In 2010, I wrote a post celebrating our 5th birthday. Now we're 10, and I'm as surprised as anybody to find we're still here.
Many things have changed since I started out in 2005. First of all, there were fewer than 500 new perfume launches that year. By 2010, there were over 1100, and last year there were over 1600. No, I don't manage to announce all of them — much less review them — but it would be impossible to even try without help. We've had wonderful contributors come and go, which is as it should be, but I've been incredibly fortunate to have Angela (writing here since 3 May 2006), Kevin (since 6 May 2006) and Jessica (since 17 December 2006) stick around for the long haul.1 Despite the fact that we don't always agree on the merits of individual perfumes (or the Oxford comma), I couldn't imagine a more congenial group to work with. I would never have made this long without them.
That it's still worth doing, for anyone, after all this time is of course because we have such lovely readers, so as I did in 2010, I want to most sincerely thank everyone who takes the time to comment and to help other readers with whatever it is that they need, be it a new perfume or just a kind word after a bad day. Thank you!
Our community project for today: wear a fragrance you learned about on Now Smell This, whether from a review, another reader, a swap, anything. What did you choose?
I went with Prada L'Eau Ambrée even though it doesn't entirely fit the theme. Longtime reader and friend Violetnoir sent it to me some years ago because I said I liked it but probably wouldn't pay for it. It was the sort of thing she did often, and I have missed her constant support and good cheer since she passed away in early 2013.
1. And you can find a complete list of all our current and former contributors on the About page.
Note: top image is Aunty's Cake [widened] by Nita at flickr; some rights reserved.
Happy birthday!
Since I learn about all the new scents on NST, I could have chosen nearly anything I bought in the last ten years, so I went with La Fille de Berlin (having lauded it yesterday). Such an incredible unisex rose.
Thank you, and of course you smell great!
I too could have chosen from a wide range of scents, but I went with Aftelier Secret Garden. A lovely floral, not too sweet, and so far about the only all natural scent that has really worked well for me.
That was really a pretty one.
Amazing how quickly time flies. Think I only started coming here in the last 3 yrs or so, but it’s always fun, instructive & thought-provoking (and the various contributors complement one another well). Robin, it was your review of Tubereuse Criminelle that prompted me to order a sample. Funnily enough, the opening never struck me as particularly strange or offputting, and I’ve been enjoying it ever since–my SOTD. Happy Birthday, NST!
It really is amazing. It doesn’t, at the moment, feel like 10 years, but of course there have been days when it felt like 20, LOL…
Happy Birthday, NST! You’re always one of my best reads of the day. 🙂
Wearing Equistrius; I learn about so many things here that I probably learned about it here.
I’ve dithered about buying a bottle of that for about five years now! You smell great!!
Thank you!
Happy Blogiversary! And thank YOU Robin for hanging in there for the long haul as well – I know I’m only one of many who rely on this space for advice, companionship, and the occasional soapbox to stand on.
I’m commando at the moment, but after a workout I’ll be layering something with something else – not sure what yet, but I would never have been brave enough to try layering unless I’d read about others’ hits and misses here at this blog. AND the layering will probably involve roses, which I used to think didn’t agree with me. There are SO many rose lovers posting here that I figured there had to be at least one I could embrace. Turns out there are lots of them, and I might never have known if not for you all … so, many thanks to Robin and everyone else here!
It’s amazing how your tastes can expand when you just keep smelling! And looks to be a good year for rose in 2015.
Happy birthday and keep up the good work!
I am wearing Rochas Audace. I learned about this perfume from Angela’s great review here. Such a complex old-school scent.
Angie is single-handedly keeping any number of old-school perfumes going 🙂
And ebay loves her!
She’s doing the Lord’s work 😉
But really, you all are!
I’m wearing Songes which was not only a Monday Mail suggestion but was also a gift from a member of the NST community. I adore NST and think it is the best and friendliest perfume blog and I am grateful for it being the medium that has allowed me to meet and make perfumista friends in real life
That is the nicest 🙂
I would be remiss if I did not thank you, Robin, for all your hard work. Even though I have reached something of a saturation point in my perfume acquisitions, I still read NST every day. It really is often a bright spot in a dreary day, and the NST community has some of the nicest people anywhere. So often the internet seems to bring out the worst in people, but not here. Perfume people really are the best.
Robin, this my sentiment exactly!
Yes, there is something really wonderful about how this site fosters differing opinions without acrimony. Robin curates the conversation with such grace!
I agree! It’s the most remarkable example of opinions and manners that I’ve ever seen on the internet (of course, many of the other fragrance blogs manage this too). But NST/Robin, it’s the best. Besides, no one wins a fight over beauty.
Thank you all! Perfume people really are the best; it requires only minimal curating 🙂
I second all of this heartily! Thanks, 50_Roses, for putting it so well.
Happy birthday and congratulations! I’ve learned about so many fragrances here and love all the informative articles and considerate discussions.
Wearing CB IHP Do Not Ask Me Why, which I had to run out and sample as soon as I read the announcement.
I still need to sample that one!
A very happy 10th birthday, Robin, Angela, Jessica, and Kevin. It’s a tribute to what a tremendous job you all do that you’re still going strong ten years on. When I first discovered the perfume blog-sphere sometime in 2006, I read six or eight blogs daily and stopped in at several others regularly. Over the years that number has dwindled and now NST is the only one “out standing in the field”. 😉
I’m wearing L’AP Safran Troublant, not a particular favorite but one of the first that I remember NST creating a lemming for:
https://nstperfume.com/2006/12/20/lartisan-safran-troublant-fragrance-review/
Thanks for all you do and for the wonderful community to be found here.
Oh, we’re so happy to be your last man standing!
Thanks to you Robin! Always very generous and patient. I read a few other blogs from time to time but I read NST daily!
Thank you to your lovely group of writers as well. I’ve derived a lot of enjoyment over the years from your articles and reviews.
I’m wearing Tubereuse Criminelle, which I bought myself as a consolation after losing the steal of the century on eBay for Borneo 1834. When I picked the first five exclusive Serge Lutens to sample from TPC, I tried the most difficult ones I could to see what all the fuss was about. I loved all of them (sans Sarrasins, blegh) and now own some of each, sans that drafted Borneo! 🙂
Thank you! And sorry you lost the Borneo, but you smell great!
I am wearing SL Rahat. I thought we didn’t have it in Montreal, I have heard from a member here that it was available at Ogilvy’s where I bought a bottle right away.
Happy 10th birthday and thank you for a such wonderful blog.
I am the Rahät enabler and I’m not ashamed of it! Everyone should have some!
Speaking of which, Robin, if you’re interested in buying or swapping for my other 30-mL bottle (without the Vapo Tout Noir, obvs), because I will never ever use up 60 mL of the stuff and I know you were looking to get some, email me: pyramus at rogers dot com.
Oh, will think about that, thank you! Have not always had great luck w/ shipping perfumes to & from Canada though — which is ridiculous, but true.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Congrats to the big 10! And here is a virtual “Cheers” for you! 😀
I have always loved coming here to read about fragrances, be it launches, reviews etc. Not only is this site a fantastic reference but also somewhere to learn and discover things.
Coming here daily is what I look forward to everyday.
Working and all can be quite tough and having this place to come to during break and read about what I love is just brilliant! 🙂
I love how everybody who writes here have a diverse personality/taste/preference etc. It make everything the more enjoyable and wonderful.
