When I first dipped my toes into the world of internet perfume appreciation eight — or was it nine? — years ago, there were only a handful of perfume blogs. Of course, for me Now Smell This was tops, although I regularly cruised to Perfume Posse and Perfume Smellin’ Things.1 Perfumistas hung out at Makeup Alley for reviews and swapping.2 We were glued to Luca Turin’s blog. Way too often, we charged after the latest lemmings like they were stray tennis balls at the dog park.
Anyone remember what those perfumes were?
I remember a few. The People of the Labyrinths Luctor et Emergo — aka POTL — was one. Everyone had to smell it, and a lucky few owned it or its sister fragrance a few years later, A.MAZE, one of the first of a string of rose-coriander-patchouli fragrances released over the next year. As I remember, POTL smelled like Playdoh and almonds, and it was one of the first “weird” scents that fascinated me. (It’s still in production, by the way. I had to check. You don’t hear about it much anymore.)
10 Corso Como — an oud trailblazer! — soon became a solid gold lemming, as did the bell jar Serge Lutens, when Serge somehow seemed harder to get. A quick craze erupted over La Nuit de Paco Rabanne after Luca Turin’s comparisons to horse sweat, and perfumistas hoovered up available bottles on eBay. The comforting Anne Pliska was homecoming queen for a while. The Rosines had their day in the sun. So did Lorenzo Villoresi Teint de Neige's aroma of delicate powder in some circles, I remember.
Certain vintage fragrances bounced in and out of lemming territory, as well. For a while, everyone needed a bottle of Gucci l’Arte di Gucci, and the older Balenciagas — Quadrille, Prelude, and Michelle, to name a few. Jean Desprez Bal à Versailles had its aficionados, who ranked its desirability by the skankiness of the formulation. I remember Sonia Rykiel getting a lot of love at one point, too.
Some of those lemmings solidified into real market share. Tauer Perfumes launched in lemming territory thanks to Turin’s review of L’air d’un Désert Marocain but earned a solid following. Ormonde Jayne owes at least some of its success to the early lemming status of Ormonde Woman, Ta-if, and Tolu. Bulgari Black consistently earns raves even now. On the vintage side, the Guerlain Mitsouko rage is still running strong, rivaled perhaps only by Rochas Femme partisans. Fendi Theorama is still a score. Older Carons still raise interest among perfumistas, even if they seem less rabid these days to sample En Avion and Pois de Senteur.
What about today? Do you notice any particular lemmings? Over the years, I’ve grown immune to them, for the most part and have retreated to old favorites. (My last big purchase was Chanel Cuir de Russie, for instance.) Of the lemmings you do see, which will survive in the long run?
1. Anyone remember Cognoscented? I always liked that one — the writing was so smart. Anyone know what happened to her?
2. The first bottle I swapped was a bottle of Frédéric Malle Noir Epices I’d bought in Paris when Malle had only one boutique. Foolish. I wish I had that bottle now (sigh).
Wow, what a wonderful idea to write about the lemming fads and passing passions! thank you, Angela! * I’cant believe I’m the first to comment ; Oh! it’s Monday!).
I think that fragrance tastes and how they change is the essential part of the whole what’s in in the world of fashion. When we had Poison & Opium trendy it was the time of “big hair”. Then hair size has subsided so as the grandness of perfumes. Tha’s when, if I’m not mistaken, all CKs started popping up. If we look at what’s worn on the high streets now and on the podium I bet we could pretty much guess what aromas/ingredients/etc. are IN and what’s cooking at this moment in the heads of the noses ( no pun intended) .
something like that…
On the subject of trends ( and lemmings) I suspect that after big oud phase ( Arabia & 1001 nights) we have entered into a elusively simpler area of Mediterraneo. I see lavender appearing in many or at least a few that I’ve noticed.
and voilets too.
Hovewer, I might be all in my head, or a nose…. .
It seems to me we’re way overdue for lighter fragrance treatment, that’s for sure….
But what do perfumistas lem (to coin a verb) after these days? What’s up next, I wonder?
