple of weeks and my nose is tired.
You smell good today!
Im going to order a sample of that. I really love carnation scents.
My SOTD is Perfect Love by Creative Scentualizations. This has been discontinued and therefore I have been hoarding mine.
But lately I’ve been reminding myself of the Buddhist concept of impermanence. And so, when I start thinking I can only wear discontinued frags on special occasions, I consider that today might be my last day on earth. Why not wear this heady red rose and gardenia scent?
So…here I am at the dentist for a crown. Not much fun, but I smell good!
Love this approach to life. Thank you for mentioning it!
And hope the crown goes well!
More good wishes for a painless procedure….only had it done once, didn’t much like it.
My SotD is Hermes Jardin Sur Le Toit, which is a perfect office scent.
Jardin en Med here! Likewise, wanted something easy-going.
Yay! I really like the Hermes Jardins–they are almost always appropriate and interesting enough.
I sample in bursts, but it averages out to one or two new scents per week. My sampling has gone way down over the last few years and even things that I am interested in go unsampled for months or even a year or more.
I am sampling Stella. Had never tried it before, can you believe it? It reminds me of Marni but without the spice, and so less interesting. Maybe I’ll layer some Marni over it later.
I made a new year’s resolution to finish more samples and decants so lately I’ve been trying 3 or 4 new things a week. I usually wear them in the morning, then I exercise and shower after work, so I can wear my bottles and favorites in the evening.
I keep meaning to get a sample of Stella to try it properly — I’ve only spritzed in Sephora, and my note says “Rose air freshener.” But I know it’s so popular and well-regarded, and it drives me crazy to feel like I’m missing something!
Yeah, it is kind of threadbare honestly, but I like it a lot more than Chloe.
I really like Stella, but at the same time it is very linear. I find it a good frag for layering with super rich ambers or other rich woods, eg, Stella with L’Air du Desert Marocain….
Interesting, two votes for layering!
Oh, smart! And makes sense given Elisa’s comparison to Marni, which is what I sometimes layer with L’air du désert!
Ooh, that is one I am definitely going to try! I love Marni but it doesn’t last long enough on me. (LADDM lasts forever tho)
I think that is why I like Stella so much. Sometimes I’m in the mood for a linear, non-challenging rose and I can always add incense, tobacco, or woods later if the mood strikes.
I like Stella on its own, sometimes its simplicity is just what I want. But usually I wear it layered with an amber such as SSS Ambre Noir or Prada Amber.
I have noticed that many people who like Light Blue also like Stella. It has a certain transparent lightness. Then again these same people can stun you when they reveal they like Casmir perfume, a veritable bomb next to the other two!
Yes, Casmir bomb, lol. Let me preface my comment here by saying that I do actually like Casmir and I actually wear it. That being said – I spray it on cloth rags around my garden to help ward off the deer….. It is part of my arsenel of powerful fragrances (along with some netting) to help keep those bastards at bay.
I like Casmir too and wear it as well! I love that you use it in your anti-deer arsenal!
Cute bastards though right?
You are right. Its a pretty fragrance, but way too light for me. I need something with a little va va va voom!
Ohh another interesting comparison–because I like both LB and Stella on paper, and neither smells nice at all on my skin. Wonder if there’s a common ingredient…
I still haven’t tried it, either. (My local stores have limited options.)
After yesterday’s hyacinth conversation, I’m wearing Demeter’s Wet Garden. Our climate is normally dry, but it’s been humid for the last few days, and I hate it. Wet Garden works well in the humidity. With a name like that, it better! I have the rollerball with me, to allow for surreptitious reapplication
Lately, I’ve been sampling one or two fragrances a week, but I can go for weeks without trying something new.
Sideris is my scent today and I tried over 300 scents last year on skin, though I don’t think I’m testing as many this year. Of course, every time I go to Saks, Bergdorf, Osswald, MIN or Barneys I usually end up testing another 4 scents.
Wow. I don’t know if I’m more impressed with the number of scents that you tried on skin last year or the fact that you know that it’s over 300. I bow to your sampling greatness.
The scary thing is that I counted them last year….and then this year I counted how many samples I have around that I haven’t tested yet and it was over 300. I think I might have a sampling problem……..