The capacity to welcome, accept different points of view is also one other important reason that I like about NST.
So, thank you, NST. This 10 years is well deserved! I also thank everyone in the community for their energetic and supportive spirit.
For the next 10 years and MORE! 😀
(SOTD: Still unscented! Need to pick!)
That’s very sweet, thank you!
Happy anniversary! Read you daily, always with enjoyment.
Today, Nicolai Pour Homme. I’m pretty sure it’s the first I bought as a direct result of reading NST (thanks, Erin.).
Tonight, either Habit Rouge (thanks, Kevin.) or Malle Geranium Pour Monsieur (Erin again!)
We are doing our best to keep Erin from retiring!
Robin,
Your contribution to this art/hobby/whateverwe’llcallit is unsurpassed. You and your blog make my morning coffee sessions so much better.
I haven’t put on fragrance for the day, but I’ll probably take a cue from the poster above me and go with Rahat Loukoum.
Aw, thank you!
Happy Birthday, NST!
I wanted to wear ELDO’s Like This, but I am sick (again!). Like This was in the very first batch of samples I ordered 3 years ago and I fell for it instantly and still love it. Thank you all for your wonderful writing about a very much loved topic.
So sorry — get better!
Truly, truly, I would not have accessed the beauty and artistry of perfume were it not for this blog! I arrived looking for a little information and guidance on a couple of scents, and the intelligent, funny, welcoming community kept me coming back! I have made good and true friends here and IRL, and I am continually challenged to explore, appreciate, and pause to consider! Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you, Robin, and all!
I have nearly my entire collection to thank to NST, either directly through conversation and reviews, or indirectly, through community. But I will wear my first niche swoon in honor of the anniversary–OJ Woman!
OJ is nearly old-school niche at this point! Nice choice.
Same here, NST is really what made it possible for me to love perfume as much as I do. Circumstances in my own life piqued my interest, but I really was not succeeding at finding what I wanted on my own; I think I probably would have given up soon after if I hadn’t found this amazing repository of information, all written to facilitate understanding and make perfume knowledge more accessible to the average person (which then–and maybe now!–seemed to be the opposite of the objective most of the perfume industry was working toward.) And on top of that, so many people to share the enjoyment with! What luck–but not really luck, in fact it’s Robin! 🙂
Congratulations and thank you! NST is a wonderful community and I feel lucky to be a small part of it. I can’t imagine what a lot of work maintaining a site like this would be.
I’m wearing Alahine this morning. It’s a safe bet that I heard about it here.
Oh, forgot to say that I love the Oxford comma and think the world looks too bare without it. In fact, I think the current trend to modernize writing by pruning commas in general is really confusing, and I plan to continue my excessive use of the little buggers to indicate every minuscule pause. 😉
I am also on Team Oxford Comma! Let’s get matching mugs: http://www.cafepress.com/mf/62022123/team-oxford-comma_mugs?productId=594294076 🙂
Thanks for the link, great gift idea for someone I know.
Also on Team Oxford Comma, and thanks, Kindcrow, for the link to my new mug.
Bwahahahaha, when I would write blog posts my husband would always say I used to many commas and I’d have to go through and pare them down. I love commas!
Another member here for Team Oxford Comma.
Current writers have taken out the comma, and replaced it with phases. For sentences. 😛
Haaaa. Zing.
Oh, I’m definitely guilty of that.
Comma lovers love this joke: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_%26_Leaves#Title
I should add that I much prefer the tame version of the joke in which the panda just shoots into the air.
HA, I’m afraid any Oxford commas you see here (at least, those not absolutely required for clarity) are the result of my carelessness. I do my best to remove them. My lovely contributors never say a word. It’s not even my worst editing tic…
I have to ask… just what is your worst editing tic??
Angie or Kevin or Jessica should answer!
Rappleyea/R…I can’t…think of one!!!! (I beg Robin to remove my exclamation marks and ‘dots’… … Ha!)
Kevin, I support a well-chosen ellipsis. . . 😛
I love my Oxford comma, too! I stubbornly lard my posts with them, knowing Robin will take them out later (sorry Robin).
Hey, why should you be sorry? I’m sorry that I usually win. But not always…they do slip through from time to time. So you’re fighting the good fight 🙂
I need an Oxford Comma Mug. I love the little suckers. Editors will have to pry them from my cold dead fingers.
(Okay, that wound up a little more vivid than I intended. Either way, two thumbs up for Alahine as well.)
Go Team Oxford Comma!!!!
I knew you would approve of both my commas and my ‘fume. I love your writing, at least in part, due to the comma spotting.
I look at NST a couple times a day, and have come to depend on it for information and community. I love the reviews, and the lists, and the comments from the readers. I just love the whole blog. Thank you, Robin, for all of your hard work. I am also commando and since I have gotten most of the perfumes I own because of NST, I am spoiled for choice.
So nice, thanks!
This is the first blog where I ever posted a comment! That was back when NST was only four years old. I agree wholeheartedly with all the above comments and I also have a selfish reason to follow NST: you and I are very nearly scent twins! If you like it there’s a very good chance I will too.
Sotd is Chanel No 5 edt I got in a recent Swapmeet.
Thank you for your years of dedication to Now Smell This.
Oh, how cool that we were your first! And always great to have a scent twin 🙂
P. S. I use your search engine almost every day. It’s the best place to access perfume reviews thanks to your filters.
Good! I use it all the time and glad to hear it helps someone else.
Oh yes, I also such a big devotee of the search engines!! Wish my dissertation had such a beautiful assembled set of sources! 😉
Happy Birthday! What a lovely blog and lovely people. I have learned so much from everyone who contributes here. Cartier Declaration today, thank you Kevin. The 100 perfumes evey perfumista should try was invaluable in aiding me to find what I liked and did not like. Thank you!
Great scent, and a classic by now.
As the very first commenter on nstperfume.com (although Robin seems to disagree 😉 ) I would like to extend my congratulations on ten great years.
Thanks Robin for all your hard work running this place.
I’m planning to go with Diptyque L’Eau Trois which Kevin reviewed some time ago. Thanks Kevin.
And thanks Jessica and Angela for your weekly contributions. I always look forward to reading your reviews.
Oh, and I just have to share this super easy recipe for Financiers (they’re a kind of tea cake made with brown butter and almond flour). I’ve made them a few times and they’d be the perfect thing to celebrate with. Too bad I’ve run out of almond meal. I always love when Robin and others share recipes but I never seem get around to trying them out. That nutella brownie recipe is still calling my name though.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/10307489/Perfect-financiers-recipe.html
Oooh, those look good!
Just a few notes:
Don’t worry if you don’t have the specialty baking tins. I’ve made them in standard muffin tins and they turned out nicely. They just had to be baked a little longer. Under no circumstances can use paper liners though. You won’t get the crisp golden exterior. Just make sure to butter and flour the tins very well.
I use jam rather than fresh fruit. The possibilities are endless but sour cherry is my favorite. Also, you can sprinkle on some slivered almonds before they go in the oven. (The jam will be bubbling hot when they come out of the oven so be careful to wait till it cools). You could sprinkle on other nuts as well. My local bakery uses pistachios and cranberries for example.
Finally, this is one of those recipes that’s best served fresh. You should make them the same day that you plan to serve them.
