I've often sat at my desk surrounded by 50 or more perfume samples and thought: “I don’t have anything to review this week!” How could I think such a thing? (I don't take this ‘dilemma’ too seriously, and completely understand if you're thinking: “Who CARES?”)
Anyway, I have NOTHING to review this week so decided to write about reviewing. If this seems a dull topic, perhaps you’ll read my candle reviews next week?
Here’s my process for deciding what to review (or not):
Good Scents
If I come across an interesting-quirky-unusual or beautifully crafted perfume — even if it's not that original — or a fragrance that showcases a favorite ingredient of mine in a wonderful/new way, no matter its maker or price, I review it. I may comment on its ugly bottle, annoying/inept marketing, or crazy cost but I want people to know about this perfume.
Dull (Even Horrible) Perfumes by Tiny Companies
I often let a bad, or uninspired, perfume by a small company go un-reviewed if it’s reasonably priced for what it is, but on other occasions, I’ll write a review of an awful (or cheaply made…or both) fragrance by a small company IF the pricing is ludicrous and the claims of “rare materials used” is too dishonest to ignore. Of course, it's easy to skip a mediocre release by a small indie brand because it's unlikely that large numbers of Now Smell This readers are interested in it.
Mainstream Duds
Robin Here at Now Smell This™ (I refer to her so many times in a year!) lets me review what I want to review, but I feel guilty that I don’t review as many mainstream perfumes as she does (we’re talking stuff that sells at Macy’s or Walmart). Let’s say a new perfume from a big designer smells like dozens of other perfumes but this NEW perfume is highly anticipated — I’ll try to review it (see Valentino Uomo). My review may be “businesslike” but I feel I did a “service” for those who read Now Smell This and want information on the new scent. I find a great way to deal with mainstream duds is to review three all at once, since duds usually don’t inspire wordy reviews.
Too Good to Pass Up: Marketing by Dummies
Guilty: I sometimes write a review of a scent because its marketing copy is so hilarious and too good to resist, even though the perfumes attached to these marketing misfires are often mediocre or crap (looking at YOU Calvin Klein).
Celebrity Scents
Admission: If I’m snobbish about ANYTHING at all, it’s celebrity perfumes. The ones for men are usually bad, and smell inexpensive. Robin Here at Now Smell This™ has asked me several times to think about reviewing (if it’s worthwhile) the new Rihanna Rogue Man and I admitted to her I was too embarrassed to ask for a sample at Macy’s…because…I didn't want to be “associated” with Rihanna! Foolish, I know (but there WAS the time I received threats after reviewing another singer’s perfume in a negative way....)
Freebies Sent from Kathmandu at Great Cost
Sometimes a perfume house will ship me a full bottle or fancy sample of perfume from FAR, FAR away. I get this beautiful package in my mailbox, open it, spray on the perfume and go: “Yuck!” I’m human, and feel bad someone sent me a perfume at great expense and trouble, a perfume I'll not review. Should I review these type “gifts” anyway, and say they're awful? If the perfume blog-o-sphere is saying one of these fragrances is awesome, I may write a review to state another opinion (not to be contrary or to “stand out” but to add to the “record”). Many times I think about such matters for…WEEKS. Sad, right?
Of course, if I love the perfume in the freebie bottle, I'll review it, and then give the bottle away. (FYI: none of us here at Now Smell This keep full-size or deluxe freebies).
“LOVE it!”/”HATE it!”
If I don’t like a fragrance and another contributor does like it (see Copal Azur), the one who likes it often shares their impressions in a review — but not always (Robin Here at Now Smell This™ liked Terre d'Hermès Eau Très Fraîche much more than I did but I reviewed it). If I know Robin likes or hates something I feel the opposite about and I know this as I write a review, I’ll mention it. At no time has Robin told me how to review something, told me NOT to review something, or altered my review (beyond proof reading) without discussing any changes she suggests with me.
This type situation could be solved by a “He Said/She Said” or "She Said/She Disagreed" column but they are hard to coordinate and usually take at least twice the time to write as a standard review.
Perfume Sample Hard to Obtain? I Probably Won’t Review It.