I’ve got a sample of this ready to try very soon.
Now I know for a fact that this smells great on you.
I should have pulled the trigger when we shopped together – it was gone by the time I returned.
You saved me a trip to Bendel! They’re having some kind of Event this evening but I left work too late to make it worth stopping by.
Indiescents has it online, fortunately.
But not at a glorious 60% off…should have sprung for it while I had the chance, but I’m trying to stay calm in the early days of fumie-dom.
I love sampling and trying new things. I try to test at least one new scent per week. I’ll wear it bedtime one day, then during the day on another, and finally decide whether it will go into my sample reference bin or whether I’ll pursue it further with a decant or bottle.
I’m trying a brand new (to me) vintage scent today. It’s called Spring and Summer by Lucien LeLong. I couldn’t find any information on it other than its issue year which is 1950.
It’s quite lovely and very much of its time. It opens with a gentle glissando of aldehydes, followed by a delicate floral bouquet. It’s well enough blended that I can’t single out the individual flower notes, but I can tell it doesn’t contain either jasmine or rose.
I picture this worn by a debutante. It’s refined and has an innocence about it.
SOTD is Caron Parfum Sacre. I first tried this in winter and it was meh–but it’s just lovely today. I don’t know whether my nose has changed or the weather, but I am so glad I didn’t trade it away as I had planned.
I generally sample 5-6 scents/week and wear my favorites on the weekend. I am still a new perfumista and smelling lots of stuff is helpful. I can pick out some notes now!
Oh, Ive only ever worn Parfum Sacre in winter- it hadn’t occured to me that it might go well in warmer weather. What’s the weather like where you are?
(I shouldn’t be surprised though I have a few that I thought would be best in certain seasons but found the opposite true. i.e. Odalisque better in winter and Bandit delicious in summer)
It’s 80F here and 60% humidity. I think it’s the humidity that’s helping.
I only tried it in the winter and it wasn’t very interesting. I will try it tomorrow. 100 degrees, 75% humidity.
Parfum Sacre is one of a few dark scents that I think smell quite lovely and differently in the heat of summer. The others being Magie Noire and La Maroc pour Elle. Lightly applied, of course.
SOTD: Valentino Uomo Valentino for men
Today I am wearing L’Artisan The Pour un Ete. The number of perfumes that I test per week depends on how many untested samples I have on hand. Also, there are some days that I just feel like checking things out and probably sample more, if I have them.
Jo Malone Dark Amber And Ginger Lily layered with Jo Malone Grapefruit.
Trying to use up the remainder of my sample of Rochas Femme on one arm (I bought the bottle before finishing the sample) and Dior’s Mitzah on the other. Loving both for different reasons.
I’m trying to behave and use the samples I have already before getting more….but then I’ll stroll into Blue Mercury (as I did last night) and end up covered in L’Artisan’s Vanille Absolument and Jo Malone’s Oud and Bergamot. So maybe two or three a week, depending on how strong my will to stay out of the incredibly convenient perfume stores in New York happens to be?
OR, you can breeze into said perfume shop scent-naked, and spritz with sneaky abandon, therefore sampling and aquiring SOTD in one go
You’re so right – I should start my perfume testing early in the day! Aedes should allow me to come in quickly at 8 am for a morning spritzing before work. It’s only fair.
When I buy a bottle before finishing my sample, I drop the rest in the little baggie I keep in my purse for scent emergencies. That way I know I have recent favorites on hand! (Unless I was very hasty and there’s quite a lot of the sample left — those I put away to swap.)
Good idea. Mine live in a little baggie here at work along with other samples. Makes working life that much better.
I do that too! Either that or they live at work in case whatever I am wearing isn’t appealing.
Yum Mitzah.
Dia today. Haven’t worn this in a few weeks…love it!
I tend to sample on lazy Saturday/Sunday mornings. My nose is fresh and there’s promise of a shower later.
I have found, however, that it’s difficult to test 2 different scents at the same time. The notes tend to cancel each other out, and I can then only smell one or the other…even on different arms! It’s weird! So unless it’s an initial dab/sniff of something brand new, in which case I might have 5 or 6 on at once, I really have to try things one at a time in order to truly sample.