I remember Escada Collection getting a lot of talk time everywhere a decade or so ago. I have a bottle of the pdt I use and a sealed bottle of one of the LE annual editions, both purchased inexpensively just when it was d/c’d. It goes for big bucks online nowadays, if you can even find it.
There’s something about a limited edition that kicks off a lemming every time!
exclusivity for sure, coming the huge $$$ tag.
always was the factor to be the part of very few..
it was the main factor in some of the recently popped lines with the huge price tag just for exclusivity
on the subject of what to lem I would probably go for the return of natural ingredients, those banned by IFRA (did I spelt it right?) 🙂
And by the way (have to brag, so sorry), I’ve procured a little bit of vintage Chene and now I’m wearing it for the first time. Today! blind acquisition. Talking about exclusivity :).
I’m guilty.
Enjoy that Chene! It’s one of my favorites.
Oh, oak moss has fueled many a lemming…
Oh yes! That sent me to BG right away to buy a bottle of SDV as it was originally released as a limited edition. Sneaky Guerlain! 😉
L’Artisan got me that way with Seville a l’aube, too….
Guerlain’s SDV: I have to admit never sampled it. totally missed it. how is it?
On the comparison side with for example Mona’s D’O Vanilla from that 8 pcs. coffret that I like ) or any other vanilla ?
SDV prices are stratospheric !
To me, Mona di Orio’s Vanilla is just as wonderful, and I also like the L’Artisan vanilla. To me–but your mileage might vary!–SDV isn’t necessarily worth the cash. Unless you have plenty of cash, that is. But samples are usually affordable!
I just recently got my hands on some SDV (waves to Audreylicious) and it was very different from the MdO. The opening has a lot of pink pepper and reminded me strongly of the drydown of Lalique Le Parfum. The drydown of SDV is gorgeous and long-lasting, less boozy and sweet than L’AP Vanille Absolument, but not as “dark” as, say, YR Vanille Noire. It’s lovely, but getting a decant quelled the lemming (unlemmed me?) that was born almost immediately after I started reading perfume blogs. If I wasn’t completely out of vials, I’d send you a little of the aforementioned vanillas.
Thank you for weighing in on this! (And I love “unlemmed.”)
POTL was the one that really started it all for me, and I’ll be wearing it on Friday. My liking of it has not diminished. I wore a lot of the other ones mentioned, and it was fun to read about the history of some of our lemmings. Another one I liked early on was Frapin 1270.
I have a sample of POTL somewhere, and perhaps I’ll dig it out and wear it on Friday, too, in solidarity!
Some of the names that come to mind from those days are Creed’s Fleur de The Rose Bulgare, L’AP Safran Troublant, Goutal’s trilogy of myrrh, incense and amber perfumes. I remember the big buzz (especially at Perfume Posse) over Guerlain’s SDV. Etro’s Messe de Minuit seemed to get mentioned quite often.
In the vintage category, besides Theorama, I also remember a lot of outraged posts at the oakmoss bans that began in 2007. One definitely wanted a pre-2007 bottle of Mitsouko! I seem to remember Patou’s Chaldee and Caron’s En Avion (and tears at the terrible reformulation of this one) getting a lot of love as well.
With a gazillion releases every year now, I can’t imagine that many (if any) will have much staying power.
Great post!
I nodded “uh huh” at every perfume name you mentioned! (And I have bottles of many–or, at least, had bottles–to prove it.)
I remember all that fuss about Mitsouko too. For some reason, of all the great chypres Mitsouko became the site for most of the lamentations about the death of classical perfumery. I bought mine in 2008 so I felt like I missed out, but smelling it today after having smelled a fair bit of niche and vintage stuff in the interim, I still think it’s pretty good.
I remember on one of the blogs, not this one, someone declared ‘If you have not smelled vintage Mitsouko you have not smelled Mitsouko.’ I was left indignant by that remark, but never forgot it and resolved from then on to try not to be a vintage snob. I’m happy to declare my preference for the re-formulated Rochas Femme, and the $20 I paid for Calvin Klein’s Obsession earlier this year is the best $20 I think I have ever spent on perfume, and I have had a chance to sample vintage Obsession in extrait.