If I’m unable to get a free sample of a perfume from a retailer (a brick-and-mortar store or online store) or the perfume company itself, I no longer spend much money to get a sample (maybe an occasional $5 buy on eBay). In the past, I’d spent as much as $100 a month on samples, not only from U.S. vendors but from Europe, Canada, Mexico. No more; I've experienced too much disappointment. The majority of perfume releases are, let's face it, not that great and even those samples I chose carefully based on notes fail me (this is how I learned what a perfume “contains” does not mean I’ll like it, or that the perfume even includes the fragrance notes it lists).
MIA
Often Robin or another contributor will realize there’s a gap in our reviews…an old favorite or classic that‘s never been written about. My recent Clinique Aromatics Elixir review came about because it was unaccounted for here on the blog.
Chip on the Shoulder
What about a company that overreacts to a negative review...with a legal team? In all my years at Now Smell This only one brand has done this and I will never review their stuff. I've even lost all interest in what they release. The brand will remain nameless (you know...legal teams and all).
If anyone has other ideas about what to review, what not to review, or ways you think I’m off my rocker, I’m truly interested in your feedback. I sometimes wish we had a running “poll” whereby readers, one vote per reader, could tell us what they REALLY want reviewed. That would make life simpler...maybe! Shall we try it?
The poll: name a fragrance you'd love to see reviewed at Now Smell This, or a class of fragrances that you think gets too much, or too little, attention.
Note: top image of Brass Scales with Cupped Trays [altered] and middle image of Balanced Scale of Justice image [altered] via Wikimedia Commons.
I can somewhat relate with regards to movies; there are just so many out there, the vast majority not even worth analyzing (let alone watching) – probably the worst thing I can think of that translates to the olfactory senses is I want the work to move me. To the left. To the right; I don’t care, just make me have a reaction. If I’ve sat through something for an hour and a half and have the same expression on my face, then chances are it’s not bad AND it’s not good – which means its mediocre or it doesn’t strive to do anything.
Such is the same with sniffing scents. I’d much rather smell the equivalent of John Water’s Pink Flamingos and have something to talk about regardless of how tasteless some others might find it to be because it is at least provocative!
The Bark…yep…I agree.
Jessica McClintock
Ocean Dream by Giorgio of Beverly Hills
Will chime in to say those are exactly the sort of scents that are really hard to review — virtually impossible to get a sample in any case, and you certainly won’t get one for free! So about the only way to do it is to buy a bottle.
Okay then, if you can bring yourself to review a celebrity scent how about the Adam Levine offerings? There were the nst announcements and all the comments were only about how famous his nibs really was and what the bottle looked like.
Annie: Only if Robin gets me a sample! (Just kidding, sort of, but when a man asks for a Levine perfume sample…I imagine the SA thinking I have a crush on Levine. See the ludicrous worries I manufacture for myself? Anyhow…90 percent of the time Macy’s won’t give me a sample…so difficult. If it’s at Sephora…more of a chance for sure. Levine is on my “list.”
Macy’s is horrible about samples, and just generally makes perfume shopping unpleasant. Good thing I never buy any there! But it is a roadblock to trying scents, for sure.
Thalia: and here in Seattle, the big downtown Macy’s is a dump…not remodeled since the 80s by the looks of it!
Is there no Nordstroms in Seattle other than the Rack? Our Nordies here in Portland will make samples of anything (and better still, and possibly less embarrassingly, you can often just make ’em yourself).
MR: oh, yes…the downtown Seattle Nordstrom is a great place…better perfume selection that NM here…and they will make samples. Trouble is…they know me now and RUN! HA!
Sounds like you need to go undercover, or have friends who don’t go very often do the asking for you?
Adam Levine really wasn’t bad from what I remember and I usually am very non-interested in celeb scents. I saw a small bottle at TJ Maxx & thought about getting it, briefly. In part cause it was so very discounted. But I got something else instead. I believe Kohls carries this one and they usually have testers out. Hope that helps.
Oh my, I can’t even imagine a perfume house coming after you/a blog because of a review… Goodness. That’s scary!! Makes me second guess some of the things I’ve written, hehe. 🙂
If it is who i think it is, it’s actually not that surprising. There’s one fairly big niche house that’s known to be pretty litigious.
Sun Mi: all it takes is one nut!
If it was a celebrity fragrance brand that came after you, I think I might be able to guess which one. Was it a certain hiphop artist with an ugly line of clothing and a penchant for musical plagiarism?
I agree with you about celebrity scents- for some reason- and then I may be snobby – I won’t even go near them.