Congratulations! Great job… I love this blog…
Just starting in this wonderful fragrance world…
Wearing Versace the Dreamer…
Welcome to perfumista-dom 🙂
Happy birthday NST! And thank you Robin, Kevin, Angela and Jessica for all your hard work. Even though I’ve been too busy to comment lately, I come here every day to read. I love and appreciate the sense of community here – perfume people are really the best – people who enjoy spreading the joys of life. So thank you to all the commenters here as well. I have learned so much from you all about books and movies, tv shows, travel, life in general. Not wearing anything at the moment – waiting for a slight headache to fade – but will be putting on what I consider my most niche purchase – Miller & Bertaux Green, green, green and green in celebration. As far as I know, the only place I can get it is at Aedes, and I would probably have never even heard of it without Robin’s review.
Lovely scent, and a very old favorite 🙂
Happy Birthday (again!lol) Now Smell This!!Thank you Robin and all,for keeping this platform alive and kicking!My daily google PERFUME NEWS search always results in NST popping up first.LOVE THAT.SOTD definitely spot-on on today’s theme:Wearing 2011 Bronze Goddess,courtesy of a sale/swap meet with Perfumed bestie Merlin-whom I met through the kind intervention of Robin,some years back!Here’s to many more fragrant-filled pages of NST!xo
Thank you!
Happy birthday, NST! You are wonderful!
Eau de Merveilles
Thanks Morgana!
Happy birthday! And thank you ever so much for providing us with this lovely place to hang out together sharing thoughs about scent and snippets of our daily life. I check in regularly, sometimes I lose track of you for some time, but I always find my way back.
I started following NST somewhere around 2009. At that time I had a part time job sitting at a service desk, answering the phone and helping out when I had visitors, but sometimes the hours were very long and uninteresting.
I think I went through all NST review history during those months. From those excellent reviews, I fell in love with three niche brands long before I got the chance to sample any of their productes: Serge Lutens, Frederic Malle and L’Artisan Parfumeur.
And all three lived up to my expectations! Some of my most treasured scents come from them. Tough choice, but for today I am in SL Santal Blanc.
Looking forward to continue on my perfume exploring expedition in this smashing company! Onwards!
What fun that you fell in love before you even tried them!
I will add my “happy birthday!” to everyone else’s 🙂
Today I am still dithering on the perfume, but I may go with Lumiere Blanche, which feels sufficiently festive (for the birthday) and comforting (for the weather). Thank you everyone, for making NST such a great place!
I really need to try lumiere blanche again. The review here pretty much sold me on it (or was it that beautiful photograph of the Italian beach?) but when I tried it in sephora it didn’t really make an impression. Of course that was after trying a million other things and only on paper. I’ll have to get a sample.
Happy birthday! Thanks for cultivating such a friendly atmosphere and informative blog.
I was on the mend, but then yesterday’s volleyball tournament wiped me out and I’m feeling sick again. Sadly no scent for me today. But if I were to wear one, I would be able to wear almost anything as I’ve learned about so many scents here!
Ugh, sorry!
Happy Birthday! SOTD is Arquiste Alexandre which I first tried thanks to Jessicas review here on NST. Last week we’ve broken the fifty year old snow depth record in my home town (44,5 inches) and today was a sparkling sunny winter day. The perfume portraying Pushkins last winter-day duel felt very fitting!
Oddly, we’ve had so much cold and almost no snow here…knock on wood.
Happy birthday NST! And thank you, Robin, for all that you do in bringing information on new releases to us. You always have the important information (notes in the perfume, when available and where to find it) out there for us. I enjoy the other contributors’ articles, as well. This is the first perfume blog I began reading when I started online shopping for perfume and I enjoy coming here.
Today I am in Mary Greenwell Plum. Learned about it here when it first cane out and sampled and discovered that I liked it .
Thanks Mary Carol!
Congrats Robin, staff, and NST!!!
NST has been my go to source for the past 8 years that I have been an avid perfume lover and collector, so for that, THANK YOU!!!
Today I’m going to wear Costume National 21, because, for some reason, it always reminds me of Robin (not sure why….I think maybe you mentioned that you liked this fragrance at some point?)
I’ve been regularly basketing and unbasketing that one on line because I heard so many good reviews including the one here, but it would be a total blind buy. Dilemmas dilemmas…
Yes, it’s an old favorite and I keep meaning to buy a bottle!
Wearing Serge Lutens Rahat Loukoum, brilliantly reviwed by Robin here:
https://nstperfume.com/2005/10/26/serge-lutens-rahat-loukoum-perfume-review/
It was a hard choice to make. I discovered so much here at NST. But Serge Lutens is my favorite house overall, and Robin’s review is so enticing, it puts to shame the heroine dealers from Christianne F.
Thank you, guys. And congratulations. You make the world better.
Yum, of course!
Happy Birthday Robin, Kevin, Angela and Jessica and all the fantastic contributors on this blog! I visit this page almost every day and have learned so much from this funny, informed, interested, nonjudgemental and caring community. I have especially loved all of the fun and interactive challenges of the community projects, the swaps, freebie and split meets and have grown and developed by leaps and bounds as a result. Just to add that Even as a newbie I always felt included and warmly welcomed.
SOTD is PG Indochine which was suggested to me on NST and a generous spray sample sent to me by Hajusuuri.
Thanks Sajini!
Glad you’re enjoying the Indochine!
A very happy birthday! This was my first perfume blog, through which I’ve discovered dozens of new sensations. I’m wearing L’Air du Désert Marocain. I’d never heard of Andy Tauer until I started reading NST, but now it’s a house I adore. So thank you all!
Glad to introduce you to Tauer 🙂
Thank you, Robin, Andrea, Kevin, and Jessica, for keeping up such a fun and informative perfume resource. I’ve only started wearing and learning about perfumes in the past year, and this place is such a treat. I’m wearing Ambre et Santal shower gel with Pacifica Spanish Amber, both of which I learned about on the cheap thrills Friday here a couple of months ago.
Nice mix!
Happy Birthday to NST- both to its creators and contributors!
I am a steadfast reader of posts and comments and have learned a great deal about the world of perfume and have met some lovely, generous people =)
SOTD is Bvlgari Black, which I am pretty sure I read about here on NST and prompted a very successful blind buy.
Thanks to all the hard work a blog like this must entail! And thanks for all the commenters who have made me laugh and learn over the past few years =)
A classic, so glad you like it.
Happy Birthday, NST! Thanks so much for cultivating and facilitating this most excellent on-line community, Robin.
I heard about Vaniglia del Madagascar by i Profumi di Firenze on NST, and it is the HG vanilla for this vanilla freak. I will be wearing it when my husband and I attend the local Darwin Day (Darwin’s birthday is on Feb. 12th) celebration later on today. I need to buy Demeter’s Prickly Pear frag, so that I can wear it to next year’s Darwin birthday bash, in honor of the Prickly Pear cacti that Darwin encountered on the Galapagos.
Speaking of vanilla, and it being Black History Month and all, according to the Interwebz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Albius), the first commerically viable method of hand-pollinating vanilla was developed by a 12-year-old-slave.
Now you’ve made me want to try VdM! I tend to forget about the Italian lines.
And ironically, I just learned that bit of history by reading a translation of the French on the back of my bottle of Guerlain’s Spiritueuse Double Vanille.
And try the Ambra del Nepal, too…another great vanilla from the same brand.
Might as well – there’s no sense ordering just one sample! 😉
It makes sense when someone can send you the VdM 😉
Oh! Well now! That would be wonderful.
Happy Birthday and a big thank you to Robin et al for making this community a delightful place to visit each day. Even though I’m quite sated with my perfume wardrobe, I still enjoy reading about what’s new and sharing in the joy and delight of others on their perfume journey.