I also tend to “wear” from my bottles (or decants). A sample vial (dab) just doesn’t give me the satisfaction that a good spritz does, so my daily SOTD/A/E/B is almost always from something in my permanent collection!
Wearing Love, Chloe today. Wanted some extra cheer, to help me “grin & bear it” during a tough week. I don’t get any powder, just honey and peppered floral. It’s also very linear, so hoping that helps keep me in check.
Time will tell
This is one of my favorites Nebbe. I tried it numerous times and didn’t really care for it. All of a sudden one day I loved it! Now I wear it at least once a week.
Nice!
SOTD is MPG Bahiana. It is quite nice now, but will surely be gone soon. This one is very short-lived. Pineapple + woods.
I’m not much for sampling these days. I’m the opposite of many – I can only wear perfume at work (husband with migraines and baby with eczema). So work is not really the best place for sampling new things and since I don’t have as many opportunites to wear stuff, I have plenty of bottles and decants to wear. Whenever I hit the mall, I’ll stop in Sephora and Nordstorm and get samples of things that loks interesting, but don’t plan on ordering any more anytime soon.
How does Bahiana compare to Ananas Fizz?
I wish I knew! No L’Artisans to be found in any stores near me and I have yet to order a sample. I heard they brought it back after being d/c’ed adn almost bought a bottle blind. But we all know that is a bad idea. So I’ll get around to ordering a sample eventually. Or as the perfume fairy godmother on the Posse!
I’m wearing Eau d’Orange Verte, squirted from the duty free shop at SeaTac. I’m cranky from missing a connection (the airline’s fault) and so having to arrive in Paris a day late and spend the night in a fleabag hotel in the meantime. When I saw that Eau d’Orange Verte, I knew I needed to smell some. Medicine.
Sorry about your travel disaster. As the months pass, your terrible fleabag situation will be good fodder for a nice story… A billion years ago that happened to me (in Venice) and at the time I wonder how I would manage to survive. Now it seems like a great adventure. Years ago when my hubbie was on study abroad, he ran out of money in Paris. He called and I paid his hostel bill via CC over the phone… but he was stuck until his flight for two days without any money. The only thing he did was walk around and get lost all over town, and he loves the memory. Triumph over tragedy. Good luck that the rest of your trip is much better!
That’s the perfect attitude to take! I’m just so danged cranky–and tired–right now. But at least I smell good…
Get some good coffee and some brioche, take a power nap, and you’ll be ready to go!
The power nap part sounds the best. My plane leaves in a few hours. I’ll be ready to pop a benedryl and fall into a deep snooze, if at all possible.
SO sorry Angie!
Thank you! I admit that the sympathy is nice. I shouldn’t complain, anyway.
Arg!! Hope some extra wonderful things happen to you in Paris to make up for it!
Thank you so much! I appreciate that.
You are powerless over travel set backs. You smell good, so go into a fugue state until you are in charge again. You will be fine. Great fun ahead!
Hey, maybe fugue state will be the theme of this trip. Great advice, thanks!
Hope things get better soon, and Orange Verte is a wonderful choice!
Thank you! You guys are the best.
I started out very early on a cool morning with Fendi Asja, b/c I wanted something warm. I get a lot of carnation out of it. But as the day passed and warmed up, I wanted to switch, so I doused myself with No 19 edt (current), and boy do I smell good. Thankfully the Asja is almost faded and they are playing nice together. Kind of a duel between the warm carnations and the cool green iris/vetiver.
I don’t really get to sample as much as I’d like. I need reliable smells to come with me to work, so I only normally wear things that I’ve worn before. In the evening I am usually to exhausted to give sampling the nose and brain power it deserves. I’m less than 1 per week, or it would be some hideous negative fraction. I try and test from my big languishing pile on the weekends when I can give attention and wash things off if I must.
Speaking of testing new things??? Anyone tried the new Givenchy Dahlia Divin and want to comment? I am trying to patiently wait for a review, but none are coming ….
I Scent You a Day had a review about a week ago.