To be honest- I even lost interest in the atelier colognes when they started selling them at Sephora- I was thinking- what the heck! Ha! Snobby again…I guess it’s really hard to find something unique- and when I do I get upset when it’s gone “mainstream” in Sephora. I felt the same way about TFord perfumes.
Just my opinion!
Lovestosmellgood…but then I think of all the classics from Chanel, Guerlain, Hermes, etc., one can buy at a discount online…doesn’t bother me. The only problem I have with Sephora is CLAUSTROPHOBIA.
Interesting to know the thought process behind choosing what to review. Obviously, there are way too many releases to review even a small percentage so you have to narrow it down somehow! And I think NST doses a good job of covering all the bases – vintage, niche, celebrity/mainstream (even if they are 3 or 4 at a time!), indie, mens, body products, etc.
odonata: I think we do a good job too! We all have our “niche” of likes and dislikes and loves.
And this is my short version of my reasoning! I didn’t even go into the worries I have about the “vintage” of a sample bottle or sample I buy of an older fragrance…is this the latest, on-the-shelf NOW version? Is it the version before last? Very hard these days on many fronts.
I really want to see a review of Lush Smuggler’s Soul. I saw a review on Lush’s UK website that compared it favourably to Chanel Sycomore.
I’d also love to see a review of Nesti Dante soaps. I’ve recently discovered them and I think they are amazing. The scents I’ve tried have all been wonderful. My favorite so far is Borghi e Monasteri but there are so many more I want to try. Their selection is pretty overwhelming though.
Jonas: Robin does a good job with Lush…that one sounds good! I’ll add the soaps…I use them and like them too.
I want to see a review of those soaps too!!
Interesting to get some insight into the decision-making process. I would like to see a review of Rodin Bis, just because I can’t make up my mind about it but I keep going back to try it and would love to get someone else’s opinion.
Looking forward to the candle review too!
Janice: I’m burning one of those candles this minute
Admittedly I sit at the kids’ table of perfume blogs and so I have never received a lawyer’s letter but I HAVE received full bottles of perfume for review (at someone’s great expense) and it always makes me feel bad when I don’t like them. And yet, I always ask them to send me their tiniest sample… 1 ml. if possible.
I understand your dilemma perfectly. Very interesting post.
Normand
The Perfume Chronicles
Thanks, Normand…they never pay attention do they? On the other hand, last summer a company sent me a sample from the Southern Hemisphere that was so small (two sprays max in a big vial) that I could not have reviewed it…not enough for even one wearing. But it did give me a belly laugh.
Haha. You’ve got the right attitude. Or they want to send their complete catalogue. “No, please. It’s too expensive. Give me your best shot… the one or two fragrances that you are most proud of.” I find the indies very brave to get into this business. And you want to help. But sometimes their best is difficult to review. And yet some are absolutely wonderful and a pleasure to review.
I so am enjoying this thread. Thanks.
Normand
You know, I do think some companies (and many PR agencies) literally do not have samples to give, so they send full bottles or nothing.
OK Kevin, so tell us how nasty the Bond No 9 Legal Team was to you or to NST. Haaaaaa
Just kidding. Purely an educated guess because I read on another blog that the founder who shall remain nameless now threatened and involved her legal team following a negative review by that blog owner.
OK I would love to see a review of a discontinued gem: Mitzah from the Dior Collection Privee (have no clue how this one came to mind!)
Eric: OK…since you guessed first, I’ll say no, it was not Bond No 9. But from now on I won’t comment about any guesses…so no one should read into my “silences”! HA!
Mitzah…didn’t know it was discontinued…but looking at the ingredients and other comments online it looks like several of us here might like it. But again, getting samples of this is problematic, esp. if it’s off the shelves now in stores.
Mitzah is good, if one doesn’t mind smoke and patchouli, this one had a good amount of patchouli from what I remember. A warm, smoky patch scent. Not a lot of rose. There’s some but not a lot. It’s more about a warm, smoky patch with some dark honey coming through.
I honestly don’t know how you write reviews for the vast majority of scents, which are mostly “meh.” If the scent doesn’t say very much, how can you say much about it? I would think this is especially true about mainstream men’s scents which seem so redundant!
I’d like to see more reviews by Jessica.