Today I’m wearing Barbara Bui Le Parfum, which Robin reviewed almost 10 years ago. It was the first fragrance I’d never ever heard of nor seen except online, and eventually its attraction was so enticing I just had to have it!
Yes, that one’s really an oldie now!
Happy Birthday, and thank-you to you, Angela, Kevin, and Jessica for all your hard work in keeping NST going for ten years. You have enhanced my life in so many ways and this is such a wonderful community to be a part of. I’ve been inspired, challenged, uplifted, enchanted, provoked, educated, astonished, humored, saddened, and encouraged. (Plus other stuff, but I’ll stop with that now cuz aren’t you tired?)
SOTD: vintage Chaldee by Jean Patou, a true love which I discovered when I was inspired by Kevin’s review:
https://nstperfume.com/2014/08/13/jean-patou-chaldee-ancienne-et-nouvelle-fragrance-reviews/
Oh, nice! Kevin and Angie have done way better on the old Patous than I have.
Holly…SO glad you love Chaldee…I might need to go spray some on; today is dreary.
Happy 10th Birthday NST!
I can remember how I found you. I have been into perfume since I was 20 years old. I did not have a decent computer until 2005. I was recuperating from a horrific thing that happened to me and my new computer was my godsend. Being a perfumista long before the word was coined, I surfed the Net for anything related to perfume and that is how I found you. I already had an extensive perfume collection which only grew after my introduction to NST. Probably one of my first bottles that came from reading NST was En Passant. Since then there have been many more and the next ones I want to ad when I have some $$ are Maai and Mahour. Thanks again Robin, Angela and Kevin and all the other NST reviewers from the past. You keep us “fumers” in the know and the nose.
Filomena, I also found NST after something horrific happened to me. It is a nice daily “get-away.”
Yes it is kindcrow!
So glad!
Like Marjorie Rose, I’m indebted to NST for very nearly all of the perfume in my collection, but it wasn’t hard to pick which one I should wear today–my favorite celebratory perfume also encompasses the generosity of this community! Thank you mals86 for this beautiful bottle of Champagne de Bois (and for the lengths you went to in order to get it to me!!); thank you Robin, Angela, Kevin and Jessica for the care, knowledge and talent you’ve brought to the task of sharing perfume with so many readers for so many years; and thank you Robin for your amazing (on-going!) creation of this reading library, news source and community! I am so grateful!
I’m so glad it finally got to its new home! And I join you in thanks for this blog.
I like the idea of being a “reading library”, thanks 🙂
I don’t have a SOTD yet but have sample dabs on each wrist of Maai and Mahour.
kindcrow,
Now I know what my SOTD will be–Vaniglia del Madagascar. I have a bottle of it but don’t wear it as often as I should–especially now that I am forced to be “scentless” at work.
I’m sorry about your work situation. Perhaps now you will have to have lots of SOTE (scents of the evening, as opposed to the day)? I think that Vaniglia del Madagascar is totally “work-appropriate,” but I don’t want to get you in trouble by encouraging you to wear it to work.
Joining the rousing chorus of “Happy Bloggiversary”. NST has not only been a welcome community of fellow perfume-lovers, but through it I have been able to meet people on trips to have perfume explorations, and even found a local perfume buddy, a gem of a find in this largely scent-free city.
In honour of this occasion, I am wearing Cuir de Lancome (bought unsniffed at Winners) and am going to keep wearing it until the backup bottle spritzes its last spritz.
So nice that people are able to meet!
Happy Anniversary, Robin. You’re the best – that’s all I have to say! Wearing Bvlgari Omnia, the first scent I ever read about on NST.
Erin, so glad you could chime in! Thank YOU for all your wonderful articles, and as you can see people here would like you to write more. Surely you have nothing better to do 😉
Robin, congratulations! I find time to read your and your wonderful contributors every day. I started my journey down the path of discovering fragrance about the same time you started NST. Your reviews have saved me a lot of clams…and cost me a few
Let’s focus on the clams we saved 😉
Happy Birthday! Catching up on NST has been a part of my daily commute, ever since I discovered the website last summer. And makes it so much more pleasurable! Hard to choose just one scent, but went with In the City of Sin, which I got from my first freebiemeet. So much fun and learning a lot too 🙂 A huge thank you to you all for your hard work!
Glad we ease the commute!
Happy 10th Birthday, NST and here’s to many more! I’ve been a reader for a few years and you are still my favourite perfume blog. Thank you!
I’m wearing Séville à l’Aube to celebrate the occasion.
Oh nice choice, you smell fantastic.
Happy birthday NST! May you have many more years of serial comma harmony. The spray of L’Orpheline I made in the air was in the honour of this blog.
Uday,I gathered from some comments you left elsewhere on this site,you’re also South African?If so,please get in touch!We’re so few and far between here!lol!And I already met fellow SA Jozi girl Merlin!Mail me johanob at icloud dot com if you’d like to chat fumes or join in a sniffathon sometime!
Ha…it’s not that there’s harmony, it’s that I win since I do all the final posting 🙂
Happy Birthday, NST! Although I don’t comment frequently, I’ve been a daily reader since January 2012 and greatly enjoy the work you all do. I owe a good half of my perfume discoveries to the writers and commenters here!
In the blog’s anniversary’s honor, I’m decked out in Rossy de Palma Eau de Protection, which I originally didn’t like, but kept trying due to the many positive comments I read about it whenever the subject of roses came up (as well as the Eau de Protection challenge last year). Well, something “clicked,” and I’m a total convert now. I love this stuff! It’s comforting in a quirky way. After my housework and shower, I’ll likely switch to Stella, which I tried due to Jessica’s rose guide, and really enjoy the ease of.
Thank you to the whole team for your wonderful writing! And thank you to everyone less shy about commenting than me. 🙂 It’s such a wonderful community you’ve built!
Thanks for commenting even when you’re shy! This is a very welcoming group, so join in whenever you like.
Happy Birthday NST and thank you to all the contributors! I have learned about so many new perfumes on this blog, that it’s hard to pick just one. I am wearing Tauer Phi because that was my introduction to niche perfumes.
Great introduction!
Happy Birthday, NST. I don’t comment much, but I have been reading this blog for six or seven years. I love your reviews and learning from people who, like me, consider perfume a serious interest and not a superficial fancy. Thank you!
P.S. As an English teacher, I am a firm supporter of the Oxford comma.
As an English major undergrad, OXFORD COMMA SUPPORTERS UNITE! ::shakes fist::
And may I also say, that as current grad student in a psychology field, I despise APA. It’s the worst.
I had to use MLA for my English undergrad, and APA for my masters in teaching. I’m definitely a fan of MLA, but I understand why APA is structured the way it is . . . despite its many shortcomings!
We shall agree to disagree 🙂
Happy Anniversary, Robin and NST! Thank you for still being here!
I’m in SSS Champagne de Bois today… I learned about SSS here and it is to this day one on my favorite (if not very favorite) perfume house.
A good choice for favorite house 🙂
Happy Birthday to Robin and frankly ALL of you that read and post here on NST. This blog is a daily treat for me and I really enjoy reading and learning about perfumes, both old and new. (Oh lord so many new!)