I haven’t tried it. Dahlia Noir was one of the very first perfumes I tried when I decided that Opium and I were going to see other people, and it disagreed with me so thoroughly that I’ve given all the subsequent Givenchy Dahlias a wide birth.
Berth.
SOTD is No.19 EDT once again. I keep reaching for this one. I don’t wear samples from my collection nearly as often as I should, to be honest I keep forgetting about them. I just tend to gravitate to my own collection of scents I know I love, but it is fun to try something new, even if I don’t love it. Probably once a week I will dip into my sample collection, however, I go to stores to sniff new scents quite often, maybe about twice a week.
#19 is always a good choice, no matter how many times you reach for it!
I’m thinking fig today, too! SOTD is the d/c Crabtree & Evelyn Sonoma Valley – fig, mimosa, nectarine, grape leaves. A wonderful scent memory for me of a wine country tour of Napa/Sonoma a few years ago and its highlight: floating aloft in a hot-air balloon at sunrise above the beautiful valley ever so slowly that time seemed to stand still, sights and scents to be remembered always.
Tonight I’m going to an outdoor music, wine and woods event at a nearby arboretum. Will be adding a bit of SSS Fig Tree to deepen today’s sensory experiences. I love its figgy greenness and especially its lingering cedar note, which dries down so lovingly on my skin.
Occasionally I test a sample or two on the weekends but since that often takes me away from time spent with fragrances I already own and love, I sometimes skip doing that.
Hot air balloon ride! What a neat experience – and in such a beautiful location! Wow.
Today I’m wearing Union’s Holy Thistle, which I like a lot.
I don’t normally sample all that much, but this past week I’ve been sampling tons, since my perfumes are still being moved, and I just have samples and the Union coffret to try.
I had wanted to smell that one, since we call our farm Thistle Knoll. Haven’t seen it available for sampling in the US (StC has two of the Unions but not that one).
It is one of the perfumes in the 4-pack sampler that Union themselves put out. I just picked it up. I would send you a decant, but it’s in a 5mL rollerball, and I’m not sure how to get juice out of a rollerball (if even possible).
Today I’m wearing Bottega Veneta and finding this to be so much more patchouli than I remember. I still love it, but my noise continues to develop, which is good!
I have a list of scents I’d like to try, some new and some older I’ve yet to sample. I tend to try between 5-10 a month, but feeling like I want to slow down a bit and just enjoy what I have.
BV is a great fragrance! I wore it a lot last year and this year I’m trying to catch up with my other frags that I ignored for it. I have to force myself not to go overboard and buy all the body products.
Yeah, I was curious about the shower gel. I do love perfumed shower gels and came across a few on eBay.
Have you tried this for BV?
I am afraid. I almost bought the shower gel a few times, but then I was like, ugh, $50??? I could go buy some really nice Mistral soaps or something not so fleeting. I would bet the BV gel it is very good. I did cave on the dusting powder, only b/c I am a sucker for old fashioned dusting powder, and it does smell very good. I almost got the dry body oil… see a pattern? I am hopeless and it is a struggle not to get these things!!! But I have often thought it would be a real pleasure to use the BV shower gel in a super hot shower in the middle of winter…..
I want the dry body oil too …
Dusting powerder… wow. I didn’t know they made that item still. BV makes a dusting powder too?
I saw smaller bottles of the shower gel and will probably start with one of those vs. the $50 ones. I usually don’t use very much anyway, just a small amount goes a long way.
I didn’t realize they were still making dusting powder for new perfumes either. Now I’ll have to see what’s out there!
The patchouli and the baby-aspirin orange note sort of killed Bottega Veneta for me, so it’s not just you that gets patchouli out of it.
Baby-aspirin – yes! I get this too!
The dreaded baby aspirin note! I got this too. That was a bad perfume day. BV on one hand and the way too bright and shiny Terre D’Hermes on the other. Upside, did not purchase that day…….
If a casual observer was to peruse my perfume collection, they might mistake my gender. I have as many masculines as traditional feminines. Yatagan and Caron Pour Un Homme are two fragrances I will never willingly be without. Today, I have layered Yatagan with Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose and yes, I am happy to report that Yatagan supports floral soliflores with aplomb. I have a relatively small box of samples and I try something new perhaps once every 2 weeks. I like to parse my little horde out slowly…..