It’s funny how far an addendum such as “for me” or “in my experience” goes toward taking the edge off snobbery.
The acknowledgement that maybe my opinion isn’t shared by all, and reasonable people can disagree. Guess it’s not for everyone 🙂
Are you one of those amazing people who can catalogue different years of Mitsouko? This is what I yearn to do: sit down with someone like you and smell the different years and learn! And then write about it, of course.
I’m behind you 100%! I think this Mitsouko craziness has gone far enough. Sure, Mitsouko is great, and I own 3 formulations of it–all of them pre-2008–but I do love me some Femme.
I think a lot of us were a bit crazy back then. And Mitsouko worship seems to have abated over time.
It’s making me feel old – being able to remember what the perfume scene was like before the internet was invented. Young people today have no idea … 🙂
So true. But if it brings you any comfort, it wasn’t all that long ago…
I don’t go back eight or nine years but I can do six or seven. I recall the fuss when L’Artisan released Duchafour’s Traversee au Bosphore. I bought a sample and was almost willing to set up a tent next to my letter box so I would be there the instant it was delivered. But it was much too sweet for me and I could not wear it. Now it’s discontinued (I think?). I still love the sight of a perfume package in the letter box though.
Speaking of Duchafour, he seems not to have released a new perfume in the last month or two. What’s going on? 🙂
I had a similar experience with Traversee du B – the sweet red apple facet put me off. From all the descriptions and raving I was sure I would LOVE it… That and similar experiences have lead to me being less influenced by Perfumista raves. Doesn’t matter how much a gazillion very-experienced perfumistas might like it. Doesn’t even matter how good a perfume it is. Either it hits me the right way or it doesn’t…
Admittedly I am more eager to try the ones that are talked up 🙂
Well, you don’t want all the lemmings to die. No fun in that!
I can way too easily be talked into a perfume! But, I admit, I’ve become more of a harder sell in the past few years.
I was right there with you camping out by the mailbox—that was probably one of my first big lemmings, except instead of a sample I bought a bottle unsniffed. I loved the name, I loved the idea, I loved the list of notes, I loved almost everything else of Duchafour’s I had tried—and I had exactly the same reaction, too sweet and unwearable, and I swapped it away pretty quickly.
I can’t even count how many lemmings I’d be sure I’d love, then ended up giving away or rejecting from a sample.
Aedes Copal Azur is BD’s work. Lucas / Chemist in the Bottle has a review. I would have included a link if I knew how to do it on my iPhone.
Oh good, knew there must have been something I’d missed!
Oh, you beat me to my comment (below)!
Hey, he did the new Aedes, the incense one. I suspect he’s as busy as ever…
BD’s relationship with Penhaligon’s also continues with at least the Lothair release this year.
He seems to stay busy.
I would say that Cuir de Lancome has cult lemming status.
Rose Jam shower gel probably has lemming status for a body product.
Definitely, on both of those!
I was about to mention Cuir de Lancôme! 🙂 I like it but I just recently realized that I didn’t really want a bottle of it.
Inspired by you two, I just made Cuir de Lancome my scent of the day!
Rappleyea mentioned Messe de Minuit, and I’ll add Shaal Nur.
I found the world of perfumista blogs about early 2010? and all those you mentioned were still being mentioned. I think there were more lemmings when there were less releases- I thinks it’s a bit harder for everyone to try ALL the recommendations now.
Some I remember from then though are Musc Ravageur and Portrait of a Lady, SL Fleurs d’Orangers, MKK (if only just to try it) and Chergui. Bois d’Encens and Chinatown too.
Now, that’s an interesting idea, that there were more lemmings when there were fewer releases. Maybe we’ve given up now that there are so many! (Alas, I know a few lines’ releases would still trigger lemming status…)
Mary Carol and Angela, POTL was my first trip down the rabbit hole too. I have about 1/3 of a FB left and still love and wear it. People always ask what I’m wearing, and not in a bad (Obsession) way.