I am wearing Volutes. FIrst read a review here and thought the notes sounded right up my alley. Then Robin offered a free bottle in a give-away and I WON! It is a favorite of mine, soft and slightly tobacco like, I love it. So thank you personally to Robin for the bottle and all she does each day, and thank you to all the NST fans who’ve opened up my mind to scents, offered up honest and varied opinions and in general have given me an education. Thank you.
That was a hard one to give away!
Happy anniversary!
As an intermediate beginner (if there’s such a thing?) I would say roughly, 50-75% of my decant collection is inspired by recommendations of the community here; similarly, many of my decants have come from various swaps and freebies here at NST over the last two years. Not to get too maudlin, but I’m eternally grateful for the generosity of such a smart and kind community.
Last, as a social worker and psychotherapist-in training, I’m most grateful that NST is a safe and always welcoming place for me to come and feel accepted even as a newbie, especially after long, and often downright shitty days. 🙂 Cheers!
I think I’m going to dig into various decants that have been sent to me in the last few weeks that I’ve been meaning to catch up on! I’m thinking I need to finish making my way through my Malle sampler!
Happy Anniversary NST!
An integral part of every weekend – I learn so much here and have fun to boot.
Today I am trimming back the roses in Myrrhe Imperiale. I am a bloody, boozy mess.
Happy Birthday, Robin! Ten years is quite an accomplishment. And I enjoy reading your blog as much as ever. I decided to wear Coromandel in honor of this birthday because if I hadn’t read this blog, I would have never ventured into a Chanel boutique to try to the Exclusives, but that was a tough call because I probably wouldn’t have a perfume collection at all if I hadn’t stumbled on your blog.
But a lot of much more significant things happened to me as a result of reading this blog than just ending up with a surprisingly large collection of perfume. First of all, I made a lot of wonderful friends, many of them in person, and those relationships have definitely transcended our mutual interest/obsession, greatly enriching my life. Watching people band together, including you and your readers, to help Tama Blough was awesome, in the original sense of the word.
Second of all, I ended up starting my own blog, Yoga for Healthy Aging, which, while it is on a completely different topic, was definitely inspired by your blog. In particular, I was inspired by the quality and consistency of your work as a writer and editor, and by the daily hard work I can see that you put into this blog, which makes it stand out in the field. When I’m working myself, whether I’m choosing a photo or artwork, editing a post written by something else, or insisting that, yes, I need to have posts five days a week, I’m often thinking about what you—Robin—would do.
So thanks for everything! And thanks to your loyal staff of writers, too, for their dedication. I know what it takes. —Nina Zolotow
Just bookmarked your blog. Excellent!!
Since we’re declaring allegiances here: I defer to Vampire Weekend’s analysis of the Oxford comma 😛
Happy Birthday Now Smell This!!! I lurked on this blog for 5 years on my old school cell phone everyday loading page after page which took forever lol. After moving to a small town away from my people NST has always been a bright spot in my day. To Robin and the gang a big thankyou! To all the perfume people here a big group hug! XO
SOTD is Hermes eau des Merveilles. My first purchase after reading Robin’s review on
NST. Still love it.
A very big thank you to my most favouritest blog of all 🙂 I cannot remember the first place I learned about ANY of the perfumes I have come to love, but I can say that since finding NST (in 2011 or so) I have not bought a single perfume without looking to see whether there is any mention of it on NST! I only became interested in smell in general around that time, so I have to thank NST for helping me navigate a whole new dimension and for mentoring me through this journey.
The reviews here are always intelligent, insightful and very often funny too! What I most appreciate is that they are never superficial but also always manage to avoid a pretentious tone. I think it must be hard to navigate so perfectly between the blithe and the sanctimonious – so well done to all you writers 🙂 And of course, I very much appreciate all the advice and support that readers here give to each other. A great big, rousing CONGRATS!
Happy birthday, and thank you for all the years of wonderful reviews. I really appreciate the announcements of new perfumes and, as so many others have said, this is where I first learned of most everything that’s in my collection.
I hadn’t picked a SOTD when I started reading the comments, but after seeing several mentions I’m going with Rahat Loukoum, one of the first reviews I read here after I discovered the site in 2009.
I’m wearing the scent that sent me down the rabbit hole even though I was familiar with it before I started reading perfume blogs. While looking for a good deal for it on internet I stumbled on this site, read it’s review and was very intrigued. I had been trying for years to find other fragrances than my limited access allowed me and I was getting bored. Reading a witty & funny comparison between fragrance and film made me have a glimpse of a world that so far I had been unfamiliar with. I started reading more reviews on this and other sites and started acquiring fragrances. Many, many fragrances. I now have a big collection that still fills me with delight even though I don’t add as much to it as I used. to. These days I mostly read NST and BoisdeJasmin to keep me informed about whatever is happening in perfumeland. It’s a great escape and a great hobby to have, even though few people in the rest of my life seem to understand it, or even find it interesting. Never mind. I thank you so much Robin, for providing such a great blog, and such a wonderful community. And by the way I’m wearing Cristalle EDT, which I prefer to the EDP, as I too prefer Roger Moore to Sean Connery 😉
Love the analogy: An EDT version is Roger Moore’s Bond; and the EDP version is Sean Connery’s!
Still one of my favourite perfume reviews!
Funny, my friends and family can’t relate to my love and fascination of perfume either. LOL!
Yet another reason to love NST. Like-minded people who share a lot of the same interests as myself!
I loved that Cristalle review too!
Happy Birthday NST and here’s to many, many more!
I stumbled across NST a couple years ago and have been reading and commenting ever since. It has become a regular part of my life for perfume advice, communicating with other perfumistas, and also for just plain enjoyment. My SOTD is Aedes De Venustas “Oeillet Bengale”. I didn’t even know this line existed until I heard about it on NST. I actually won this bottle during one of the drawings on NST. It has quickly become one of my favorite perfumes.
NST has definitely opened my eyes to niche fragrances that I would have never even thought of before. I have always been a lover of fragrances, but NST has allowed my appreciation of so many other lines to grow. Thanks NST for everything!
Happy B-day to the best perfume blog with the best people! Thanks for all the reviews, perfume launch announcements, articles and Old Spice guy/ads, lol:). Not to mention the other funny ones-Bruce Willis-LOL…and the lovable ones like the Cartier cat ads. Thanks for the various ‘meets’ and swaps…thanks to the whole NST crew and to all of the readers/posters!
Mandom, LOL!
Happy Birthday! I kinda rushed out the door this morning to go to the hospital so I didn’t apply any perfume. I’ve got the remnants of Coco on my sweater but I’ll pick something I discovered on here later to wear in honor of the occasion. NST was my first and favorite blog to read about perfume. Love the contributors and all the folks who comment. It’s a great place to hang out.
Oh no, hope all is well, Poodle. And do please stay safe with another winter storm coming your way.
Happy 10 years birthday, Robin! And thank you for creating and maintaining a wonderful community here on NST. As many have written already reading your blog is one of the highlights of my day, and I’ve learned so much about perfume and many other things not to mention met some really lovely people.
Cheers! And here’s to 10 more!
Warm hugs to you, floragal! You’re sandwiched between my comments 🙂
Love hugs! 😉
Happy 10th anniversary, NST. Thank you, Robin, for keeping up this blog and making it a safe place. I appreciate all the writers and commenters and for everyone respecting anonymity. A special shout out to SuzyQ who was my very first swap partner and gave me the confidence to keep going. Like thegoddessrena’s comment above, NST enabled me to meet perfumista friends in real life. I’ve also had the pleasure to meet Jessica!