Tea Rose layers with almost anything, love that about it.
Tea Rose, I use thee with uncustomary lightness! I am a wanton sprayer, so I was miffed to discover that I could not unscrew the top of the Tea Rose, where, for the first time in history, I thought it better to dab! Not to foiled, I squirted it on plate and dabbed from there…..
I put one spray of tea rose on, say, my tummy, under my clothes. That works quite well.
I had never thought to layer Tea Rose with the masculine scents; thanks for the idea!!
Wearing Atelier Cologne Vanille Insensee today. I have a mini, and I’d lost track of it for a while. Turns out it had fallen out of a bag in my car and had been in the back seat floor for a while. I forgot to put anything on this morning, and this was the first thing I found in my purse, so I decided to go with it.
As for sampling frequency.. it kind of goes in waves, I guess. I’m in a period at the moment where I’m not sampling all that much and mostly just wearing stuff I already have. I still have plenty of samples I haven’t really worn yet. But then the bug will bite again, and I’ll make a big sample order at STC.
Today I tried the final of the Olfactif trio; Verbena, Freesia & Musk. I just could not get excited about it. Once it faded, I sprayed on Jacamo Silences which is just lovely.
Carnal Flower.
It’s doing the job. Every time I wear it I’m pretty amazed at how fantastic it is. Not ornate, but perfection nonetheless.
Oh, and I try to sample maybe 2-3 things a week. Maybe sometimes as many as 5-6. I’d say I average receiving 3-4 (usually small) decants per month, and my sample-sniffing rate is WAY slower than my vial-receiving rate. I kind of inhabit sample vial hell, and I try not to think about it. My rate of acquiring has slowed down in the last year or two, and it’s still pretty bad. Oh well… I don’t stress about it. I don’t try to smell everything created and wouldn’t want to. Sometimes I make an effort to get samples, other times I figure I’ll eventually get around to something even if it piques my interest.
Put on Rose Ikebana this morning. I usually only try new ones on once in a while, but I got a huge lot of samples this afternoon, and I have miller&bertaux green 3 on one arm and eld’o fin du monde on the other. This is after escentric 01 was a scrubber (and how).
SOTD = My Inner Island Vaniglia Rhum
I know there’s a word between vaniglia and rhum but I am too busy to look it up. This perfume is so concentrated and potent, lasts ALL day and works in hot warm cold! Yay for me, I smell GREAT!
Sampling – barely once a week and almost never two at one time (except once on vacation when I was able to test 1932 and Jersey extraits).
SOTM was Thierry Mugler Dis-Moi, Miroir. I apparently got the last couple of ml from StC. The milk note is both prominent and realistic. One of the odder things I’ve tried.
SOTE is Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black. I tried this yesterday and it was fairly sweet, with a bit of something funky underneath. Today I’m getting quite a bit of that peppery, rubbing alcohol note that might be iso E super. (I’ll have to try Molecule 01 someday, to know for sure.)
I usually sample about 2 new things per week. (Two in one day is unusual, but the TM D-M,M just came and I couldn’t resist.) Things tend to change on me with subsequent wearings, so I try to test everything new 2-3 days in a row. If it’s awful, I put it away to try a second time when I can face it again. If it’s amazing, I wear it three days in a row to see if it might be worth putting on my FB wish list.
Wearing Aftelier Haute Claire today. I prefer Tango and Parfum Privé, but have to admit that Haute Claire is also good.
It really varies. I often order samples that I don’t get around to testing until someone mentions one in a comment or review and I look for it. I have a lot a lot of perfume already that I don’t want to neglect, either.
SOTD is lavender essential oil, that’s it. That’s all I wanted today. I needed something bracing for today’s errands and shopping for essentials — like food. Ten days without a trip to the grocery store make the pantry look pretty bare, but it is fun to see what can be made from pantry staples and whatever is left in the refrigerator.
Summer busy-ness keeps me away from shops and perfume sampling. I don’t get to sample very often, unless something fragrant is on the way via mail. (Bless you, Surrender to Chance!)