I gave a FB of Frédéric Malle Noir Epices to my niece not long after I bought it in a lemming rush, pushed by the SA at Barney’s. It seemed so one-dimensional. I’m sure she took it to the Salvation Army :-). Not too much regret there. I’ve since lemminged after many things mentioned here and discovered an aversion to Iso Super E (Puredistance, Lumiere Blanche, a few Serges, Marni). Thanks heavens for Luckyscent and other sample folks.
Great idea for a post, thanks!
I’m weeping bitter tears here about your Noir Epices! Oh well, better to have loved and lost, right? And as long as you’re not regretting it, so much the better.
And I second your gratitude for samples!
Isn’t it harder to whip up the lemming frenzy now when the independent and niche markets are so huge? As a paralel I remember my childhood here in Sweden with only 2 TV channels, and if something was a hit, EVERYBODY was watching it. And talked about it. Now we have a gazillion channels and very few programs make it into the public realm of consciousness.
We really are overwhelmed with perfume–and TV programs–these days. Too much choice can get discouraging!
What a fun article, Angela! I got into Makeup Alley/blogs/e shopping for perfume around ’05/06, and NST was one of my first go-to resources as well.
Some of my earliest lemmings were Tan Giudicelli’s Annam (I now have a mini and small decant and yes, it is as lovely as I’d hoped), Monyette Paris, POTL (had a sample, still want a bottle), Bond No. 9 Chinatown and Lea. In fact, Chinatown and Lea Extreme were probably my first two niche purchases, and I loved them both so much I bought a backup bottle of Lea Extreme that I’ve yet to open and will be going on my third bottle of Chinatown.
There were several perfumes on your list I still want to try, and I haven’t tried any of the Perfect scents i.e. Perfect Bliss, Perfect Veil etc., but I also think of the Comptoir Sud Pacifique line from early in my perfumista days since it seemd like they were still creating some great and interesting gourmands back then, and it seemed like everyone was really into L’Artisan as well. Oh, those were the days…
Oh yes, Monyette Paris! I’d forgotten about that one. And the Comptoir Suc Pacifique line!
One of my first lemmings was Amouage Lyric of women. When I first saw the price, I nearly had a heart attack. So I saved for a couple years to get a bottle. I found it through Amazon and Lady Ruth Perfumes was selling a 1.7 ounce bottle for $200. I had a $100 Amazon gift card and promptly bought it. There was a mix up and they had just a 3.4 ounce bottle, so I took it. But for the longest time I was looking for Theorema and Deneuve at a reasonable price and did find those and back up bottles. But I keep looking for vintage Jicky and Mitsouko for a reasonable price.
Deneuve has to be as rare as the unicorn these days, it seems–good work in finding bottles.
Anthropologie/Le Labo’s Belle du Soir was reported by some as a Deneuve dupe.
I don’t know, I never smelled Deneuve, but thought Belle du Soir was gorgeous.
Not that it doesn’t get marked up on eBay (it was a limited edition) but not as rare as Deneuve!
Belle du Soir was my favorite of those releases, too, and I’m glad to see it got some love in some quarters.
Yep, I was there at MUA in the early days as well, and remember all of it as well as things like when we could still get Apres l’Ondee parfum, the Guerlain Cherry Blossom limited editions, Guerlain With Love (a good quince perfume), and when incense perfumes were a bit of a thing – remember the craze over Matthew Williamson’s (the one done by Lyn Harris?) original incense scent and the division over Etro Messe de Minuit? Or how mad we were over Escada Collection in the heart shaped bottle that changed every year? Seems like eons ago. I started to not care so much when niche started to get way out of hand in price and number of releases and it harder to find decent cheaply priced real chypre and classic treasures at the discounters – most places have been cleaned out since the mid 2000’s and the stuff going on Ebay is generally overpriced unless you’re a hardcore fan of a particular scent. This was probably a great thing as now I only sample what interests me as opposed to the days when I basically bought whatever was new only to end up swapping or selling most of it.
Oh yes, the Matthew Willamson incense! That was big knees. Which reminds me of DK Chaos and how much we loved that one. Apres l’ondee is a classic, but it seemed like everyone wanted some at one point.