My SOTD is Atelier Cologne Sous le toit de Paris. Prior to reading its launch announcement in late 2012, I was barely conscious of the Atelier Cologne line — if I recall, Neiman Marcus included one with a Beauty Bag Event and I just thought it was weird that a perfume sample came packaged in a crispy transluscent postal envelope along with a postcard. To top it all off, it was only available in the boutique (why I didn’t think I could order it online was beyond comprehension). Fast forward to January 2013 and I had planned to be at a “Whole Hog” foodie event at DBGB Kitchen & Bar. After much research and handwringing (because I always get lost in that part of NYC), I decided to stop by the boutique before the dinner specifically to smell Sous le toit de Paris. I left the boutique laden with five 30 mL bottles, two of which were Sous le toit de Paris! I had since acquired just about every single perfume in the line except for Pomelo Paradis which acquisition is a foregone conclusion.
Wow. That’s quite the Atelier Cologne collection. I can just imagine how great those little bottles would look all lined up in a row.
Ha! I forgot to mention that the collection also includes a 100 mL, three 200 mLs (two were partially split and one I won in a contest) and two minis :-). Conclusion: hajusuuri loves Atelier Cologne and it kudos to NST!
I’m personally thankful you love Atelier. It allowed me to get decants from you!
Nod to Hajusuuri:Cuirass Beluga will ALWAYS be my favorite classic auto-correct on NST!Lols!!
Johanob, the competition is fierce!
That could be a fun poll subject: great moments in now smell this autocorrect history.
Dior Eau Sausage
Haha. L’Artisan Merchant Loop is another one of my old favorites.
LOL, probably worse than autocrat 🙂
Happy 10th Anniversary, Robin and NST! I wish you many, many more. I don’t remember exactly how I found you, but it was shortly after some serendipitous browsing in my public library led me to Perfumes: The Guide. This was in 2009 (or maybe 2010), and I’ve been reading and loving your blog ever since. Pretty much everything I’ve learned about perfume, I’ve learned here. I’m wearing Ormande Jayne Woman today in honor of NST. Thanks to all of you who make NST such a lovely place to visit!
Happy Anniversary Robin and many thanks to you for such a wonderful blog! I am one of the many for whom visiting this page at least once a day is a must. A lot of my perfume loves have been inspired by reading your honest and informative reviews and by this community’s recommendations. I look forward to many more reviews, updates, split meets and swap meets. It’s been a pleasure so far! Congratulations!
Best wishes & happy NST birthday! Robin – this site was a beacon in the dark when I found you. I chose Chanel No 5 Eau Premiere, which was the reason I found you in the first place. NST is my favorite “news” site! You have fostered a wonderful online community! I hope you are here for 10 more years!
Happy Birthday, and here’s to many more to come! Thanks so much for providing us with an enjoyable and informative blog, and for giving us a space to meet, greet, swap, give, gab, gasp, and laugh. I’m wearing Hermes Vetiver Tonka, and I bet we ALL smell fantastic today.
Hear, hear!
Happy Birthday, NST! Very infrequent commenter, but frequent (daily!) reader. What I appreciate most is how your reviewers do their best to describe how something actually smells. NST is the first place I check when I am researching a new scent. Here’s to many, many more years of wonderful blogging!
Happy 10th, NST, and thank you Robin for keeping it going all this time. NST has suggested so many of the fragrances in my collection-all the Hermes ( I thought they only made clothes and leather goods), Prada Infusion d’Iris, Bulgari Black, Teo Cabanel, Sonoma Scent Studio, and countless others. I start my day with a steaming hot cup of coffee and NST, and hope to continue reading and learning here for another 10 years. I’m wearing PG Un Crime Exotique today which does better in cold weather as your review indicated.
I’ll have a piece of cake in your honor tonight after dinner.
Happy blog birthday, Robin! Congrats to you, and to everyone (contributors and commenters) who makes this such an amazing virtual space. My scent of the day is Eau de Merveilles. I first read about it here just as I was getting into perfume, and knew it was something I had to try- it turned out to be my very first full bottle purchase!
Lyric Woman today, thanks to Angela’s lovely review.
I’ll add my congratulations and admiration and thanks to everyone else’s. NST is a reference resource comparable to the Library of Congress, as well as a gateway to the wonderful community of fumeheads, and is always, without fail, a delight to read. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Happy tenth! I am wearing SIP Fire and Cream, which I learned about here.
I’m a bit late the party (story of my life) but Happy Anniversary! A long time reader and a former frequent commenter. I miss being able to be part of the discussions but hey, life happens and you go with the flow. I still try to read every day and when I can’t I catch up on the weekends.
Strangely, my scent this morning was Histoires de Parfums’ Défilé New York. I won a signed bottle in 2010 from NST and decided to wear it today without even knowing this was an extra special day!
Happy birthday!!! You’ve built such a wonderful resource and community and I’m very, very glad you’re still keeping it going.
I’m wearing Yves Rocher Rose Absolue, a freebie I got in a recent NST swap.
Happy Birthday to you all who work so hard to make this such a great site and sharing and good humoured community. I started reading here about a year ago when the “switch” went on for me regarding perfume. I’d always liked it but suddenly felt compelled to read, learn and obsess over it. This led to to NST where I read review after review, articles and opinions. Finally jumped in the fray and have a lot of fun with SOTD discussions and themed fridays, etc. Great work and here’s to another 10 years of success!
I’ve heard of soooo many perfumes here, it was really hard to pick just one, so going with my SOTD…Hiram Green Moon Bloom which completely changed my mind about Tuberose, and was something I never would have come across in the local mall!
Happy happy happy Birthday to NST!!! Thank you Robin for the most wonderful, lovely and hard working perfume blog out there! I love it! I always look forward to going on here everyday to see what new and amazing perfume news awaits me! I just get so excited! 🙂
I am wearing Armani Si today. Have a lovely day everyone!
Oh, happy day!
Here’s a song to celebrate . . .
Thank you for the Perfumes, the Notes I’m smelling,
Thanks for all the Joy they’re bringing.
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty?
What would life be?
Without a Lutens or Goutal what are we?
So I say thank you for the Fragrance
For giving it to me.
. . . today’s NST birthday reminds me of the happy day my sense of smell came back. So I’m wearing Jour d’Hermes. It was one of the new fragrances I tried at that time in my life.
Jd’H was all over the perfume blogs back then, and I still think it’s wonderful. It’s “gorgeously joyful or joyfully gorgeous, take your pick.” Thanks for that review, Robin, and for all that has come before and after.
Scent twins! And it was Robin’s wonderful review that prompted me to try it. I’d read a lot of other reviews (I think it came out shortly before I discovered perfume blogs) and thought, wow, everyone loves this, but it doesn’t sound like my kind of thing. I think I clicked on the link to Robin’s original review after reading her review of the Absolu, and decided I should really at least try it. I wore it more than any other perfume last year.
After devouring in the contents of the website for quite a long time, and never courageous enough to contribute, I thought today might be a perfect day to start. Happy Birthday, NST! Thank you, Robin, for making it the most pleasurable (almost fragrant) perfume blog to read. Thanks for not making the “junior perfumista”-readers (such as myself) feel inadequate or unsophisticated, and not relegating to the “stars” system of perfume. Thanks for appreciating different tastes and taking various smells for what they are. Your open mindedness make this blog such an enjoyable visit!
SOTD is Sous le toit de Paris that you’ve helped me to discover and love.