I would love to see a review of VC&A Orchidee Vanille. I already own a bottle so the review won’t generate a lemming for me (but may for others, just sayin’); I am curious to see where you would “rate” it in the spectrum of vanillas. (Robin, I don’t see Orchidee Vanille listed on the VC&A page as I checked there first to see if it was linked to any reviews…also did not see it on the Perfumes Reviewed page so I’m assuming it has not been reviewed).
Thanks for sharing your approach to reviews.
hajusuuri: you’re welcome!
While I do not do perfume reviews myself, I’m usually interested in reviews by others only in several cases: 1) I like the reviewer and want to read his/her opinion on the perfume I liked (or didn’t); 2) I’m trying to decide if I want to pursue a sample of that perfume when I don’t have a free access to it; 3) I do not plan on testing the perfume ever (don’t like the brand, can’t stand the note or won’t come across that perfume, etc.); 4) I smelled something “unlisted” in perfume and try to find “corroborating evidences.”
I don’t have any unfulfilled “wishes” at this point, but I’m usually checking everything published on NST so if it’s a candle – so be it 🙂
Undina: sometimes candles have better fragrance than perfume releases…how many times do I wish a candle scent came in perfume form! Cire Trudon, Astier de Villatte….
I’d like to see more reviews out there of Profumi del Forte’s offerings, especially Roma Imperiale. I know they aren’t very accessible, but from what I’ve tried they’re so well done, and good quality.
I look forward to reviews of candles and scented soaps! I have recently gotten more interested in such offerings, but it is much harder to find reviews of candles and soaps (compared to perfume).
I enjoy reading your reviews of men’s scents, especially those that you feel are really good and would work on ladies as well. My dad was the well-scented person who helped influence my love of fragrance, so my favorite notes include things like vetiver and galbanum. And while those notes show up in scents like No. 19, they are also in a lot of men’s scents.
I’ve only been a fragrance hobbyist for about seven years, so I’m interested in learning more about classic, niche and mainstream houses. I would read reviews of celebrity scents, but I generally don’t ever wear those. While I have a lot of curiosity about the new scents that are being released right now, I also like the reviews of older scents that I may have missed along the way. And for entertainment value, it’s fun to read the occasional scathing review or contrarian review.
Looking forward to your candle review. I’m a fan of Thymes brand because of their very easy price point and excellent throw. 🙂
Dina: ah…there used to be a Thymes candle I bought every year around Christmas, it was very “un”Christmas, citrus/floral, not evergreen or orange/spice. I’ll have to look at their site and see if I can remember which one it was…if it still exists. A friend in L.A. used to scent her house with masses of Thymes vanilla candles…they smelled great.
Thanks Kevin, I really loved this post!
I’m a very organized man, and I love guidelines, principles and rationales 🙂 and I really loved the way you select your samples to review.
Frankly – I like the element of surprise of reading your reviews: they are always unexpected, and your writing is beautiful. So, no requests from my end 🙂 Your review of Bel Ami some time ago is one of my favourite readings on this blog!
Lupo: thanks so much!
Kevin,
I would very much like to see you train your prodigious talents on broader trends in perfumery, such as epochal obsessions with one ingredient or another, the hilarious and maddening pretensions of perfume market-speak, the shifting cultural identities of perfume, etc. For example, I loathe vanilla and amber, yet almost no contemporary perfume seems “complete” without either or both of them. I can just imagine the conversations in the lab: “It needs warmth. How about some vanilla?” “Oh, that sounds great! Gotta have warmth! How about some amber too!” For whatever reason, warmth as an olfactory virtue is, in my opinion, completely overrated and unexamined. It seems to be used in an unthinking way. I’ll take complexity or novelty over “warmth” any day. What, however, does it say about who we are and what perfume does for us and to us that perfume makers and consumers gravitate toward warmth (or some other aspect) in particular? Why does warmth sell more than complexity? I don’t think this is just about the classic divide between affect and intellect; there is certainly more to it than that. What is it about the psychology of (sickening) vanilla and amber that seems so “naturally” to conjure warmth? And why is warmth compulsory? Of course, this is a larger question of the biology, anthropology, and psychology of smell. I’m certainly in the minority here on vanilla, but I might not be so hostile toward this and other unreflective trends in style if I had a better sense of what kind of cultural work they were doing for us.
Thanks
michael J. : interesting…I’ll think of a way to tackle the subject.