I second the Yay! for samples. I have spent a lot of money on samples which ended up as “never mind”, but it is infinitely better than buying a bottle when it turns out to be just wrong.
Samples are SUCH a smart idea!
It’s interesting to read about the early perfumista days!9/10 years ago I lived in the UK,and wasn’t interested in perfume all that much!Le Male was my signature sillage,sometimes Crabtree&Evelyn Vanilla(I miss that 1 A LOT now!!!)I did like to smell good,but wasn’t obsessed with fumes like now!(Never heard the name Guerlain untill I read PERFUMES THE GUIDE,btw…lol!)I’ve had 1 craaaaaazy run these last 3/4 years collecting perfumes,but now it also seems I’ve calmed down a bit.No more hunting the new and shiny.I treasure my vintage finds.And I do wear the perfumes that captured my heart.
I found I also launched into a frenzy of perfume acquisition at first, then really slowed down. (Thank goodness!) And, like you, I treasure the vintage bottles I stumble across here and there.
I’m relatively new to all this (I’ve only been down this crazy rabbit hole about 3 years, I think), so it’s interesting to me to read about what it was like for ‘fume fiends of years past. NST was the first blog I started reading regularly, which then led me to others. I think I heard about NST through Mandy Aftel’s website. There was something on her site about getting a write-up here or being on a best-of list or something, so off I went, and obviously I haven’t looked back. I think I found her site just googling for stuff about natural perfumes.
Since I haven’t been at this quite as long as some people, I don’t have as much perspective on trends that have come and gone, and lemmings that it seemed everyone was after. If anyone else hasn’t already mentioned it, one that I can think of was when Seville a L’Aube came out. It seemed like everybody was talking about it, and everyone who’d tried it was raving about it.
Oh yes, Seville a l’aube got a lot of press! (I think it was well deserved, of course.) Plus, for a while it was limited edition, which made it somehow even more desirable, despite the fact that it doesn’t change the actual fragrance at all.
Late to the party as usual… in my part of the world internet is not taken for granted 🙂
Notes from the gentlemen’s counter: I think A*Men Pure Malt was a massive lemming a few years back. Raving reviews, the elusive limited edition, and as a matter of fact a very clever fragrance. I don’t think any other A*Men topped that hype, or perhaps Pure Coffee did.
I think Green Irish Tweed is another classic lemming: much hyped, the fierce discussion GIT vs. Cool Water and all, but yet a significant number of people buy it based on reviews apparently.
As of recent fragrance, I think the whole Dior Homme line is on the lemming side: people were judging Dior Homme Perfum way before it hit the shelves. It is an odd little world, really 🙂
Late or not, welcome to the party! Thank you for the man’s perspective. And yes, it is an odd little world!
I wish I could remember what perfume I was googling that landed me into NST about 7 years ago…no recollection! But I do know two of the perfume samples I ordered that rocked my universe and sent me down the perfumista path: chene and tabac blonde (from the same TPC order). I spent a few years ACQUIRING- and now I pretty much rotate my most favorites. I am no longer tracking down all of the newest stuff- I figure if it is meant to be, I will come across it and sniff!
We seem to have taken very similar paths! Chene and Tabac Blond were two of my earliest loves.
I’ve been in the “international fragrance community,” as I once saw it called, since August of 2004, when I googled Cabochard and discovered MUA. I remember everyone on the board saying, “Have you tried the DSH oils yet?” Every so often I’m surprised to realize that most people have not, in fact, sampled 600-1000 fragrances.
Now you’re making wonder how many fragrances *I’ve* sampled. Surely at least that many. Astonishing!
Hi Angela – not sure if you’ll see this, but I’m curious if you could list a few of the rose/coriander/patchouli fragrances that were released in quick succession about 10 years ago?
I do like agent p – and maybe I should leave it at that – but I’m curious to explore this category a little more
Oh, gosh. People of the Labyrinth did one. Gres Cabaret. Arte de Gucci. Rosine did a good rose chypre, but I can’t remember if it has that touch of coriander.
Thank you Angela!