Oh yay! Welcome! And I totally relate, to this and a number of other comments, talking about how NST prompted us to delurk (or wade into the world of perfume in any respect!) So cool just how much the site has encouraged so many people to participate.
Thanks for the welcome! I should probably also thank the readers – it’s just as much fun to read the comments as the actual reviews/articles. I never comment as I’m still intimidated by reference to such words as “chypre” and “patchouli”, but I am learning fast!
Even if you don’t know some references, you can always contribute on scent of the day posts.
Happy birthday, NST!! To many more fragrant years!
NST was the first perfume blog I started reading (probably about 3-4 years ago now, I think) and the one that sent me down the rabbit hole. So most of what I have would have qualified for today. But since it’s a special occasion, I went with vintage Coriandre parfum, from a mini I got on Ebay.
10 years!
Wearing Andy Tauer’s L’air du Desert Marocain, which I first read about here. Oddly enough, it hasn’t been reviewed here, which means I must have read about it in a comment or as part of a review of another perfume.
As it is one of my “desert island” perfumes, many thanks to the person whose description (I remember something like “dry oriental beauty”) inspired me to try it.
Congratulations Robin!
After I check email, NST is the first thing I read on the web.
Your review of Ubar got me to test it and I purchased a bottle immediately. Thank you, I love it and wore it twice last week, but today I am wearing Mon Numero 10 another scent I sampled because of Angela’s review, “leather cola”. Another winner!
May you continue as long as you want. 😀
I’m wearing Ormonde Jayne Champaca today. I’ve discovered most of my favorite fragrances on NST since fortuitously coming across this blog near the beginning of my interest/obsession with perfume. That includes the entire OJ line, which has given me several of my very favorites. (Champaca isn’t even one of my true loves, but I’ve been wanting to try it again, and with today’s springlike weather it seemed like as good a time as any.)
I’m also mostly a lurker and an infrequent commenter, but I’ve learned a lot from NST and appreciate Robin’s commitment to this site over the years and the perspectives of all the contributors. Happy anniversary and thank you for being here!
Now Smell This was the first blog I’ve ever read. Not just perfume blog – any type of a blog. I didn’t even consider commenting for many years but kept coming back to read.
Happy Birthday, NST! And thank you, Robin, for making it such a unique place and community.
Bravo and many happy returns. NST is my go to blog. I’m addicted and so grateful. Wearing Organza Indecence, my bedtime comforter discovered here like most of my collection. If it weren’t for NST I would not be following my passion…. take a peep at my page if you want to see what I am up to!
http://facebook.com/Irridessence
Congratulations on your 10 year milestone! I enjoy reading reviews, articles and comments on this blog and am always overwhelmed by the genuine communication and camaraderie this site fosters. I have mixed feelings about the pervasiveness of the internet in the context of daily life, but one of its most redeeming qualities is as a reference tool and source of information. I must say, Now Smell This is about the best example of this sort of resource. The quality of the writing and information on this site is top notch, but in addition there is such warmth, humor and personality here. I am so happy to get to know the whole cast of characters that participates in the true collaboration which defines NST. Also, the swaps and freebie meets are a delight. I find them downright heart warming and something to look forward to on my calendar!
My scent of the day is Annick Goutal Heure Exquise , which I first came to know via a sample I received from one of the many generous NST readers.
Thank you all!
Happy Birthday! This is the first blog I read during the day, and I think it has the best, most informative, and more importantly most thoughtful writers and commenters out there. Cheers!!
Happy Birthday!!!
NST helped me step out of the darkness of lurking and become an active participant in the perfume online communities. Thank you!
And Robin & team: thank you for keepin’ it classy! 😉
Happy 10th Blogthday! Here’s to another 10! Specifically, thank you, Robin, for all the work you do keeping this up and running. Thank you Angela, Jessica, and Kevin for all your writing. Thank you to all the commenters, lurkers, and the general community for being all-around awesome. I have enjoyed getting to know some of you on the computer and IRL. I love being able to tap into the collective knowledge about this fun hobby.
Tonight, I’ll be wearing Rochas’ Alchimie. This was a freebie gift from an NSTer (you know who you are), and I love it.
Happy 10th Anniversary, NST! Plus a huge round of applause for Robin, Angela, Jessica, and Kevin! No, make that a standing ovation!!!
Robin, your ability to keep this blog going for 10 years astounds and delights me. I fell down the rabbit hole via MUA more than 10 years ago and picked up blogs from there, yours always among them. But as the years have gone on, my perfume blog reading eventually settled to only one a day, rather than a half-dozen. And, as the lovely Rappleyea, above, noted: yours is the last one standing.
This is such a happy place for me to visit, and I’ve learned so much here and been buoyed by the wonderful community of perfume lovers who inhabit this corner of the online world. I’ve had hours and hours of fun here! Thanks, everyone!
SOTD: ELd’O Like This. Angie definitely got me on this one. 🙂
Happy 10th Birthday! I just arrived home from a long flight to a very snowy New England, but have to add my very best wishes to all the other comments.
Well done, Robin!
Congratulations, and a hearty thank you too everyone who makes this such a special place!
Thank you so much for starting and keeping up this blog! It is amazing to find an online community that is so nice, supportive, and non-judgemental. Today I wore Rochas Femme, which I received from a generous fellow NST commenter 🙂
Happy 10 Years NST!!
Thanks so much Robin for ever being inspired to start this journey, and for continuing when surely there are times when you cant be bothered!
NST and all you wonderful people have been a warm hug on many a shitty, dreary day. I consider you all friends although Ive met none of you- the warmhearted, funny, caring conversations are as good as any with people I know in the flesh. And we all have the best hobby in the world in common 🙂
Im in Baiser Volé edp, though the choices were many.
Happy 10th Birthday, dear NST! I don’t know where I’d be on my perfume journey without you lovely people to guide me on my way (probably dead in a ditch somewhere?).
Today I’m in a rose-y mood, so Une Rose by Frederic Malle it is!
One of my favorite roses.
Happy Birthday! Hard to believe that I’ve been reading this lovely blog for nearly 10 years now (also hard to believe this is my first comment!). I’ve learned so very much in that time. In your honor I’m wearing the near last dregs of my bottle of L’Artisan Vanilia. It was the first high end fragrance I purchased around the time I discovered NST. It was also my wedding fragrance. It saddens me to know I will likely never own another bottle of it.
I look forward to another 10+ years!
Happy Anniversary! I think many of the scents I’ve acquired the past few years were based on things I read about on NST. Thanks so much for sharing so much knowledge! I’m quite sure that’s how I first heard about Ormonde Jayne, which I finally indulged in this last Christmas season. Prada Infusion D’Iris is another, as is Natori and the Atelier brand. Today, though, I wore Burberry Brit Rhythm, which I found at TJ Maxx and read about here. I stopped there after a short time at Barneys sniffing a few Lutens bell jars. (Also had my husband sniff Desarmant, which I know thegoddessrena recently purchase — he loved it…)
Congratulations on such a milestone! I casually started reading NST nearly 7 years ago and would never have believed at the time that I would have become so interested in fragrance or that I would acquire so many bottles of perfume! Nearly all of my current fragrances have been influenced by NST in some way. Thanks to everyone who contributes!
SOTD Cacharel Noa, a fragrance I would have unlikely stumbled upon without NST!
Happy 10th anniversary Robin, Angela, Kevin and Jessica. You have created a wonderful community here. It is a kind, funny and welcoming group that I read every day, even when I don’t stop to comment. My browser shows you as my most frequently visited website. You brighten every day. Thank you.
I’m wearing Kenzo Amour Florale, which Robin generously shared in a drawing back when it came out around 2009. I continue to be quietly amazed at the generosity of perfume people. It starts here. Thank you. I can’t say it enough. Blessings to you all. Hugs!!
After several years (5 or 6, I think) of reading NST regularly, and every day over the last year or so, this seems like a good occasion to finally participate. Congratulations on 10 years!
Like lots of others here, I have NST to thank for helping me develop from someone who liked perfume and had a few bottles of easily available perfumes, to someone who thinks about almost nothing else and has about 60 bottles. I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing…
Living in New Zealand, I’m a long way from the fabulous range of perfumes many of you have on your doorstep, but being able to buy samples online of perfumes I’ve read about here has opened up a whole world.
And you are all a wonderful group of supportive, friendly people – I read the latest news and comments over breakfast every morning and it’s a great start to my day!
Doing something I never do–skipping to the end without reading everyone’s comments. I plan to do that in bed with a cold glass of water and a cat at my feet in a little while.. .but wanted to chime in that my errrrr-now-undeniable collection of fragrances is full of referrals and suggestions from NST reviewers and commentators. I had such a break neck day I think I must have applied several different fragrances at different times… the only one I can remember is a drained sample of Memoir… but I am now sitting at my computer typing with a lovely amber ball from L’Artisan Parfumeur next to my keyboard, courtesy of my mom… but something I would never have known about except for my lovely friends at NST.
Thank you NST, and happy birthday!
Happy 10th to Robin and the other writers and commenters at NST! There are other perfume blogs I love reading, but this one is the friendliest and most comprehensive. I think I started reading in the spring of 2013, but have gone back to read many of the older reviews and articles. Your listings by house and perfumer are extremely useful. I know this site must take a lot of work, so thank you! SOTD is Jour d’Hermes, which I might never have tried if not for Robin’s review.
The commenters are such kind folk, the writers are intelligent and entertaining. This has been my one go-to for several years now because of the former reasons, but also because it maintains such an air of class. I wonder where we will all be in ten years from now. I do hope it’s here! Thank you for the information, and the time and work involved in keeping this site up. Congratulations on this milestone!
SOTD: Estee Lauder Pure White Linen Breeze Pink Coral
Happy Birthday NST
Congratulations and standing ovation .
my “holy grail”
THANKYOU.
stay forever fragrant.
A very Happy Birthday NST!!!! Thankyou for enlighening me about so many perfumes and for introducing me to Serge Lutens. It took me a while to understand where he was coming from but now I’m doing an in depth study of all his perfumes – sampling and writing – only to myself – about my impressions and how they change. I know this is primarily a US site but over here in the UK I know there are quite a few followers….it would be good to identify the UK readers and arrange swaps and meets for perfume discussions….any other people into this???
Maybe a sub fb group?? Not sure how it could work but I tried a Fragrance fb group and was inundated with emails 70+ a day and couldn’t switch off the notifications thing….arrgghh! Anyway my SOTD is Cuir Mauresque…which initially I found difficult but now love…so typical of SL….a real shape shifter for me. It changes with how I’m feeling – a mood indicator. The only SL I really cannot wear is Musc Kublai Khan – on my skin its really not nice:(
So thankyou again NST – my first port of call every morning…. before emails and before fb. Lots of love to you all and keep doing this PLEASE!! xx
There are a few bloggers based in UK – maybe you could comment on one of their blogs and see if there are any groups? The 2 I can think of quickly are Vanessa of Bonkers About Perfume (she is hilarious) and The Candy Perfume Boy. Also, Tara is a guest poster on Olfactoria’s Travels. I know there is a London perfume meetup group that has educational/fun meetings – I know some of these bloggers have gone to and written about them, so maybe you could find them. Good luck!
Sorry I did not answer this yesterday, but great advice from odonata9. Will add: Persolaise, and Nick Gilbert both have UK blogs. And all of these groups arrange events / meetings:
http://www.meetup.com/Perfume-Lovers-London/
http://www.odettetoilette.com/
http://perfumesociety.org/
I know I’m too late to do this, but I just wanted to add my voice to the well-deserved congratulations. Happy anniversary to everyone at NST. Here’s to the next 10 years!
Wow!! Congratulations to you dear Robin and all the lovely contributors. NST has been my go-to reference since I started reading in 2006.. I remember being a bit scared to comment. I used to go by driftwood then. My first comment was on Jessica’s post ( i felt less scared because I had swapped with her on MUA..lol).. A lot of my early sample buys from Patty’s fragrant fripperies were based on Robin’s recs on the blog.. I am in India visiting family so don’t have the ‘right’ perfumes to wear on this occasion.. But what follows are some loves that i can ‘blame’ you folks for..:)
1. Jessica: i think my love for cold processed soap can be traced back to jessica’s review of COPA soaps ages ago
2. Kevin : i bought astier de villate’s Delhi candle unsniffed because of Kevin’s wonderful review. It is probably my favorite candle ever.
3. Robin: Caron Alpona (sadly discontinued and i never acquired more than a sample) probably tubereuse criminelle which was my first niche love and still a strong love.
4. I think Angela ( and Mals) inspired a lot of my blind vintage buys. I cant remember specifics though.
Big hugs to all of you!!
Happy Anniversary Robin and all the gang of NST. This might be a little bit far afield—but I’m a fan of Robert Piguet/Bandit and Knightsbridge as well. After reading reviews on NST during my trip last year to NYC, the sales professional at Bergdorf suggested Casbah with a layer of Douglas Hannant and I loved it so much I bought both.
I’ll wear that today to say thanks for all enjoyment you provide.
Congratulations on NST’s 10th birthday and thanks for the great reviews!
I’m wearing L’Occitane’s Immortelle de Corse, thanks to Kevin’s review
Oh! I can’t believe I missed this yesterday. Happiest of anniversaries one day late, Robin. I know I’ve already made it clear that Now Smell This changed my life permanently and for the better–so much better. But I also want to say how very glad I am that I can keep on sending new recruits to this generous brightly lit space, knowing they’ll find all manner of wonderful treasures and fantastic people to welcome them. What a joy it is to see something this good last this long. Xoxo!
Happy Birthday Robin. Sorry to be a day late. Congratulations on this achievement – I know this is a significant milestone and I truly take my hat off to you for creating such a wonderful place to up skill, chat with others and share the perfume love. As I’ve only just started a blog, I actually have no idea whether I will be doing it in 10 years time, one year out seems like something to aim for! I also agree with what’s been said above that you have created an amazing community – I think that’s the thing that really stands out for me. Hope you had a little celebration and here’s to the next 10.
Earlier in the week, my plan was to wear Aftelier Parfum Prive, which I love and bought as a result of Angela’s review. However, I forgot all about this yesterday when I was getting ready to go to the Kennedy Center.
Instead, I chose DSH Scent of Hope, which was perfect for the spring-like weather. Now I’m realizing that it also worked for the poll, since pre-ordered it unsniffed upon reading the new perfume announcement here on NST – I love Iris Gris and wasn’t taking any chances of missing out. 🙂
Congratulations and thanks to Robin, Angela, Kevin, and Jessica! Also, my deep appreciation to NST commenters who comprise this delightful perfume community.
Catching up on my reading and wanted to wish NST a belated happy birthday. I have learned so much about perfumes and tried things I never would have known existed, as well as meeting some great people.